Traveling is quite disruptive, especially when you have a family at home, and a lab to run. However, having to travel to incredibly beautiful destinations to meet old friends makes the whole ordeal much more pleasant.

I have just returned to Chicago after a week in Monterey, CA, where I taught a short course on computing at the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. The class was great, and the organizer was my friend Giulio De Leo. I got to spend some time with Giulio and Fiorenza, as well as to interact with an incredibly motivated group of students. I also gave a talk at Hopkins and one at the main campus in Palo Alto. This is what I would see when I went for a run:

[caption id="attachment_419" align="alignnone" width="604"] Monterey at 6:30AM[/caption]

Just before heading to Stanford, I have been in Venezia, Italy, for a school on complex systems, organized by Antonio Trovato, Samir Suweis and our very own Jacopo Grilli. Again, the school was great, and the location---in San Servolo island--- unbeatable: [caption id="attachment\_420" align="alignnone" width="604"][](http://allesinalab.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/sanservolo-e1444521964263.jpg) Sunset in Venezia seen from San Servolo[/caption] These trips energized me a lot, but I am really happy to be home for a good stretch of time!