I am excited to share that I passed the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Certification Exam on November 21! The exam has multiple versions. I was surprised that my version had many topics that I did not study much and excluded many topics that I studied for months. I started freaking out during the exam when I did not see topics that I had studied for months. I freaked out because I was concerned that I would not pass again. In order to prepare for the math questions, I memorized that there are 43,560 square feet in an acre and 640 acres in a section. While I did have a floor area ratio (FAR) question, I did not need to use 43,560 square feet in an acre to answer this question. This article from Minnesota shows why FAR is important for real-world planning.
I also studied how to use 640 acres in a section to answer Public Land Survey System (aka Township and Range System) questions but ended up not having any questions on this topic. I think the biggest change in how I studied between my first and second attempts was focusing less on memorizing Supreme Court cases. I received only a few questions about Supreme Court cases on both attempts, so I probably could have passed my first attempt if I had focused less on memorizing Supreme Court cases. While I may never encounter most of the Supreme Court decisions that I studied, I expect to someday encounter what happened in the Dolan v. City of Tigard, Oregon case because I do trail planning. As you may remember, my PSU master’s planning workshop project team actually consulted for the City of Tigard.
Post-Exam Life
It feels weird to have plenty of free time again! I started studying for the exam during summer 2019. I failed the November 2019 exam by two points. Since I wanted to take the exam again while my study strategies were fresh, I was planning to take the May 2020 exam. Unfortunately, Oregon’s COVID restrictions canceled my May 2020 exam. The restrictions also canceled my November 2020 and May 2021 exams. Due to Oregon still having COVID restrictions, I was concerned my November 2021 exam would also get canceled. Thankfully, I was finally able to take the exam on November 21. In case you are wondering, I could have taken the exam remotely. I decided to take the exam at Prometric’s in-person testing site because I read several horror stories from people who took the exam remotely.
While I am still debating whether to pursue more certifications because I am a lifelong learner and feel the need to have a transportation-specific certification, I want to take time to celebrate passing the AICP Certification Exam. Since I pride myself on being able to plan vacations and my parents have told me stories about how I would plan real and imaginary vacations for fun as a kid, I feel embarrassed to admit that I have been struggling to plan a complicated vacation to celebrate passing the exam. I spent over two years studying for the exam, so I feel the need to take a long, complicated vacation that matches the level of effort I put into studying for the exam. Do I need to read my 100th post again and focus on creating a simple vacation plan?
Why Am I Struggling to Plan Car-Free Vacation?
I am going to split my thought processes into international and domestic vacation ideas.
Costa Rica
I first need to decide whether I want to relax or do something active during vacation. I could relax at another all-inclusive resort. I stayed 11 days at RIU’s all-inclusive resort in Mexico last winter. While the resort was relaxing and the food and drinks were tasty, I did not enjoy feeling isolated from downtown Cabo San Lucas. If I am willing to feel isolated again in order to relax and have tasty meals, RIU has all-inclusive resorts in Costa Rica that are not within walking or biking distance of a city. Yes, shuttle companies provide transportation to and from the resorts. I just do not enjoy having to depend on a shuttle company to provide transportation. I want to be able to explore the nearby city without having to depend on a shuttle company to provide transportation. Since I have been told that I focus too much on the bad parts of a plan and need to focus on the positive parts, I am excited about how the shuttle companies provide adventure trips from the resorts so I can experience more of Costa Rica.
Colombia
As I wrote in this 2020 post, I have been wanting to visit Colombia because it is famous for walking, biking, and transit. I want to experience and watch other people using Bogotá’s Ciclovía and TransMilenio Bus Rapid Transit. This 2013 video, which is also below, is one of the ways that Bogotá caught my attention. I actually watched Enrique’s brother, Gil, present a keynote at the 2014 Pro Walk/Pro Bike/Pro Place Conference in Pittsburgh. I also want to experience and watch other people using Medellín’s outdoor escalators, Metrocable, and Tranvía streetcar.
The main reason why I am struggling to decide whether to visit Colombia is my Spanish skills are weak. I struggled to talk with locals in Spanish when I visited Mexico last winter. I would likely need a translator to interview the locals about their experience walking, biking, and riding transit in Colombia. Yes, I get excited about using my vacation to interview people about how they experience transportation. I probably need to lower my expectations. One way to lower my expectations is through doing this two-week Colombia trip, which would provide an English-speaking Colombian host and local experts. While I am concerned that the trip’s very structured itinerary would not provide enough flexibility to fully experience the transportation systems, I can always plan another trip to Colombia.
United States
I want to do my first long-distance, overnight bike tour. I usually just bike in cities during vacations but I want to do something bigger to celebrate passing the exam. Since most of my in-person meetings have been converted to Zoom meetings over the past nearly two years due to the COVID restrictions, I have been in Zoom meetings throughout the COVID restrictions. This means I need to get back in shape before doing a long-distance, overnight bike tour. I now have extra free time to do bike rides in order to get back in shape.
I am not an expert on bike tour companies, so feel free to give me recommendations. The Adventure Cycling Association appears to have the largest variety of tour formats, which I appreciate. Exploring Washington’s San Juan Islands looks awesome but the route is very hilly. I have an extreme fear of heights, so I would be overwhelmed by a hilly route. REI and OneSeed Expeditions have kayak trips in Washington’s San Juan Islands. This would allow me to enjoy the San Juan Islands without being overwhelmed by a hilly bike route. I have to wait until next summer to do a kayak trip. I want to do a vacation this winter!
I found some bike tours happening this winter but most of the companies are focused on fast biking and do not provide low-step bikes. DuVine, which I have never heard of before, actually provides spandex jerseys for everyone on their tours. I am not willing to wear a spandex jersey! Why do US-based companies like DuVine think that the below photo is attractive for bike touring? I would want to get off my bike and walk along a shared street. I would be taking photos of the shared street and checking out the businesses. Why would someone want to ride a road bike on a shared street? Do they plan to leave quickly?
In case you are struggling to visualize the important differences between fast and slow biking, I found the Slow Bicycle Movement‘s graphic helpful. The Slow Bicycle Movement is all about the journey, not the destination. I am focused on finding or planning a bike tour that is focused on slowly enjoying the journey, not the destination. Yes, I plan to also enjoy the destination but I do not want to bike quickly to arrive at the destination. As my 2016 post shows, I have been focused on enjoying the journey for several years.
While I used to ride a men’s bike, I have been riding a low-step unisex bike (US companies call it a women’s bike) for several years. I think riding low-step unisex bikes in Denmark and the Netherlands got me hooked on these bikes. I found the below low-step e-bike on Sojourn’s website. I have never heard of Sojourn before, so I am nervous to proceed with them. Sojourn also provides spandex jerseys for everyone on their tours. Can I not find a US-based bike tour company that does not provide spandex jerseys?!
Future Blog Post
I still have not decided how to celebrate passing the exam! Hopefully, I will be able to share in a future post about what I decided to do. Should I keep trying to plan a long, complicated vacation that matches the level of effort I put into studying for the exam or just do a simple vacation?
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Ray, enjoyed your talk on low-stress mapping at PSU today. I’m from Takoma Park, MD and interested in diving deeper into your assertion that they have some of the best mapping. I was pretty much a “weekend warrior” as a cyclist, but I also bike commuted to SW DC from Takoma Park. Rock Creek was the *only* way to go to avoid annoying red lights, but (as I was a good bit younger, could find “red light timing” that worked for bikes on Piney Branch -> 13th St., NW -> Independence. So I’m interested in what Mont. Co. is doing with red light timing.
Thanks for following up. I believe Montgomery County, MD has some of the best bike mapping work because of this online interactive bike map. I have not found a better website for displaying a Level of Traffic Stress analysis. https://mcatlas.org/bikestress/
Regarding red light timing, you may need to contact Montgomery County staff. I did not work on red light timing when I consulted for Montgomery County. I was focused on planning Capital Bikeshare stations.