One year ago, today, I headed out the door for a year-long sabbatical. The professional core of that sabbatical was my Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship at Imperial College London, but I also enjoyed meeting colleagues at University College London, during visits to universities across the UK in England, Scotland, and Wales, and at conferences in France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The year was academically very productive! And the year also presented incredible opportunities for travel, much of it described in this blog. Here’s a quick summary, with one photo per month. Each month’s heading is a link to the blog posts for that month, and the bullets link to a few travel highlights.
After yesterday’s post about driving across the USA from San Francisco to New Hampshire, many of you inquired about the experience – what was it like to drive an electric vehicle (EV) like my Tesla Model Y more than four thousand miles across the wide-open spaces of the American West? Very comfortable, and remarkably easy. Read on.
I’ve always wanted to drive across country, that is, across the United States from west to east. In my mind, it was always a leisurely road-trip wandering from state to state, exploring the national parks, historic sites, and cultural touchstones along the way. So, I was pleased when a series of duties and events aligned, finally allowing me the opportunity to drive from California to New Hampshire. The schedule did not allow me to wander leisurely about the landscape – let alone to explore any place in depth, or to pause for serious photography – but the trip nonetheless presented a smorgasbord of scenery, a cross-section of roadside dining outlets, and brief glimpses of Americana.
High-level map of our route, excluding some small side trips; ignore the time labels, which are Apple Maps’ estimate of non-stop drive time. We drove 4,096 miles (6,592 kilometers)!Continue reading “Cross-country USA”
Today I happened to be passing through my hometown of Oneonta, New York, so I took the opportunity to make it the location of my weekend hike. In addition to my travels down memory lane, I took two short hikes: around a hilltop on the west side of town, and then around a wooded park in my old neighborhood on the east side of town.
Along the trails of Table Rock, above Oneonta NY.
For my first hike, I visited Table Rock – a set of hilltop trails above Hartwick College, where I enjoyed a two-mile loop through the forest, past their solar farm, and culminating with a cliff-top view at the western edge of Oneonta, looking back along the interstate highway. It was a nice opportunity to spend some time in the woods, with few other people on the trails.
View from Table Rock, above Oneonta NY.
Later, after driving past my childhood home on the other side of town, I parked at the edge of Wilber Park and walked a quick loop through the upper section, down across the creek, and back along the lower section.
Wilber ParkOur old creek in Oneonta NY.
I then clambored down to the creek itself, and followed it upstream to the location where my brother and I had spent many hours building dams and other projects when we were young boys. It has changed a lot, as the creek meanders and periodic floods rearrange the streambed. Although the creek today was somewhat low on water, it is nonetheless full of memories.
Hike stats:44th consecutive weekend hike Distance: about 4 miles Time: a couple of hours Gain: 354 feet at Table Rock; negligible in Wilber Park
map of my Table Rock hike, starting/ending at lower right
I never expected to be able to visit the beautiful Maroon Bells Wilderness Area, outside Aspen Colorado, for a third summer in a row. On my first visit in 2024, I enjoyed a spectacular hike to Maroon Lake and Crater Lake, enjoying the photographic opportunities as well as sightings of moose and coyote. On my prior visit in 2025, I was able to visit Maroon Lake and the scenic loops near there, but ran out of time to make the hike up to Crater Lake. Those visits were possible when I attended a conference in Aspen. This weekend, I’m back in Aspen for a wedding – and enjoyed the opportunity to share this beautiful hike with my two sons, neice, and nephew.
As the Old English saying goes, all good things must come to an end: But at the laste, as every thing hath ende (English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, in a poem from the 130os). Today concluded our year living in London.
I chose to spend my final week in the U.K. hiking with Dartmouth friends in Snowdonia, the mountainous region in northern Wales. Much of the region is protected land, as part of Eryri National Park. Although the mountains maintained their characteristically cloudy summits throughout most of our four-day visit, we were spared any rain and enjoyed one gorgeous sunny afternoon on Mount Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), the highest peak in Wales.
While walking through a rural area outside London, early in my year-long stay in England, I came across a bright-red postbox embedded in a very old stone wall in the tiny village of Shalford, outside Guildford. Although self-standing pillar-shaped postboxes are ubiquitous, this one sparked my curiosity. Why is this postbox – owned and maintained by the Royal Mail as a public service – embedded in a stone wall? and what does the insignia, embossed on the surface, mean? I later did some research online and found myself embarking on a months-long quest for more postboxes. Read on!
Final for my final hike in England (this year), I selected a section of the Capital Ring trail that runs from Grove Park to Crystal City, southeast of the London city center. Although it much of it follows suburban streets and nearly all of it is on paved tracks, it passes through several pretty parks. This morning was beautiful – sunny, breezy, and (finally!) cool after a week of brutal record-breaking heat across the UK and Europe.
While at the University of Cambridge for a week-long conference, I decided it was time to punt. Yes, it was worth skiving a few hours from the conference so we could experience punting along the River Cam. In both Cambridge and Oxford I’d watched from shore while students, locals, and tourists all enjoyed this classic pastime – most of them on a punt with a skilled guide, and some trying their hand at punting with friends. It looked like fun!
David Kotz 