A beginning

We leave in an hour on a semester-long sabbatical in London - quite a change from Happy Valley (home of Penn State University), where we've spent the last seven years. I'll be working with my colleague Claire Callender at Birkbeck University of London, and will post more later about my research there. For now my wife Anne Simon, our daughters Rosie and Lena, and I are focused on making sure we haven't missed anything in our approximately 15 pieces of luggage we're taking along with us.

Next stop - Islington, London where we've rented a flat for our stay. More from the other side of the pond after we arrive. I'll be posting about my work (higher education public policy issues, particularly access to postsecondary education), our lives as ex-pats living in London, and our travels and adventures during the sabbatical. And perhaps even beyond.

A note regarding the blog title: The "itinerant" refers not just to the sabbatical, but to other journeys on which I embark. I travel quite a bit, for work as well as for pleasure, so my future postings will be informed by a variety of travel experiences.