Confession: I had only seen palm trees once before my March Break on the west coast. In 1998, my father and my friend’s parents yanked us out of school for a few weeks to drive down to Florida.

I was captivated by the weird looking trees. And recently it hit me: I want to go see them again. I want to go somewhere warm for change.

So, California, Arizona, and Mexico happened basically because I wanted to see palm trees. Mission: accomplished. There’s nothing like something completely foreign to remind you you’re far away, somewhere different.

It was jarring to stumble across something familiar, apple trees in bloom. Which were pretty for exactly .004 seconds until my allergies kicked in. Think super allergies, non-stop violent sneezing, itchy eyes that you want to rip out with your fingernails, asthmatic wheezing.

I’ll take palm trees.

The culprit: