Ian MacLellan

I set off searching for winter this morning because it’s been mysteriously missing lately. There was a wet rain falling on a few inches of snow that fell over night, but it didn’t look like it had long to live so I headed out West to my old haunts around Groton. I explored some of the abandoned streets and homes from my high school days, but still everything was too wet and not quite “snowy” enough so I set off North stopping in Townsend then heading into southern New Hampshire on Rte 124. Crossing state lines somehow changed everything… and there was real snow that wasn’t melting away! I somehow wandered further and accidentally ended up at the foot of Mount Monadnock so I climbed it (partially). Today I learned that it’s nice to have your own car cause you can just fill it up with all your useful adventuring stuff as long as nobody else every needs to sit in your car.

Check em out.

I’ve been toying with the idea of staying at an airbnb rental ever since my friend and fellow geology major, Sarah Strand, showed me the site. Since there is no snow in almost all of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, Emma and I decided to rent a little cabin up in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont in the little town of Waterford. It was incredibly easy to get to because it’s just off 93 and it had real snow!!! Our hosts Andrew and Marilou were extremely helpful and friendly and the accommodations were above and beyond what we expected with the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in and a spacious and modern bathroom. There wasn’t a real stove or oven, but a panini press, microwave, and waffle maker definitely sufficed for our feasts of grilled cheese three ways, nachos, and Ellio’s Pizza.

If you don’t stay at this airbnb you should at least check out St. Johnsbury at some point because it’s like an onion… it’s got layers. For some reason they built this town so that everything is on top of everything else. They also have a very quality public skating area and freight trains that never come when you need them to.

My idea for a New Year’s Resolution was to create a new adventure and an accompanying video every week of the year. I started off the year with a bang, going ice canoeing with my brother Stephen and sister-in-law Heather on the Sudbury River in Lincoln and Concord. It was awesome. Stephen was playing some out of tune piano in the living room while I was editing pictures and video so I decided to record his renditions of two of the three songs he knows (the third is a Lady Gaga song, which wasn’t quite fitting).

I want these adventures to be about fun, local exploration, creativity, and doing new things. There is so much that is always so near that we write off without trying.

If you have any suggestions for adventures in the New England area, let me know… or come join me and you too can be a YouTube “star.”

Don’t look at these pictures, watch this video:

I started off the year the same way I’ll be ending this one:

I then shipped off to Iraqi Kurdistan:

I then presented on that trip with this video:

I went to Iceland with some geology friends and although none of us could drive a manual transmission when we landed, we survived the snow and ice:

I met this cute girl:

I helped popularize the sport of mattress boarding with some of my Tufts friends:

I did a lot of rock climbing with my friends:

I worked on an organic farm in Italy with that cute girl:

I helped my brother Stephen get married by dancing:

I went to an exciting demolition derby on Nantucket Island:

I took a lot of pictures around Somerville:

I made a new website:

I hung out with a bunch of musicians:

And finally I relaxed and celebrated the holidays with my family and friends: