I'm on a boat, I'm on a boat.

My first glimpse of Stockholm came just moments before landing in the Arlanda Airport. Having slept for the majority of the flight, I woke up to endless patches of green. Trees. Trees. Trees. I felt like I was flying over an infinite Christmas tree lot, except they were bigger and better than anything I’ve ever seen before. So THIS is what greenspace is. When I fly into Los Angeles or Orange County, I’m greeted by other colors. I see the grey of cement that has paved over all of the land, or black tar of roads. Random splotches of turquoise and blue are easy to detect, as I see the swimming pools of the suburban families living in their single-detached house with their pool, backyard, dog, and 2.5 children. And if I’m lucky, I see some orange as I look around the cabin of my airplane, picking up on the orange fake tans of some of the women on my flight. (just kidding, sort of). So this verdant green- it was a very welcome color to my palate.

Stockholm is still very new to me, so there’s not much to report. I met another girl on the SCONES program, and we enjoyed the transit to downtown Stockholm and then a taxi to our waterfront boat/hostel, the Rygerfjord. So yes, I’m on a boat. I’m spending night 1 in a 12-person dormitory. It’s a learning experience. I arrived around 10 PM, so some of the people were trying to go to sleep. All I could think about was showering, so I probably made too much noise trying to wrestle things out of my backpack. Did I mention that I stupidly showered in the men’s shower? Well, I did. I survived, but boy do I feel foolish.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm thinking breakfast then exploring the city before orientation is in order. Here's to new friendships, new places, and new adventures!

Off to the land of all things great: the Vikings, IKEA, Swedish fish, and a population known for its love of coffee.

Well, it’s official. To keep my somewhat nervous (hi mom! hi dad!) parents at bay, to give my roommates a way to keep tabs on me as I leave them to melt in Davis (hi pentagon girls!) and to be able to keep in touch with assorted family and friends (hi everyone else!), I’ve created this blog to document my travels for the summer.

Hopefully my urban planning buddies chucked at my blog title (that means you, Sam). If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a play on the planning concept Transit Oriented Developments (TOD), which try to create communities with a mixture of housing, office spaces, shops, and restaurant all within walking distance to public transit.

TODs are just one of the many things I’ll be looking at on my travels this summer. I’ve signed up for a UC Davis summer abroad program called “Sustainable Cities of Northern Europe”, but because I love a good acronym, I’ll probably refer to it as SCONES. I’ll be spending the next month backpacking around Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, and Switzerland learning about all the really great ways these countries are trying to become more sustainable.

Sustainability – Sure, it is a buzzword, but a very timely one. As the world spins madly on, long-term and comprehensive planning that addresses environmental quality, social equity and economic development will need to become a global priority. What the future brings is uncertain, but an increased population is inevitable. To accommodate all these people, we will have to say goodbye to the suburbs and return to our old friend, the city.

But cities have come a long ways since their early days. From places like Stockholm, Sweden or Copenhagen, Denmark, we see successful examples of reduced consumption of natural resources, increased reliance on alternative energy sources, ecologically minded land-use and architectural design, and innovative transportation strategies. Their efforts stand as a testament to the world that efficient city planning and design IS possible, and that sustainable cities are the answer to ensuring a good quality of life for the citizens of today and the future.

So here’s to the progressivism of the cities I’m about to explore! I’m heading out to LAX for my flight, just me and my backpack (how everything fit is miracle #1 of this trip). And so, off to the land of all things great: the Vikings, IKEA, Swedish fish, and a population known for its love of coffee. Stockholm, Sweden, here I come!