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Photo of the Week – Netherlands

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:26:18 +0000

The land of windmills and bikes

This week I bring you a shot hot off the presses – from my current trip in Amsterdam. I felt like this picture captured quintessential Holland quite well; windmills, beautiful clouds, bicycles, and marshland. I took this shot while on a rest break from my own bicycle ride in the countryside near Amsterdam. A gorgeous day to ride into the the breezy, green flatlands.

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If you want to see more travel photography this Friday – then check out Briefcase to Backpack’s Photo Friday!

Growing Up, Growing Scared

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:10:03 +0000

I had all the kids stand up and one by one they sat down…

“If you haven’t been outside of Lincoln, Nebraska – sit down.” I stated.
Everyone remained standing…phew.
“If you haven’t been outside of Nebraska – sit down.”
I lost a couple.
“If you haven’t been outside the United States – sit down.”
They started dropping off rapidly now.
“If you haven’t been outside of North America – sit down.”
There were a meager 4 students left in my nieces 6th grade class of 60.

This is how I started my presentation to the 6th graders at my niece’s school. This wasn’t to embarrass anyone. Instead I then went on to tell them I had been to 34 countries and the first time I ever went out of North America was when I was 30 years old. Clearly, they had time to build up their travel resume; but I wanted to provide some inspiration to do so.

Letters of Thanks

I passed around my passport so they could all see what one looked like; they flipped through it eagerly. I went on to give a photography and activity-laden Power Point presentation about 3 countries I had been to: Vietnam, Nepal, and Mongolia. I compared the countries on their food, transportation, and school/family/home life. At the end, the class had to vote where they’d rather be an exchange student.

Giving this presentation was one of the most ‘non-travel’ rewarding things I did this year. The kids loved it, and I loved teaching them about parts of the world they had never heard of and leaving an impression on them that would fuel their travel desires as students and adults.

I was thrilled when I received a standing ovation at the end and kids came to talk to me in the hall about how much they liked my travel presentation. But the real treat came when I received a package from the teachers with 60 hand-written thank you notes.

I sat up late into the night, as I couldn’t put them down. They were rewarding, funny, and passionate; and peppered with many spelling mistakes. All the notes were brightly colored with stars and rainbows; it reminded me of what it was like to be a kid again.

Some of my favorite excerpts were (I left in the spelling errors for authenticity):

“During that one hour that you were there we learned alot more geography then we were taught the whole year, no joke!”
“I also thought it was pretty cool that you just quit your job to do what you wanted to do. I think that would be fun but challenging to do.”
“You inspired me to do what I like to do, instead of what makes money. Well, you make money but not as much.”
“I think I want to be a nomad to.”
“I never thought that you were a nomad because you have nice clothes and stuff.”
“You are so courageous!”

These were lovely compliments – however my thoughts really lingered on sentences like these:

“I would have liked to live in Vietnam the most. It definally looked like a lot of fun with those motorbikes!”…”and what about them holding all those things on their bikes? If I could do that I’d love it so much.”
“It sounds like fun to try all kinds of different food.”
“I like that they ride motorbikes even though there aren’t any rules.”
“It would be so interesting to visit 34 countries. The beautiful sno-capped mountains in Nepal, the flat, sandy plaines in Mongolia would be so cool to see!”
“Was it fun to have a motorbike? I think it looks really fun to have one.”
“I think it is awesome that you got to live in Vietnam.”
“I think it would be fun to try a whole new lifestyle every day!”
“I think it would be awesome with no traffic laws.”
“It is cool, but gross how you had to eat a rat! But that’s really cool!”

I lingered on the use of words like “awesome”, “cool”, and “fun”. Yes, they screamed youth in all of its glory; but they also made me think about how most kids are fearless. I thought about the comments I would have received if I had given this same presentation to my old work colleagues. I don’t think they would have unanimously thought it was cool and exciting to ride motorbike in chaotic traffic in Vietnam; or eat rat; or live with nomads in the Gobi Desert.

When did life stop being fun and start being scary? Is there a magic age where we start to worry? Where we start to conform? Where we start to be fearful of things that are different instead of embracing them?

I don’t have the answers, but I know that somewhere along the way to adulthood we change; we become scared.

As adults we look before we leap, and kids just leap. My nieces jumped into their swimming pool when it was 65 degrees for the fun and love of swimming. As an adult – who out there would do that?

The whole experience reminded me of why I love to travel and do what I do. I want to bring you another view of the world and hopefully show you that it’s not as scary as you think. I want us all to try to embrace youthful attitude again; be fearless, be open-minded.

Back when I had a home with furniture, I used to have a magnet on my fridge that said “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Try it – it may take hold. It may make you feel like a kid again.

The experience also reminded me of why I love spell-check functionality too! I had to include this one comment from a student as it had me double-over, laughing out loud. I laughed so hard, I felt like I was 11 again!

The teacher even thought it was funny...

Unique Boston Travel Experiences

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:28:49 +0000

Pink sunset over Boston

My first trip to Boston was only 12 years ago. I was 28 and was finally starting to venture out of the ‘safety’ of the Midwest. I was excited to see the city where American history came alive; I wanted to walk the Freedom Trail, see the where all the famous events took place from Boston Common to the North Church to Bunker Hill.

Not only was I interested in the old Boston, but at the time I was interested in the new Boston. Twelve years ago Boston was better known for the setting of the TV show Cheers than the Boston Tea Party. I, like many people, was a big fan of the Cheers gang; I was excited to visit the replica TV show bar.

My style of travel has certainly evolved in the last 12 years and now the thought of going where everyone else goes, or where everyone knows my name is about as exciting as going for a papsmear. With this trip to Boston, I was ready to get off the same ole tourist trail and seek out more unique travel experiences.

Boston is visited by millions each year walking the Freedom Trail, riding on Duck tours, watching the Red Sox, drinking at Cheers Bar, and sampling the famous clam chowder. If you are tired of doing what everyone else does, then it’s time to get off the tourist track…and onto the Ottsworld track to Boston!

Juliet protecting her nest

Duck Tours? See the real swans instead

Why ride a metal car/boat when you can see the real thing? (yes, I know a duck is different than a swan – but they are both birds!) Stop by the Boston Public Garden (near BostonCommon) and you’ll find some lovely swans, named Romeo and Juliet, nesting by the serene lake. Sit and watch the swans build and maintain their nest to keep the eggs safe. Granted – the babies may have hatched by the time you read this – but that’s even more reason to go check out the young ones!

Red Sox? Watch the sand sculpting competition

Skip the green monster and go see the sand monsters instead! Revere Beach in Boston hold a sand sculpting competition each year in mid July. The sand sculptures are evaluated using four categories: (1) degree of difficulty, (2) originality and creativity, (3) quality of sculpting, and (4) overall visual impact – and to the winner goes a $15,000 check…yup – it may not be a million dollar baseball salary – but it’s no small change!

Cheers Bar? See the real brewers at Harpoon Brewery

Who needs Sam the bartender when you have the young tour guides of Harpoon Brewery behind the bar? The Harpoon brewery is located in South Boston at the seaport; an unlikely place for a brewery, but worth the trip. Tours are given on the weekends and only costs $5. The best part of course is the generous tastings you get to do on the brewery tour.

Boston Harbor

Clam Chowdah? Go for some soul…food

Sure, we all know that Boston is known for sea food and especially their famous clam c

howdah. I was also surprised to find a soul food restaurant in the heart of the city called the Hen House. No seafood here, just chicken, waffles, BBQ and greens! Open late and night and delivering to your door you can have the brilliant soulful combination of waffles and fried chicken!

Freedom Trail? Follow the stars to the Southie Trail

Each day thousands of people walk the Freedom Trail, but not far from the Freedom trail lies a real melting pot of ethnicity and architectural landscape – South Boston (aka Southie). This is where the Irish and Italians originally brought their families to settle down into blue collar Boston life. Southie is the scene of many Oscar nominated movies such as Good Will Hunting and The Departed. If you pay close attention as you walk around the South Boston neighborhood, you may even start to pick up that famous Boston accent…leave your r’s behind and fit into the neighborhood!

Break away from the tourist pack and find some new travel experiences in Boston!

View and purchase my best Boston Photography

Photo of the Week – Boston

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:01:00 +0000

Doing something a little different this week and instead of one photo, I’m bringing you a photo walk I did while staying in Boston this summer. I walked around the historic neighborhood of Beacon Hill where cobblestone streets and gas lamps take you back in time. Then I took a wander through the famous Boston Common; a historical gathering spot for all of Boston. The park was bursting with color and some new life this summer! Enjoy!

Gas Lights Burn all day

Cobble Stone Streets of Beacon Hill

Flowers at the Market

Beacon Hill Homes

Bike Beacon Hill

The Grand Lawn of Boston Common

Hanging Trees

Swan Gracing the Lake

Purple Pods

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To view more travel photos this Friday – check out Briefcase to Backpack’s Photo Friday!

Boston has Soul…Food

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:16:44 +0000

I love a well 'connected' waffle!

It was a measly 140 characters that came dancing across my screen and firmly implanted itself it the part of my brain responsible for desire. It happened quickly…before I could even object. Hen House had taken up residence in my brain, and now my desire had to be satiated.

Fried chicken and waffles. Together. As one happy calorie-filled family. I had to have it.

I found a friend, Marty, who was willing to join me in this soul food artery attack in Boston. On one of the hottest days of the year, we met at the Hen House where of course the air conditioner was broken; getting things off to a rough and sweaty start. The inside of the Hen House was simple…very simple. Plastic utensils, plastic plates, and lots of fountain soda graced the counter top; above that was an impressive collection of chicken knick-knacks. The woman behind the counter had a cold, wet towel draped around her neck and looked at me waiting for an order to come out of my mouth. I stood there with an indecisive look on my face, a look the woman behind the counter was all too used to. It was as if she didn’t have any more time to deal with a rookie.

The Hen House was all about decisions…hard decisions.

I stared at the menu board trying to determine what waffle, chicken combination I wanted to try. There were 4 hard decisions to make:

Decisions, Decisions...

I was paralyzed and on top of it was sweating profusely from the lack of air conditioning. I finally gave up and asked the young girl behind the counter what her favorite was. She quickly said banana, honey whipped, maple, tenders…all run together so fast I had to ask her to repeat it. I went with her advice since she was the professional.

After 5 minutes I soon heard my name called and out came a plastic plate with a round waffle on it, a large dollop of butter melting into the little squares of the waffle, and topped with 4 pieces of chicken tenders.

Nice presentation!

I took my plastic utensils and dug in to the sticky, crispy goodness. This unlikely combination was everything I was expecting and more. The silky butter and maple syrup mixture even managed to make me forget about how hot it was in the restaurant! Marty and I both finished our plastic plates and agreed Boston did indeed have soul…food.

To learn more about Boston’s Hen House resaturant serving up soul food into the wee hours of the night, check out their website at TheHenHouseBoston.com One of the niceest developed webs sites I’ve seen for a fun little restaurant. Plus – you can also find the Hen House on Facebook and Twitter!

Can’t get enough food – then hop on over to Wanderlust and Lipstick and check out other food posts for the day!

Southie Trail

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:49:03 +0000

South Boston

When traveling to Boston 80% of the people stick to the Freedom Trail re-familiarizing themselves on stories of American independence while being herded through the heart of the city. However I like to separate from the herd, and that’s just what I did as I explored a neighborhood off the tourist trail, South Boston. Southie, as locals call it, also has its share of patriotism, housing the Irish, Italian, Lithuanian, and Polish American communities. It’s where ethnicities and average income collide, and you’ll never hear an ‘r’ muttered. The Southie city landscape is as diverse as the people who live there; you’ll find seaports, cruise ship parking, warehouse districts, beaches, and old early American architecture. But mainly, you’ll realize that Southie is the blue-collar neighborhood that feeds our Boston stereotypes.

Warehouse District and Seaport

The area is slowly changing from old abandoned buildings to hipster hangouts. Cool bars are now intermixed with graffiti covered buildings; giving is a rough but trendy feel. The ‘cherry on top’ is the ICA Museum (Institute of Contemporary Art) located on the waterfront. If you walk west along the water you’ll move from warehouses to shipping yards and then eventually cruise ship parking. Another gem in the middle of this seaport gruffness is the Harpoon Brewery – a somewhat unlikely place for a brewery, but a great stop in South Boston when you are thirsty.

Warehouse Art?

Island Oasis

Castle Island is the oasis of Southie, providing a family beach, running path, picnic and fishing areas all right in Southie’s backyard. No, there is no castle with great folklore, instead it is a collection of forts built for the sea defense of Boston that make up the ‘castle’. In 360 years of the fort’s existence on the island, there was only 1 hostile action. The rest of the time it was used for training of troops, and as a prison; today it is simply a neighborhood attraction, but only on weekends and Thursday evenings. However the grounds around the fort are perfect for soaking up the sun with a nice sea breeze. Never mind the constant plane traffic; the island is on the flight path for Logan Airport. As you walk the circular path around the island you are not only graced with views of Logan Airport, but you also get nice views of downtown Boston.

Castle Island Beach

East Meets West

The eastern part of Southie is full of young families in remodeled historic homes as gentrification has moved into the neighborhood in full force. However as you walk along the main artery of Southie, Broadway St., you’ll slowly cross into a glimmer of what Southie used to be. As you cross from East Broadway to West Broadway the dog stores disappear and the dollar stores start to appear. You’ll begin to see remnants of old industry and parking lots filled with empty buses. East Broadway is littered with bars, autoshops, and pizza/sub shops. Everything seems to have some sort of Irish name. I found the Gaelic Day Spa (basically nail salon) particularly fascinating, as there was nothing Gaelic about it except the sign; inside it was all Vietnamese women. I wondered if they even understood the word Gaelic.

East Broadway is also dominated by barbershops. I love barbershops, they make me feel like I’m in an actual neighborhood where people talk to each other. Men sit and gossip, socializing with good ole boys. As I walked down Broadway, the network of South Boston good ole boys seems to be strong. You’ll find groups of older men hanging out on the sidewalks socializing; giving you the feeling they have known each other their whole lives.

Industrial Southie

Cultural Pastimes

Smoking, drinking, and gambling – this was the noticeable culture of South Boston. As I walked around Southie the number of people who were outside smoking cigarettes struck me; I sort of felt like I was back in Asia. In addition, no matter what time of the day there were people at the local Irish bars. At 9AM while I walked to the grocery store there were people outside the local pub smoking and plenty of people sitting inside too. Besides drinking and smoking, there were other patterns of activities I witnessed; the corner stores were less store and more lottery sales. I’d go in to get milk and be amazed at the line of people buying lottery tickets. In fact, one of the busiest stores was the Dunkin Donuts that sold donuts on one side and lottery tickets on the other.; a seemingly strange combination, but not for Southie.

Ethnic Treats in Southie

South Boston can provide a unique travel experience for your Boston itinerary. Next time you travel to Boston, consider skipping the Freedom trail for the ‘Southie trail’. It’s less crowded and just as interesting and rich in culture.

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Photo of the Week Egypt

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:39:17 +0000

In the Spotlight – Egypt

I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t even know where this was shot. Sure, I know I was in Egypt in yet another temple, but I had my overdose of temples much earlier in my stay, so I stopped really keeping track. As I wandered around yet another temple I turned around to look for my friend and that’s when I saw this perfectly lit shot.

The ancient Egyptian Gods provided a single ray of light to shine on this lucky man. A natural wonder.

To see more travel photography – check out Briefcase to Backpack’s Photo Friday

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Love Travel, Love Beer, Love Life

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:20:55 +0000

Choices, Choices...

When you travel, your life is enriched in so many ways. Every time I travel to a new country and immerse myself in it, there’s at least one thing from the ‘foreign’ culture I wish I could bring back and add to my own American culture. The concept of pulling the best out of each country and creating a ‘super-country’ is kind of like a Hollywood script – unbelievable. However back in the 80’s 2 young guys taking a gap year backpacking in Europe did just that on a smaller scale; with beer.

Dan and Rich, graduated from Harvard and decided to go out and see the world, or more accurately go out and drink what the world had to offer. After backpacking through Europe, they fell in love with the beer culture, and upon returning to the US, they were disappointed with the beers in America. They did what any other beer lovers with a Harvard degree would do, they got their MBA’s and started Mass Brewing Company producing Harpoon beer.

Kegs

I was surprised to find out that only 1 1/2 miles from where I’ve been staying for the last 5 weeks is the home of Harpoon Beer. Since I’m not from New England, I hadn’t really heard about Harpoon beer before, but was surprised to find out on their website they are one of the largest specialty beer producers in the US and the 3rd largest brewer in New England. I also learned the brewery only runs tours on the weekend, so I decided I would do some ‘traveling’ of my own, and walk the 1 ½ miles to the brewery for the $5 tour.

I didn’t need a map, all I had to do was follow my nose – to the smell of fish. The brewery is located in the Marine Industrial Park and seaport of South Boston. As I walked away from all of the cute little row houses of Southie, my surroundings quickly changed to long square-box buildings in various forms of disrepair. This also seemed to be the area where all of the bus charters came to rest when they weren’t chartered. Amidst this collection of warehouse buildings, buses, construction, and a fishy odor stood Harpoon Brewery. I looked at my watch before I entered; it was noon, perfect, it was officially ok to be drinking beer.

At Harpoon you enter and exit through the giftshop. The good news is that the giftshop is not only full of gifts, but full or an amazing collection of beer cans. I could have stared at that wall for hours reminiscing about beers I used to drink, or beers my dad used to drink. They actually had a can of Red White and Blue beer. That beer used to grace the garage of my childhood home; case after case. No, we weren’t a patriotic beer drinking family, we were a cheap beer drinking family. Soon they were calling me for the 12:30 tour and I was jolted out of my beer memories, and into the world of modern day brewing.

Golden Pour

I paid my $5, showed my id and was ready to start learning about Harpoon brewing. As our small group entered the brew floor, I immediately noticed the company slogan painted on the wall of the brewery – Love Beer, Love Life, Harpoon. Not a bad motto. The tour provided the usual info on the brewing process; ingredients, mash, filtering, fermentation, bottling, and shipping. It was all great stuff told by young kids that barely looked 21 (seriously – did someone check their id?) but were clearly enthusiastic about Harpoon beer.

As we entered the fermentation area, we learned we were surrounded by 40,000 gallons of beer; I was in good company. They handed us each a small tasting glass and with a quick flash of a blowtorch, the guide sanitized one of the spouts of the huge fermentation tanks and started draining out unfiltered beer into pitchers for us to taste. We finished the tour with the kegging and bottling process and since our glasses were empty, headed back of the pièce de résistance– the tasting room.

I’ve been to my share of brewery tours, bourbon tours, and wine tastings but Harpoon had to be the most generous tastings I’ve ever done. Armed with out little tasting glasses, we had the choices of 12 different beers on tap and about 20 minutes to taste whatever we wanted. My college drinking gene somehow was awakened inside of me and I bellied up to the bar and plotted out my course of tastings. I’d start with the classic IPA, move to the variety of unfiltered beers, sample the cider, and then to the dark stuff.

From Another World

The tour guide bartenders had heavy hands when it came to pouring and my little tasting glass never went empty. The UFO beers (Un-Filtered Offerings) were some of my favorites. The UFO White was a distinct nod to Belgian beers with it’s spiced wheat flavor served with an orange, and the UFO Raspberry was a refreshing summer beer that even looked pink in the glass. However my favorite was the Harpoon Dark which reminded me of coffee; a mixture of coffee and beer is kind of like a little slice of heaven to me. I drank and drank while the young tour guides socialized and threw a few back themselves (a job with perks!).

All good things come to an end unfortunately. I found myself outside the brewery with an incredible beer buzz at 1:30PM. My inner college student was happy, but my mature 40 year old mind was telling me that I better get some food in my body quickly! I walked out of the smelly seaport area, into a hip warehouse district, and found myself the perfect cheeseburger. I of course ordered a Harpoon pint to go with it.

The Harpoon Beer story is just yet another story of how travel makes the world a better place. So what are you waiting for – get out there and go explore the world! You never know what you will find!

Tasting Room

What things have you seen in your travels that you’d like to bring back to America to infiltrate our culture?

The Facts:
Harpoon Brewing Company
306 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210
Tours held on the weekend only, no reservation necessary. Tastings done daily.
Website: http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/

Itinerary Update – Boston to Europe

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 04:44:28 +0000

Greetings from New England!

It’s time for a little Sherry update. I try not to do these too often so that I can remain a mystery and therefore more interesting…but here goes – the mystery is revealed in a short post.

Waiting for the fireworks in Boston

Where am I now?

I’ve been in Boston now for 5 weeks house-sitting and haven’t really written a thing about it.
Bad, bad, travel blogger.
My lack of Boston writing has been due to my lack of Boston activities. I’m not looking for pity, but it’s simply a fact. I’ve kind of chosen not to go out much because I took the opportunity to work on some other writing/website projects. However all of this online, inside time has taken its toll. I lack a nice bronze summer tan and I’ve been through a bottle of eye drops already thanks to staring at this screen.

My pale skin and dry eyes are because my other project, Meet Plan Go!, is coming along nicely. I’m working harder than I ever have…but the difference is that I’m absolutely loving it. It’s amazing that when you start working for yourself, how much more fun work becomes. It’s exhilarating, scary, and challenging…and it’s for me.

My Virtual World

Brian, Amy, and I drinking patriotic beers on the 4th.

I attended the Travel Blog Exchange Conference in NYC at the end of June. This was a chance for my virtual life to collide with my physical life as I met online travel friends I’ve known for 2 years, but never shook their hand or gave them a hug. The collision resulted in a Super Nova of travel blogging goodness. It also made me realize once again that I really do love what I’m doing.

I’ve had more virtual/physical world collisions lately as I spent the 4th of July with my longtime online friends and Ottsworld enthusiasts, Brian, Amy, and Marty. I totally believe in the fact that you can meet people and make friendships online. After meeting Amy in person after conversing with her for over a year and a half online, it was like meeting a long lost friend. Everything clicked. And to top it off – it not only clicked, but it banged…with a great fireworks display along the Charles River in Boston!

Where Next?

Heading to the flower capital of the world!

I’ve also been working on some of my upcoming travel plans. They are still rather fuzzy to share everything, however my next immediate move is to head to Europe at the end of July for the month of August! I haven’t been to Europe since 2007, so I’m pretty excited to get across the pond again; especially since the Euro has tanked a bit.

I’ll be hitting two brand spankin’ new countries for me – Netherlands and Belgium. Hard to believe that I’ve never been to Amsterdam, but finally I’ll be setting foot in that eclectic city full of art, and freedom of expression. I’m even going to try couch surfing for my first time ever in Amsterdam., so expect more info on that shortly.

I’m also continuing my house-sitting gigs as I house-sit for a family in Brussels for 1 month. I’m loading up on my allergy pills and taking care of 3 cats while exploring Brussels and the surrounding cities and countries via the fabulous European train system. My two priorities in Brussels are chocolate and beer – the rest is just icing on the cake.

NYC to Midwest

I’ll be back in the NYC in September to kick off Meet, Plan, Go! in 13, yes – 13 cities across the country. I’ll spend the fall in the midwest house-sitting while I work on launching a product after Meet Plan Go that will hopefully be just as amazing as the event itself – stay tuned for that announcement!

That brings me to November – then what?

The Big Bang of Boston

Well, all I can say is that I will be dusting off the passport again for some grand new adventures in new parts of the world; I promise you it won’t disappoint!

On a happiness quotient – it’s over the top. I realize that as I am coming up to my 4 year anniversary of leaving Corporate America (that deserves a few fireworks!), I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I’ve completely transformed my life; something that I didn’t even think was possible.

But it is…

With a little time, determination, perseverance, and lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, it is possible to move yourself in a whole new direction.

Before I head to Europe, I’m determined to bring you Boston over the next few weeks! So – stay tuned to learn about my experiences in the ‘mother city’ of America!

Photo of the Week – World Cup Fever

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:50:27 +0000

Balancing Act

Balancing Act – Rome, Italy

I don’t know how it happened, but I’ve been transformed into a football fan. Yes, that’s right, I said football, not soccer; just to prove how authentic the transformation is. With the World Cup championship coming up this weekend, I felt like I better give this new love of mine visibility on my Photo of the Week. One of the constants as I travel and live around the world was the presence of the beloved game of football. From Thailand to Turkey to Italy to Kenya – it is the world’s sport.

I snapped this shot in a park in Rome. Teenage boys were walking on one of the many paths and this one decided to show off some skills. Who knows – maybe he’ll play in the World Cup one day…

To see more photography from Rome, visit my Global Photography website where you can view and purchase photography from around the world.

To see more travel photography check out Briefcase to Backpack’s Photo Friday or to see more World Cup photography check out Wandering Educators World Cup photo of the week.

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High Tech meets Old Fashioned in San Francisco

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 04:42:18 +0000

This is why they call it the Golden Gate?

While in San Francisco I had the opportunity to go out to a number of new places. Let’s face it, when you are abroad for 1 ½ years, everything is new to you. When my friend David mentioned going to a speakeasy, I was confused; did I hear him correctly – a speakeasy?

He quickly got on his iphone and started surfing the web. A few minutes later he showed me the screen which read,
Your password is sugardaddy

“Remember that password” he said. “I made a reservation for 9:30.”

“Ummm, ok. ” I replied a bit confused.

As we hung out and waited for our 9:30 reservation, he told me about the new speakeasy in San Francisco. ‘New’ and ‘speakeasy’ didn’t really seem to belong together in 2010, but I had been living outside of the US for a while, so maybe this wasn’t as strange as it sounded.

Apparently this secretive place had a lot of rules and some really strong drinks. You could only get in with the password (which thanks to a computer algorithm was constantly changed) and you could get inside only at the prescribed reservation time. I was intrigued. I love new takes on the old (i.e. Shirley Bassey – The Remix Album… Diamonds Are Forever CD); modern technology meets old ways of doing things. That’s why I loved this idea of a speakeasy with web access. The only way you could make a reservation and get a password was by going to their website as a member and filling out the appropriate info. They generated a password and electronically provided it to you. A far cry from the 1920’s; but a really cool take on an old way of doing something.

We hurried through the dimly lit streets of the Tenderloin neighborhood to a big wooden door with a silver button and intercom. The building had no windows and it looked extremely plain which made it blend in with the surrounding dismal buildings. We rang the bell and you could hear a little electronic buzzer go off inside. A little window peephole opened up and two eyes were staring back at us.
“What’s the password?” the eyes said
“Sugardaddy” I said

The window peephole closed, we heard a lock turn, and the door opened…we were in!

Inside it was dark with burgundy and wood décor giving it a warm, old feeling. Old chandeliers hung from the ceiling and little intimate booths lined the walls with individual lamps creating a soft glow on each table. The music was crackly jazz with piano accompaniment. The atmosphere was clandestine and the place oozed character.

The rules were posted on the wall and went something like this:
No using cell phones
No pictures
No speaking loudly
No standing around the bar

…and that’s honestly all I could remember since I was not allowed to use my cell phone or camera to take notes of the rest!

Tastey Bourbon

The waitress took us to a booth and provided us with a menu that resembled a novel. There was a modern twist on old liquors making reading the menu a pleasure; I never knew that bourbon could be used in so many ways! The waitress was dressed in a funky 1920’s hat with a feather in it and called everyone ‘friends’. She brought us over a small champagne cocktail while we looked over the extensive drink menu; she knew that it may take a while for us to decide. Eventually she sauntered over and asked, “Friends, what can I get you tonight?”

As we sat and sipped our strong bourbon drinks from martini glasses, I noticed a waitress take a group of people through the bookshelf behind our booth. Yes, that’s right; this speakeasy even had hidden rooms. If one were to move the book on the shelf just right, the shelf opened up to a door and led you into yet another bar area.

In some weird way I felt like I was in an adult Disneyland. Someone had meticulously created this environment as a very authentic step back into time. I felt as if I were in another world; a foreign experience in my own country. But it wasn’t foreign from a culture standpoint, it was foreign from a history standpoint which is what really made it unique to me.

I can hardly wait to log into the website, get another password, and go back again next time I’m in San Francisco. Now, you may be wondering why I haven’t told you the name of the place or the location….duh…it’s a secret! Unless of course you provide me the secret password in the comments below…then I might give up the location!

Saying goodbye…

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 04:54:00 +0000

Leaving for my career break 2006

At the end of my career break travels 2008

In Memorandum – Saying goodbye to a dear friend

My throat immediately tightened and my swallowing became slow and laborious. I could feel the familiar sting in my eyes and my abdominal muscles contracting into a knot. I was going to cry; dammit, I was going to cry! I tried to hold back the tears, but somehow it made it hurt more. I took one last look at my dear friend, gently ran my fingers down the back remembering all of the fond memories, and turned around and left; knowing I’d never see my friend again.

After 4 years of living out of my Eagle Creek suitcase, our relationship was over.

Sure, there were signs of it aging now for some time, but I chose to ignore them. The Eagle Creek label was the first thing to fall off, but I didn’t need to label to recognize my old, loyal friend. Next it was scarred a few times, but the durable fabric never actually was punctured. It was tattooed with stickers from various customs and security agents, making it completely beautiful and unique in my eyes. The extractable pull-handle started sticking a year ago; but I knew how to wiggle it just right to make it work.

When the zipper that held the daypack on to the bigger backpack broke, I knew it wasn’t a good sign, but I still wasn’t willing to give up on it. There are always rough times in a relationship, and I knew we could get through this zipperless bump in the road. I simply used the nylon straps to secure the daypack instead.

The broken wheel... 4 years of nonstop travel mileage on that wheel...it held in there as long as it could!

Occasionally the other zipper would get off it’s track, but I was always able to fix it; a labor of love. However, the day when the one of the two wheels fell off – I knew it was the end. I had to put it out of its misery and put it down.

Down in the garbage room of my friend’s apartment.

I remember when I first got it. I must have talked to the REI salesperson for at least an hour trying to pick the exact right pack solution for my upcoming around the world travels in May of 2006. The salesman and I filled the pack with heavy weights and put it on my back to see if it would be comfortable. I walked around the store to test it out. I was nervous about the decision to let it into my life, but that was to be expected. This was my first big career break trip I was ever taking in my life. I was full of nervous excitement for the 6 months leading up to my career break departure.

When I brought it home and put it in my bedroom I would look at it every day trying to get my head around the idea that in 4 months I would be living out of this lovely aqua blue bag every day; this thought terrified me. How would I ever fit everything into it? How would I downsize my life enough to make this work?

I did my test packing a month before and realized it would never work. I had to downsize more. I did. It worked. Soon I found myself in Penn Station with my beautiful new bag ready to depart on my adventure of a lifetime…just me and my Eagle Creek bag.

At the beginning of this epic journey, I had no idea how much of a fixture this bag would become my life. This is why today, as I had to leave it, I felt like I was abandoning it. I thought about everything it carried for me, how it never got lost (a miracle!), how it always stood out in a crowd, and how when I asked and pleaded really nicely, it would fit one last impossible thing inside and still allow me to zip it up.

Oh – the memories.

The final resting place...

Goodbye dear friend, I will remember you forever as you will always be my first around the world bag. Thanks for the memories.

You can find my more formal review of the Eagle Creek Switchback for extended travel on Briefcase to Backpack.

This means I’m in the market for a new bag – can anyone hook me up?! Help a nomad out!

Photo of the Week – Langkawai, Malaysia

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 05:11:36 +0000

Unsettled Seas – Langkawi, Malaysia

I did something a bit different this week, I asked you what you wanted to see for Photo of the Week. Actually, I asked my Twitter followers what they wanted to see this week! They had the choice of Kids, Action, Landscape, or Gory Photo topics; Landscapes overwhelmingly won out! Never mind the fact that I chose a beachscape as opposed to a landscape shot…

Experience sunny Langkawi, Malaysia. Tourists flock to the stunning beach in northern Mayalsia; however even in paradise there are storms. You can’t escape Mother Nature! This storm quickly rolled in as I was taking a beach walk. The waters were full of energy and the sky grew dark; needless to say – it rained pretty hard moments after this shot.

Read about my Langkawi travel experiences.

To view more travel photos, check out Photo Friday at Briefcase to Backpack or Delicious Baby.

Want to vote on the next weeks category? Follow me on Twitter -> @Ottsworld

Have a great 4th of July!

SmugMug.com – Serving up crisp, clear photos – without the side of Spam.

Foodies Get Fresh – San Francisco

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:43:33 +0000

The Ferry Building at Sunrise

The air was crisp and the fog slowly dissipated as each minute ticked forward; a typical San Francisco morning. The cityscape in front of me was displayed in shades of gray, but the tower still stood out. A beacon on the San Francisco waterfront, the Ferry Building clock tower draws people in from all parts of the city on Saturdays. It calls out to health-minded Californians with its organic vegetables and fruit; the best that Northern California farms have to offer.

The building opened in 1898 and served as the transportation hub for the West coast. The clock tower reaches 245 ft. tall and is the focal point of the waterfront. It was modeled after a 12th century bell tower in Seville Spain.

Brussel Sprouts in Season

However, the ferry building wasn’t able to change with the times and eventually was left behind when the car became a common fixture for Americans. In recent years though it has been saved, given a facelift and new purpose. Even though it is still sits at the site where all major transportation meets in San Francisco (BART, MUNI, and Ferry), it no longer serves as a transportation hub; instead it serves as a food hub.

After a major renovation it reopened as the place for foodies to come together. The market offers produce and flowers from small regional farmers and ranchers, many of whom are certified organic. A wealth of other products include regional artisan specialties such as breads, cheeses and jams.

Only the best from Northern California

This Saturday morning my friend and I joined the other 10,000 people that regularly attend the farmers market and picked through the best foods farmers had to offer. I was most surprised by the amount of organic products; more than anything California is all about healthy living and this was just the icing on the cake…or should I say the organic honey on the tofu!

We had arrived early in the morning as stands were still being set up and owners were preparing for a busy day of seeing their regular customers. We wandered around the inside of the historic building sipping our Blue Bottle coffee which came highly recommended to me from my Facebook friends who quickly mandated that I stop for a cup of coffee there when I had updated my status with my Ferry Building whereabouts. As I walked through the cheese shops, bakeries, and chocolate stores sipping my coffee, I could hear my stomach growling; it echoed through out the big open, acoustic hall. We went out back to see the vendor stands and eat some much needed breakfast.

Delicious San Francisco Breakfast

Not only do they sell produce out back and in front of the Ferry Building on Saturdays, but there are also stands that sell prepared food. I was overjoyed when my friend suggested that we have this amazing concoction of Mexican breakfast; corn tortillas, salsa, avocado, beans, and eggs. We found a seat on a bench overlooking the Bay Bridge and savored our Mexican breakfast while the foodies bustled around us carrying their reusable shopping sacks and a street entertainer played Beatles songs on his flute. A perfect, relaxing San Francisco morning.

After breakfast we walked around more shops and purchased jams and salsas. In addition to fresh produce and restaurants in the building, there are also a few stores. I found these bags which were made in Vietnam and for fun checked out the price tag. I had to chuckle to myself when I saw the tag read $34, when I know exactly where you can buy this same bag in Saigon for $5! Oh – I should have been in the export business!

Bay Bridge

The morning turned into noontime as the fog slowly began to lift and the sun started burning through. The Ferry Building was slowly waking up this early Saturday morning and I was thrilled to watch it, and taste it, come to life!

Farmers Market Runs on
Tuesday: 10am–2pm Thursday: 10 am – 2pm Saturday: 8am-2pm
Learn more about the Ferry Building History at http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/

If you’d like to read more about food today – check out WanderFood Wednesday at Wanderlust and Lipstick for more tantalizing food stories!

Travel in Style and Save the Environment

admin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:15:13 +0000

Is your travel gear hurting the environment?

Next time you are in line at airport security take a look around you. How many people have those little zip lock bags with their fluids tightly tucked away inside? Are YOU carrying a zip lock bag? Do you keep the plastic bag and reuse it after the trip, or do you throw it away and use a new one for your next trip? If you are like most travelers, you probably discard it and get another for your next trip.

CAMENAE Travel Clutch - Stylish AND kind to Mother Nature!

It’s bad enough that oil is still gushing in the Gulf, however you can do your small part for Mother Nature when you travel; throw away those zip lock bags once and for all! Instead, consider using a durable carry-on for your liquids; a CAMENAE Travel clutch.

Designed to FAA/TSA flight carry-on security regulations – so you no longer have to use and throw away zip lock bags!

Lady Luck meets Mother Nature!

Briefcase to Backpack is giving you the chance to win your own CAMENAE Travel Clutch this week! Go to Briefcase to Backpack to enter, read the simple entry requirements, enter before July 5th, and hope that Lady Luck is on your side.

I have been working as a consultant for CAMENAE for the past 2 years, so yes, my opinion is probably biased, however that doesn’t change the fact that eliminating plastic bag usage is the right environmentally friendly thing to do. However you choose to do it is fine with me, I’m merely providing you a suggestion…and a chance to win a FREE one!

Read the Briefcase to Backpack story of how I found my CAMENAE consulting job while traveling around the world on a career break.

Photo of the Week – Milford Track

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 04:30:53 +0000

Colorful Carpet - Milford Track New Zealand

The Milford Track (Kiwi speak for hike) is called the most beautiful hike in the world. It received this accreditation when an English journalist walked it and wrote about her journey titling it “Milford Track, Possibly the Most Beautiful Walk in the World”. Her editor looked at it and crossed out the word “Possibly”. After that Frommers, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides as well as many marketing brochures has used the quote to describe it.

I hiked this 3 day 32 mile trek in November of 2006; certainly one of the most beautiful walks in the world! Waterfalls and colorful landscapes surrounded us making one feel that they had been transported to another world.

Like what you see? View and purchase my other New Zealand photography!

SmugMug.com – Serving up crisp, clear photos – without the side of Spam.

Tiger Balm Tales E-book – Annapurna Circuit with my Father

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 04:55:00 +0000

Dad and I being welcomed to Nepal

Father’s Day was last Sunday; what better time to reflect upon my recent travels with my father.

Last October I traveled to Nepal to hike the Annapurna Circuit with my 73 year old father. We hiked for 21 days with many ups and downs…quite literally. I blogged about each step of that journey here on my website. However I feel like I put so much into that writing that I wanted to offer it to my readers (or whomever is interested!) in a non-blog format!

My first e-book is here – the Tiger Balm Tales from beginning to end with a few pictures in between.

The book is great for anyone who:

Will be hiking the Annapurna circuit and wants more info on what to expect
Enjoys heartwarming stories of family travel
Has ever considered traveling with their parents
Loves hiking in general

Download the Free ebook now!

It’s in pdf format – so you can simply download the file and read it at your leisure on your computer, your ipad, your Kindle, or whatever device you read on these days. Heck – you can even print it off if you like the feel of paper between your fingers!

It’s completely FREE – I simply wanted to provide it to my readers to give something back. However, I would of course appreciate it if you continued to support me and my other online travel ventures by:

Signing up for my newsletter

Following Briefcase to Backpack on Facebook

Checking out Meet, Plan, Go!

At the end I’ve also added a resource section for those who are looking for information on doing the hike themselves. However, I will also give it a a plus here. The trip wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing planning done by my friend Giri and his company. He organized everything for us and treated us like a part of his family in the end. I can’t say enough good things about our experience using Nepal Tourism Company.

Click here to Download the Tiger Balm Tales

Planning a trip to Nepal? Please consider utilizing Giri’s services:
Giri Gurung
Nepal Tourism
www.nepaltourismtravels.com.np
Kathmandu Office – Nurshing Chowk, Thamel 17
+977-1-426-1114

My Virtual Life

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:18:19 +0000

Virtual and Physical Worlds Collide at TBEX!

This week, my virtual life is going to collide with my physical life…and I’m a bit nervous.

Will it be a supernova or a black hole?

What if the physical me isn’t as interesting and likeable as the virtual me?

This weekend in New York City not only will the city be welcoming gay men and women from all over the world for Gay Pride, but Chelsea will also be welcoming Travel Bloggers from all over the world for the 2nd annual Travel Bloggers Exchange Conference (TBEX). I’ve been looking forward to this conference ever since I returned to America in December. In fact, it’s the only thing in 2010 that I have actually planned in my life more than 2 weeks in advance.

I’m excited to go learn more about travel blogging. However since I’ve been doing it for 4 years now…yes it’s been 4 years…I kinda feel like a veteran. I choose the word veteran carefully; I didn’t say that I know everything, because I certainly don’t! But what I’m really excited about is to meet people that I’ve known virtually now for 3 years!

As a blogger, world traveler, and expat; I spend a lot of time online. In fact, I actually studied this one day and came to the conclusion that on an average day, 85% of my interactions in a day (including ones with the bus driver and grocery store clerk) are with people I’ve never physically met. Yet these are all people that I refer to as ‘friends’.

How did I get caught up in this virtual world? Did I take the blue pill and end up in the ‘Online Travel Matrix’ on accident?

My form of communication

No, I did it for sanity. When I quit my job and started traveling all of my friends and family followed along and kept in touch. As my traveling lifestyle has now gone on for 4 years – they’ve lost interest and have a lot of trouble relating to the blogging world which I live in. It’s not corporate, there are no cubes or business deals happening, there are no 401k’s. None of my old existing friends in the corporate retail world can relate to my world now. They may be interested in it – but can’t relate. So when I talk about extended travel, blogging or twitter, they lose interest. That’s completely fine – I don’t blame them. After all, I’ve kind of lost interest in their world of 9 to 5.

I found when you change careers or direction, you need to surround yourself by people who can relate to your new direction so that you have a peer group. That’s why my interactions are virtual…my peer group is also online scattered throughout all corners of the globe. They understand what my days are like because they are living the same life.

So why am I excited and nervous about meeting my virtual peers?

It’s kind of like online dating, which I did my share of in NYC when I lived there. I wonder if I’m representing myself truthfully. What if they expect me to be funny and they don’t know that many times it takes me a long time to be funny…I often have to sit and think about being funny. What if they expect me to be smart(er than I am). After all, I often have to look things up and research them writing them. (truth be told I had to research which pill Neo took to enter the Matrix – I don’t pull this stuff from the top of my head!) What if they expect me to be younger…then again – I’ve never lied about my age online; yet I’d like to! What if they expect me to be taller? I guess I could put on heels if that’s the case.

You get the picture…there are lots of virtual expectations that I’m worried about living up to.

This goes the other way too…what if the people I’ve known for years online and talk to everyday aren’t what I expected? Sometimes it’s nice to simply live behind the cloak of a keyboard and craft your life one keystroke at a time. But the cloak comes off on June 25th – for better or for worse. I’m still super excited about meeting everyone…I just hope I’m what they expected!

Then again, it’s no different than traveling. You have expectations about a certain country and then you get there and they are blown away – sometimes negatively and sometimes positively.

I guess if the physical me is feeling inferior to the virtual me, I will just have to go down the street and join the gays…they’ll accept me no matter what!

I’m excited about meeting everyone, but some people I’m really, really excited about meeting:
Craig and Linda from the Indie Travel Podcast – I’ve been working with them for 2 ½ yrs now in various capacities – all virtually.
Lisa Lubin of LL World Tour – Our virtual relationship has been short, but I feel like she’s me…our paths are quite similar
Barbara from Hole in the Donut – How I love Barbara and her wonderful writing. I’ve spent hours on skype with her but have never been able to give her a hug!
Anil from Foxnomad – I have a little celebrity complex with Anil. I have so much respect for what he does and the information he puts out on his multiple websites! He puts out some of my favorite and most useful content in the travel space.
Gary from Everything Everywhere – he’s bigger than life on the internet…so I’m intrigued to what I’ll find in person.
I’m also really excited to meet all of the Meet Plan Go hosts attending TBEX. I’ve been conversing with them daily in my virtual world: Jeff Jung, Janice Waugh , Sonia Zamborsky, Michael Tieso, and Teresa Gotay.

If you are going to TBEX this week – who are you excited to meet?

Photo of the Week – Morocco

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:36:04 +0000

Tough Stain – Fes Morocco

This isn’t what you think. This man is holding silk thread and is in the process of dying it a bright red color. I took this photo while I toured around the most miraculous medina in Morocco. Here’s my excerpt of my fist impressions:

The moment you entered the big arched gateway you inhaled the smell, taste and sound of the markets. We were surrounded by the sounds of people and music, we could smell the rich spices intermixed with the smell of olives, and your eyes were entranced by the rich colors and textures that surrounded you. I think I honestly walked for the first 20 minutes with a dumb stare on my face as I took it all in.

I loved Fes…a truly cultural experience – and a treasure trove of photography.

What to expect in a Vietnamese Restaurant

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:14:08 +0000

Eating in Vietnam

Going out to eat at a restaurant is easy, right?
…not always.

Often when you find yourself in other countries, even though there’s a waiter, a table, you are putting food in your mouth, and there’s a bill – there are many things that can be vastly different. As I lived in Vietnam there were many little differences I noticed every time I went out to eat. Most of these things confused me at first, but most all of them I grew to love….really love. Now as I’m back in the US for a while, I miss these Vietnamese restaurant oddities!

If you are traveling to Vietnam, here’s a few things you can expect when going to eat in a restaurant – consider this pre-travel preparation!

It's safe to drink!

Drink the Water!

Yes, you CAN have ice in your drinks; and most of the time you can drink the water in restaurants. I know this seems strange, as every guidebook tells you not to drink the water or have ice. However, I lived there for a year crunching on the ice cubes and drinking the water they put in my glass at restaurants and was never sick.

There’s more than just luck and a strong stomach involved…the ice in Vietnam is frozen at a central plant before being distributed to restaurants, bars and street stands. The water that is used for the ice is filtered and pure, meaning you can enjoy cold drinks and fruit juices (even from street vendors) without worry about your health.

In the restaurants which cater to expats (most all in District 1) filtered water is always used. No one is bringing you water straight from the tap. At least they never did while I was there. I know this can be a hard thing to believe – as all of the guidebooks say don’t drink the water (or ice), but they are referring to drinking water straight from the tap; not the ice or the restaurant water. Ultimately though, the choice is up to you.

May I take your Order?

Be prepared, the waiter will stand by you as you read the menu hovering over you until you tell them what you want. They don’t bring the menu and then walk away; they stay there… and wait. Don’t let this phase you, take your time. If you think they are annoyed by your indecision, then realize that it’s you projecting your concerns onto them. They don’t mind waiting, they aren’t in a hurry!

Eat while it's hot!

Can you spare a Square?

Napkins are seldom provided. Instead you get a ‘wet wipe’ that you end up paying for if you read the details of the bill. Don’t worry, the cost if minimal…a few pennies. For real fun be sure to pop your wet wipe baggy really loudly…it’s customary!

Cold Beer Here!

If you order a beer, it will come with ice….and yes, you can drink it (see the first point). If you don’t want ice in your beer, then you specifically need to ask for beer without ice. However, unless you like your beer warm…I suggest trying it with ice!

Ms. Manners Never Went to Vietnam

Food is delivered to your table as it’s ready. It doesn’t sit in the kitchen until the whole table’s food is ready and then brought out. If the food is ready, then it’s put in front of you. It doesn’t matter if the other people you’re with ordered something at the same time. This also means that it’s totally acceptable NOT to wait for everyone to get their food before you start eating. Else you may be waiting a long time! It’s customary for you to start eating when the food is put in front of you. Throw your manners out the window in Vietnam.

Bill Charades

You always have to ask for the bill. You can sit there for hours and hours, but until you actually ask for the bill (or in my case, motion for the bill as if you are playing charades), it will never come. You will not feel rushed, in fact many times you will think they completely forgot about you and you may have to find them to get your bill.

Table for 5?

Table for 6

You often get seated at what seems to be too small of a table for the amount of people in your party. There will be enough chairs – but you might not be able to all fit around the table. This is normal. It’s normal because in Vietnam you seldom get a plate; there are no place settings in front of you. Instead you get a small little rice bowl and a set up chopsticks. You take the rice bowl off the table and cup in your hand. The food you ordered is on a big plate placed in the middle of the table. You reach to the middle with your chopsticks and grab a bit of the food that you ordered and put it into the rice bowl on top of the rice. While holding the rice bowl underneath your chin, you shovel the food in with the chopsticks. Therefore you never really need to set down your rice bowl ON the table and don’t need much table space!

Put your calculator away

You absolutely don’t need to tip. Don’t let your western guilt take over.

Happy to share my food learnings, but if you want to read about other things I learned in Vietnam, check out my Vietnam Learnings post.

What have your experiences been with eating in Vietnam? Any great stories to share?

Still hungry? Then stop on by WanderFood at Wanderlust and Lipstick for more great food stories!

Building an Empire – One Day at a Time

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:03:02 +0000

When I was a kid I used to have a vivid imagination and would always beg people to play in my imaginary world. I would play library, school teacher, office (my personal favorite); I think I was a natural builder of empires, whether they be books, homework, or filing.

However, recently I’ve had the pleasure of taking my ‘play’ dreams and slowly making them come true one day at a time…I’m building an empire of career breakers,one day at a time.

How does one learn how to build a real empire? They go to the Caesar himself, Chris Guillebeau.

Slowly I’ve been dipping my toe into the online lifestyle/travel guru world and it didn’t take me long to find Chris Guillebeau’s Art of Nonconformity website where he writes about how to not be average in life. Not only does he speak eloquently on the benefits of not conforming, but he’s also a marketing, lifestyle product, launch, and travel guru. I’m not sure that he puts all of that on his business card though!

One fascinating thing about Chris is that he has a goal to travel to every country in the world before he’s 35. I love lofty goals, and I love following his progress on this in his newsletters and blog posts.

So – we’ve established, Chris is a cool guy with a lot of cool ideas, and if you haven’t read any of his work, then you are missing out. You can get a taste for it at his website – The Art of NonConformity – and check out his most popular articles on the bottom right. That will provide enough motivation for the next month at least.

One day at a time!

However I recently signed up for one of his products called the Empire Building Kit (EBK) where he provides you one lesson a day (via email) on how to build your own lifestyle business.

EBK was only available for 24-hours during both of the earlier launches. However, on June 16, 2010, it’s finally going to be released it into the wild, where it will be available on a long-term basis. Chris offers 3 different pricing levels with different benefits; I am doing the Hail Caesar EBK and feel that it is just right for what I was looking for.

A few things EBK Hail Caesar includes:

Case Studies (including $’s earned) of how others have started their own empires (businesses)

Video interviews with some of the leading online lifestyle entrepreneurs (these are my personal favorite)

A launch checklist (I found this very valuable since I knew nothing about launching a product!)

A full year of inspirational, educational, and task oriented emails from Chris

This combo of items has really opened up my mind to the possibilities and steps that I need to take to get Career Breaks into the mainstream!

Plus – he’s even throwing in some extra products for incentive to purchase on June 16th only.

I’m not going to say anymore about the product since Chris does the best job of selling it – check out his website to be wowed.

Build Your Own Empire in 1 Year

The only thing I will say is that on Ottsworld – I only recommend things in which I believe in and use. I wouldn’t be taking the time to write about this if I didn’t believe 100% in it. However in full disclosure – I’m a part of the affiliate program for Chris which means that any sales I refer for EBK, I get a percentage. I’ve given up on most affiliate programs on Ottsworld and no longer offer them on my site as they don’t really yield much – only Smugmug Photography Storage/Website and Empire Building Kit will remain as they are two products that I love and would recommend regardless of any affiliate program.

So if you have entrepreneurial aspirations, are full of great ideas, want to stop ‘working for the man’ – or simply dabble in being your own boss, need some inspiration to keep you on track, or simply want to learn how to create and launch an online business – then check out the Empire Building Kit – Build Your Own Empire in 1 Year

One last thought to leave you with…

Is this what you really want?

Win Your Way to a Career Break

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 04:18:15 +0000

“I wish I could do that.” A phrase I have heard often regarding people’s reaction to me quitting my career of 14 years to go travel around the world on a mini-retirement. Normally this phrase is followed by “but…I have a family/house/pet/no money/insert dream killing word here…”

This ‘wish’ is the sole reason we created Briefcase to Backpack and started the concept of Meet, Plan, Go! We know taking a career break isn’t rocket science, we know the biggest hurdle is you and the ones that you put in front of yourself. Many people have overcome these hurdles. Meet, Plan, Go! intends to strip those away – or at the very least make the hurdles much, much smaller for you.

Sometimes when you have ambitious ideas, you feel like you are alone on an island. I know I did when I was planning my career break in 2006. However all of our Meet Plan Go hosts will join you on your island on September 14th – making you a ‘tribe’ of career breakers! By making connections and learning more from people who have accomplished their goal, you will be inspired and get some tools to make it happen yourself. So I hope you consider joining our little Career Break tribe on September 14th and start to connect your dreams to reality!

You can find more information on Meet, Plan, Go! at our website and in our newsletter where we provide updates on locations, sponsors, and travel give-aways.

Speaking of give-aways…
Even though Meet, Plan, Go! isn’t until September, here’s your chance to learn more about career breaks NOW! The Lonely Planet book “The Big Trip” is a great resource to help you through some of the steps to your career break.

You can WIN this book by simply signing up for the Meet, Plan, Go! newsletter below.

So, if you are wishing for/planning a career break in the future, then register for the newsletter, get the latest information about Meet, Plan, Go!, and be sure to stop by Meet, Plan, Go! on September 14th to be inspired by real people who have taken career breaks!

If you want to see other Career Break books that I recommend – check out my Travel Store and look at my picks for Career Break Books!

And, while you are in the ’signing up’ mood…sign up for my Ottsworld newsletter too and get more personal updates on my where-abouts and future travel plans!

Sign up for the Meet, Plan, Go! newsletter and enter a chance to win The Big Trip Career Break Book

* required

Email Address: *

First Name: *

Last Name: *

City: *

State: *

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Photo of the Week – Rio De Janeiro

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 04:38:04 +0000

Beach Balls - Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

An early morning stroll on the beach in Rio provided a unique scene - calm. Rarely do you find the beaches in Rio de Janeiro empty, except in the early morning. This beach ball vendor sat and waited patiently for customers to show up, enjoying some peace and quiet.

To see more travel photos this Friday check out Briefcase to Backpack’s Photo Friday and Delicious Baby Photo Friday.

FREE Trial – Trust your most precious memories to SmugMug, upload your photos today.

A Disappearing Town

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:23:47 +0000

This says it all...

I remember the streets crowded with people for Pilger Days, a weekend celebration which happened once a summer. There was cotton candy, music, families walking hand and hand, a cake walk (my personal favorite), a dime toss and a myriad of other carnival games. However, now I walk through the streets of Pilger looking at the run down buildings, closed businesses, houses for sale, and the empty main street; it feels like all of the air has been let out of it, and it’s on it’s last breath. It feels like it’s dying.

Pilger is a small town in Northeast Nebraska with an ever decreasing population of 328 people. It’s your typical farm town; a gas station, a main street, a church, the grain elevator, a small park, and a big water tower. There’s one school serving 5th and 6th grades, there’s a brand new town swimming pool ,and a ball field. I guess that actually sounds like quite a lot of a population of 328.

The feeling is a bit eerie....

However it’s missing something crucial, there are no kids running around playing. The park is empty and the main business which is actually still open and running on main street seems to be the Senior Center. The population of Pilger is aging.

Why do I care about Pilger, Nebraska? It’s my parent’s home town – sort of. It’s actually the closest thing to a home town they have as they both grew up on farms about 3 miles outside of Pilger. But for them, Pilger was their ‘big city’. Back then it had a population of 537, and farmers from all around the area gathered there to conduct business, attend social functions, provide their kids an education, and of course to worship.

My parents went to high school in Pilger and had a graduating class of 11 people. My dad played sports there, and my mom was on the cheer squad. The school was brimming with excitement and life. However a number of years ago they moved the high school to a bigger town as there just were no longer enough students in Pilger to keep it running. Pilger now struggles to keep its grade school running. They split up the grades and share the overall schooling with neighboring towns

I found myself in Pilger recently visiting my aunt and took the opportunity to walk around it with my camera. I of course had a few locals stop me and ask me what I was doing…they don’t see strangers walking around with a big camera every day…or ever!

Photography from my Pilger wanderings

The cemetery on the edge of town seems to be getting bigger and the town seems to be getting smaller. The decreasing population in Pilger has left it with an empty feeling. As I walk around, it feels no different than a town in a foreign country. In fact the lack of energy in the town reminds me of villages in the Gobi Desert. I find the whole thought a little depressing as I see this small town farming culture disappearing in the US – right before my eyes. Is this happening to all small towns in America as the big farmers/companies/cities take over?

The tallest structure - the water tower

The remaining population of Pilger is gearing up for it’s 125th year anniversary in 2012 and my aunt is on the planning committee. I am hopeful my vision of the ‘old PIlger’ will come back to life; the main street full of people and pick-up trucks, a cake walk, and farmers walking around socializing. I have a hard time imagining it now, as I walk around the edges of town surrounded by corn fields. I can’t help but wonder how long it will take for the corn fields to eventually take over the town. All that will be left is the water tower and fuzzy memories.

If you ever find yourself in Northeast Nebraska – I suggest you stop in the small towns and have lunch at the local cafe – it will be a truly cultural experience you won’t forget. You’ll meet some really nice people and probably learn a little history too! Heck – you may even make it into the local paper! In all honestly – I find Northeast Nebraska’s rolling hills to be one of the most gorgeous landscapes I’ve encountered in the world. Yes, not all of Nebraska is flat plains!

Some links on Northeast Nebraska:
Northeast Nebraska History and Culture
Northeast Nebraska Travel Council

If you’d like to read more about small towns in America you can check out some of my other posts:
Farm-sitting – a Cultural Adventure in Owatonna
Corn and Cowboys – Mitchell, South Dakota
Sex in The City Small Town Style – Twin Brooks, South Dakota
Chasing Wabbits in Ozark, Arkansas

Tree near the cemetery

The Ecstasy of Unpacking

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 04:45:30 +0000

I have a new appreciation for hangers

When I meet people, I live in fear of people asking me ‘the’ question; but eventually after some small talk, the question always comes.

“Where do you live?”

It’s an innocent question, but it throws me every time. I normally look at the person and size them up before I answer. I try to determine how deep I can go with them.

If I don’t think they would understand or be interested in my unconventional tale, I tell them that I live in New York, but travel a lot.
If I think that they may be interested in travel or world geography, or simply know where SE Asia is, I tell them that the last place I lived was in Vietnam.
If I think they have a passport that has taken them beyond Mexico or the Caribbean, and they have ever picked up a National Geographic magazine, then I tell them that I live out of a suitcase.

Reactions tend to vary. Some people want to know more and some just go oh, and move on; too much for their brain to comprehend. Or maybe they are just trying to figure out if my answer is the politically correct way to say “I’m a homeless person”.

My mailing address

I have struggled to give my ‘situation’ a name and tried out a few words such as:

Nomad
Vagabond
Hobo (my niece’s personal favorite)
Homeless
House-sitter

Nothing really feels right. However the fact is I don’t have a home. I have an address where my mail is sent, but I don’t live there.

It’s become the norm for me to live out of a few suitcases now for about 3 ½ years. Yes. While living in Vietnam I did have some homes where I actually unpacked and stayed for a few months. But they were always semi-permanent and I never seemed to stay at any apartment or room for longer than about 3 months. I’ve been back in the US for 6 months, yet I’m still moving from place to place every 2 weeks, never staying anywhere long enough to unpack.

Right now everything I’ve been living off of since December fits in 2 suitcases, a small backpack and a purse. In the new ‘green’ terms, I have a small footprint. Overall, I love having the freedom to move around, house-sit and try on different lifestyles. I love not having to shop for home stuff (it saves a bunch of time in your week…think about it). Plus, it’s a good workout lugging suitcases around! However, on the flip side, you never get the joy of hanging your clothes on a hanger…ever. Since I’m normally a guest in people’s (or my family’s) homes, I always have to be the ‘good guest’; never leave things sitting out, always clean up, always make up the bed/air mattress, and never leave your toothbrush on the sink in the bathroom.

The best thing about living out of a suitcase is…

…the complete new appreciation you develop for closets

I currently find myself in a situation that I haven’t been in since August of 2009 – I’m in one place for 6 weeks. I’m in Boston house sitting for a friend who’s in San Diego. I have her beautiful apartment to myself.

Utilizing the counter

Week one in Boston and I’ve practically had orgasmic experiences simply unpacking my entire suitcase and hanging my clothes on hangers. I’ve unpacked my toiletry bag and yes, my toothbrush is sitting on the bathroom counter. My lotion is in a cabinet, my dirty clothes get thrown in a proper bin as opposed to a plastic sack, my shoes are in the closet, and once this week – I didn’t make the bed. Joy!

It’s not just about unpacking, it’s about ‘living’ in a community as opposed to visiting it. I now have a plastic card dangling from my keychain which provides me discounts at the local grocery store. I joined a gym in the neighborhood for 2 months. I have a bus pass.

I’m ‘normal’…well….at least for 6 weeks!

Let’s here from you world travelers out there – what’s the best thing about living out of a suitcase?

Photo of the Week – Manhattanhenge

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:43:25 +0000

Apocalypse Now on 34th St – New York City

Two times a year the Sun God works it’s magic on Manhattan in a spectacle called Manhattanhenge. The rare occurance when the sun sets in exact alignment with the grid of streets in Manhattan. This 15 minutes of illumination on the cross streets of New York City provides an Apocalypse Now feeling with people shading there eyes, armed with their camera standing in the middle of 34th street trying to get the perfect photo. Last weekend, I was one of them trying to get the perfect sunset picture of the Empire State Building.

If you missed it, you’re in luck; the next Manhattenhenge is July 12th. Get that camera ready and grab some sunglasses!

You can read more on the spectacle of Manhattanhenge on Hayden Planetarium’s website.

Can’t get enough photo Friday? Then check out Briefcase to Backpack Photo Friday and Delicious Baby Photo Friday!

SmugMug.com – Serving up crisp, clear photos – without the side of Spam.

Paradise in Sri Lanka – Auraliya Villa

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:23:03 +0000

Welcome to Paradise

On the southwest coast of Sri Lanka lies a little piece of paradise; and I was lucky enough to experience it. Sure – the beach is stunning, but what makes this ‘paradise’ is the combination of beach, accommodations, and service.

I recently visited Sri Lanka and stayed at a large family villa, Auraliya, located just south of the historic town of Galle. I was looking for a place to relax and be a beach bum for a few days and Auraliya provided the perfect beach retreat!

Auraliya is a large family owned villa which is rented out as a vacation rental when the family isn’t in town. It looks like a boutique hotel, but it’s actually a private home. It is customary to give homes a name in this area, and the name Auraliya has a special meaning. It comes from two things that are very special to Sri Lanka; elephants and frangipani. Aliya is Sinhalese for elephant and araliya is Sinhalese for frangipani; the marriage of these words is the villa Auraliya.

Prime Location:

Auraliya is located in Talpe on the Galle to Matara road approximately 15 minutes south of Galle. It takes about three hours to drive the 127 kilometeres from Colombo along the coastal road. The villa has direct access to the beach on this exceptional reef-protected stretch of coastline.

Twinkle, Twinkle

Environment:

The house sleeps up to 12 people in 6 bedrooms with 4 bathrooms. However with the big open air design you never feel cramped, in fact there is ample space in the rooms and the grounds – you’ll feel like you’re all alone! There are three outdoor pavilions for people to gather and eat or simply sit around and relax. The villa centerpiece is the pool which connects both wings of the villa and 2 of the pavilions. At night the pool twinkles with fiber optic colored lighting at the bottom of the pool; a feature I’ve never seen before! Finally – there is a movie room and wifi is offered throughout the villa.

A perfect ending

Atmosphere:

A water lilly pond and statue of Lord Shiva greets you as you enter the villa and immediately sets the mood for the mystical yet laid back atmosphere of Auraliya. The décor is modern and colorful. Each cushion, bed, beach chair and towel is a vibrant aqua and blue color which matches the ocean perfectly. One integral part of the atmosphere is the villa dog; Kala is a black lab who roams around and quickly becomes your ‘best friend’. (if you aren’t a dog person she is kept in the kennel in the back yard) With the ample yard space, pool, and beach the villa has a great family atmosphere. You can all sit out at the beach pavilion and sip drinks while you watch the sunset and kids create sand castles on the beach! See – I told you this was paradise!

You can see a video tour of the premises here - warning…it will make you want to hop on a plane!

Reading Pavillion

Food:

There is a kitchen, but you’ll never set foot into it! This is because cooking as well as cleaning is what the wonderful staff do every day for you. Auraliya has an onsite staff of 5 people who will take care of your every need. In fact they may even come up with needs that you didn’t even know you had! On the first day you’ll sit down with Sunny, the manager and choose a menu for the week. The staff then does the shopping at the local market and at the end of your stay will add the food costs onto the bill. You can customize the menu in whatever way you want, but be sure to sample the local curry that Jagath makes – it was delicious!

Ample Space!

Costs:

The villa rents as one complete house, and does not rent out rooms individually. Therefore it is most economical to fill the rooms with family or friends and split the costs. In off-season the rates are $900 per night (plus food costs). However if you have 12 people staying there, this rate is a steal! The concept of renting villas is becoming more and more popular these days. It’s a great way to experience luxury, but split among many people.

Contact:

Visit their website at www.auraliya.com you can book directly with them to get the best deal. In addition you can read further reviews at Trip Advisor where they rank as the #1 villa in Galle!

Ups and Downs of Solo Travel

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 05:02:24 +0000

Going it alone...

After 26 days traveling with my father in Nepal, we parted at the Delhi airport. I found myself choking back tears as I gave him a hug and we parted. Why was I, a person who typically travels solo, crying about being solo again? I wish I knew. I kind of chalk it up to being an overly emotional person. However I think it’s always hard when you get used to spending time with someone for a month and then they leave again and you are back on your own; no one to lean on but yourself. There’s a period of sadness that goes along with that.

Don’t get me wrong – I love solo travel for many, many reasons. However, it’s something that you have to adjust into and find your rhythm. Every time I strike out on my own I have to get used to it again.

The beautiful blue pool

I was headed to Sri Lanka, another new country to mark off my list! However, I wasn’t merely going to give it a check mark; I was heading to Sri Lanka to hit the beach…in luxury. I have friends from Vietnam who own a large beach villa in Sri Lanka called Auraliya, and when they heard I was traveling to Sri Lanka they kindly offered the villa for me to stay at in exchange for some photography they needed for future marketing.

I arrived in Sri Lanka around midnight and still had a 3 hour drive ahead of me to the villa just south of Galle. I made it through customs and I stared around confused at the appliances for sale in the airport…something I had never seen before. Magazines yes, dish washers no. I looked past the refrigerators, stoves, and washers, and saw a man holding a sign with my name on it…bingo…that was my driver. I got in the comfy car, he gave me a pillow and I slept for the next 3 hours until we pulled up at Auraliya.

I felt as if I were Dorthy, who had fallen asleep and been transported to Oz…a very luxurious Oz. A man in a sarong welcomed me, and kindly led me through an entrance down a long walkway and into a room. I could hear the waves crashing and smell the sea air. My day of travel had sucked the energy out of me and I went straight to bed.

Waking up in Luxury

The next morning I looked around the room in amazement, luxury was an understatement. I proceeded open up the blinds to have the beach and crashing waves meet me as if they were personally saying “Good Morning Sherry”. I wandered out of the room into the open air pathways when a big, floppy black lab came to greet me. She bounded down the pathway and gave me a good licking; this villa came complete with a loving, loyal dog…talk about perks!

I went to one of the large dining pavilions and was greeted by the same man who greeted me the previous night, Sunny. What a perfect name for a perfect place. He motioned for me to sit down at the long 12 person dining table in which there was one little place setting…just for me. I felt a bit dwarfed as plates of fresh fruit, eggs, breads, and bacon were placed in front of me. I felt like Imelda Marcos having shoes paraded in front of me…it was surreal.

As I sat and ate my beautifully carved fresh fruit, drank my strong coffee, and stared out across the long expanse of table towards the crashing waves, I thought, “It sure sucks to not have someone to share this with.” I imagined how amazing the place would be with my friends or family surrounding me at the table with witty banter and mimosas flowing. But there was just me; and 11 empty chairs. However I did have a beautiful black lab at my feet waiting for my next move to follow me wherever I went.

Kala

I sat with Sunny and planned the rest of the menu for my 5 days at the villa. There was actually a staff of 5 people running the villa and they made food to order. Once I chose a menu, they’d go shopping and get everything they needed for the week…including beer.

Let’s go through the math – 12 chairs, 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 5 staff of people waiting on me, 3 pavilions, and 1 dog; I felt dwarfed. Needless to say, I never wanted for a thing. I finished a drink and someone was at my side asking if I wanted another. I got up to go to the sitting pavilion and the dog dutifully followed me. I set down an empty glass and it was whisked away before it hit the table.

That first day I laid around in ‘luxury shock’ – this isn’t the normal way I travel; it took a bit of getting used to. However I also managed to get out my camera and start my process of photographing the grounds; as the dog, Kala, followed my every move. I felt a bit tired and sluggish and wasn’t sure if it was due to all of the attention lavished upon me, or if it was because just a 3 days ago I was hiking in the Himalayas and now I was walking around at sea level…maybe my body was in shock.

The big dining table

However as the day went on, a headache came on, I was exhausted, and felt achy. This was the beginning of something serious. Why oh why did this have to happen now…when I was in my villa of luxury? However, in some respects it happened at the best time. Being sick and alone with a staff of people waiting on you and a sympathetic dog is better than being sick and alone in a hostel bunk bed.

For the next 5 days, I walked around in a daze with a fever, sinus headache, and generally feeling of death. Did I say I love traveling solo earlier? Well, I meant to say love traveling solo unless I’m sick. Then the love morphs into a pathetic mound of self-pity. For some reason – the only time I really ever get homesick when I travel is when I get sick. As a solo traveler, when you are sick, there’s no one to lean on, and it triggers a longing for me that I have a hard time dealing with.

The staff tried their best to make me feel comfortable; I had ample places to choose from to lie around and take naps. I finally felt lucid enough the 3rd afternoon to take a tuk tuk into town to go to the pharmacy. The pharmacist listened to my ailments and told me to go see a doctor in fear of me having H1N1. I bought some cough drops, Panadol, and tiger balm instead and went back to the villa defeated. The staff continued to try their best to make me feel better. I started trying all of the local remedies – they would put me under a sheet with boiling water to try to steam the illness out of me. They would bring me ‘special’ mixes of herbal tea which did seem to help a bit. I think the staff were amused I would try all of these ‘local’ remedies – but when you feel like death – you’ll try anything.

I was alone; alone in paradise. I couldn’t really even enjoy the amazing surroundings I was in properly which sent me into more of a funk. I promised myself I wouldn’t worry about it and instead one day I would have a ‘do-over’ and come back to Auraliya villa to take walks along the beach and hopefully next time be surrounded by friends and family!

By the end of the week, I had left the villa once…and walked on the beach twice.
I’m absolutely fine traveling alone until sickness strikes, then I just want my mom…funny how we never get too old to want our moms to take care of us. In lieu of my mom, a generous staff of locals and a dog will do.

All of your solo travelers out there…what do you do when you get sick on the road?

If you are interested in learning more about renting Auraliya villa for and unforgettable beach stay with family or friends – check out the website at www.auraliya.com

Photo of the Week – Vietnam

admin — Fri, 28 May 2010 13:34:58 +0000

Hard Hat – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

While on a cyclo ride in HCMC, I encountered this guy hanging out of a little motorized tuk tuk in HCMC. I found his choice of helmet funny – a throw back from the war. Granted, sometimes I felt like driving in Saigon was similar to going into combat!

To see more travel photos, check out the Briefcase to Backpack Photo Friday!

FREE Trial – Trust your most precious memories to SmugMug, upload your photos today.

McDonalds and the RTW Traveler

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:20:25 +0000

The McDonalds stigma is strong...

It has to be said…and this may be controversial…

Eating at McDonalds in a foreign country does NOT make you a despicable traveler.

In all honestly – up until I took my career break and traveled around the world, I would have scoffed at that statement. I thought Americans who ate at McDonalds while traveling abroad were heathens; some lower form of tourist I was embarrassed to associate myself with.

As successful as they are, McDonald’s somehow has a terrible stigma associated with it. Lazy, fat Americans going to McDonalds instead of trying a country’s local food items is often a picture that is painted. People wonder “Why go abroad?” if you are just going to eat at the same places you did at home.

However on the other side of the coin is the argument that there is something comforting in knowing what to expect and having something familiar. This is how I found myself in a McDonald’s in Luxor on one very hot day in July. I had been on the road for 11 months and had been in Egypt for a week touring temple after temple. The problem with this…I’m not a ‘temple person’. They don’t really excite me. Sure – I wanted to see the pyramids, but the other stuff was just ‘extra’.

Temples, Temples, Temples

So when the group I had been traveling with all started lathering on sunscreen and getting ready to leave to see the Luxor Temple, I decided to be different. I didn’t want to go to the temple. Instead, I wanted some ‘me time’, I wanted to sit and be lazy and not explore; a vacation from my around the world travel. After nearly a year on the road, I felt like I deserved this lazy day. However, I took it one step further, I wanted a hamburger; a ‘real’, American hamburger with pickles, onion, ketchup and proper yellow mustard.

After my friends left to dig further into Egyptian relics, I left in search of American greasiness. I had remembered walking by a McDonalds the night before and it must have triggered a craving in me…one that wouldn’t let go.

I walked inside aware of my caucasian skin and for a moment I wondered what other people thought. I wished I could be invisible. However that moment lasted about 2 seconds – until the freezing cold air-conditioned air mass hit my body and I stood motionless just soaking it in. I walked up to the counter and ordered a Big Mac, fries, and a coke. I sat at a table with my many ketchup packets and enjoyed my greasy American feast while listening to old Paula Abdule songs being pumped through the speakers. I savored every moment of this familiar feast. A familiarity I hadn’t had in a very long time.

Yearning for the familiar when you are on the road long term is normal. After all, you spend the majority of your time constantly trying to figure out how to communicate and get around in an abnormal environment; it’s exhausting. I never really got homesick while I traveled for 16 months, however I did have these moments where I just wanted it to be easy for a few hours or a day; and those days were apparently a good day to go to McDonalds. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I went into a McDonalds, but they were all pretty memorable to me.

I sat in the McDonalds in Luxor Egypt, enjoying my alone time; a time when I didn’t have to think. There was just one last thing I had to do with this perfect lazy day; order a hot fudge sundae.

Ok – time to confess…how many of you long term travelers have went to McDonalds while on the road?!

Q&A – Travel with a Laptop

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:43:58 +0000

Travel Questions? Ask Them!

I get many emails from travelers all over the world asking me questions about my travels. Here are some of the recent ones that are great to share with everyone! If you have a question, don’t hesitate to ask!

Q: From Anna in New York city – I’m planning a trip to start in December ’10 and have questions…
Did you travel with a laptop? Was that a good idea or bad?

A: Yes, I travel with a laptop, however I use it to write and blog while I’m in the road. So I’m probably not the average traveler when it comes to carrying a laptop. First I would recommend really considering what you want to use a laptop for while traveling. Once you can answer that, then you can start to figure out what type of equipment is right for you. For me, a long term traveler, it is really nice to have your own laptop to use for skype, travel research on your next destination, upload photos as a backup, and to simply stay in touch without having to use an internet cafe. However if you’re not a travel blogger, then I would recommend getting a cheap travel netbook (mini laptop) to simply have some internet access, and upload/backup photos. If it’s cheap, then you won’t feel as bad if it’s lost or stolen. You can now get little travel laptops for about $500 and they are really just used for internet and some storage space. That way it won’t take up much room, if it gets lost or stolen you haven’t invested a ton, but easier to use than an iphone or droid as you’ll have a full keyboard. Here’s a recent review from PC World about The Best Laptops, Netbooks, and Smartphones for Travel.

Here’s another good post about 7 tips for taking a laptop traveling, the author lists some good things to consider if you considering taking hardware with you!

If you decide to take it with you – then here’s a must read from my friend Anil at Foxnomad (he’s a security guru!) – The Traveler’s Guide to Locking Down Your Laptop

Blogging in Action at an airport in Vietnam

Q: How did you get internet access?

A: Depending on where you are going wireless internet may be free, or you may have to pay for it. I can safely say that all thru SEAsia(and most of Asia) – you can find it for free. Also – unlike America, most coffee shops, hotels, and airports also have internet and it’s normally free if you are a ‘guest’ there. Sometimes in Europe you’ll have to pay. If you know where you’ll be staying – you can contact them and find out if they offer internet. When I stay in hostels or choose hotels, I only choose places that offer wireless internet – else I won’t stay there. That way after touring around all day I can sit in my room and write or catch up on emails.

A decent source to find public access Wifi spots is Wifinder – just put in your location and see what’s around you. It’s not completely up to date, but it will give you a good start if you are researching a travel location.

Finally, I would also highly recommend bringing an ethernet cable with you as you never know when you’ll have trouble connecting wirelessly on old routers, etc. By bringing an ethernet cable – you may just be able to directly ‘plug into’ the internet and skip the wireless hassles.

Q: Did you really write and upload photos in the internet cafes?

A: When I first started traveling, yes, that’s how I did it. – I had a little card reader and would plug in via USB port at internet cafes and slowly try to upload my photos. It was painstaking. Once I started taking my laptop with me, I could at least get the photos on my laptop, even if the internet connection was too slow to upload them to the photo site I keep at Smugmug. So at least I had a backup – which was important to me. Yes, I also did the writing in internet cafes. Which the amount I write now, I don’t think that would ever work for me again. I find it so much easier to have my own laptop to travel with. However it is extra weight and security concerns. That’s why I suggest getting a cheap one for travel.

Q: What blogging software do you use for Ottsworld?

A: I use Wordpress. We also use it on Briefcase to Backpack, Meet Plan Go, and Auraliya (my many sites!). It’s a great free software that is constantly updated and provides a lot of flexibility – and most importantly you don’t have to be a tech genius! You can have a free acount on Wordpress - or simply choose your own host and download Wordpress for free and then customize it.

Keep the questions coming! Or if you have experience traveling with a laptop and want to provide Anna with more info – please leave a comment below!

No Related Post

Travel Tips Bring Clean Water

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 05:28:42 +0000

Clean Water - a privilege in most countries

America is easy…yes…easy. I think about this every night when I brush my teeth. I run water from the tap over my toothbrush and rinse. I never have to worry about the tap water I’m using. This is a far cry from Vietnam where I lived last year. I became so accustomed to brushing my teeth with bottled water that when I arrived back in America it felt practically ‘illegal’ to use the tap water to brush my teeth. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was doing something wrong.

The water hardships are never ending while traveling. While living/volunteering in India we were subject to water rationing, and couldn’t use water for certain hours of the day. We’d have to keep water in a bucket for those hours and use it only when needed. In Nepal I had to have my water boiled before I could drink it. In Mongolia there was no water, so we drank goat milk.

When you live in a country without a good supply of safe water, then it turns from a hardship to a potential cause of death.

Travel Tips = Clean Water

Starting with just one blog post back in November 2009, the Travel Secrets project spread quickly with 200 amazing travel bloggers revealing their most closely guarded travel secrets. The secrets were too good not to share! So Tripbase compiled all 500 of them into a series of inspirational travel eBooks, available for free download right now!

From secluded beaches to bargain hotels, exotic foods and expert travel tips, this wealth of insider travel knowledge is available now, absolutely free!

The Cause

For every person that downloads a Travel Secrets eBook Tripbase will make a $1 donation to the fantastic cause, Charity: Water.

Our mission: to help bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

Our campaign target: to build 4 freshwater wells, providing clean water for an entire school for the next 20 years.

How it works

You, the avid Ottsworld travel reader, get a FREE ebook with travel tips from the best travel bloggers across the net (including me!). When you download the FREE ebook, Tripbase will donate $1 to the clean water project. Simple. YOU click, YOU download, YOU get great travel tips, YOU help bring safe drinking water to the world.

Click away so that others can drink away!

I’ve helped, please help too

Download Free eBooks

led by Tripbase

Photo of the Week – Ao Nang, Thailand

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 05:08:42 +0000

Paddle Through – Ao Nang, Thailand

While traveling solo in Ao Nang, I decided to take a kayak trip and was treated to an adventure of caves and monkeys…and a few bats. I loved the small town of Ao Nang, a little beachy tourist community that I would have loved to spend a few extra days or weeks in.

If you want to view more Photography this Friday, then check out the Briefcase to Backpack Photo Friday

East Meets West in Aisle 5

admin — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:24:40 +0000

East.........Meets......

West

Remember the scrumptious green papaya salad you bought from the street vendor in Thailand? She asked you how spicy you wanted it and your cringed and said “Thai spicy” – knowing you may regret it later when you couldn’t feel your lips. When you came back to America, you decided to relive the experience so you went to the ‘best, most authentic’ Thai place in town and ordered the papaya salad. Utter disappointment.

After living in Vietnam for a year, now I’m back in America in search of good Asian food – but the search seems to be futile. It’s just not the same. The Pho is bland, the herbs are different, and it all seems to be ‘Americanized’ (the bigger the portions must equal better food).

I gave up searching for good Asian food, I decided that I would simply start making my own. I would channel my inner little Asian woman and fire up my wok and use excessive amounts of garlic and fish sauce – I would be cooking up Vietnamese feasts in no time!

The Asian section

With my first stop at the grocery store I hit a big roadblock. American grocery stores are very limited with Asian cooking supplies. It’s hard to believe that in the ginormous, wide aisles of an American grocery store they don’t have rice vermicelli noodles, lemon grass, or fish sauce in a bottle larger than 8 oz. However they have prepackaged boxes of Pad Thai…just add water…ugh.

Sure, some grocery stores carried some of the products I needed, but most of them carried none of the products I was looking for. In fact, in the small towns of the Midwest I couldn’t even find basil, mint, or ginger! I went down the ‘ethnic food aisle’ and was greeted by La Choy Chow Mein. I immediately had flashbacks of celery drenched in sweet and sour sauce served with crunchy noodles. Puke.

However my frustrations ceased the day my sister and I walked into Dragon Star Oriental Foods in St. Paul, Minnesota. We had heard there were ‘authentic’ Asian grocery stores in St. Paul, thanks to the large Hmong population in the area. We took our big grocery list and finally made a trip to go see if it was just a myth. My sister, who had spent the last 5 ½ years living in Singapore, was as frustrated as I was; we had low expectations of this St. Paul adventure.

We pulled up to the moderate sized building and were greeted by flags of various Asian nations…hmmm, that’s different. Then we walked inside, and just like that, I was a minority again. The aisles were filled with customers of various Asian decent. We took a little cart and our hopes gradually grew.

After going through the produce section and finding Asian eggplant, lemongrass, green papaya, Vietnamese mint, dragon fruit, and durian…yes, durian…I knew I was going to enjoy dinner tonight. Cyndi and I went down every aisle like giddy, young girls in the Barbie aisle of Toys R Us pointing at products, laughing, reminiscing, and salivating!

Saucy in the Sauce Aisle

It was as if I had walked through a black hole and ended up in this mixed up world of Asian food products with American-sized choices. Normally in Asia, you go to a local outdoor market and purchase your various sauces. There’s one choice and that’s what you buy. But in this East meets West grocery store we walked down aisles filled with Fish sauce…just Fish sauce; there must have been at least 25 different brands. All of them imported from Asia with words that I didn’t understand. The whole aisle of sauces (oyster, hoisan, fish…) was like walking down an American grocery store’s chip aisle. It was overwhelming.

The bizarre just kept coming. The butcher department seemed like any American grocery store; nice glass cases, refrigeration, organized. But then you looked closer and you saw the Asian twist; pig heads and cow feet. There was also plenty of live seafood swimming around.

On the flip side, these packed aisles of products didn’t include any cheese and about 3 choices for cereal. I sat and stared at the 3 cereals and just laughed. I had been living in Vietnam for a year and traveling through Asia for another year – as much as I love the place I needed a break from it. However like most things, you don’t realize how much you LOVE the place (or the person) until it’s gone. Standing here in the Americanized Asian market made me miss Asia terribly.

At one point I had déjà-vu as I was scouring the wafer aisle looking for my favorite coconut butter wafers. I used to do this every week in the An Phu supermarket as you were never guaranteed that they would get a constant inventory of a product there. Today, when I found my wafers, I squealed in joy…it was even the same brand I used to buy in Vietnam!

Cyndi displaying Frozen Bugs

We spent an hour going up and down every aisle. Taking pictures of the frozen bugs for sale in the freezer case, and reminiscing about our favorite curries and spring rolls. Then as we rounded the corner towards the checkout, we came to the bakery/deli. They had cooked food there to take home. I looked at the sign and it advertised a bubble tea and papaya salad special. They didn’t have hot dogs, pizza, or soda…just Asian choices…the things I would normally buy outdoors at a street vendor. Now there were here in the deli department!

My sister and I picked out some fresh sesame balls from the bakery case and happily pushed our overflowing cart to the checkout. We excitedly planned our dinner for the night – lemongrass chicken with stir-fried bok choy. I clutched my coconut butter wafers to my chest as we got in the car; I could hardly wait to open them up and taste the memories that were so vivid in my head. The trip to this Americanized Asian market was a chance for us to relive our love of Asia – and that was worth any price.

Hungry yet? If you want to read more about exotic foods – check out Wanderlust and Lipstick’s Wanderfood Wednesday!

Sleeping in History – Beaumont Inn

admin — Tue, 18 May 2010 06:39:57 +0000

History in Harrodsburg

Harrodsburg Kentucky may be small, but it’s loaded with character. In fact, it lays claim to being the ‘Oldest Town in Kentucky’. Their tourist board (yes, this little town of 8,000 people has it’s own tourist board) describes Harrodsburg as ‘bursting with historic charm’. They are absolutely right.

Main St.

The town itself has self-guided historic walks , an old Fort, civil war history, a nearby Shaker village. One of my favorite things about the pristine town was the old Southern style homes that had been preserved so well. The 8,000+ residents of Harrodsburg were proud of it’s history.

After spending the afternoon at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill on a photographic journey back in time, we drove into Harrodsburg to find a place to stay. With all of these old historic homes, we were looking to stay in a place that embodied that Southern architecture and spirit. We found the perfect match at the Beaumont Inn.

I had first heard of the Beaumont Inn from doing a Google search. After spending a few minutes on their website, I was won over immediately. After all, since much of my time is spent online in the blogsphere and social networking worlds, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this old Inn was modern in their technology. They are on Facebook, they have a blog, and their website is chock full of tourist information about Harrodsburg and the surrounding towns. In fact, it was their website that made me want to go to Harrodsburg.

Frankly my dear...

Intricate Lace

The Inn, circa 1845, was perched atop a rolling hill cradled by old trees which undoubtedly had seen many changes during their lifetime. The big white pillars and front porch won me over immediately. Nothing embodies the South like a front porch. I can’t help but have flashes of Scarlett O’Hara standing on the porch of Tara. As you walk inside you are transported further into history through the décor. The home was decorated with all of the old antique furniture even down to the detail of the lace curtains and the antique Cleopatra clock from the World’s Fair in 1893.

Going Up

The main hall is dominated by twin staircases leading to the rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The rooms were spacious for an old home and had all been upgraded to accommodate the modern needs of travelers; air conditioning and wireless internet. They were all decorated in the antiques from the family’s collection. Of course the Inn served breakfast (included) every morning southern style. I enjoyed my cheese grits and corn griddlecakes immensely; after all, it was vacation – right?

On the main floor next to portraits of Robert. E. Lee were pamplets containing the complete history of the Inn. We grabbed one as we walked to the Old Owl Tavern which was connected to the Inn. They had happy hour drinks and appetizers so we sat on the outside porch, enjoyed our view, and read up on the history of the Inn.

Sitting Room

The Inn started it’s existence as a college for women. In fact, over the course of time, it changed hands many times, however from 1845 to 1914 it was utilized as a school. In 1918, it was turned into an Inn as it’s used today. The classrooms were converted into the dining room and the old carriage house was converted into the Tavern. Now that’s a lot of history to sleep in. It actually dubs itself as the oldest family owned and operated Inn in Kentucky; it was handed down for generations.

If you find yourself traveling through Bluegrass area of Kentucky, Harrodsburg and the Beaumont Inn should be your stopping place for the night. You can sleep in a little bit of history.

Photo of the Week – Sinai Egypt

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 05:17:26 +0000

Color Canyon Hike in the Sinai Region of Egypt

The wind had formed the sandstone of Color Canyon in Sinai Egypt is a memorable hike. The canyon floor ‘trail’ was sometimes wide and sometimes very, very narrow. As you walked through the cannon and followed the path of the wind, you saw the various colorful rocks weaving through the sandstone as if it were a Paint –n-Swirl work of art. The canyon got so narrow at one point that we had to crawl through a small opening blocked by a boulder.

Read further about adventurous travel through the Sinai Region at Ottsworld!

If you want to view more photography this Friday – check out Photo Friday at Delicious Baby

Shakin’ it up in Kentucky

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 04:50:42 +0000

Shaker Chair

Back when I had furniture and lived a normal life working 9 to 5 everyday, I had an affinity to Shaker style furniture. My dining room set, as well as a number of little tables, were the shaker style; the simplicity and lines were always appealing to me. So when we had a few extra days in Kentucky after the derby, I searched the internet for cultural site-seeing and came across the Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill. I knew right away that I wanted to stop there.

A 'Family' Home

The Shakers were America’s largest and best known communal society in the 19th century. Their movement began in New York after the American Revolution and Shaker communities flourished from Maine to Kentucky. They were religious and peaceful, they believed in equality of race and sex, and they were celibate. I find this last fact pretty amazing considering their legacy lived for hundreds of years; thanks to lots of new converts.

However I can relate to the Shakers more than ever these days – unfortunately the celibacy is relatable, however what I really relate to is their quest for simplicity. They lived a simple life, it wasn’t showy, it wasn’t loud, it was just simple. They didn’t have a desire to have the biggest, the best or the most, they just kept their belongings very few and simple. As I look at my two suitcases I’ve been living out of for the last few years, I feel like I can relate.

The Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill is a tourist stop in Bluegrass country of Kentucky; about an hour’s drive from Louisville. Passing by horse farms and rolling hills, the village is located about 7 miles outside the historic town of Harrodsburg. The village was established in 1805 and thrived until the 1860’s when the industrial revolution began the community’s ultimate decline.

Village Water Tower

Today the village and buildings have been preserved and for an entrance fee of $15 for adults, you can roam around the village and see various demonstrations that will send you back in a time warp. The grounds were impeccable and all of the old shops were manned with actors demonstrating how the various crafts were made (barrels, rugs, boxes, and furniture). They also had demonstrations on the farming aspects of the village. When we were there they were sheering sheep.

In addition to viewing the demonstrations, seeing the layout of the old village, and viewing the gorgeous furniture, there is a functioning hotel and restaurant in the village. Of course the hotel rooms are all decorated in the Shaker style. I saw a few of them and they are huge and a good value for the size.

Sure, all of this history was fascinating, however my real interest lied in the grounds themselves. Armed with my camera this was one of my favorite places I’ve ever been to take photos. The Shaker style is all about simplicity; curves, lines, and symmetry. A perfect recipe for some great composition photography.

Lines

Curves

Symmetry

I was beside myself every time I walked into another building and was greeted by softly lit spiral staircases, beautiful chairs hanging from the shaker pegs, and symmetrical staircases and floorboards designs. This was a photographer’s dream. Even if you aren’t interested in the history of the village, if you are a photographer this place is definitely worth a stop. New photographers can really practice their composition of lines and curves, and seasoned photographers can play with the lights and shadows.

Needless to say – I took my share of photos.
Shaker Village Photos

Touring an old village with actors recreating life from the past isn’t for everyone; however, because I loved the Shaker style, it captured my interest level and I thoroughly enjoyed the day and would recommend it to anyone as a fun and educational stop.

Find more information about the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill Kentucky at their website:

http://www.shakervillageky.org/

Traveling the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 05:45:44 +0000

Golden Goodness

There is only one spirit that America can claim, and that’s Bourbon. It was created here, and can only be made here in America – we’ve got the monopoly on Bourbon. On my recent trip to Kentucky, I learned that two important things come out of Kentucky – fast horses and bourbon. I luckily experienced both!

What IS bourbon? It’s a strong golden liquor used in one of my favorite drinks – the Manhattan. However, technically it’s Whiskey, but not every Whiskey can be called Bourbon. In order for a whiskey to be called Bourbon it has to be made from 51% corn and from the United States. Kentucky farmers started making bourbon to convert surplus grain because it was non-perishable and easy to store…and of course it tasted pretty good too! In addition, to be called Bourbon it must be aged in new charred white oak barrels, have no additional flavoring added, and be distilled for a minimum of 2 years.

Bourbon distilleries are found all over the Bluegrass region of Kentucky (Southeast of Louisville). It’s a wonderful, relaxing drive through rolling hills and little streams; unless of course you go when we did…when it was flooding! Regardless our tour driver was calm as can be and knew the back roads, navigating his way through high waters to get us to the bourbon.

Barrels of Distilling Bourbon

We stopped at Maker’s Mark Distillery nestled away in a little valley with a stream little bridges and paths around the property. Unfortunately it was an overflowing stream. Maker’s Mark is the nation’s oldest working distillery. It’s also the only distillery that does everything yet the traditional way; by hand. As with most businesses these days, automation has changed the production process, but Maker’s Mark still moves and turns the barrels the traditional way.

We walked through the whole distilling process learning about sour mash (the fermenting of grains), and the warehousing and turning of barrels for 6 years. Of course at the end of the tour of course we were all able to do tastings of the golden bourbon; it was quite the wake-up alarm at 11AM! Warm and toasty going down – however I will say that straight bourbon is an acquired taste.

I didn’t buy any bourbon, but instead got something better…all for free. I got a whole barrel of bourbon for Ottsworld! Some dream of seeing their name on Broadway, others…on a barrel. The marketing geniuses at Maker’s Mark came up with a great way to help promote the brand and promote brand loyalty; the Ambassador Program.

On each distilling barrel, a name, date, and other technical information goes on the end of the barrel on a barrel plate. They’ve decided to allow people to put their own name on a barrel (technically it’s shared among 30 people – so there are 30 names). I chose Ottsworld of course! Not only do you get your name on the barrel plate, but you also get updates on the aging of your particular barrel, can see pictures of it, have the opportunity to purchase a bottle from your barrel, and little business cards saying you are Maker’s Mark Ambassador. All a clever and fun way to get your email address and start building loyalty.

This low tech ‘traditional’ distillery sure has done a great job of going high tech for their Ambassador Barrel Program. They even have a Barrel Blog where you can meet and chat with the other 29 people on your barrel!

Bourbon Balls are good anytime!

As the rainy day went on and more and more roads were closed, we continued our bourbon day by having lunch in Bardstown at the Chapeze House, famous for their Kentucky based cuisine and many bourbon based dishes. Yes, bourbon isn’t just for drinking, it’s used in everything in Kentucky; syrup, bbq sauce, chocolate sauce, chocolate balls, and my personal favorite – bourbon flavored coffee.

We made a few more stops, along the Bourbon Trail which consists of the following Distilleries:
Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve, Maker’s Mark, Tom Moore, and Four Roses

In fact, the Bourbon Trail even has a passport, which looks like a real passport and gets stamped at each distillery you visit. Once the passport is filled – and you are sufficiently drunk, you send it in and get a free Bourbon Trail t-shirt. I can assure you that the Bourbon Trail immigration agents are much nicer than the ones I encounter at the airport!

Special mention to Mint Julep tours who we used to tour the Bourbon Trail. They provide transportation and a guide from Louisville. See their website for more information. Of course you can also can book car hire and drive yourself around the Bourbon Trail.

Maker's Mark Grounds	Flooding in the basement of Distillery
A batch of Sour Mash	Bourbon Barrel Plates - Coming soon 'Ottsworld Barrel'!
Creating Bourbon!	The final product goes into my Mint Julep!

Some information provided by Budget Rental Car

Photo of the Week – Agra, India

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 04:17:12 +0000

Squaring it Up – Agra, India

View of the Taj Mahal from the Agra Fort; a different perspective of the famous and often photographed site. It was just as spectacular seeing it from the walls of the old Agra Fort.

To see more Photo Friday around the web – check out Delicious Baby for more travel photos!

Play Ball!

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:53:24 +0000

Baseball Bats

If baseball is America’s game, then Louisville must be America’s city. Why? Because one of the best-known baseball products comes from Louisville; a long rounded piece of wood we call the baseball bat. The famous Louisville Slugger baseball bats are actually manufactured in downtown Louisville and it’s a great stop for those visiting the area.

Since I was in town for the Kentucky Derby , I was able to take in ALL of the sites that Louisville had to offer. If you sense sarcasm in that last sentence…well, you were correct. I honestly didn’t have high expectations for Louisville tourism. After all, I grew up in a town in Central Illinois that had many similarities in size and geography and their tourism was a joke.

I started researching Louisville on Twitter and found some great Louisville Twitterers that pointed me to some ‘must-see’ sites in and around Louisville. When I saw the Louisville Slugger Museum was located there my first thought was “Duh…of course – why didn’t I make that connection sooner?!” My second thought was , “I want to go there!”

I grew up playing a lot softball. I traveled all over Central Illinois playing on 3 different teams in the summers. It wasn’t just me who liked baseball, but it was my entire family. We’d make a family trip to St. Louis every summer to see a game at Busch Stadium, a highlight of our summer travel. We were Cardinals fans except for my sister who was in love with Johnny Bench and cheered for the Reds instead.

Museum Entrance

You can’t miss the Louisville Slugger Museum…mainly because there is a replica of a GIANT bat outside the building. The museum and factory is downtown, a somewhat unlikely place for a factory, but it was really convenient for tourism.

There was a small museum with old bats and various baseball memorabilia you could browse through. One of the highlights was an area where you could hold bats used by famous players. First you were required to put on little white cotton gloves, then a woman handed you Mickey Mantel’s baseball bat. There were four famous bats to choose from; my friend Kathleen chose Mickey’s bat, and I opted for Johnny Bench’s bat to hold. I figured this would make my sister insanely jealous! Yes, sibling taunting is still going on in my family.

The museum was interesting however for $10 you could also tour the factory and see how they make bats. They were doing a lot of production that day, so we decided to see how a tree ends up in the hands of A-Rod. Each year 40,000 Northern With Ash and Maple Trees supply the logs for Louisville Slugger bats. That seemed like a staggering number of trees, but when we found out 1.8 million bats are sold a year, it seemed to make sense.

Rows of bats waiting to be used

The factory was completely automated and what once was done by hand, the cutting/carving of the bat can be now completed in less than one minute. We were also able to see them making bats for professional players to match specific dimensions they keep in a big database. That day they were making bats for the Phillys.

In addition they were making pink dipped bats for Mother’s Day. Each major league player gets two pink bats to be used for games played on Mother’s Day and afterward the bats are signed and auctioned off proceeds benefitting the Susan G. Koman foundation.

The tour also included a short movie about professional baseball and the art of hitting featuring Derek Jeter, Johnny Bench and more. Finally, you could special order bats and have your name carved into them. Overall it was a great two hours of entertainment for $10.

If you go to the museum, be sure to take some extra time and go around the corner to see another art form, glass blowing at Glassworks . One of the most surprising things about Louisville to me was the art scene, and glass sculpture is one of the popular crafts in the area. Glassworks has a viewing area where you can watch local artists create their masterpieces.

Glassworks

Glass Horse

Glass Hats

Louisville was full of surprises to me and exceeded my expectations in many ways. The only downside is the lack of public transportation, so be sure to stay in a hotel downtown if you want to be near the main tourist attractions and museums, or plan on renting a car.

Now I’m ready to sit down with my box of Cracker Jacks on Mother’s Day and see Derek Jeter hold his pink bat which I watched being made in the factory!

Play Ball!

Downtown Louisville Attractions:

Louisville Slugger Museum
Muhammad Ali Museum
Glassworks
The Louisville Science Center

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