Of Rice and Cities: Mission Statement

Who am I?

My name is Martin Reyes, I am originally from Los Angeles and a product of immigrant parents. I take great pride of where I come from and what I’ve been able to build through hard work and dedication. Currently I am pursuing my MBA degree and live in Merced, California. Merced is home-base. That is where my travels will start and where I will create this blog. I am excited to share my experiences I am excited for you to see how I planned my trips, what food spots I found and what interesting insight I can bring you. I am excited for you to get motivated and pursue your own travel experience. Your dreams can become a reality so start by getting a piece paper and a pen and create your own bucket list because together we will see that it was both possible and fast approaching.

Why did I start this blog?

I created this blog in order for me to share my travel experiences. I was complimented in my travels, and people were impressed by my research findings including culture, transportation, food and activities. This blog will help me share those findings with you and make your vacation choices easier!

What is the role of the reader?

What me? yes! someone who may have stumbled upon this page, someone who may have been told about this resource from a friend, for some odd reason you find yourself here reading this sentence hmmm. Well I hope that my experiences bring out old memories of a city you once visited or perhaps it will motivate you to create your next destination. Travel experiences bring about an incredible sense of joy, perhaps more so than any tangible material can give us. I want to help you find cities that you may have never thought about visiting before. I want to help you plan the perfect trip. The goal is to takeaway some of the stress of planning a trip.

Why is it called "Of Rice and Cities"?

First I should explain the name "Of Rice and Cities" it’s a funny name and of course it is inspired from the classic book "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. It is known that Steinbeck was inspired from a poem by Robert Burns called, "To A Mouse" The poem describes the life of a mouse being drastically changed by a man. Burns writes "The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men  / Gang aft agley," (The best schemes planned by Mice or Men, often go amiss). In brief, the story is about George and Lennie, two migrant farm workers who moved around for better job opportunities during the Great Depression. Like the mouse, neither Lennie nor George could have foreseen the drastic turn their lives would take in the stories climax, despite their plans for a their future. Though the novel takes a dark twist, mine stays positive. I like to share how my story is simple and related to the poem. I always felt like my life was planned out almost like destiny, I knew I had to work hard to get where I am today but I never steered away from my path. One day, the opportunity to study abroad came. It was something I never though about and it wasn't something I planned to do during college. My college path was changed when I applied and was accepted to study abroad in the Netherlands. Since then I have continued to travel and grow as an individual. In my case, The best schemes planned by Mice or Men, often change for the better.

What can I expect from future articles?

Food and travel are the main topics of this blog surrounding different cities around the world! I wanted to create a place where food and travel come together "Of Rice and Cities" was born but it does not stop there. Side segment articles will be created such as "Of Rice and Men" were we dedicate specific articles to the male experience where the goal would be to guy-talk, provide advice and support. "Of Rice and Spice" where we can share our food recipes. "Of Rice and Life" perhaps we can share testimonials of people‘s experiences not only about travel but also about life itself and any advice so we can give to young readers and people who love to learn and keep growing as individuals. "Of Rice and Love" imagine a safe place where we can talk about our shared love of food, travel and life. Currently, you can read the college series "Of Rice and Studies" with the recent article detailing the importance of studying abroad. You can expect future articles in this series covering topics such as Greek life and alumni overviews on their Alma Maters such as Harvard, UCLA!

What do I want from this?

I would love to hear feedback! Please email me at ofriceandcities@gmail.com tell me what you like, what you don’t like, what you want to read more about, what I should talk about less and tell me your own experiences. I want to share stories with you, I want to know if you followed my tips and how did it go for you, did you like it? did you enjoy yourself? would you change something? what did you do different? with your help I can build better content. Together we can help others. So yes you are important! I am excited to see what we can do together!