To go boldly where no blogger has gone before

Yes, I realize that isn’t a proper parody of the Star Trek tagline. But I can’t put a split infinitive in a title, can I? Not that that stops me from using them, but … well, whatever. Saturday was Halloween, and I’m of the firm belief that Halloween should always happen on a Saturday, because it makes things infinitely more wonderful. Either that, or November 1st should be a national holiday. I really think I’m on to something here.

But on to more important things … Like, what do two crazed travelers do for Halloween? Dressing up as tourists is just a bit too predictable … Instead, we decided to step it up a notch or two on the dork scale.

Rand was a nameless red-shirted ensign. I was girl-Spock. Guess which one of us is going to be vaporized first.

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And for the record, here’s what the dress I’m wearing looked like when I got it at the Goodwill:

See that smile? That's the smile of crazy ambition. When you see me making this face, run.

You’ll notice it’s a different color and length than my costume. But I’m reached the level of crazy where dyeing and sewing costumes for Halloween doesn’t seem that unreasonable. And it’s not like we were the only ones. Check out my dear friend Chrissy, who was, obviously, a sacred cow:

Can you see why I love these fools?

I’ve spoken to a lot of my friends overseas about our obsession with Halloween here at home, and they find the whole thing pretty mysterious. Some kids dress up, but that’s about it. There isn’t as much of a frenzy over costumes, parties, or haunted houses that we have over here. I just read a great article from a British ex-pat now living in the states, and his growing love for Halloween, and how it was, at first, entirely foreign to him.

Slowly though, it seems like it might be catching on internationally (spoiler: in Japan, people totally get it). The idea of the whole town – hell, the whole country, letting its hair down and dressing up is just so damn fun. You’ll see fairies crossing the street, buy produce from a pirate, or have dinner with a 30s gangster and his dame – and nothing seems out of the ordinary, because it’s Halloween.

As for me, I’m sad to pack up this year’s costume, which was, I suspect, my second-best one on record. The first? It also included travel. Also of the intergalactic variety:

Everywhereist: The Early Years.

My brother, dressed as Luke Skywalker, is on the left. And the adorable little urchin at right? Yeah. That’s me.

And while I would love to spend hours reflecting on how cute I was, you’ll have to excuse me. I need to get started on next year’s costume.