Welcome!

Welcome to The World Around Us, a blog that hopes to explore the world, one place at a time. For the time being that place will be the state of Wisconsin. You can find out a little about me over at the About Page, but for those of you who don’t feel like doing the extra clicking, I’ll give you the rundown here.

My name is Jason, and I am not from around here. I was born in Sturgis, South Dakota, which some of you might recognize as the site of the world famous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The event sees several hundred thousand people flock to this normally quiet town once a year from all parts of the world. It’s kind of a big deal, is what I’m getting at.

Photo Courtesy of Thunderpress.net

I was a resident of South Dakota until I was 10 years old, at which point my parents packed us up and moved us to the small town of Trinity, Texas; population 2,721 as of the 2000 Census. I spent the better part of my young life in Texas, until I moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin in May 2011. All of this is a roundabout way of saying I’ve been around and seen some things, and I can honestly say Wisconsin is an entirely new experience for me.

Location of Trinity, Texas. Photo comes from Trinity’s Wikipedia Entry

I’ve been in Wisconsin now for almost 2 years, and I’ve had a lot of my friends back home ask me questions about the new place I live in. Things like “Do they really eat only cheese?,” “I hear they drink a lot, that true?,” and my favorite, “Does it really snow that much up there?” I’ve heard plenty more questions, though, and that’s what inspired me to start this blog. I realized that there are a lot of people who haven’t been to some of the places I’ve had the privilege to go to. I’m sure they have questions, and I hope to provide some answers.

To do that I plan on highlighting some of the more interesting things I’ve learned about Wisconsin since my arrival here, and sharing them with you in a variety of ways, with photos, news articles, and links to things that may enhance things I say.

So, I’ve done enough talking about myself for now, and I’d like to hear about some of my readers. What are some interesting places you’ve lived in? Do they have any odd claims to fame, or things that might make someone turn off the interstate to check them out? I’d love to hear about it!