Lauren Saxton
BootsnAll Photojournalist
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Lauren's keeping track of what's on for travelers in Eugene, Oregon.
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Lauren Saxton can boast that she began her journalism career early and in a top position. "In the sixth grade I was the editor of my own paper," she says of her entry-level newspaper position. "My paper was called the Wonderland Weekly. It addressed very important issues like the trial of the Knave of Hearts, and a report on the White Rabbit's missing gloves. We even ran an article about a giant sighting in the area."
Although the Wonderland Weekly fizzled with the approach of pegged pants, school dances and Phish tour, Lauren's interest in journalism tucked itself away until college when it popped out and said, "Hey lets go check out Oregon, I hear they have a pretty good journalism school out there."
With that notion in her head Lauren packed everything she owned in her car, kissed her parents and her little red poodle goodbye, and left the beautiful New England foliage, icy Massachusetts winters and any sign of a good bagel behind her.
That was three years ago. Lauren has since packed up her car and headed out onto the open road many times, managing to cover almost every interstate highway North to South and East to West in the continental United States.
"I haven't been to North Dakota, Oklahoma, Michigan, Alaska or Hawaii, but time is on my side," Lauren says of her U.S. travels. "America is a pretty cool place. It is a fantastic playground for travelers, especially those people who may not have a lot of travel experience. Every city and state in America is alike enough to be comfortable and different enough to be interesting."
This outlook comes from a girl who tests a new city by reading the local paper and trying the local bagels. "If the bagels aren't up to par then I test the sushi," Lauren says of her unique rating system. "Of course I am open to trying new things; every place boasts something special from its culture. For example, I willingly trade a bagel with cream cheese for a sopapilla with honey when I visit Santa Fe, and I try to eat a good piece of salmon when I visit Seattle or Portland. Now if they took that fresh northwest salmon and threw it over a cream cheesed bagel, it would be just perfect!"
Lauren's travel experience isn't limited to the United States. She has been fortunate to visit a variety of places with her family and friends and has spent summers in Costa Rica and Israel. "I am lucky my parents have instilled an appreciation of travel in me. There are many places I can't wait to explore," she says.
Lauren hopes to travel to Europe next, but has that idea penciled in to her future schedule right alongside learning to scuba dive and buying a dog or a llama. "These things will definitely happen someday, but not likely soon," she says about her to-do list, which she keeps on-hold while she focuses on her last term as an Oregon Duck.
Look to the left for links to all of Lauren's BootsnAll articles. Also feel free to email Lauren at laurenjudith@yahoo.com.
