What next? Your guess is as good as mine!

The most frequent question I get asked is “What’s next?” followed by “How are you making enough money to continue traveling?”. I’ll tackle the latter at a different time. Both of these questions cause me anxiety, but it is a given that I will be asked them by 90% of the people I meet.

The simple answer is that I never really know ‘what’s next’; I don’t have a plan. My only plan is to remain flexible, and continue to do things that excite me intellectually, and challenge me.

I don’t have a plan on how to make a living as a travel blogger, on how I will survive the next year, on what I’m going to do in five years; I’m adrift on this globe simply trying to do things that bring me happiness and survive at the same time. I’m pretty sure that’s not a great way to get through life, but it’s been working for 5 years.

Lately I’ve been in bit of a funk. I can only attribute it to the fact that I’ve been in the US since September 2011 and I’m really itching to get out and use my passport again. I’ve had commitments which have kept me here and it’s allowed me to spend a great deal of time with family and friends, but I’m ready…ready to get out again.

Lately Europe has been ‘calling’ me. But at the same time in some weird way Europe bores me. It seems easy, posh, not very challenging. But I also have to accept that not everything has to be a challenge in my life; at least that’s what I tell myself.

I’ll be hopping on a plane with a passport in hand again on February 23rd heading to the little known island of Malta. Malta is one of these interesting places that is commonplace for Europeans, but rather obscure to Americans. Malta is actually part of the EU and it should provide a great mix of culture between Europe and Northern Africa.

Where is Malta?

After two weeks in Malta, I will head to Italy on March 10th to begin a big Europe tour that will include Italy (Rome, Sorrento, Venice), Austria (Vienna) , Germany (Berlin) , France (Paris), and Spain. It will also include my 18 year old niece for a week in Italy. I have no real solid plans yet, but I’m in the planning stages, so feel free to provide advice!

I plan to arrive in Spain in the end of April and begin a big challenge that has been on my Travel ‘Bucket’ List for a while now; I am going to walk the Camino de Santiago trail. In full it is a 800 km walk from the border of France to the coast of Spain.  I don’t yet know my route or if I will do the full route or not, but I will do it – and my feet will be screaming at me no doubt.

The typical Camino de Santiago Route

As for the rest of my year, I’m working on some ideas (some really exciting ones), but not ready to provide those details yet! However I will always be looking for opportunities to accomplish things on my Travel ‘Bucket’ List. And I’m always willing to take advice from readers!

Goodbyes are never fun for me...

Crying is not a weakness, nor does it mean I’m unhappy. At least that’s what I try to tell myself every time I find the tears welling up and streaming down my face as I say goodbye to someone.

I have no explanation for how terrible I am at goodbyes. It makes no sense to me at all. My life is all about goodbyes and constant change. I’m an adventurous, independent, solo traveler. Not just a solo traveler – but a solo person. I’ve been single and living on my own far away from family for my whole adult life. I’m not lying when I say I love being on my own, having an independent life and doing what I want to do whenever I want. I get stressed out when I have to be with others for too long and I don’t get my alone time. Yet the act of saying goodbye to anyone who I’ve been surrounded by for a while makes my throat tighten, my heart ache, my lips purse, and my eyes sting with tears.

How can I drive a car to Mongolia, live solo in Vietnam, circle the globe multiple times; yet I can’t say goodbye to my niece at the airport without crying. She’s my niece…not my child…my niece. But I’ve grown attached to her for the last 11 days. I felt responsible for her. She was a fabulous, mature travel companion who made me laugh and I was oozing pride that she was so bright, funny, and strong. But that doesn’t explain tears and the deep rooted sorrow I feel.

Evie and I in Hoboken waiting in line at Carlos Bakery

Even though the tears seem to happen most often with family (even if they are driving me crazy and I am ready to leave), they also happen with friends, lovers, and new acquaintances. I even remember a distinct time this last year being excited for someone to leave and be on my own again, yet when they walked out the door I collapsed in tears.

Why do I suck at goodbye? Why does being alone again make me so deeply sad and emotional; even though I long for that solo life most days?

It must be something to do with ending chapters in my life. Every time I travel with someone or stay with someone I consider it another chapter in my life. A definitive moment that I will recall one day in my old age; “remember that time when Evie came to New York City when she was 15 years old… “. Even though I live in a constant state of flex and uncertainty, I must be terrified to start the next chapter. Is the next chapter going to be the last?

Maybe it’s frustration. I know just how hard it is to be on my own; it’s hard work to do everything for yourself, no one to lean on or draw good vibes from. You have to find your own happiness. So maybe I’m simply sad about being back on my own and having to adjust to doing everything on my own again.

Maybe I’m just feeling the sting of living in the present. I’m simply in the moment, deeply feeling the emotions of the moment. Leaving and change are emotional no matter who you are.

Maybe I miss the security of having someone around me.

Maybe I feel vulnerable and exposed being on my own again.

Maybe deep down I’m lonely and I’m dying to find someone I can spend my life and experiences with.

Whatever the reason, it always makes me reflect and maybe that’s simply what my heart and mind is looking for. After about an hour of sorrow, I push it back, wipe my eyes, quiet my mind, and push it to the back again until the next goodbye.

How do you deal with good-byes?  Please share in the comments.

Ah - some days I feel like a freak!

I was recently told in a very heated and unpleasant discussion that I don’t share. The person wasn’t talking about sharing items as in sharing your toiletries while traveling. Instead they were talking about sharing my thoughts and feelings; in essence, opening up my life to others and sharing what goes on inside my head.

As hard as it was to hear – they were right.

After ten years of not being in any real relationships (God that hurt to even type that) and five years of traveling and living nomadically few things actually make it out of my mind and into words because there’s really no one to verbalize to. I sort of chalk it up to the fact that this is the life of a solo traveler and a very independent, single person.

You might be surprised to hear this if you have read this blog for a while. You probably feel that I share a lot of information publicly. However consider this – you only hear what I decide to share. And even that is finely crafted and controlled. The beauty of blogging and social media is that you have a delete and publish button. I decide what you hear and what you learn about me. And yes – sometimes my true thoughts are highly restricted or deleted.

Apparently I’m using a publish button in my personal relationships too. I rarely ‘publish’ anything verbally to my friends. I feel like my life is so distant from theirs that I don’t even know where to begin. So all they really get is the surface level. No one dives deep nor do I let them.

Me - a pixelated mystery

In fact lately I’ve been dealing with this huge gap in my life; the gap of what people think my life is like and what’s really going on in my head and my life.  The problem with editing is that it seems to be pushing me further away from the thoughts, feelings, and conversations in my head…the ones that never come out. The ones I don’t share. The gap is becoming a crevice and days it feels like a canyon.

I desperately want to fill in the canyon, and share again, but to whom? It takes a while to undo so much that has been done. And quite frankly I wonder if I will ever be someone that gushes personal information about myself. There’s a part of me that wants to remain a mystery…until I meet the right person to share that mystery with. At 41 I’ve been waiting a long time.

One thing I miss from my pre-blogging days is my journaling. I journaled for 7 years prior to me starting to share my stories online in 2006. I realized that the journaling for me was therapeutic; it’s how I was able to process thoughts and analyze my feelings. It was my therapist in a way. However when I stared blogging, I stopped journaling as the thought of writing on paper wasn’t as appealing any longer. Plus I just had no extra time to do it when I was working so hard at putting out my blog stories. The lack of journaling has finally caught up with me I believe.

I seldom share personal thoughts and feelings on this blog; which means that I rarely share personal thoughts and feelings anywhere. I’ve been fantasizing about opening up more, starting an outlet for the more personal side of me, my life, and my thoughts on this blog. Strangely, the pieces I write which are more personalized seemed to be the ones most people are interested in. I think it’s because we all go through the same things – and people can relate. However in the past I’ve decided to not share as much on my blog since quite honestly I’m scared.

But I’ve decided to give it a go. Starting in 2012 I’m going to try to write more personal posts under the section “Life” and the category “In my head”. They may be about travel, they may be about me, my thoughts, relationships, work, my insecurities, my sex life – or lack thereof. Don’t worry – there will still be all of the same travel info that I also do, but I’m not really sure what ‘In my Head’ will take on.  All I do know is that it won’t be highly edited…they will be simply what’s going on in my head.

My family home that I spent the first 18 years of my life in. And yes - that little yellow trike was mine from Santa

This blog is as much about me as it is about travel – so here’s a little personal look into my Christmas past that has absolutely nothing to do with travel – but everything to do with family and tradition.  As my family has grown older and evolved – new traditions take over.  However at this time of year I’m always thinking about our old traditions and how special they were to me.

Every Christmas Eve we’d all get dressed up and drive into town to go to candlelight service (which I was terrified of as a kid!).  We’d count all of the lighted Christmas trees on our way to and from church and see who could find the most.  We’d come home and take photos by the Christmas tree and then feast on a huge meal of turkey or duck.  We were never allowed to open gifts before Christmas.  We’d watch the old version of the Christmas Carol on PBS that evening by the fireplace.  One thing was for certain – I could never sleep on Christmas Eve.   I still remember that childlike anticipation and excitement that took over my whole body and mind on Christmas Eve.  I would wake up every hour and look at the clock in anticipation.  As an adult I cherish that memory of absolute pure excitement.  I often wish I could experience that feeling again – but wonder if it’s ever really possible.  Our adult lives have become so complicated these days; the holidays are more stress than they are excitement.  Some of my travels have come close, but I don’t really think the feeling can be replicated.

Christmas morning would finally come after what I thought was the longest night ever!  My parents had a rule that I couldn’t get up before 7AM so I would lay in my bed and wait until the magic time and then proceed to wake everyone else in my family up to see what Santa brought under the tree.  As you can see from the picture above, Santa was pretty kind to us.  We spent the morning opening gifts, putting together toys, and eating homemade cinnamon rolls.

Those are my old family traditions – what’s yours?

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Holiday Season with people you love!

1970 - My brother, mother, me (baby) and sister Christmas morning

1971 - Prepping for Christmas with my sister and brother

1972 - Christmas Eve

1973 - My mother and I get dressed up for Christmas Eve service and dinner

1973 - Posing with siblings for the annual tree picture!

My gifts from Santa - Fischer Price was a popular! No gameboys or electronics!

My Holiday Video tradition lives on! Holiday Greetings to everyone has stumbled by my little online home in 2011. It was a really busy travel year  – I go through the staggering numbers in the video – so watch closely! In making this video it was a good time to reflect upon my 2011 travels.  I  realized I’ve been to a lot of new places, met many new people, and added oodles of new friends to my ‘global family’ this year! Maybe more than any other year.  I really believe that I am one of the luckiest people around as I get to do what I love every day – explore, learn, and meet people.

For all of you who I met for the first time this year around all parts of this globe – it was a pleasure to spend time with you and learn about your country and culture.  For my old friends  – thanks for sticking by me and always giving me a bed to sleep in!

I bring you the 5th annual Ottsworld Holiday Video Card!

Yes – I’ve been doing this 5 years – if you are curious what the other years looked like – you can check them out here:

Holidays 2010

Holidays 2009

Holiday 2008

Holiday 2007

So – what do you think…have I changed over the years?!

Puma Nepal's Library thanks to Room to Read and a few book shelves

I walked into the brightly colored room with pillows and cushions strewn across the floor; the setting begs you to grab a book and lie down for a good read. Each wall was painted in a primary color; the little mountainside library was full of energy and fun. My eyes immediately went to the rows of bookcases neatly holding stacks of Nepalese and English books. I picked one up, flipped through some of it and saw the familiar logo on the inside front cover – Room to Read donated the books to this tiny village which I called my ‘Nepal home’. I was proud; proud I was a part of putting together this library in the little village of Puma, Nepal.

After volunteer teaching there a year prior in 2008, I had provided the principle with a financial donation to have the bulky library shelves be transported from Besisahar up to Puma which was perched high on a mountainside. It was such a treat to see that the shelves did actually make it up the mountain and had been filled with books just as we had discussed. The books were from Room To Read; an organization which works in collaboration with communities and local governments in developing countries to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children.

One of my Puma students reading a book

We all frequently read about companies and philanthropic organizations helping out in other countries, but when you can be a part of it, see it with your own eyes, and see the outcome – it takes on a different meaning. It’s one of the most rewarding things about my traveling lifestyle; being able to make a positive impact on a community, family, or person.

We take books for granted. They sit on our shelves, we probably don’t even think about them. They end up in old boxes in an attic, forgotten. But for other countries, books are a commodity in great demand.

Books lead to education, education leads to reducing poverty.

That’s why I was thrilled to hear that Passports with Purpose, the annual travel blogging fundraiser, would be working with Room to Read this year. An organization which I believe in, and I’ve seen in action first hand in Nepal.

Holiday Giving Back

Passports with Purpose raises thousands of dollars each December as they partner with travel bloggers and travel industry leaders to host a large raffle fundraiser; giving away amazing travel prizes for the small price of a $10 raffle ticket. The last few years they raised enough money to build a school in Cambodia and a build a village in India. This year we are raising money to build libraries in Zambia via Room to Read!

 The goal is to raise $80,000 through the travel bloggers who secured prizes from travel businesses. It’s really a wonderful way for the whole online travel industry to work together to improve the world in which we travel and do business.

Why should you care?

You should care because I’ve secured a kick ass travel prize from one of my favorite travel companies I worked with this year. In short, I can make your Europe travels this year cheaper and more rewarding – I guarantee it!

I’ve partnered with the good people of Oh-Barcelona European apartment rentals to provide Passports with Purpose an amazing prize to raffle off:

For a mere $10, you can enter to win a $500 voucher for an apartment stay in Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Florence, or Berlin this year! The voucher will provide you with an approximate 3 night stay for 2 people in one of these historical cities.*

In the words of a used car salesman…”You’d be crazy to pass this up!”

I’m so excited to work with a Oh Barcelona this year to give away such a coveted lodging prize. Why? Because it’s not just any company – it’s a company I used when I traveled in Europe this year. I have met the people there, I love how they do business, and I believe in the many benefits of staying in apartments when traveling.
Apartments for Extended Travel – Namely it’s a way to travel slow and integrate into local neighborhoods equaling a more rewarding travel experience.

So – as you do your holiday spending this coming month, take a moment to think about your future travels and consider helping the future of kids in Zambia. It’s a mere $10, such a small amount to make such a large impact. Hell – you’ll simply spend $10 for parking this holiday season as you shop away with no real impact. So put your $10 to good use this holiday and consider giving to Passports with Purpose and consider it a down payment on your future Europe travels!

A huge thanks to Oh-Barcelona apartments for donating the prize on behalf of Ottsworld. If you are planning travel to Europe this year – you must check them out for your Europe apartment rental! Plus – if you have any plans to travel in Barcelona, then don’t miss their Barcelona Blog – it was my best source of information on what to do in Barcelona beyond the tourist sites!

Click here to Enter the Passports with Purpose Raffle Fundraiser now!

*Prize Details:  Prize includes accommodation up to a maximum value of $500 in the vacation apartment of your choice selected from and booked on one of the following websites: Oh-Barcelona.com, All-Paris-Apartments.com, Oh-Rome.com, All-Berlin-Apartments.com or Oh-Florence.com   
All and any other costs related to the trip including additional cost of accommodation, transport, food etc. are not included in the prize. Bookings can be made up to 30 September 2012, for check-in dates of up to 31 December 2012.

If you won the Oh Barcelona $500 prize, which city would you visit to use your voucher? Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Florence, or Berlin? Share in the comments!

The Ott Thanksgiving 1970. My grandmother (middle) is holding me (I'm the one in yellow). My mother is to her right and my sister and brother are on the far right.

It’s Thanksgiving – time for overeating and reflection.  As I look back on my last five years of travel there are many things to be thankful for – but there is one thing that I feel an overwhelming wave of gratitude for as it is the main reason I can live this life I’m living.

I am thankful for a bed to sleep in every night.

More specifically I’m thankful for those people who provide me, a person without a home, a bed to sleep in every night.

I am homeless. I’m not saying I’m destitute and looking for shelter, but I’m a new kind of homeless. I don’t always know where I will sleep, I don’t have a ‘home base’, I don’t have an address, I don’t know how to answer the frequently asked question, “Where do you live?”. Thanks to my past career, my education, my family, and my friends, I’m a new kind of homeless; the kind that relies upon networking , writing bartering, and past relationships to find places to sleep. I never take a place to sleep for granted…ever.

I earn less than $15,000 a year which is hovering around the poverty line for single Americans, yet I have stayed in luxurious places in Milan, Brussels, London, Prague, New York City, Sri Lanka, Hawaii, Kiev, Valencia, San Francisco, Barcelona, and Vancouver all for free. This weird elite poverty places me in some magnificent places, experiences, and beds – yet I can’t afford to pay to go to a museum, see a movie, or get the cereal I really want at the grocery store.

This elite poverty is certainly a result of my travel writing/blogging, but it’s also due to amazing friendships I’ve cultivated around the world.

I took the time recently to count the number of different ‘beds/locations’ I’ve slept in for 2011 and determined that I’ve slept in 75 different beds. I know – that sort of sounds a bit trampy…but it’s the truth! Sometimes I get to sleep in a bed, but usually it’s an air mattress, a sofa, a sleeping bag, a car, a bunk bed, or sharing a bed. One of my best talents is that I can sleep anywhere with anyone.

A few of my 2011 beds:

My niece's bed

Bed in Prague

I spent a lot of time sleeping in a tent this year!

Boutique hotel in Brussels

Hostel bunkbed

One of my bed's in Sri Lanka

Guesthouse bed

The point of this post though is to recognize the dear people in my life who support me time and time again by providing me with a bed as I travel through the US. If it weren’t for these people I couldn’t survive this crazy lifestyle hovering around the poverty line. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to follow my passions; travel, exploration, and influencing others to reap the benefits of travel.

Let’s start with the obvious ones, family. Family is stuck with you. Yet I don’t know that any of my family thought they’d have to provide me shelter as an adult with a graduate degree. But they graciously have. My brother –in-law and sister-in-law have been quite patient as ‘Sherry the homeless aunt’ comes yet again to visit! A special thanks to my two nieces which have to put up with me when I stay; Lindsey who has been sharing her bottom bunk of her bunk bed with me for the last 5 years and Evie who shares her massive king bed with me when I visit time after time.

Our Ott family photo taken last Thankgsiving!

My friends have also been a key provider of beds for me in New York City and San Francisco. I’m lucky that I have such great friends who continue to put me up when I’m in town. These are all friends who have also traveled with me during these 5 years so they do have a unique insight into my life on the road that others may not have. Lucky for me, they are all busy professionals – they travel a lot for work and pleasure so quite frequently their apartments are empty and I am left with a beautiful apartment to myself in a beautiful city.

David’s apartment is my NYC home base. He gave me a set of keys a few years ago and even his doorman knows me by now. It’s the only keys I carry with me around the world. David allows me to stay on his air mattress in the middle of his living room for a couple of weeks at a time. Sometimes I think I know his neighbors better than he does!

David and I in Croatia

Kathleen and Angie have recently been providing my San Francisco home base. Kathleen has a beautifully decorated apartment that makes me question my decision to sell all of my own apartment stuff every time I set foot into it! She has a spare room with a comfy futon and fast internet – what more could a girl ask for ?!

Kathleen and I doing our USA road trip in 2008

Angie provides me with a great location in Presidio Heights and a comfy air mattress. Yet I’m sad and happy to say that Angie’s location is short-lived as she gets married this winter and moves out of San Francisco.

Angie and I in Australia

And thanks to all of my friends around the world who have supported me and put me up; there are many, many of you.

I will never be able to pay them back for everything they’ve given me. How do you repay someone for helping you gain freedom? For a blogger – you write a post I guess.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

The campus of 'Iolani School in Honolulu

“What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done?”
“So….(big pause) you don’t live anywhere?”
“What’s the grossest thing you’ve eaten?”
“What are some good volunteer programs?”
“What made you decide to quit your job?”
“Do you file/pay taxes?”
“Do you ever worry about your safety?”
“What’s your favorite country?”

For the last two days I’ve been questioned. The questions have come from some surprising characters – surfers, fishermen, librarians, teachers, Superman, Mini Mouse, and even Jesus! Instead of hitting the Hawaii beaches and hiking trails for the past two days, I’ve been hitting the books instead; at school.

I have been a guest of the ‘Iolani School, a private college prep school in Honolulu. No, I haven’t decided to start teaching again, instead I was asked to come speak to the students and faculty about my travels, photography, and online businesses. My speaking engagements spread out over two days, but one of those days happened to be Halloween – hence Jesus, fisherman, Superman, and Mini Mouse! It was definitely my best-dressed audience ever.

I love speaking at schools; influencing students when they are young and open to possibilities is the best time to plant seeds. I consider how my life might have been different if I had been exposed to travel younger or the possibilities of other careers rather than the normal career path. I wonder if I would have went a different direction outside of the ‘safe’ Accounting path in college. I wonder if I would have looked into study abroad programs or considered taking a gap year? One will never know, and I certainly don’t regret any of my decisions, but I do think that life is full of little moments which influence you and change your path; especially when you are young. The path is easy to change when you are young. But when you are entrenched in mid-life responsibilities, it becomes infinitely harder.

My teacher host, Mr. Brasher (Mark – who is a friend of mine!), suggested that I dress as I do when I’m traveling; he felt the kids would feel it was more authentic. Ok – no problem, I can forgo showering and wear sandals if I must!

I did 4 different presentations at ‘Iolani school – each vastly different and each equally fun. First I spoke to high school age Young Entrepreneurs about my online businesses and the industry behind search engine optimization, and social media marketing. I’m pretty sure they were a bit surprised to find out that all of that time they spend on Facebook could actually be used for running a business one day. Hopefully I made them think about marketing and Google Search results in a different way.

Presenting for the Entreprenuriel Students

Next up – 7th Grade Geography and culture. This is one of my favorite things to talk to kids about! I focused on the Mongol Rally and the charity work, plus what it’s like to live in Vietnam. Showing them food, transportation, and home life from countries that are vastly different than America can be mind blowing to kids! The biggest oohs and ahhs are always the motorbike refrigerator picture and the man eating a scorpion picture; guaranteed excitement for 7th graders. We do quizzes about food, country locations, and I even hand out money from around the world. The excitement of telling a kid they just won $5000 Vietnamese Dong is pretty fun…until they figure out it’s worth about 30 cents…AND they have to go to Vietnam to use it!

I then switched to Photography students, a subject that I rarely get to talk about. I carried in all of my gear and showed them everything I use. We talked about travel photography, tips for making your travel pictures more effective, composition, and how to determine what to shoot. Hopefully I gave the teacher a few good ideas for homework assignments in the future!

Me in front of the beautifu 'Iolanil landscaping...notice all of the leis!

Finally I graduated to talking to the teachers about doing meaningful summer travel and Meet Plan Go! I remind them of how lucky they are when it comes to travel. They are one of the only professions that get extended time off regularly, and get paid during that time including benefits; these are two of the biggest hurdles to career break and sabbatical travel for most people and professions! They already eliminated two hurdles…now they just need to get out and go! Volunteering, charity work, budget travel were hot topics for the teachers and I was able to provide them with some resources where they could get more information and hopefully provided them a little inspiration to start to take advantage of their summers off.

It was a full two days of presentations, but I loved every minute of being on campus. I love seeing kids who have the whole world ahead of them with so many possibilities. I love the fact that they are fearless and haven’t yet inherited all of the conservative adult ways that infiltrate us as each year passes.

I was showered with leis and applause in each class and hopefully got a few people thinking different about travel.

Now…it’s time to go work on my tan…Hawaii is calling!

Oh – and here’s the answers to those questions!

Checking out the lockers...

“What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done?” – Mongol Rally
“So….(big pause) you don’t live anywhere?” – Yes, that’s right, I live out of the suitcase for the last 5 years.
“What’s the grossest thing you’ve eaten?” – It’s a toss up between lamb brain & rat
“What are some good volunteer programs?” – GeoVisions.com Conversation Corps, or GoOverseas.com to provide a list of volunteer opportunities by country/city
“What made you decide to quit your job?”  I realized that I even though I was good at what I did, I didn’t really like it.
“Do you file/pay taxes?”  Yes – of course!!
“Do you ever worry about your safety?” – No.  You simply have to be smart about your travels.  And know that you are never really alone unless you want to be.
“What’s your favorite country?”  Impossible to choose a favorite – but Mongolia, Nepal, Vietnam, Jordan are some of my favorites!

It's easy to get distracted in Hawaii!

Serendipity is when someone finds something that they weren’t expecting to find. This is normally associated with a good outcome – something pleasant and unexpected. However I had the pleasure and misfortune of experiencing travel serendipity twice on the same day – the day I arrived in Hawaii.

I’m on the move again; albeit for a short time (3 weeks). Quite honestly I had to get out and explore again. As much as I absolutely love seeing friends and family in the US and evangelizing about Meet Plan Go and extended travel, I can’t find my inspiration or happiness there. I yearn to be moving and exploring; I sometimes feel like this is a curse, but you can’t really change the fiber of your being, so instead I try to work with it.

Ron and I celebrating my birthday at work in 2004

Surprisingly I’ve never been to Hawaii before, yet I have passed over it many times at 30,000 feet. Recently while in London I met up with an old friend from my corporate past as he was traveling this summer. He was my old assistant who worked for me in my past corporate life. And I can safely say he was my favorite assistant I ever worked with; and I’m not just saying that because he’s also a fellow Aquarius and former pastry chef. He brought life and levity to my daily corporate existence and most importantly he put up with my type A insanity while also baking me strawberry cakes.

Ron lives in Hawaii now with his partner Mark. He has invited me numerous times to Hawaii, and finally I bit. I really needed a break from the US…yes, yes, yes…I know that Hawaii is the US – stop hyperventilating; honestly, it doesn’t really feel like it. It’s this weird laid-back island with seemingly more Asian influence than American influence. Plus – he offered the icing on the cake – “You can stay with us at our house and we have an extra car to use.” I know that you don’t pass up staying with a local, free lodging, and transportation in Hawaii! So I escaped to the turquoise water and welcoming smiles of Ron and Mark.

Mark and Ron's Green House

I arrived at the baggage claim to Hawaiian leis and hugs from Ron. I was a bit stunned, as I wasn’t expecting to see him at baggage claim. Nowhere in America, or most other countries, do they allow non-passengers into baggage claim. Hawaii is different apparently. We waited for my bag picked, I pointed to it, Ron picked it up and away we went chatting away and out the door into the hot Hawaiian climate.

Ron is an avid reader of Ottsworld and knows me quite well from my life prior to Ottsworld so when I arrived in his home he pointed out that he had plenty of Diet Coke and peanut butter for my 2 week stay. This was the best welcome ever! We quickly put down my bag and took the car out exploring around Kailua where Ron and Mark live.
Soon we were winding around volcanic cliffs and peering out on the glistening ocean. I was once again reminded of how amazing it is to travel with a local in tow as Ron took me to little secret spots, tucked away behind million dollar homes to photograph the sunset; locations which don’t exist in guidebooks. As we were walking down one of the public access pathways to another picture perfect view serendipity intervened. Coming up the path was a familiar face – the only other person I knew in all of Hawaii – Yen, our Meet Plan Go Honolulu host.

We all stared at each other in amazement. I had planned on seeing her later in the week, but I had never planned to serendipitously run into her on a remote part of Oahu. Ok universe…I’m listening now…

We chatted excitedly we made plans to see each other the next day for some hiking and afterward Ron and I continued our secret, local, sunset tour. We arrived back at the house to make meet Mark and go to dinner, but before we left I wanted to quick freshen up as I was sweaty and had been on the go since I arrived at the airport!

That’s when serendipity #2 hit me. I went to my suitcase to unlock it and get my toiletries and I was greeted by a lime green lock. Wait a minute…that’s not my lock.

My first reaction to the imposter green lock was that TSA had inspected my bag and put the wrong lock back on – damn TSA! Immediately my mind was racing on how I could cut it off and tweet my dissatisfaction with them. Then slowly the fog started to lift; I looked at the bag and realized that I had made the stupidest traveler mistake ever. I had picked up the wrong bag and taken it with me!

Luggage tags - they are important!

My heart sank in embarrassment as I searched for the United Baggage number to call with my tail between my legs trying to rectify the situation. The bag was exactly the same as mine – but in my excitement around seeing Ron in the baggage claim I completely got out of my normal routine and didn’t check for tags. As I listened to the phone ring I realized they probably didn’t care about this excuse. I also realized that they had been trying to call me during the day but I hadn’t picked up because it said it was a blocked number and I was too busy touring around!

Mark and Ron demonstrated their hospitality and aloha spirit by driving me and someone elses luggage all the way back to the airport on the other side of the island. I thought to myself – how can I call myself a professional traveler; I made the biggest rookie mistake ever. I guess it goes to show you that even ‘professionals’ have a bad day…see the Cubs Franchise if you don’t believe me.

It was an eventful welcome to Oahu full of unexpected experiences. I can hardly wait to see what the next 3 weeks brings!

Ron and I overlooking Diamond Head and Honolulu

I’ve filled up the rest of my time here with some great travel experiences which I will bring you over the next weeks. And I will be testing out the theory of if Hawaii can be a solo, and not super expensive travel destination or not. Staying with locals is a good start to the experiment! Stay tuned for Shark cage diving (doing this today!!), photo safaris, star gazing, lots of hiking, manta ray snorkeling, and hopefully even some cattle herding. I have a lot planned for Hawaii – so stay tuned!

Have you ever made a stupid rookie travel mistake – please tell me about it to make me feel better!

Team camping is where much of the bonding took place

Before I departed on the Mongol Rally, when I told people about what I was doing this summer they were surprised, but consistently it was one topic about the epic road trip that fascinated people most. It wasn’t the inappropriate car or the length of the trip. It wasn’t the fact that my team had no mechanical knowledge. It was simply the team dynamics.

“You are going to ride for 5 weeks in a car with people you don’t know?!” said in an incredulous tone as if I had announced I was going to Mars to plant Christmas trees this summer.

So – here it is…what you’ve all been waiting for…the post on how 4 strangers drove 8500 miles in a car together…the good, the bad, and the ugly.

It's a long time to travel together...but this was about 3 1/2 weeks in..we hadn't killed each other yet!

Let me just start this by recanting what one participant on another team told me during the rally. She had actually done the rally with her husband 4 years prior and they were doing it again this year. She said,

“It’s not mechanical issues that normally trip up teams, it is the team relationships and dynamics.”

She told me this as one of their team members flew home that morning due to that precise issue. Quite frankly, hearing that made me feel better as our team dynamics certainly weren’t all chirping birds, butterflies, and wildflowers every day.

The Good

The best times were drinking wine, vodka, and beer (no surprise) and simply hanging out camping or in one of our apartment rentals talking about our parents and families. Since we were all about the same age, it was amazing how many things we had in common.

I remember one of my favorite nights was camping in Kazakhstan. The men retired early and Deb and I stayed up chatting and drinking beer underneath the expansive star display. I loved how open and honest we could be with each other.

When we clicked…we clicked; especially at border crossings. We did a good job of dividing responsibilities most days. Because we were pretty well traveled and independent already – we were efficient and generally we all had roles. Dave changed tires and managed the camp stove. Deb constantly was in charge of petrol and cooking meals. Rick provided humor and did dishes. And I worked on figuring out lodging in our next location most of the time.
We also were able to teach each other new things about blogging and tools we used. I think all of use came away with new tips and knowledge that we didn’t have before!

Deb and I partaking in two of our favorite things!

Dave and Deb wait patiently at a border crossing

Camping - everyone had their roles

The Bad

Rick, Dave, Deb and I didn’t really know each other very well at all, but we had all had little hints into our personalities during the course of planning over the last year via skype. However what we didn’t plan for is that those hints would turn out to be full blown issues when in a car with the same people day in and day out.

One of the biggest hurdles we had to deal with is that we all had very different travel styles. I came from a solo background where I controlled everything myself. I never have to ask anyone what I should do or where I should go – I just do what I want.
Dave and Deb travel as a couple normally. They know each other so well that they barely have to even ask one another what the other thinks! Rick hadn’t traveled extensively outside the US at all and he certainly hadn’t done much independent travel where roughing it and split second decisions were necessary.

And the biggest hurdle for us was the fact that for all of us – we had to constantly make decisions about our journey every day, hour, and sometimes minute. Those decisions would need to be discussed and scrutinized by the other teams members because they would affect all of us. The majority of our time when we travel many decisions are made for us – certainly when it comes to press trips or tours. But now we were faced with where to stay each night, how to get there, which road to take, who would drive, how much gas do we get, etc. And everyone’s personality and level of tolerance was different…this is a difficult recipe for success.

It's a small space to spend 5 weeks!

Working at a campsite in Romania - just a few macbooks along...

The Ugly

From the beginning I had said I went on this trip because it scared me. I really didn’t know if I could do it. Driving in other countries has always intimidated me. More often than not my scaredy-cat personality would come out in the form of worry. I felt like my mother sometimes…but I couldn’t help it. Did it annoy and effect my teammates, yes. Did we argue about it…yes. Did we make up…yes.

Traveling with Rick was like traveling with Bill Clinton. I say that mainly because he sounds just like him! However I quickly realized that he was sort of like Clinton in other ways too – you could never really nail him down on anything! He was soooooo easy going that he didn’t really have an opinion. In this rally world where lots of decisions needed to be made, having one person opt out of the decisions made for a tense time. Did it annoy and effect the team…yes. Did we argue about it…yes. Did we make up…well…most of the time!

I learned midway through the rally that Dave and Deb had a big concern about team dynamics. They wanted to make sure they didn’t always appear ‘teamed up’ or on the same side. They didn’t want it to be the Dave/Deb show and overpower the team – especially when the majority of the time it was only the 3 of us making decisions. It was actually great to hear that they had put that much thought into it. However since they were trying so hard not to dominate the decisions, it sort of backfired as I never really knew what they wanted to do or when they were backing down because they didn’t want to appear too pushy. There were times when I needed them to be pushy and push me out of my scaredy-cat ways – but they backed down. Did we fight about it…yes. Did we resolve it…yes. Did we make up…yes.

The one thing that you could always count on is that Deb would speak her mind. I found it refreshing and challenging at the same time. Yet I know that I’d rather be around a person where I know exactly where I stand as opposed to being back-stabbed. It pushed me to stand up for myself and my opinion at times. And the best part is that she appreciated the push back.

I don’t think I need to get into all of the details of every bad moment…we certainly had some. There were tears, there was yelling, there was talk of quitting and going home. We were all frustrated with each other on some days; who wouldn’t be?!

Dave, Deb, and I walking to the car in Prague

Waiting at the Mongolian border

One of my favorite pictures of the team - doing what we loved....camping!

Are we still friends?

Just like anything in life – there are ups and downs and you will be thrown challenges. Imagine being in a car with 3 of your work colleagues for 5 weeks – how do you think you’d fare?

The important thing is that we are all still friends and quite frankly I miss them!  It’s strange to go from every day together to nothing. I think it’s a testament to the type of people we are that we can go through such an adventure and still remain friends! Rick had to go home early to catch a flight, but Dave, Deb, and me ended up really bonding then; they felt like siblings by the time we got to Ulaanbaatar! I love them, yet we can all frustrate the hell out of each other too – just like any good sibling relationship! But I know that the bond we built together will last us a lifetime.

Would I travel with them again? Hell yes!

Dave, Deb, and I celebrating out last day!

Have you ever traveled with strangers?  What were the challenges?

The 'guests' arrive!

I’ve never been married, but I can only imagine that planning and running an event like Meet Plan Go is similar to planning a wedding…minus the big bill at the end and the white dress. However there was music, alcohol, 1250 guests, months and months of planning, stress, anxiety, excitement, last minutes panic, and finally a buzzed bliss that it was all over.

But wait a minute…it’s over.

Post wedding/event depression sets in.

Is this what it’s like to get married? All of this time and effort put in for one day and now it’s over?

I came home at 11PM after the San Francisco event, made a cup of tea, had a leftover piece of carrot cake (for the record I would have a carrot cake as my wedding cake), and I sat down and satiated my ‘it’s over depression’ by reading the 5 timezones of twitter updates about the events. The best and worst thing about the Meet Plan Go! travel event is that it happens in 17 cities ON THE SAME NIGHT.  A planning challenge for sure, but more importantly – it’s hard to accept the fact that I can’t be in 17 places at the same time.

So I stayed up until 2:30AM pouring over the tweets and photos from the other cities – excited and sad at the same time. But I collected my favorite ones so that I could share them with you – my non-twittering blog audience. I love these comments; they make me happy, elated, and they even give me goose bumps.  To think that the event does shake up the status quo and gives people a place where they don’t feel so crazy for wanting to do extended travel is exactly what I wanted to accomplish.

Some of these tweets give you a slight idea of what it was like to be at an event…and the tweets might even inspire some of you to say “I do”…err…I mean “I go”

What’s next for me?  Like any good marriage it’s followed by a honeymoon…and I’m taking mine in Hawaii for the next 3 weeks – minus the husband. Which might be the best honeymoon of all! Yeah…travel!!!

Boston

Orlando

My favorite Tweets from around the country:

Meet

Waiting for #meetplango #PDX to start. So exciting to be in a room full of people making the same plans I am!

Love my new #travel circle!

Sean Keener at the #pdx #meetplango: “I never met a traveler who said they shouldn’t have gone on that trip…”

SO inspired by the event tonight. It’s great to be in the room with those who think like me. AND planned a trip!

Listening to talks of career breaks and stories of long term travel really makes me miss living out of a 35l backpack.

#meetplango is an awesome way to connect w/ like-minded people + plan an amazing travel experience! So inspired!

A room full of people realizing that long term travel is a practical dream.

After #MeetPlanGo in San Francisco, I feel an attachment to this city & the community (especially travel) like I’ve never had anywhere else.

…wish we’d had MPG before starting! So great to spend time with like-minded folks who “get” the work, sacrifices, choices that go in to making travel a priority…and the great results!

St. Louis

New York City

Plan

Great night at #meetplango #pdx! Bonus…best way to buy stuff after a career break? Stalk those in the selling stuff phase of theirs!

Wing it! Don’t overplan. You’ll never have this much freedom again in your life!

Career breaks are not available to just the eclectic few. U can do it to. Start planning.

“When you start your trip maybe put training wheels on your bike, start with an easy place to travel first.” @sarahrunning

Do your research before finding a place to volunteer. Go within & listen to what your spirit calls you to do! #meetplango

Most of the travelers on the #meetplango #chicago panel spent $2000 a month on the road. That’s less that I spend per month at home.

Plan your trip around what is important to you, not others. Don’t overplan.

Advice when approaching border: If you’ve been bumming around, take a shower & brush your hair. It’ll help out quite a bit

You need twice the money and half the clothes. -caroline boudreaux

The best laid travel plans will fall apart. Roll with it and enjoy your trip.

Give up 1 latte a day for a yr. that’s $1446 towards your #careerbreak

How do you get your family on board? They need to be willing to get outside their comfort zones.

Before your trip, act like you are moving: cancel bills/pay online, sell stuff, hire mover+storage, use local address

A smile is valuable in every country!

You will have naysayers. (They’re jealous!) Ignore some, let others know how important this is to you.

Often you’ll find a better price outside the US. Another reason not to overplan!

Volunteering can stretch your travel dollar.

Don’t forget to have an emergency fund during long-term travel. Credit cards might not work

Sometimes the hardest part of #travel is getting ready to go

Chicago

Honolulu

Go!

“The idea of traveling alone as a woman is scarier than actually doing it.” Olivia @whygo at #meetplango #pdx

“The biggest motivator for taking our big trip was not going, but thinking about our life if we didn’t go.” @sarahrunning

When traveling solo, can be much more interesting says @lisanapoli -people offer more, help more, show more.

Talking about peer pressures of long term travel, Ryan and Jen say that “nobody else has to be ok with it, just you” #MeetPlanGo

As cool as it was to be on the STL #meetplango panel, really looking forward to being the guy “skyping in” next year.

“My career break was absolutely the best year of my life.” @cogentlegal

I’m buying a one way ticket before anyone can talk me out of it. #freakingout

You nvr know the work your going get abroad until your boots are on the ground!

Was planning a 3 month stay in Argentina, now considering other places and more time abroad. thanks!!

Travel on my mind & butterflies in my stomach- #SEAsia can’t come soon enough!

Seattle

Portland

Other Cool/Funny Stuff:

Theme of #MeetPlanGo & #MPGLA : the f-word: FLEXIBLE

Americans waste 125 million hrs of vacation hours a year!

Traveling made me more employable @takeyourbigtrip

You’ll come back from travel more creative & a risk-taker, and this makes you a more appealing employee!

“I don’t have to tell you – when you come back, everyone will think you’re awesome!”

“I don’t look at other countries as ‘those people’. We’re all the same. That’s what travel has taught me.” @takeyourbigtrip

Careers will work out. Any hiring manager will want to hear about a #RTW trip. @cogentlegal

Wow, question of “how many ppl like their job?” asked and very few ppl raised their hands. #meetplango #chicago Let’s change that!

Tweets in other languages! – Estou no #meetplango em DC com mais 80 pessoas que estao planejando viajar pelo mundo.

The Denver meeting was AWESOME!! Thank you all! Now to ‘Plan’ and ‘Go’!

San Franciso Panel...including me...don't we all make a happy 'couple'

Did you go to a Meet Plan Go Event? I would love to hear what you thought – was it a good or bad wedding?!

It's your choice.

Yesterday I had a choice to make. I went with a friend to her gym to work out quick before we explored wineries in California’s Shenandoah Valley. She thought that she could get a guest in for free, but the manager at the desk told me it would be $15 to come and work out as a guest. I was only going to be there an hour, and the thought of spending $15 on one hour was a hard thing to swallow for my budget.

I thought about it for a bit, and decided that I would save the $15 and simply run outside. Sure- it was very hot out and I didn’t really know the area, but I didn’t feel that using a treadmill was worth $15. After all, my Meet, Plan, Go! business partner had just created this cool graphic about the cost of $15 at home and abroad and I decided I would save that $15 for my next trip!

Ever since returning from the Mongol Rally, I’ve been frantically preparing for the 2nd annual Meet, Plan Go! events that happen this Tuesday in 17 cities.

Plain and simple, the events are about getting more people out traveling.

Are we going to tell you that it’s easy to leave your job and plan and big trip?  No.
Are we going to tell you that it’s possible to leave your job and take a traveling career break that will benefit your career?  Yes.

Are you spending time putting up barriers to why you can’t take a career break?

The economy is in the toilet
I’m worried about the gap on my resume
It costs too much
I have a family

Maybe you should be choosing to use that time in a more productive manner and start to determine how to overcome those barriers and move in a positive direction. That’s what the Meet, Plan, Go! events can help you do.

It’s all a question of how badly you want it. How badly do you want to make changes in your life (like budget and lifestyle), go against the status quo and take the necessary steps to follow your desires to travel and see the world.

Life is about choices.
You can choose to go out on a limb, or you can choose to do nothing, which effectively means you’re choosing to stay.

Yesterday I made the small choice to save my $15 and put it towards my travels. I choose to go.

For all of you who read my website and think, “I wish I could do that.” I have one question for you.

What will your choice be?

RSVP for Meet, Plan, Go! in 17 cities October 18th, 2011.

Austin | Boston | Chicago | Denver | Honolulu | Las Vegas | Los Angeles
Minneapolis | New Orleans | New York City | Orlando | Portland
San Francisco | Seattle | St. Louis | Toronto | Washington DC

Charlie and I welcoming commuters in NYC

Passion is a weird thing, it can take over your life, and it can make you do things you otherwise would never do. Passion is powerful. Passion is crazy. Passion is a drug. Passion is blinding. Passion wakes me up early in the morning. Passion makes me go to bed late at night.

My passion is getting people to travel more, and discover their passions.

Yes, I love travel – that’s no secret. But I love it so much and have so much passion for inspiring others to travel that sometimes I do crazy things. This week I did a crazy, passionate thing; it didn’t require a man nor did it require a passport.

It all started one day when I saw a gruff looking man standing on the corner in SOHO in NYC with a sandwich board advertising manicures for a local establishment. I thought to myself the establishment could have chosen a better spokesperson for their product. The man didn’t seem too passionate about manicures so I kept walking. Then later that day I sat in the subway going uptown looking at all of the people around me who looked like zombies with iphone,s blackberries, Kindles, ipods, and newspapers. Some of them looked haggard as if the day had won, and they were heading home in defeat. I thought to myself how I wish I could reach some of these people with the message of Meet, Plan, Go! and career breaks. The zombie people in the subway could most certainly use a career break.

The next morning in jest I put out a tweet and got this response from my good friend Charlie Grosso.

Game on.

Charlie is such a creative risk taker and believer of the unconventional that of course she was up for it. After all, she leads a double life already over at the Spy Travelogue and if you don’t follow her – you should! We decided we’d be partners in crime. She even recruited her roommate, Riegan, who adored the idea and wanted to be involved too.

I prepared to go visit my old life again; business attire, commuting, and getting up early. I was excited and nervous; this was definitely out of my comfort zone. But occasionally we need to step out of our comfort zones to accomplish great things; much like preparing for and taking a career break.

Like a good worker bee, I set my alarm for 5:30AM, got up, showered, put on my 5 year old business attire which I had to dig out of my storage unit the day before and headed out in the dark to meet Charlie, Riegan, and Michaela near the World Trade Center site.

We met at 7AM to pick our spot within a sea of commuters. I stood in middle of passing New Yorkers with our sign that read, “Sick of your job? Need a break?”, while Charlie and Regan handed out flyers about Meet, Plan, Go! and Michaela filmed it all.

What was the reaction?

Many people took our flyers and walked away reading a little about Meet Plan Go, hopefully setting in motion an idea of travel that might sprout into an actual career break one day. Many people ignored us. New Yorkers are great at ignoring people, probably some of the best in the world at having tunnel vision when they are commuting. Many people made sure that they made no eye contact with us, but if they broke their trance and looked at our sign, I could generally see a little smile slip onto their face, and then go back to blank stare.

I nicely said hello to everyone trying hard not to appear like a Jehovah’s Witness or Bible beater – yet I was aware that what I was doing was borderline missionary.

Some people laughed, some people furrowed their brows, some people said hello. One person walked by us and came back asking, “Can I have a flyer for my friend? I think she needs this. (slight pause) Can I have another for myself too? (another pause) Actually can a take a few in for my whole office?”

One man told me I had a nice smile. A police officer walked up to me and said hello. One man asked us if we were running for office. A woman told me that she liked her job. And a homeless man told us that he was thinking about getting a job again.

We had a myriad of reactions.

But most importantly we did it. For me to go back to my old subway stop that I commuted back and forth to a job I disliked for 3 ½ yrs in a completely different mindset of someone who had escaped was a exhilarating.

Sometimes passion makes you do crazy things. I think living life on the edge, following our passions is really the definition of living. At least for me it is.

HUGE thanks to my girls….some of the coolest, fearless chicks on the planet – follow them on Twitter at @charliegrosso @careerbreakhqs @RieganCooks

What are you so passionate about that you’d consider doing things out of your comfort zone?

Do you have a dream to escape the cube like I did and take a life changing career break?  Have you got your Meet, Plan, Go! tickets yet; they are going fast!  Join us to talk about career breaks, sabbaticals, and extended travel on October 18th in 17 cities in North America!

The day I departed from NYC on my career break in 2006

Five years ago today, August 31st, was my last day of work in the corporate world. I had a little box full of personal items from my desk, a big grin on my face, a bit of trepidation in my gut, and a one-way ticket to Africa.

It was supposed to be a career break of one year. However somehow one year has turned into five years. For the last five years I’ve celebrated this momentous occasion in places around the globe:

2007 – Delhi India volunteering
2008 – Puma Nepal trekking and volunteering
2009 – Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam living and teaching ESL
2010 – Brussels, Belgium housesitting
2011 – Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia after finishing the Mongol Rally

I don’t even think I knew some of these places existed or where to find them on a map back in 2006 when I left my office behind. And I certainly would have never expected that 5 years later I would still be traveling.

Me entering Mongolia during the Mongol Rally 5 years later

I don’t consider myself on a career break any longer; travel blogging and running Meet, Plan, Go! is now a lifestyle and a new career. However that initial career break from September 2006 to November 2008 changed my life in many ways…all for the better. It sent me on various different trajectories beyond the cube; but more importantly it changed me inside.

If you are contemplating a career break to do some extended travel, volunteering, or a long crazy adventure like the Mongol Rally then odds are you will experience some of these changes in your life:

Simplicity – a big salary, titles, and offices have little meaning to me any longer. Instead I value experiences. Even if I had gone back to a corporate job, I know for a fact that I value my happiness over a larger salary. I feel as if I’ve finally stepped off the ‘more is better’ lifestyle that we are all destined to live in the US.

Creativity – My left brain woke up on my career break. I thought I had lost my creative side for good after 14 years of conference room meetings, project plans, and bureaucratic corporations. I found new skills and interests in photography, writing, and art. I retrained my brain to make my own decisions and solutions instead of relaying decisions and solutions decided by ‘higher ups’.

Family – I witnessed family culture all over the world which has changed the way that I view my own family relations now. I see my family more often; I depend on them, and value them like I never did before.

Television/Hollywood – I am free from the shackles of living other people’s lives via television and celebrity magazines. I have cut back on the Hollywood hype at least 80%. Sure – I still watch TV, but much less than I ever did before my career break and travels.

Fear – I have learned how to face my fears and push myself beyond my self-imposed limits. The Mongol Rally is a great example of that. Instead of running from things, I face them head on. Life if short, there is no time to be scared.

Time – most importantly my career break gave me time to think. My prior life was full of commitments, meetings, projects, and plans. There was no time to actually rest, think, and evaluate my life and decisions. By stepping off the corporate track and away from what was familiar to me, it freed up my mind. You don’t have to take a long break to do this – but a break is certainly necessary. It’s natural and needed for your mind and body to slow down a bit and re-energize. A two week vacation is not enough time to do that; it’s simply an expensive diversion.

I can’t guarantee that you will have a similar experience as I did on my career break, but it will change you – that I know.

I recently did an interview with Lonely Planet about Career Break Travel Myths – check it out and be prepared to shatter some of the excuses you’ve been using on why you don’t think you can take a career break and travel!

And if you are sitting in your cube terrified by all of this talk of career breaks, but also intrigued at the same time, then be sure to check out my other travel business venture – Meet, Plan, Go!

At Meet, Plan, Go! we are leading the career break movement in North America; encouraging and teaching others how to travel the world and have it be beneficial to your career. We envision a world where the term ‘career break’ is a part of your overall career strategy.

The Meet Plan Go! website was listed recently as one of the best travel websites EVER from the Guardian online.  So be sure to check it out!

Meet Plan Go on our Mongol Rally car in Kazakhstan

Plus, on October 18th, don’t miss our North American Career Break event about how to take the big leap out of the cubicle and onto the plane. We are holding the event in 17 cities staffed with career break and travel experts to inspire and assist you towards your own career break!

What are you waiting for…time is short and the world is big!

Have you taken a career break and traveled?  What did you learn from it?  Please share in the comments below!

Warren, Betsy, and I

I’ve been lucky enough to meet up with many friends in London in between doing Mongol Rally prep.  One of the friends I met was Warren and Betsy Talbot from Married with Luggage Blog.  Meeting them for the first time after working with them digitally was a real treat.  It was as if I was meet long, lost friends.  We talked about travel, career breaks, men (or lack thereof), and the Mongol Rally of course.  It seems like everyone is interested in the rally – and I don’t blame them…it’s kinda cool, but I hardly feel like it’s real.

Betsy and Warren took the time to feed me beers and then interview me on why I was doing the Mongol Rally. Here’s the video interview for your viewing pleasure.  This is actually part of a blog post that they did over on their wonderful site that talks about doing things that scare you.

One of my favorite things about the post they did is that their readers are commenting on it and sharing secrets about what scares them. So make sure you stop on by their post and add the things that scare you and what you are going to do about it!

Have you ever worked so long and hard on something that you forgot what you were doing or why you were doing it? The idea of the Mongol Rally for me started back in June 2010; that’s when I found some teammates that agreed to come with me. Ever since then I’ve been working on prepping for it and planning haphazardly. However the real time has been spent in thinking and stressing out about it; having the ‘to-dos’ constantly on my mind. As I arrived in London last Friday ready to meet my teammates and pick up a car that I’ve never seen, I realize that I’ve lost focus on the actuality of what we are doing.

We are attempting to drive to Mongolia. Shit.

The sheer magnitude of what we are about to embark on hasn’t sunk in at all. It so easily rolls off my tongue – we’re driving to Mongolia this summer – so matter-of-factly. As if I’m saying, “I’m flying to the moon this summer. “ No biggie.

In fact, the more people act surprised when hearing about the endeavor – the more nonchalant I become about it. I have to remind myself that it IS a big deal. Normal people don’t do this. Normal people don’t want to do this. Until now I haven’t really given any thought to anything in between London and Mongolia at all besides border crossings and visas.

I’ve started to think about and anticipate what we may see and experience, the people we’ll meet, and the landscapes and cultures we’ll be exposed to. I think that process is challenging to imagine with simply 1 country, but when you consider 14 countries and 2 continents – it becomes really hard to grasp.

I’ve had a number of people tell me lately to live where I am, enjoy the present moment I’m in. It’s wonderful advice and it may just keep me sane during this adventure. The question is will I have the ability to do it?

I will try. I’ll take one moment at a time I guess. I’ll live where my two feet are at this very moment.

For me that’s London right now.

Presently we are trying to sort through paperwork, learn how to drive on the other side of the road and shift with my left hand, get to know each other, get supplies, try to see a little of London and learn how to use all of our new fun gadgets from sponsors. Here’s what we’ve accomplished in the last 3 days:

Car pickup and prep

Installing a roof rack on our trusty blue steed...

We picked up the newly cleaned car donated by Allways Rentals. The good news is that it runs! It even purrs…at least until we go 70mph…then it sort of growls and shakes. But seriously – how often will we go 70?!!

We have also prepped the car with a brand new roof rack thanks to 2 very kind last minute donors from our generous travel blogging community – Family on Bikes and Brooks on Break.

Paperwork

Dave displaying our new temporary V5 for our car...phew!

It didn’t take us long to get exposed to UK bureaucracy and paperwork. We spent Monday morning traveling to the DVLA (the UK version of the DMV) to try to sort out our car title woes that were threatening to not let us out of Europe. Luckily Dave was calm, cool, and collected as Deb and I bit our nails. We were able to talk to a DVLA agent, explain the situation, fill out more paperwork, pay money and walk out with a temporary title document for our car! The real thing will arrive in the mail in 3 weeks – just in time for us to take the car out of Europe…whew…crisis diverted. The first and I’m sure not the last.

Our Diggs

Me cooking up a fajita feast in our London apartment

We got settled in to our superb new apartment in London for the week sponsored by Oh London Apartments. We’ve been making trips to the grocery store and cooking up feasts! We all love our apartment – and we happen to be neighbors with Jamie Oliver…I can see his offices outside my window! I’m hoping he may have some leftovers to share with us!

Bonding

Deb and Dave drinking beer celebrating our V5 paperwork

We have certainly been tipping a few back while getting to know each other. Dave, Deb, and I have been having a wonderful time bonding. Here’s what I’ve learned about them so far:
• They are fearless. Dave got in the car and took off like he had been driving a stick with his left hand all of his life. Then Deb took over without hesitation even though she said she was nervous about driving and getting used to it. I was really impressed. I love the fact that they jump in…which is probably what got them in this spot in the first place!
• Deb’s most common phrase to Dave is, “Where’s the iphone?” Within our first day together I have decided that she needs a iphone lanyard to wear around her neck! Any sponsors out there want to help out on that one??
• They are brilliant at being in front of a camera. They’ve been taking video of our various outings for all of this prep and they are like seasoned television personalities. I on the other hand am used to traveling alone and rarely am in front of any type of lens…I’m always behind the lens. It will be a bit of an adjustment for me to travel as a team no doubt.
My final teammate, Rick, is arriving tomorrow – I’m looking forward to see what I learn about him next!

Gadgets

Dave and Deb getting instruction on our Track24 solo device

We have been learning how to use all of our gadgets from our sponsors. First – our Tep MIFI’s have been absolute lifesavers in the UK. They provided us these tiny little devices (smaller than a cell phone) that we can put in our pocket and it emits a wireless signal that we can use at all times. Hell, I’m writing this post on the Tep connection right now! I think it’s my favorite gadget ever for travel…mainly because it allows me to be online while I’m out touring around which is essential for travel bloggers!

Today we also stopped by the Track24 Solo offices in Soho to pick up our 2 way satellite tracking device. This literally is a lifesaver. Track24’s normal customers are military and security companies who work in dangerous areas around the globe. However these little satellite devices are also great for travel – especially for the Mongol Rally, expeditions, and NGO work. This will allow us to plot our coordinates along a map daily on our Facebook pages, and check in with people no matter how remote we are. It even has a panic button (red of course) that notifies our emergency contacts of our exact coordinates and information if we do run into any trouble.

Site-Seeing

Rainy London...

I have done very little of this so far – but it’s planned for later this week. It’s been raining non-stop, which has made it a bit challenging for photography and getting around. But hey – it’s London…rain is the norm.

The adventure is real now. It’s exciting, daunting, and very, very exciting.

We are driving to Mongolia!

Learn how to follow our team during our adventures with daily updates on social media!

Also – don’t forget – we are accepting donations for our charity during the rally – so if you haven’t given yet – please consider supporting our charity, the Christina Nobel Foundation.  Learn how to donate here.

I heart travel blogging...most of the time

I love you, I hate you…the story of my life. I always seem to live on the extremes; always in search of some sort of balance. In the name of balance, I decided to take a look at my relationship with blogging and my lifestyle – why I love it and what I equally hate about it.

Hearing from People

I love hearing from people. Nothing makes me happier than getting a comment on my site (from a real person and not some stupid spammer simply trying to pimp their link or business… I hate those people). I enjoy it when people send me personal emails with questions or simply words of encouragement; it keeps me going, it’s my fuel – my paycheck. Most of all, I love hearing from my dad when he comments on my blog. He shares insight into his thoughts and life that’s I’ve never been privy to in my 41 years. I feel like it opens a window to his thoughts, feelings, and soul that we never ever talk about in person. Yes – I know this is completely dysfunctional…but I take what I can get.

Then again, I hate hearing from people…yes – that’s right…you heard me. I get numerous emails a day from people ‘demanding’ that I share links with them, or trying to get me to advertise for free or very discounted prices. I hear from people who simply send out form letters to every blogger out there (I know this because I have two websites and I get the same message…duh). I get countless PR companies sending me emails about their products and announcements. I get people asking me to do sponsored posts or guest posts (yet if they look at my site they should know that I don’t do sponsored posts or guest posts). Why do I hate this…because it wastes my time. I have to open and delete every one of those emails…and that makes me cranky. Those are minutes I’ll never get back in my life…they add up.

Constantly Moving

Disorganized Storage

I love being on the move, not having a homebase, and being completely flexible. I love not spending my time shopping for housing things and paying bills. I love being ‘fenced in’ by the size of my backpack. I love seeing new countries and cultures. I love seeing my own country and culture in action. I love the fact that because of this lifestyle…my ability to chat with people at social gatherings has really improved…I have a story to tell and people generally enjoy hearing that story.

I hate being on the move constantly, blowing up air mattresses, never really knowing where you will sleep from week to week. Lugging a heavy backpack around and an equally heavy daypack – I look like a dork…and my 41 year old body isn’t too thrilled about this either. I hate always being a guest and never being able to unpack my toiletries. I HATE going to my storage unit in New York City – it’s a complete mess of boxes which are falling apart and the items in the boxes aren’t much better after 4 years. The worst part is that it reminds me of how incredibly screwed up my ‘life of stuff’ is.

Control Freak

I love having control over my life and my work; I’m my own boss. I set my hours and can work from anywhere. I don’t have to ask permission or get ‘sign off’ to try out a new idea or do something a different way. I don’t have to conduct employee reviews or be reviewed myself! I can take a long lunch…in Thailand if I want!

All of this control comes with a price though. Because I work for myself I tend to work much harder and put in more hours (yet it is doing stuff I love!). However, when I get behind, there’s no one to pick up the slack except myself. But the biggest issue about working for yourself is that when you screw up – you have no one to blame but yourself. Plus, to top it off, when you screw up, you really do care that you’ve screwed up – after all, it’s your business. When a project goes wrong, it upsets me to my core and I have to work my ass off to get it corrected – at all hours.

Noise

Noise that's hard to ignore

I love the fact the travel blogging has risen out of nothingness when I started in 2006 and has become this vibrant, supportive online community.  The blogging world is expanding so fast that it’s impossible to keep up. But the nice thing is that I’m not alone anymore.  I do love reading about other people’s adventures.  I have a group of peers that I chat with daily, bounce ideas off of, and partner with.  I have people who understand my.

However with this influx of travel bloggers and the increased presence in social media – it creates a massive amount of noise in my head.  I learned last weekend at the World Domination Summit that 50,000 new blogs are started every day.  Shit.  Do we really need 50,000 of anything?  Granted – these aren’t all travel blogs…but they are blogs.  Not only is it noise in my day with twitter feeds, keyword streams, facebook likes, and emails that no live person can really keep up with.  But specifically it’s negative noise in my head.  It’s the voice that tells me, “Everyone is more successful and doing cooler things than you.”  “They seem to have it all together, while I’m more unbalanced and broke then ever!”…it’s the self doubting voice which I hate.  It’s the ‘grass is always greener’ plague.  It makes me want to run and hide more than ever.  I just want to disappear and not pay attention to everyone else.  I feel like I’m in high school all over again and desparately wanting to be in the cool clique.  Yes – here’s the problem – I hated high school.  I just want to do my own thing and at my age one would think that I would have figured that out by now.  Um…no, I’m human…and we are hard to change.  I’ve started to not want to read about anyone else and what they are doing as I know that I’m too hard on myself.  But then I go through guilt of not ‘participating in the industry dialog’.  This is probably the hardest area for me.  I desperately want and need camaraderie and the industry to grow – but I quite honestly preferred it when there were only a few of us doing this.  It’s a strange feeling.

Money

I actually love the fact that my attitude about money has completely changed.  Thanks to this lifestyle I’m no longer wishing I were rich.  I simply want to have enough to exist and be happy.  I don’t need excess.

I’ve been meeting a lot of new travel bloggers lately and they come up to me with eager wide eyes and want to know tips on how to be successful or how to make money blogging or get free trips.  Inside my head I wonder if people actually think it’s easy…cuz it’s not!  I begin by telling them that I’ve been doing this now in some shape or form for 5 years and I’m going on my first press trip next month.  I barely get by financially.  I feel like I want to shake them and say it’s not as glamorous as they somehow think.  People are not knocking down my door sending me on free trips.  I have to ‘hustle’ for everything I get.  Generally – I have to go put out proposals to people as to why they should host me and what I can do for them in exchange.  I rarely get emails that invite me places for free out of the blue.

Relationships

My Indie Travel Podcast buddies - Linda and Craig

I love making new relationships in this blogging and social media world. My network has expanded by leaps and bounds; and it’s global. I can practically go to any country in Europe or Asia and always have a friend I can stay with. The potential networking you can do via the internet is endless. If I have a blogging question – I simply write one of my many blogging techie gurus and they will help.  The travel blogging community is really amazing. Plus, I’ve made some incredible friendships with people who simply read my blog (yup…I’m talking about you Amy!); who says you can’t build relationships through leaving comments?!

However even with 10,000 unique visitors, and 4200 twitter followers – it’s a very lonely existence at times. Generally, it’s me and the laptop; which is slightly dysfunctional. In addition, this nomadic travel blogging lifestyle does take its toll on finding and building any romantic relationships. There are times when I worry if I’ve chosen a lifestyle that is guaranteeing me a single existence forever. Then again – I had years of being single in big cities and I didn’t have any better luck in a ‘traditional’ lifestyle!

Love it and hate it…everything has good and bad. The good news is that I have more love than hate…and that’s what keeps me going!

Are you a travel blogger? What do you love and hate about blogging?

Courtesy of the World Domination Summit

Americans work hard. We work too much, we go too fast.  But as much as other cultures might think, we are not machines and every once in a while we need some inspiration to keep being productive. As a nomadic blogger and entrepreneur, I suppose I could say that I’m one of ‘those’ location independent people. It doesn’t matter where I do my work from – Capetown, Kandy Sri Lanka, Kathmandu, or South Dakota; all I need is an internet connection to get my tasks done. However the downside to that is that you spend a lot of time alone, staring at a screen in an obscure part of the world. When I have a tough day slogging through work, there is normally no one to give me that understanding look, a hug, or offer me a beer. I have to push through any hurdles myself and keep going.

However – this last weekend was different. I spent a weekend in Portland attending Chris Guillebeau’s World Domination Summit. Ok – I know the name may be a bit offputting, but the idea behind it is to get a whole bunch of bright, enthusiastic, driven, entrepreneurs and creative types together to share, cheer each other on, and connect. It wasn’t a self-help conference – it was more of a motivation conference.

Motivation, inspiration, and being surrounded by awesome people and energy is just what this digital nomad needed.

500 excited people rubs off on you!

I can’t say that I learned concrete tasks or knowledge – but I did learn that I could push on, keep following my dreams and have fun doing it. These are things one starts to doubt after you work alone for a while behind a laptop from country to country.

Chris had some great speakers which ranged from big blogging names, to coaches, to inspirational people. Some were really polished, some were really authentic. They got up, told their story, and managed to blow me away. I feverishly wrote notes in my little notebook – little phrases that would keep me going and challenge me when I need them. I wrote down ideas that would make me think and re-look at ways I approach things.

Instead of going into details of each speaker and their presentations – I’ve decided instead to share some of my favorite motivational lines and thoughts I wrote down. These are the comments that resonated with me and maybe a few will resonate with you too. I have no idea what your goals and dreams are, but I’m betting you have a few. Take these little nuggets, read them aloud, slowly, let them sink in and feel the energy they emanate. That’s the energy you need to accomplish your goals and dreams:

• If you are looking for people to give you permission, you will wait forever – this society won’t give you permission.
• Following a path of what we think we should do trips us up more often than not.
• Listen to your compass inside
• Simplicity is about conquering one thing at a time and you will make progress
• Reduce commitments and do less.
• Live without goals. It’s stressful to achieve goals. It takes a lot of time and energy to manage goals. Free yourself of failure when you don’t have goals. When you have the ‘goal mindset’ there is never an end. You always look to the future instead of enjoying the moment.
• A good traveler has no fixed plans and doesn’t intend on arriving.
• Find value in wandering around.
• If you want to accomplish great things then you will have to push through barriers.
• Everything you bring in your life is a choice. Own your choice.
• If you are in a place you don’t want to be – realize and accept that you are choosing to be there so fucking love it, and appreciate it instead of beating yourself up and then set a date to get out no matter what.
• Worst case scenarios will liberate you. – You won’t die. The universe wants you to win.
• If you want to leave your job/career then it probably means that your values aren’t in line with the company’s
• Once resentment starts to happen – then get whatever is causing it off your plate immediately.
• Making comparisons is a colossal waste of time. You are comparing your insides (thoughts and feelings) to their outside. Find inspiration in other people – but don’t compare.
• Create your own story
• Adventure occurs when we embrace possibility
• We don’t age because time passes. We age because we stop looking for the wonderful.
• More than what we think is possible is possible.
• The future won’t go according to plan. Life is full of highs and lows. But grieving and choosing to move forward when life deals you a low is all about attitude.
• A subsistence job is just going to keep you alive and pissed off

I thought many of these were really relevant to my business goal of getting more people to realize the benefits of career breaks and getting out of situations that are sucking the life out of them. Michaela and I were more pumped than ever by the people we met and what we heard. In fact, more then ever we are focused at moving the ideas of career breaks and sabbaticals into the mainstream.
Our goal became crystal clear during our time in Portland.

More photos from the wonderful weekend:

Myself, Jodi Ettenberg, and Michaela holding a workshop on Career Breaks

Me and Jason from Minneapolis - a remarkable wine guy!

Speakers mesmerize the audience at WDS

Other career break supporters we met at the conference

500 Inspiring People

What was my tipping point?

Recently I was hunting through my outbox in Yahoo looking for a particular email and I came across this email that I sent to a reader about 2 years ago.  I started reading it again and wondered to myself if I had ever shared this story before on my site.  My friend Amy who is planning a career break with her husband Brian at The Roaming Rileys website sent me this question wanting to know what my tipping point was for my career break and this was part of my answer I gave her:

(this tipping point occurred in 2003)

You ask a great question. I don’t know if I have an exact answer. It was a culmination of years of unhappiness. However I do remember one day coming home from work from a particularly bad day. I sat on my couch and looked around my beautiful apartment and started crying.  All I could think about was that I was so miserable at work – and not just my specific company – but working in IT in a field that I never felt like I belonged in. Somehow I kept getting rewarded and promoted in a field that I felt like I knew nothing in.  On top of this, it didn’t help that people I worked with were some of the most brutal, insensitive people I had ever encountered in my career. I sat on my couch and wished for simplicity, but I was surrounded by complexity. I started to wonder if I would be just happier to be less well off financially and simply do a job like waitressing or something – no money, but better work/life balance. I thought about my college days when I had so little – and longed for it again.

My old apartment...if I could just give it all up....

That was the moment where the pain of my present situation became greater then the pain of leaving the situation – and change happens when you finally reach that point.

Shortly after that episode I remember realizing that I didn’t really have to stay. No one was making me stay except for myself and what I thought others expected of me. I knew I had a year contract with my employer – and I started to tell myself  I would leave when that contract was up. Once I had a plan like that – my whole attitude at work changed. The people that I disliked became more bearable.  I fantasized about the day I would put in my notice. Granted – I ended up staying 2 more years – but I always knew that my time there was temporary and that’s what got me through.

However I don’t know how I came up with the idea to travel around the world.  It was a combination of many things.  Going on vacations that I never wanted to end.  Meeting people from other countries who were traveling for months at a time and wondering how in the world they could do it.   I always admired people that are doing things I am intimidated to do (like the Mongol Rally!). Then I somehow have to prove to myself that I can do it too.

It’s fitting to re-live this story today as I sit in Portland ready to attend Chris Guillebeau’s World Domination Summit.  A conference all about starting movements and embracing the idea of not conforming to society’s expectations.   In addition, I’m sitting here next to my Career Break Movement business partner, the awesome Michaela Potter, and we are working away at planning the next great Meet Plan Go! event in order to bring the unconventional idea of the career break travel movement to North America.  In 5 years, I have somehow managed to visit 30+ countries, live as an expat in Vietnam, kiss corporate life behind, become closer to my family, learn how to live minimally, started a business, and basically simplify my life.

Me and the magnificant Michaela Potter - we are bringing Career Breaks to every resume!

The journey has not been easy, and there are still plenty of  things I’d like to tweak about my life, but it’s possible to transform a tipping point into a new life. You may need to wait until the pain of making the change is greater than the pain of the present situation, but eventually it will happen – and then you’ll move like the wind.  The key is to keep following your passions, no matter how crazy they are.  You don’t have to do it conform to the typical path.  It’s only you and the barriers you place in front of yourself that stop you from achieving.

Here’s the Google version of my Tipping Point:

Do you have a tipping point?  Share it with me!

Save you money on booze...I want something else for this birthday...

Yup – that’s right…this is crass…I’m telling all of you it’s my birthday and I want presents…lots and lots of presents.  I’m totally serious about this.

It’s my birthday this week – February 12th – and I will be 41 years old.

Since 2006, I haven’t had a big birthday party …which is a bit depressing because I love a good party. In fact, even last year for my 40th birthday party I didn’t have a party – instead I was trapped in South Dakota in a snow storm.

However, this year I’m asking for presents.  I’d like each and every one of you to support my charity project this year and donate money for my birthday present. Let me change that…I’d like you to support my first EVER charity project.

The Mongol Rally 2011
The Mongol Rally is the ultimate road trip from London, England to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia.
In July 2011, myself and 3 other crazy travel bloggers are setting out on a 10,000 mile journey to Mongolia. This is no fluff press trip…this is us against the open road, in a vehicle that is not meant to be driven to lengths which we intend to drive it.
Crossing 10,000 miles over unforgiving deserts, perilous mountain ranges and non-existent roads, we four intrepid travelers will face the possiblity of bandits, breakdowns and corruption while navigating our way through 15 countries and 2 continents.
Why?
All for a Cause…
The Mongol Rally isn’t just a way for me to try to top my latest adventure. During the course of our journey, we will raise money for the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation, a charity which helps homeless and abandoned children of Mongolia.
Not only that, we will donate our vehicle to Adventures for Development at the end of the rally. They will then decide where it will best be utilized in the country.  We are attempting to raise enough money to purchase an ambulance as we know that emergency vehicles are needed in Mongolia and we want to be able to make an impact with our donation.  Learn more about the charities here – The Mongol Rally Charities.

Why should you give me a birthday present?

Children I met on my last trip to Mongolia

Let’s just start with  – it’s a good, rewarding thing to do;  helping people, especially kids, around the world.

But if you need more…

If you are a friend:

You’ve had 5 years where you haven’t had to get me a gift…not one. If I had been home in the US during those 5 years – we would have had parties – there would have been expensive dinners and drinks and there would have been a few gifts. I’m not asking for much – and isn’t giving a donation to an event that will change people’s lives better than buying a fancy dinner that lasts only one night?

If you are a reader of Ottsworld:

You’ve been reading this blog for 4 ½ years hopefully being entertained – and never once have I asked for monetary support or other charity events for myself. Consider it payment for being entertained I suppose. I don’t want to be one of those people who are always asking every year for donations – so I have chosen this moment VERY, VERY carefully. The moment is now.

If you are an aquaintance:

Maybe you know me thru someone else, went to high school with me, shared a jello shot with me, ran with me, worked with me, chatted with me on twitter, or traveled with me; however you may know me I’m hoping you can contribute just this ONE time.  I promise that this summer you will earn your money back in entertainment value. My crazy teammates and I are going to provide you loads of entertainment this summer if you follow along. You pay for renting a movie or pay to go to a movie…consider this payment for entertainment.

For all of you who envy my travels and lifestyle – This is your chance to be a part of it. Think of it as a way to say ‘yes’ to career breaks and work/life balance. Even if you, for some crazy reason, don’t think YOU can travel more, then at least support the notion of extended travel and career breaks.

What I want you to give me:

I’d like a minimum $41 donation to my Mongol Rally Charity.

Donate by clicking here:

Plain and simple.  No shopping involved.  No wondering what I want.  No returns.  No time out of your busy day.  Just a simple click on the donate button above and you’ll be taken to our team paypal account and you can donate.  It will take you no more than 3 minutes out of your day (maybe 5 if you don’t know where your credit card is).

If you are feeling really generous, there is no limit to what you can give.  You can put in whatever amount you feel like into that donation box.

Ok –that’s it for my groveling for the day….it’s time to party in Beirut!

When I tell people that I’m going to do the Mongol Rally this summer and I explain the whole premise of driving an ill-suited car 10,000 miles for charity where there are no roads – I normally get a reaction like this one from a former rally participant’s parent:

Parent – “So you have to pay money for a race where you get nothing if you win, the privilege of breaking down in the middle of a desert , the opportunity to raise funds for some impoverished Mongolian families, and the possibility that your car and you might never make it there?”

However the next question people normally ask is “Who are you going to do this with?” I tell them that I’ll be driving for 2 months with 3 other travel bloggers that I really don’t know.

Then it gets interesting…

People are probably most surprised that I have decided to do a 2 month long trip in a very, very small car filled with tons of potentially stressful situations with 3 people who I’ve never really met. Scratch that – I have met Dave and Deb for a whole total of 1 hour…if you can call that ‘meeting them’. It was in that short hour that we decided to do this crazy adventure. However, I’ve never ever met Rick and quite frankly I know very little about him.

Dave, Deb, and I during our brief meeting at TBEX

But it doesn’t really matter…does it?

I feel that by traveling solo for the last 4 years around the world I have gained one very, very important thing…tolerance. I look at it and think “It’s only 2 months…I can deal with anything for 2 months.” Hopefully even the stressful situation of being crammed in a car in the middle of the dessert for 8 weeks…not showering for days and probably being really annoyed at my teammates at times.

I figure I had a lot of practice at this while I was growing up. I was the youngest in my family and my family loved to take road trips…long ones. Our family car was a little 2 door Honda Civic – did I mention that we were a family of 5? We used to pack our clothes in brown paper bags because they molded better into the little hatchback space – suitcases were too bulky.

I had to sit between my brother and sister in the small back seat as they tortured me in ways that only older siblings could for a 500 mile drive. I’m guessing I can handle Rick, Dave, and Deb…no problem.

However – I started thinking…can they handle ME? They don’t really know me either. Sure they may know a bit about me from my blog – but after 8 weeks they will know all my neurosis and habits. I’m hoping they don’t leave me at a gas station in Uzbekistan.

So, in the name of full disclosure – I’m getting it all out in the open now…all of my deep, dark, road trip secrets.

• I hate sitting in the front seat unless I’m driving because quite frankly – I get scared. I often find myself on edge watching out the front window when I’m not in control of the car. Basically – I’m not a great front seat passenger. If I am sitting in the front seat, you’ll probably see me reaching for my imaginary brake pedal on the passenger side a few times. Trust me, I’m better off in back.
• If I’m really scared, I might yell at you…but in a nice Midwestern way.
• If I go too long without food I get quiet first, transition to whiney, and then belligerent, which often involves cursing. I’m serious on this one…a snack supply is a must.
• I like to play games in the car…driving games. Start a good game of auto bingo and I’m pretty darn happy. Just think – we can have things on our bingo card like camels, a broken down car, a bottle of vodka, an animal skull, a hitchhiker, industrial plants, a tumbleweed, or a babushka. BINGO! I really like this idea…I may actually make this and sell it to other teams!
• I have a steel bladder – honed from my childhood years of my father never stopping the car on a road trip. Also – as a side note, I’m willing to pee anywhere…I’m not picky.
• I don’t like to talk to people in the morning…unless it’s my coffee cup.
• I’m a cautious driver…probably too cautious for this undertaking. I’ve been a passenger enough to know that in other countries you need to be aggressive…so this may be an issue!
• If I have gas, I’ll crack a window.
• I’m ok with being in cramped spaces for fairly long periods. (Don’t get any ideas though…I don’t want to be put in the trunk!)

Hopefully this won’t make my teammates want to dump me…after all, I’m supplying Auto Bingo cards!

Learn more about our team and Epic Trip!

Mongolians on a bus, sleeping like babies...

What are the odds…I am in a remote eco lodge in the middle of the dessert in Jordan; surrounded by goats and Bedouins that I run into someone who knows about and is planning on doing the Mongol Rally? Seriously.

You might think this chance meeting is a good thing….unfortunately it wasn’t. Don’t get the wrong idea though…the people were absolutely lovely and very cool and adventurous. It wasn’t them, it was me.

Let me back up two days. I read Deb’s latest post on our lack of time to prepare for the Mongol Rally. She started her post by saying that we only had 199 days until the rally. Once I read that the stress started to build. Shit…only 199 days and we’ve done practically nothing to prepare. Calm down, calm down…at least that’s what I tried to tell myself. Then I lay in bed that night trying to fall asleep; but lay hopelessly awake thinking of all of the things we haven’t done yet and don’t have answers to. It built into a giant ball of sleeplessness and stress.

The next day I woke up and contacted Dave, Deb, and Rick and tried to set up a time to meet. This isn’t an easy process…we are now located in Thailand, Jordan, and Atlanta; this isn’t unusual at all, it’s normal for us. I figured out a time we could skype, sent a them note, and started working my ass off on trying to get some more sponsor letters out and thoughts down about fundraising. Here’s a little secret about me (though not a secret if you have actually worked with me before) – I love lists…but I suck at getting the things on the list done. Regardless…I had a good day of crossing things off my Mongol Rally list. However, I still wasn’t tackling the big stuff like:

• Raise a minimum of $10,000 in charity donations (yes…you read that number right…)
• Figure out how to get/buy a car
• Figure out where to store the car in Europe
• Figure out how to modify the car so that it has a hope of making it to the end
• Figure out what paperwork we need for the car (insurance, title, etc)
• Figure out how many visas we need based on our route and how to get them
• Figure out what gear we need and how we will get it to the UK
• Figure out our detailed route and research the border crossings
• And on, and on, and on…

(if anyone has any suggestions, friends who live in London & are car experts, or if you are/or know an advertiser that is looking for a cool sponsorship that will reach millions – PLEASE share with us!)

Later that afternoon we all met on skype in our various time zones trying to get a bit more organized in the 30 minutes we all had available. I left the conversation feeling a bit better…but knowing that the road ahead of us was long…and yes, we were behind.

The worst thing that can happen when you have project management in your genes is to be behind. It haunts you. I fell asleep again that night thinking about the rally and how in the world it would all come together amidst a busy travel and work schedule in 2011. 2011 may just be my demise…at least that was my last thought before I fell asleep that night.

Relaxing candlelight at Feynan

Then I arrived at Feynan Eco Lodge in Jordan’s Dana Reserve; an idyllic lodge in the middle of nowhere without electricity. It was the perfect place where I desperately needed to stop thinking about all of this. I was looking forward to simply having a clear mind and being unplugged. I started talking to the other 4 guests who were staying at the lodge that night.

We talked about travel and eventually the Mongol Rally came up. One of the other couples immediately knew what it was and said they were planning on doing it in 2012 – they already had a team in the works. They proceeded to tell me they had access to an ambulance, had checked what it would cost for overseas shipping and had planned a tentative route. Did you catch the part that this was for 2012????

My head was spinning…shit….what are the rally gods trying to tell me. We are doing this in 2011 and they already have more figured out than we do for 2012…shit, shit, shit.

Now here I am again…up….thinking about it. The only silver lining is that at least I’m thinking about it by candle light, in a gorgeous lodge in the middle of Jordan.

If you haven’t seen our new Mongol Rally Team website – check it out here! www.thesocialmediasyndicate.com

Or if you’d like to help us put a dent in that $10,000 number, please consider donating to this great cause at Donations for the Social Media Syndicate Mongol Rally team.

Under Construction

I proudly call myself a modern nomad; no home, no car, no regular bed. However – the closest thing I have to a home is the one place where I spend the majority of my time – right here, on my website.

Recently with the help of David Robert Hogg from Rocket Blog Design and Michaela Potter from Wanderlust Productions, I did a little home remodel. I’ve tried to be a little brighter and more minimalistic; hopefully you’ve liked the change. Even though I hope it’s simple to find your way around, I thought I better give you (and especially my mother) a little tour of the new home.

Even though I agonized over this new design and organization - I finally came up with a way to categorize what my site is about – Travel, Photography, and (my) Life. You’ll see these are the main categories of the navigation.

Travel contains all of my travel tips, reviews of locations and accommodations, and highlights types of travel such as volunteering and adventure travel. Life contains primarily my own thoughts and reflections on any number of subjects under the section ‘Inside my Head’. If you are you brave enough to go inside my head…you may never be the same again. Photography contains the Photo of the Week, Photo Documentaries, and information about travel photography.

You’ll also still find my Q&A section (feel free to submit questions any time via my new contact form). The Destination section is where you’ll continue to find all of my travel narratives and experiences organized by country. And finally the Blog section is the general view of everything I write on the site from the newest to oldest post.

You’ve probably noticed a few changes on the Home Page of the site. The new Featured Post rotating picture will contain my 5 most recent posts on the site – so scroll through those to see what I’ve been writing about recently.

Thanks to the graphic design skills of Michaela at Wanderlust Productions – I have a new banner and color scheme. She also was the creator of my new category banners on the home page. These 3 banners highlight some areas that were buried before.  Just click on them to learn more!

Mongol Rally – this banner leads you to some highlights of my next big adventure summer of 2011. This is where you can learn more about the rally, charity, and planning (or lack thereof) that has been going on.

Career Breaks – follow this banner to learn how you can take a career break and travel the world while building your skillsets. It contains links to some amazing resources, plus the many projects I’m involved in with Briefcase to Backpack and Meet, Plan, Go! Including Career Break Basic Training, the new online course and community we have built to encourage and teach people how to take a career break or do extended travel.

Story Collections – Looking for some good travel narratives – then follow this banner to my most popular story series such as the Motor Bike Diaries, Tiger Balm Tales, Spice Diaries and more. You can now see these narratives in the correct chronological order. It’s easy to now read from the beginning of a series to the end – go on and check it out!

One of my favorite new things about the remodel is my wide format posts I can now do thanks to David at Rocket Blog Design. He worked his coding magic and now I can better show off my photography! From now on my photography posts will be done in this wide format – and I have lots of great photography coming up from Jordan!

Also be sure to check out the new About page which will introduce you to me before I started traveling in the summer of 2006 as well as some things you probably never knew about me.

I’ve also made it easier to follow the website for all your busy and varied lifestyles – RSS feeds, new posts in your email inbox, or monthly updates in my newsletter. If you are an internet junkie you can also follow along on Facebook or Twitter.

If all else fails – click on the Start Here link in the top navigation and that should get you on your way with some of the most popular posts, and the favorite topics I write about.

Thanks to all of the great technical expertise and help from David – he made my crazy ideas come to life and customized the theme for me.  A true pleasure to work with!

Now…I think it’s time for a new house warming party – right?! Bring on the champagne!

House warming Party!

As this year comes to a close there are always some sort of societal pressures to look at our past and also look ahead to look at our future.

Honestly – I hate this process of ‘self discovery’ and goal setting.

Sure, my MBA taught me I should set goals, review them periodically, and try to figure out how to keep them on track; this is especially important as a self employed, new entrepreneur. I should have a way to measure my success…or failure. Every business person and entrepreneur I look up to goes through this process. But I really dislike this process. Instead of looking back at last year at my 2010 goal post; let’s just say that I probably didn’t make my original blogging and business goals, let alone my travel goals. Maybe I hate going through that process because everyone goes through that year-end ‘must set new goals’ process…it’s the sensible thing to do.

That’s the problem – I hate being sensible and I really hate doing something because everyone else is doing it. In fact the quickest way to get me to do something is to tell me that ‘everyone’ is doing the opposite thing…then you’ve got me where you want me.

There was a discussion thread recently on a Facebook group I belong to that encouraged people to share their 2011 blogging goals. I read through it and saw everyone listing number of subscribers, followers, and ‘likers’ that they wanted to reach. I just thought to myself…I’ve been doing this for 4 years…I simply want to survive next year and still be here. That’s it…that’s my goal. Screw numbers…I want to have fun…and I hope people follow along…but I’m tired of putting pressure on myself. I did that for 14 years in corporate jobs and I’m done with pressure and guilt and comparison ruling my life.

Somehow this year I grew my blog, created new websites, products, and events; but what I learned is that old habits die really hard. Overwork caused by the drive to succeed (or simply not fail) have seeped back into my life. I realize my type A personality never really left; it was just dormant. The problem is – no matter if it’s a corporate job or blogging – when I start to push myself to succeed – I tend to push myself right over the edge to the point of unhappiness. I can feel that happening again…I see the signs. And the sign reads B-U-S-Y.

I feel like I’m busier than ever; not making time for friends and other things that are important to me but have fallen to the background. I don’t want to be that ‘busy person’…always talking about how much they have to do and how everything is more important that the next. I’m tired of apologizing for not getting back to people in a timely manner. And I tend to start most sentences with the words “I’ve been so busy…” I find it annoying when other people talk about how busy they are so of course it makes no sense for me to do it either. I don’t know if ‘being busy’ is an American cultural thing or if it’s everywhere. I guess that’s something to research as I travel this year.

Instead of the ‘busy syndrome’ I want to be the vision of calm, cool, and collected. I have a couple of friends who I really look up to who seem to accomplish so many diverse things in their life, yet never once do they seem flustered or talk about how busy they are. I’ve always looked up to these people, I want to know what their secret is…but maybe it’s not a secret, maybe it’s just how they approach life. Therfore my second goal is to not appear or talk about how busy I am; even if I really am. I want to invoke that calm no matter if I’m doing a lot of a little. Every time I start to say the ‘B’ word, I’m going to think of those role–model friends.

So – 2011 will have no numbers…just a couple of guiding principles for me this year:
Have fun and keep the websites alive
Don’t get caught up in the ‘busy syndrome’; appear balanced.

Fragile Christmas

Sometimes I feel so fragile. Ready to break at any moment and last night was one of those nights. A night where I was confronted with my own solo culture, family culture, my religious culture, and my country culture. As I walked the streets of NYC on Christmas Eve my mind swam in confusion.

Solo Culture:

I chose this life because I’m damn well not going to wait around pining away for a significant other; but having said that…the solo life can be challenging at times.  Especially on major holidays. When I lived in Vietnam I told myself never again would I spend a Christmas alone again…it was torture for me.  Yet two years later I’m back, but it seems even a bit more pathetic because I’m in my home country, my old city…and I’m alone.  At least in Vietnam it was somewhat justifiable.  I take responsibility for my solo Christmas in NYC – not blaming anyone.  I chose this schedule since I was going to be leaving the country again right after Christmas and it made the most sense to do it out of NYC.  Plus – even though my family urged me to come back and spend the holidays in the Midwest, it didn’t make sense for my nomadic (don’t have a real job) budget.

Family Culture:

I'm the baby if you were wondering...

I realized tonight that I find it hard to be solo on Christmas due to my strong family culture around Christmas.  It floats back to my childhood mainly. Remembering Christmas celebrations with my family;  Christmas Eve meant church, singing silent night hold a flaming candle in my hands (always a stressful moment for a worrier like me), then we’d drive home counting Christmas trees in the windows, and enter the house with the smell of turkey wafting through the house. This smell meant a feast down by the fireplace were afterwords we’d watch the black and white version of a Christmas Carol on television and then try to go to sleep while overwhelmed with excitement.  This was our tradition and it is burned in my brain forever. Sometimes I wish it wasn’t so vivid; especially tonight.

This time of year reminds me of how much I long to be a kid again. It makes me yearn for youth and the traditions in my memory. Where I was never alone. It didnt matter if my brother and I fought that night because never once do I remember being unhappy.  When I was a kid I don’t ever think I thought about what my Christmases would be like as an adult. I certainly know I never imagined them like this. Vulnerable, questioning, fragile.

On a night like tonight, when memories float through my head and tug at my heartstrings, it’s hard not to question some of  my life decisions.  Even if they are fleeting questions that will disappear tomorrow when these holidays blues pass by me and I resume my normal life.

Religious Culture:

I’m not a super religious person.  And I hate saying this as it’s so overused…I’m spiritual rather than religious (ugh – felt like a dork even typing that).  Yet this time of year my old religion calls to me.  I think it’s more about the tradition and the family culture than it is about the message.  I went to a Christmas Eve service alone tonight and that’s when all of fragility confronted me.  Damn Church – maybe that’s why I don’t normally go!  I won’t lie…there were some tears shed.  I think they were shed for the memories of my childhood more than anything…and a few questioning moments about my life in general.   Silent Night is the trigger…it’s always the trigger…flaming candle in my hand or not.

Country Culture:

After the church service I walked up the 5th Ave. by myself with my camera, amazed at what Christmas Eve in New York City was really like.  At 10 PM people were eating at Burger King, people were still working, and the streets were still bustling with people.  The subways were crowded, yet everyone was in a cheerier mood than normal.  The one thing that you can’t help but notice is that most of the people out still working were foreigners. I wondered what this holiday means to them. I also wondered about their own culture and considered what holiday in their culture is comparable. Then I came across a Gap store at 10:15pm  that was still open and customers were going inside. It made me sad.  I just couldn’t stop thinking of my old Christmases past.  That’s when I decided to call it a night.  I had to get back to the warmth of the apartment I am staying in so that I could simply digest all of this and quite frankly end this torture I was putting my mind through.  I needed to sleep off the memories and emotions that were so tangible for me tonight.

My brother sister, and I on Christmas Eve

It was a tough night.  But it was just that…a night.  Woke up feeling much better.  I think at times we need to have those fragile moments.  My solo strength was tested…but it survived in tact.  It also led me to many other learnings.  This holiday more than any other is about family for me. Put religion and consumerism aside- it is about family and relationships. I realize that currently my family members are my strongest relationships I have; thanks to travel I have become much closer to my family.  So there ya go – this fragile package is now all tied up in a pretty bow…ready to proceed…to overseas – more resilient  than ever.

View photos of NYC on my Christmas Eve late night walk home:

Taking Off

Why oh why does this have to be so hard? Why is it that an experienced traveler like myself has a melt down every time I leave the country. It’s as if it’s the first time all over again; the indecision, panic, running around, trying to get everything to fit in a small suitcase. I’m in that familiar panic stage…the panic of trying to get things organized to leave the country for 3 months. One would think that I was used to this as I’ve down this road twice before for much longer periods than 3 months. However I’m still befuddled at what I need to be organizing right now. I want desperately to be a ‘good example’ and pack light and be super calm and organized…but that’s not reality.

Here’s the reality.

I’m leaving in one week. I haven’t looked at a single book or website to learn about where I’m going beyond the fact that I’m going to Italy, Jordan, and Lebanon. I don’t know any more than I’m simply arriving in Milan and my friend is picking me up. She sent me the towns that we may be traveling around in Tuscany and I haven’t done anything more than tuck the email away in my inbox. I am supposed to be arriving in Jordan to live with and tutor a family. My intention was to get my tutoring stuff organized and have a plan for what I was going to work with them on and have examples and sites picked out to utilize. I’ve done nothing. I’m supposed to move on to Lebanon in February – I haven’t even looked at an airline ticket or figured out how I’m getting there. I have no airline ticket home – I just know I’ll be heading back towards home in March sometime. I don’t know what I’m packing at all; nor do I know what bag I’m taking (backpack or rollie bag). I don’t know anything about Jordan or Lebanon; haven’t thought beyond “I’d like to see Petra and the Dead Sea”.

I feel like mess.

Then again, the more I think about it – maybe the lack of plans and organization is really the sign of a seasoned traveler? All of these open and unanswered questions…maybe that’s normal for people like Lisa Lubin (LL World Tour), Dave and Deb (The Planet D), Barbara Weibel (Hole in the Donut), and Anil Polat (Foxnomad). Maybe I’m becoming more like my travel idols?

However I can’t seem to think that not only does not planning and going with the flow is a key part of being a seasoned traveler – but to really be a seasoned traveler – you have to not worry about not being prepared. You have to have a zen like acceptance of it all. And I’m a long ways away from a zen like acceptance of not being organized. But I am better at coping with it than I was 4 years ago when I left for the first time; I guess I’m showing progress.

No more worry about what I’m not doing, let’s talk about what I am doing.

I’m spending Christmas in New York City…by myself. I know that seems rather depressing, but I was unable to get back to spend it with my family in the Midwest. I intend to make the most of the day by doing some volunteering in NYC that morning and then hopefully doing some photography. It’s just a day…however when it comes I’m sure it will be full of a few mental hurdles for me.

Tourist Menu

On December 27th I fly off to Milan, Italy to meet a friend who is from there. She’s Italian and had innocently invited me to come visit her in Milan. You should know never to say that to traveler…that’s like giving a crackhead a spoon and a lighter. Of course I was ready to jump at any excuse to get out of the US and travel! However this trip to Milan and Tuscany is really just the tip of the iceberg…it’s the beginning of my winter travels. For the first time in my many visits to Italy I will get to see Milan AND I will get to experience Italy with a local, not as a tourist. I’m so excited to be in Italy with my friend Vera, to see the local places, not be hindered by language barriers and to get off the tourist trail. I will not only be off the tourist trail, but I will be off the internet. That’s right …a real break from this crazy online life for a week.

On January 4th I have a very budget flight with a super long over night layover in Cairo (yes – sleeping on the floor in an Egypt airport…exciting huh?) and I will arrive in Amman Jordan to live with the family Al Swias for a month. This cultural exchange experience is through GeoVisions (LINK) and their Conversation Corps program. In exchange for room and board, I will be tutoring the family in English conversation. I’m really excited to start to learn more about life in the Middle East. I can only imagine how many of my preconceived ideas will be shattered.

Sometime in early February I will be heading to Beirut Lebanon to do another Conversation Corps program with GeoVisions. There I’ll be staying with the Costa family. When I tell people I’m heading to Beirut, a furrowed brow and a look of concern comes over them; which actually excites me. I look forward to showing you, my readers Beirut as I have a feeling you’ll be surprised.

In March things get really unpredictable – I will choose a place to go for a few weeks on my own, maybe Syria, maybe Turkey, maybe Israel; who knows what will happen! This is of course part of what makes all of this preplanning so difficult – I don’t really know where I’ll be going completely. I’m not sure of the climates and exactly how long I will be gone. Then again I am reminded that you pack for a week in your bag no matter how long you are planning on being gone; that’s what laundry is for.

I hope to make it through this pre-leaving panic stage in tact. Come December 27th…I have to get on a plane whether I’m ready or not…

What do you other travelers think…do you all go through that crazed panic filled leaving stage when you are about to depart again? Any tips on how to cope with it?

I will be blogging weekly about the volunteering experience on my other site Briefcase to Backpack – so be sure to check the Volunteer Chronicles to learn about the ins/outs of international volunteering.

The Questions of Life...and Blogging

I’m in the process of having my blog redesigned and hence reorganized. I love the idea of the website getting a facelift; I can’t do anything about my own wrinkles, but I can do something about my blogs wrinkles. However this is digital facelift – so it means digging through wordpress themes, looking at other peoples websites and deciding what I like. I look at widgets as if I’m Heidi Klum watching a Project Runway competition – “You are either in, or you are out”. I dream about what is possible and imagine my website being prettier, having more personality, and being about 15 pounds lighter.

As much as I love the process of dreaming about a new blog design – I equally hate it. Not because it’s a lot of work (and it is), but because it makes me ask that question I try to avoid. The question that sits deep down inside of me I try to repress and not think about as it leads to a spiral of confusion.

“Who am I?”

Am I a blog or am I an information site? Am I a photographer or a writer? Am I a writer or a blogger? Do I write about travel or do I write about my life? Do I write reviews or do I write how to’s and lists? Am I a vagabond or an expat? Do I try to relate to women in my age group or all extended travelers?

It’s enough to drive me crazy; I don’t have the answers and I feel like I should after 4 years of blogging; this should be clear – right? The problem is my life continues to evolve and change and therefore my website often feels like a patchwork quilt of my life’s changes, successes, and failures. I never had a plan when I started this blog and it kind of shows. Tags and categories have grown out of control. The style has evolved as has my writing topics, suitcases, and beds.

So how do I work through these struggles?

A Mother’s Love
I am struggling on how to organize all of the 543 posts from 4 years of traveling, writing, and photography. Like a protective blogging mother, I don’t want to get rid of or bury any of them. I love them all equally and feel like everyone else must love them too. However since I’m not actually a mother, I also realize that only mothers really love to read about and see tons of pictures of their kids (this is true…the rest of us aren’t nearly as excited about your kids as you are); and so my readers probably don’t care about my old posts either. And then I get an email out of the blue from a stranger who found my site, and IS reading the whole blog from start to finish! Just when I’m ready to give them up and bury the old posts, they breath new life!

The Cool Kids
Comparing is not really the answer either. In fact it drives me crazy and sucks up hours and hours I’ll never get back.  Looking at other sites to see how they organize content seems to confuse me. I certainly don’t fit the model of big informational site like Bootsnall, Matador, or Vagabondish where multiple people write content. I’m not even a midsize site with multiple posters like GoBackpacking, Art of Backpacking, or Indie Travel Podast. Yet I don’t feel like a simple blog either. That’s the problem; I want to believe I’m unique and don’t fit any mold. Delusional…yes, probably.

Solicitation
I think most of all, my blog represents my personality…a little scatterbrain, spontaneous, an overachiever and very diverse. But readers don’t want scatterbrain, spontaneous and diverse content…do they? If I were a big corporation, I would reach out and ask my customers what they wanted I suppose. So – maybe what I need to do is ask you…my readers. Why do you come to Ottsworld…and what keeps you coming back?

I’m my own boss
Hold on a second…maybe I don’t really want to know what you think. Maybe I’m better with blinders on; simply writing and organizing what I want in whatever style I want. After all, I’m not a big corporation, I’m a single person. What attracted me to blogging in the first place was that it was a replacement for my personal hand-written journal while I was traveling. Then people started reading it and I started worrying about what they thought. I told myself I wasn’t going to follow any trends and I would simply be me…quirky, Aquarius me.

The Superhighway
Ah – but then there’s that small problem of traffic…I need it if I want to keep traveling and funding my travels and attracting the occasional advertiser.

The real me...

So – you can see my dilemma here…I’m indecisive, I’m protective of my work, and I still don’t know how to organize my blog. If you thought this post was frustrating…then try living inside my head for a bit – you’d never last.

Here’s the one thing I do know…I have a mission…and that’s important.

I want to make people aware of the many different and acceptable ways to live your life.  I want to raise that awareness by sharing information /photography from other cultures as well as showing you how I choose to live my life personally.  I want to open people’s eyes to what’s possible – you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing or even what your culture seems to dictate.  The world and it’s various cultures are a great teacher.

In blog terms I guess it boils down to this…

Travel.  Photography.  Life.

David Robert Hogg of My Little Nomads is kindly doing all of the redesign work…stay tuned to see how it all turns out in 2011!

Summer in Paris

I arrived in Paris in 2002 – it was the first time I set foot in Europe and only the 3rd country I had visited overall with my first passport. Paris was new, exciting, and scary to a novice traveler like myself. I traveled with two girlfriends, Angie and Veronique, before the term ‘girlfriend getaway’ was even coined. Angie and I had recently broken up with our boyfriends and used the 11 day trip to heal the emotional void up with crepes, wine, and shopping; the best kind of boyfriend breakup therapy around!

In 2010 when I stepped off the train from Brussels and into Gare du Nord, I looked around and just smiled. The last 8 years had brought on many, many changes; I found my self in the same exact train station I was in 8 years ago an entirely different person. This 36 hour trip to Paris was supposed to be a photographic trip for me; a little quick getaway from my house- sitting responsibilities in Brussels made possible by a very fast train and a willing couchsurfing host. I had come to photograph Paris since my first trip to Paris consisted of no photography; my life behind the lens has been a rather new development in the last 8 years.

Announcing my arrival

As I looked around the train station with my little daypack and SLR camera, I was transported back to that first trip to Paris; the memories came flooding back and my brain churned through the changes that had taken place in my life. As I walked around Paris with my camera I couldn’t help but contrast the then and now.

Then: I had every second of the trip planned. Hotel reservations, car rentals, sites, tours, and even restaurant reservations.
Now: I had organized a couch to surf on for one night. My only plan was to simply wander and take photos; I didn’t even have a map. . I went into local grocery stores and bought food for a picnic. I sat in parks and simply soaked up the atmosphere. I took my time, I thought about things, I let Paris sink in

Then: I stayed in nice hotels, went to trendy clubs, and shopped until I could fit no more in my oversized suitcase.
Now: I travel with a small backpack. I couchsurfed at a French woman’s apartment, slept on her futon, and played with her cat. I took her out to eat at a simple, local restaurant. I never set foot in a store.

Then: I packed high heels and makeup in my suitcase.
Now: I have tennis shoes and sunscreen.

Then: We took taxis to get around Paris and occasionally used the metro system. However it was the first time I had really used a metro. It was confusing and I had to pay a fine because I lost my transfer ticket.
Now: I quickly adapted to the metro system using it as my primary source of transportation to get around.

Sacre Coeur

Then: I bought souvenirs
Now: My photographs are my souvenirs.

Then: I mourned my relationship and mended a broken heart.
Now: My relationship is with my passport. It never breaks my heart.

Then: I carried a disposable camera
Now: I carry a DSLR with 3 lenses, filters, and a point and shoot camera.

Then: I let my friends make the decisions of what to do and where to go. I was a travel novice and simply followed their lead.
Now: I travel solo because I honestly like making all of the decisions now. I have a very specific way I like to travel, and specific things I want to experience.

Then: I devoured crepes and never set foot in the Louvre.
Now: I devour crepes and still didn’t go to the Louvre.

Then: I had no idea how my life would transform into what it is today.
Now: I have no idea what the future holds.

How have your travels changed over time; please share some of your ‘Then and Nows’ in the comments!

Travel's many directions...

I often get asked what my favorite country is, or what my least favorite country is. I get asked where the best food is in the world and which country has the hottest men. However occasionally I received a more unique thought –provoking question. Recently I was asked, “What is the most important thing your traveling lifestyle has taught you?”
That got my brain working…working really hard. There are so many things – but as I thought about it during a recent run in Central Park, it became clear to me.

So young...and so scared to make the 'wrong' decision!

When I was in college, the decisions of what I would major in weighed upon me heavily. After all, I looked at those decisions as how I would ensure security and entry into adulthood. This decision of what to major in was the paramount decision in my life; and I thought it would define my path into retirement.

I decided to major in Business and deliberately chose Accounting to be my focus. Why Accounting? Did I love numbers, debits, and credits? Did I love rules? No, not at all. I found nothing really exciting about accounting, but I found it to be easy to do; you follow a set of rules I memorized and ‘Presto!’ I had a good grade. Plus – the other deciding factor in majoring in accounting was because all accounting students found jobs in what was then the Big 6 accounting firms. It was a fact, in your senior year, you applied to all of the Big 6 firms and some smaller local ones, and ‘Presto!’ you had a job out of college. You passed the CPA exam and you worked and worked and had a secure life. The sole reason I chose accounting as a major was because it provided the most security and had the least risk.

(yes, I know you are wondering what this has to do with the travel question…stay with me…it’s coming!)

I started my job in accounting and then Bill Gates and Microsoft Windows 3.11 came along. As the most recent college graduate, my managers expected me to know something about this new ‘cutting edge’ application. I didn’t really know anything, but I told them I was willing to learn. Over the next 3 years I grew into a self taught IT systems analyst. I happily left Accounting behind (never did get my CPA) because I looked ahead and realized this new profession of IT had way more security, stability, and money in it than Accounting would ever have.

All of my job changes and life decisions after that were also around the idea of security and setting myself up to have some sort of perceived ‘control’ over my future. Not just from an immediate future standpoint – but one that took me into retirement and ensured that I would have a job and security until I reached retirement age.

This focus on security and stability was my primary focus as a new adult; and I think this is really the same for 90% of the people out there. I trace this intense focus back to my childhood; for some odd reason my earliest memories as a teenager include a fear of ending up jobless, penniless, and living on the streets. Strange since I don’t even think I had seen a homeless person in my home town of Peoria, IL. But my brain envisioned this worst case scenario.

It was especially vivid when I was forced with big life decisions such as college choice, college major, and job offers. I always took every job offer feeling as if I was the lucky that they wanted me, instead of me considering that the business was the lucky one for snagging me. I didn’t value what I had to offer because I was too worried about having no future and ending up hopeless and penniless.

However – something has changed, and it has changed drastically. For the first time in my whole life, I am not making decisions based on security, safety, retirement and a fear of becoming homeless. I have new confidence and feeling of invincibility that I’ve never processed before. What caused this change?

One word – travel.

Now that's the look of fear!

Once I stepped off of the ‘normal’ life highway and threw myself into the unknown of leaving my job to travel; things slowly changed. I don’t think I realized how much my mindset changed until just recently as I was preparing for Meet Plan Go in NYC. I was talking with the other panelist and we were all discussing what we were doing and how we all looked at our careers and choices differently now. Unanimously we felt we were more in control than ever of our lives. We were more confident in our abilities to find work; work we actually liked. We were confident about selling our career break experiences and parlaying that into a job. We were confident we would land on our feet. None of us seemed to make decisions based on insecurity.

Extended travel did that to us.

The act of stepping our of the conventional routines we are in and challenging our ways of thinking can be one of the most powerful ‘teachers’ there is

I also recently had someone ask me if I was worried about how I would be able to retire and support myself. Four years ago this question would have absolutely terrified me to the point that I wouldn’t have been able to sleep, and my stomach would have been in knots thanks to stress. However, now I thought about her question and said, “I don’t’ really worry about it because I know I’m resourceful and I will figure something out. I firmly believe that I’m smart enough that things will work out.”

No fear! Ok - well, maybe just a little fear....

Sure, I also have money saved for retirement from my 14 years of corporate life, so I’m not penniless in my 401k, but I don’t worry that I’m not putting more and more into it every year like I used to. I’m not rich though, and I don’t have a huge nest egg that will take care of me. I do have confidence, confidence that whatever life throws at me, I will deal with. I have confidence in my vast amount of skills and what I can offer big or small businesses if I do decide to work in a traditional role again one day. I know the world is big and there are many, many places to retire and work and live. I know that I no longer want to make decisions based on fear and security. I want to just squeeze everything I can out of life and enjoy it.

Four years of traveling the globe, living abroad, doing odd jobs, freelancing, writing 500 blog posts, and being an entrepreneur has finally undone what it took 36 year to build up. It has broken down my image of being homeless and instead given me more options than ever.

I know it’s not the answer or the lifestyle for everyone. I know this applies to a small niche of people who are looking for something different in life and would like a little push; a push to live without fear.

I had a marathon coach once tell me, “Pain is fear leaving your body.” The unconventional decisions I’ve made in the last 4 years have been painful at times, but I believe my marathon coach. Thanks to my travels, my fears have subsided.

What lessons have you learned from travel?

It took one simple question 10 years ago to change my life…

“Do you want to come with me?”

My co-worker and friend asked me that simple question referring to visiting his home country of Turkey. I thought about it for a little while knowing virtually nothing about the country of Turkey or where it even was on a map and I answered,

“Sure.”

My first passport

This simple answer set in motion my life today as well as a bunch of ‘firsts’ for me…getting my first passport, taking my first international flight, going through immigration for the first time, and experiencing my first jet lag.

I was 30 years old.

You, my blogging audience, have only known me for 4 years of my travels; a relatively short time. However in honor of my 10 year anniversary of traveling I thought I would take you back through that first international arrival in Turkey – before everything was recorded digitally. I wanted to focus on my memorable observations on that ‘trip of firsts’ – through the eyes of a very, very new – but mature – traveler.

First (lack of )Planning
This was to be a fast 9 day trip across the globe from San Francisco to Istanbul where I was to meet my friend, Giancarlo, and stay with his family in Istanbul and Bodrum. I honestly don’t even remember having a guide book. I knew Giancarlo would be taking care of me and he would be my guide. He had the itinerary all worked out and we were staying at his family homes the whole time. I knew him well since I’d worked with him for the past 2 years and we had become good friends outside of work. I think he felt it was a travesty that I hadn’t been out of the country at my age, and took it upon himself to fix that black mark on my personal resume. We talked about the trip a few times before we left, but the only thing I really remember was that Bodrum was a party town and to bring my swimsuit.

First flight abroad

First International Flight
The plane flight seemed long as I went from San Francisco to Chicago to Istanbul.
This is the first time I flew on an international airline carrier, Turkish Airlines. My first memory was the fact that the flight attendants had very different outfits than US flight attendants. They were all wearing a turquoise dress and weird hats. I distinctly remember thinking the food was really strange and I was a little surprised that the audio entertainment wasn’t in English. This flight experience made me actually think about the place I was going to. I started to worry on that flight…what if I couldn’t communicate, and what if I hated all of the food, what if this was a bad idea?

First Travel Snafu (that didn’t take long)
Upon arriving, Giancarlo was supposed to meet me after customs. I didn’t really understand immigration or customs, but blindly followed the people in front of me. When I came through the doors to be greeted by throngs of people waiting to pick up loved ones, I didn’t see him. I panicked. I continued to scan the crowd in my sleepy haze and my eyes finally stopped on a sign that read ‘Sherry Ott’ – and it wasn’t Giancarlo who was holding the sign. I walked up to the sign and in choppy English the man introduced himself as Giancarlo’s father, Romolo. He came with the message that Giancarlo was stuck in Bodrum, and he (the father) was to put me on a plane to Bodrum that day. That wasn’t our plan…our plan was to stay in Istanbul. I just got off of one long, long flight and now I’m supposed to get back onto another…what an introduction into travel. Romolo walked me across the street to the domestic terminal, sat me down with a cup of tea and went to try to get me on a flight.

I remember thinking that getting on a flight without a ticket in advance wasn’t possible, yet here was this man up at a counter arguing with the desk staff on my behalf. I sat back and looked at my glass of hot apple tea and picked it up to take a drink and try to come to life. Owww!!! How do you hold a hot glass of liquid? I looked around me and realized that the people were holding the glass at the top near the rim else they would burn their hands. I thought…but why? Why don’t they just use a mug…why this silly juice glass?

Romolo had no luck in getting me on a flight right away, but he said that we would come back later and try again. Try again? I was used to a smooth operating set of rules that you follow to get a plane ticket…and there seemed to be nothing smooth or any rules to follow when it came to getting me a domestic ticket in Turkey.

No mugs...just glasses

First Foreign Food
I ended up spending the day with Romolo, making small talk as he played tour guide and took it upon himself to introduce me to Istanbul. He drove me all around Istanbul while trying his best to communicate in his choppy English. I just remember everything being so, so new in my eyes; yet in reality is was all really, really old. The cars were old, the roads were curvy, the traffic was hectic; it was like arriving on an alien planet for me. That first day in which I was whisked around the city by a man I had just met was a jetlag haze of new experiences. Yet somehow I loved it…I loved every bit of it.

We stopped for food at some point as I was practically dozing off in the car. At this point I hadn’t even gotten money yet, so I wondered silently how I was going to pay for anything. Back then I had travelers checks (something I would NEVER travel with now!), and I didn’t have a chance to change them yet as we toured the city. He asked me if I ate anything and I answered “yes”. He proceeded to order a feast of food I had never seen before. I was a little leery after eating the airplane food, but the midwesterner in me of course was cordial and tried everything. He joked around with the waiters and I had no real idea of what was going on nor what I was eating. I remember distinctly worrying that my stomach might not like Turkish food and really being concerned that I would get sick.

First Sprint to the Plane
We went back to the domestic airport and once again Romolo sat me down with a steaming glass of apple tea in a juice glass and he went to try to work on getting me on a plane again. I sat and watched him as he talked to the agent. I noticed the tone of his voice get stronger and stronger and soon it felt as if he and the agent were having a yelling match. I watched incredulously as this didn’t happen where I came from and I was rather confused as to what was going on. He would look at me and point as he was yelling at the agent and I imagined him saying “Get her on a plane dammit – I can’t play babysitter forever!” Soon it all died down, and he hurried over to me and said – you have to leave now! I was so confused as he put a ticket in my hand and whisked me off to the boarding gate. I hadn’t even paid any money…nor finished my juice glass of tea! I asked what was happening and he said that I had to go now and get on this plane. Uh…ok…I guess that’s ok; and I sprinted off to the plane.

Once I sat down in my seat – I wondered….am I on my way to Bodrum? Who will pick me up? How do I pay for the ticket? But soon all of the worry floated away as I settled into a deep sleep before we even took off.

What an introduction to travel. The trip was full of ‘firsts’, many ‘whys’, and ‘hows’ for me.  It challenged my brain and my way of thinking in so many ways. Drinking hot tea in a juice glass was just the first of many eye opening cultural experiences.  I remember being ultra worried about everything that trip, but it was that trip that left me wanting more…and more, and more, and more.

After the trip to Turkey 10 years ago, I decided I would use my cool new passport to see other places. Travel was intriguing and exciting – and it was challenging; I was hooked. Between 2000 and 2006 I utilized my meager 3 weeks vacation to go to other countries and get more passport stamps:
• Canada – Vancouver/Whistler skiing
• Australia adventure travel
• France road tripo
• Costa Rica
• Italy
• Peru to hike the Inca Trail
• Brazil sailing adventure

When I came back from my Brazil trip, I met my boss in the elevator my first day back and he asked me how my trip was. I said that it was wonderful, perfect, and

“Next time I leave the country, I’m not coming back (to work).”

4 years later I’m still not back.

Travel is addicting, rewarding, educational, and the way I want to live my life. I’ve never had such a fun 10 years.  Thanks to Giancarlo (and his lovely family) for taking this midwesterner and turning her into a global citizen.

Hanging out with the locals in Vietnam

Me traveling near Ubud Bali

The movie Eat Pray Love has hit the big screens around the world (yet sadly not where I’m currently at in Belgium), however it has caused a flurry of activity in the world of travel writing as people pick apart the adaptation of the book-to-movie, Julia Roberts’ laugh/smile, and the story in general.

When I first started travel blogging in 2006, every other email I received compared me to Elizabeth Gilbert – I was flattered, but also a bit jealous I didn’t have a book deal! With the movie being released, it has brought up all of those questions again. I recently was asked to answer a few questions about EPL and my relation to it for another website, so I decided to share my answers with my readers too since you all seem to be so intent on comparing me to Elizabeth Gilbert!

How often has someone recommended EPL to you?
Quite often. Many women who read my website will often start off with the sentence “You are just like Elizabeth Gilbert”. This always confuses me because I don’t think I’m anything like her – except for the travel part. And the fear of commitment part. And the wanting no kids part. Hmmm…maybe I need to give this more thought.

Have you actually read EPL and what did you think?
Yes, I read the book before it really became a phenomenon in early 2006. A friend who knew I was preparing to take a career break and travel gave me the book as a gift. I didn’t really know a thing about it at the time, but was immediately absorbed into the story. I loved the first part, ‘Eat’, so much I would highlight sections I felt I could relate to or agree with. I was skeptical about ‘Pray’ since I’m not really into yoga or meditation, but it surprisingly won me over. However the book lost me at the ‘Love’ part. I honestly loved the book so much up until that point and then I thought Nooooooo – don’t do this…don’t make this about a relationship and finding a man! It pained me to think the story about a thirty something woman going out and finding herself through cultural travel wasn’t enough; they had to throw the romance in. I have nothing against romance, but I thought it was good enough to stand on it’s own before the ‘Love’ section.

How often has someone compared your travel experience to EPL?
Many times people try to compare it but I’m not thrilled when they do it since my 15 months of travel certainly had no love connections in it. I used to have people tell me before I left that I would meet a husband somewhere exotic in the world. But when you travel solo, I find that it’s hard to meet the opposite sex as you always have to have your guard up, be in control and aware. That’s especially the case if you move around a lot.
I think if you slow down and spend more time in a place like Elizabeth did, then you an start to let down your guard as you become familiar with the area and make friends.
I’ve had many people tell me I should write a book about my travels like Eat Pray Love; this makes me laugh because I know it’s already been done and my story doesn’t have a Hollywood ending which is really appealing to the general public who are always looking for fairy tale endings. However, I think if I did write a book it will be called Eat, Pray, Reality.

What makes your travel experience different from EPL?
First, I didn’t do it to run away from anything, I did it out of a huge sense of curiosity and an overwhelming desire to live every day to the fullest. I thought there must be more to life than my commute and cubicle. Second, I was on the move a lot more covering 23 countries in my career break travels. I also did a variety of cultural exchanges and volunteer work.

Is there any book, movie or traveler that inspired your own journey? If yes, who/what?
My inspiration to travel evolved over a long time and many different small inspirations. It started strangely with the adventure race show called Eco Challenge which in which people would do adventure racing in parts of the globe I had never heard of. Since I was a marathon runner I was intrigued by the athleticism AND the strange, exotic places they raced in. Then I read the book Honeymoon with my Brother and loved the thought of escaping it all. I loved reading about Africa. But most of my inspiration came from my short ‘vacations’ abroad where I would meet Australians or Europeans who were traveling long term. They fascinated me and I realized how narrow minded my culture had made me. I looked up to these grizzled travelers and then it became a challenge to me to see if I could do it. I wanted to really understand the mindset of traveling long term and not worrying about what was to come next. Ultimately it was the mix of curiosity, desire to be different, and the mental/physical challenge that were my inspirations.  However, I will admit that I did go to Ubud in Bali thanks to reading EPL – so I guess it did have some influence on my itinerary!

In addition to this interview, I recently did a guest post on how the story of Eat Pray Love teaches you 5 important travel lessons. Please go check out the post and leave some comments on The Indie Travel Podcast – it has sparked some good conversation!

Finally –Eat Pray Love was the inspiration for my co-creation of Meet, Plan, Go! If you are looking for more ‘real life’ travel inspiration, then check out Meet, Plan, Go! events happening in 13 cities across the US and Canada. For those of you longing to take a career break and do extended travel, this is your chance to meet real life people who have done it and learn how they accomplished it. You may never get to meet Elizabeth Gilbert – but you can meet our wonderful Meet, Plan, Go! hosts in your area!
Find information on Meet, Plan, Go! locations and sign up at our site – www.meetplango.com

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...

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!

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!

]]> http://www.ottsworld.com/blogs/saying-goodbye/feed/ 16 http://www.ottsworld.com/blogs/tiger-balm-tales-e-book-annapurna-circuit-with-my-father/ http://www.ottsworld.com/blogs/tiger-balm-tales-e-book-annapurna-circuit-with-my-father/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 04:55:00 +0000 Sherry http://www.ottsworld.com/?p=5815

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