Tropical Hawaii - Hilo Rainforests

For me, travel is about experiences and connecting with people. When I make a connection with people in a destination, then it will turn into one of those magical places that will be on my ‘favorite’ list for years to come. That is what the Big Island of Hawaii was for me. I made many connections while I was there that will keep me going back to revisit friends, and find new adventures.

I had eight days on the island, a car, and a passion to explore the diversity of the Big Island of Hawaii. For anyone who is looking for a Hawaiian vacation that is ‘not the normal beach vacation’ then here’s my itinerary to something different.

My Big Island Itinerary

Hilo and Around

It’s a great place to start on the Big Island, but be warned, it’s not the sunny Hawaii you may be dreaming of; it receives 75 to 125 inches of rain a year and it will rain pretty much every day at some point. However it keeps Hilo looking fresh, green, and cool. Rent a car and use Hilo as a home base for a few days. You can fly directly into the Hilo Airport.  From Hilo you can visit Volcanoes National Park in a short 40 min. drive, see Akaka Falls, or do a day drive to Puna.

Volcanoes National Park – You can drive the Chain of Craters Road yourself and stop anywhere you’d like to see the stunning landscapes, or you can take a complete tour of the park and see the glowing caldera at night with Hawaii Forest and Trail’s Twilight Volcano Tour.

From your home base in Hilo, don’t miss the beautiful winding roads of the Puna region.  If you are looking for beauty and seclusion then you’ve found it on Hwy 137. Pack picnic lunch and go eat on the secluded shore line and watch the waves crash against the jagged coast.

Akaka Falls – The biggest waterfall you can easily view on the Big Island is Akaka Falls and it a very short drive from Hilo. As you drive there you may ever get to see the summit of Mauna Kea if it’s a clear day!

Time to bid goodbye to the rain and head for the pastureland of Waimea.

Waimea and Around

Now you can use Waimea as a home base to explore the rolling hills and deep cut valleys of Waipi’o Valley. A great base in Waimea is the Aloha Vacation Cottages where you will have everything you ever needed for a delightful stay.

On your way to from Hilo to  Waimea be sure to stop near Honokaa and add a little sweetness to your day at the Volcano Island Honey Farm.  Pick up some rare organic silk honey, learn about the amazing lives of bee colonies, and meet Richard – a very unique bee keeper.

Farms & Ranches of the Big Island

Get an early start to the morning and do a little work on vacation; yes that’s right work. Be sure to try your hand at being a Hawaiian cowboy (Paniolo) and herd cattle at the Dahana Ranch.  This is the only place on the island that allows you to participate in an actual cattle drive and it’s absolutely worth it. It was the highlight of my trip on the Big Island.

Now since you’ve worked up an appetite, make a lunch stop at the Hawaiian Vanilla Company and pick up some delicious souvenirs to take home with you while learning all about how to cultivate vanilla orchids.

Take a day to discover some hidden beaches on the Kohala Coast from your base in Waimea. Stay for sunset and catch some great photo ops.

Kailua Kona and Around

Head down to your final location for the week to the pleasant beach town of Kailua Kona and use it as your last base to explore. Kona Hula Girl provides a great location to be near the famous Kona Brewery and the shops, restaurants, and beaches. (plus they will give you a discount if you mention Ottsworld!)

Lay on the beach and enjoy poke and watch sea turtles dive in the morning and then drive to Mauna Kea Summit to watch the spectacular sunset from the tallest mountain in the world. Or try to book an star gazing tour from Kailua Kona and have them take you to the peak, view the massive telescopes, and see star formations from a beautiful vantage point.

Finally, I suggest you end your time on the Big Island with a special treat that will bring the whole week long experience on the Big Island together; a helicopter ride! It’s a great way to see the ‘big picture’ of the Big Island from above This is your chance to see the lava flow from an amazing vantage point!

You can turn in your rental car at the Kona airport and fly out back to mainland having experienced the diversity of the Big Island.

The Big Island is a great place to rent a car!

What other non-beach experiences do you recommend for the Big Island?

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!

Travel Q&A

I constantly get questions about my travels and I do make an attempt to answer them all back. However when someone asks a question that I think others would really benefit from hearing the answer, I like to share them for my entire Ottsworld audience (my mom + 20 other people)

I had a recent question from a reader Helen from Colorado who is planning her upcoming year long career break trip.

Q: How do you like HTH Global Citizen medical insurance? I read your comment on a Meet Plan Go article and saw you use them. I’m leaning towards them as they offer unlimited maximum, renewable, coverage inside & outside US, travel benefits, etc. I’m generally healthy but want that worst-case-scenario coverage. Also just turned 40.

A: I have been happy with HTH and have used them for a couple of years now. I am 41 and wanted to be covered as I continuously go back and forth in and out of the US and didn’t want to deal with changing insurance all the time. I haven’t had to use the insurance yet overseas, however I have used it back in the US through the Aetna network and it all worked smoothly. Had pap-smears and mammograms and was referred to dermatologists no problem.
So far so good for me with HTH. My rates even went down this year strangely.

Should you pack the bulky hiking boots?

Q: Regarding packing… I’m traveling for a year and plan to do some major trekking along the way (New Zealand, Nepal). No set itinerary really – following summer! I’m at a loss how to travel as a trekker/backpacker and be ready to head out at any moment, versus bringing along more worldly items of DSLR, storage, iPad, phone… that I won’t lug into the mountains. Seems I’ll always have to check in somewhere and separate out backpacking needs and store whatever I leave behind.

A: I had/have this problem all of the time – and I still sort of struggle with it – there are a couple of ways I handle it. I take my good hiking boots with me…suck it up and have them take up a lot of space. Then I buy whatever else I need in the way of hiking clothes when I arrive. In Nepal this will be super easy – and cheap. You can find North Face jackets (knock offs), fleece, hiking pants, socks, mittens, hats, and sleeping bags for cheap – also a walking stick. It’s cheaper and easier than bringing it all with you. Then I generally try to sell it to someone else when leaving or donate it to porters as it wasn’t that much money.
In New Zealand that’s not as easy…so I took a few layered things and still bought other things I needed when I got there.

Just remember the cardinal rule about packing is that you can buy anything you need at your destination – so don’t worry too much about forgetting something or packing something that you will only use for one activity.  Finally – really, really consider if you need your hiking boots or if you can hike in tennis shoes.  Pretty much every place I have hiked, including New Zealand I could hike in tennis shoes.  I needed my hiking boots for the Annapurna Circuit, but that was a 3 week hike.

However hiking boots are a bit challenging. If you don’t bring them with you, then you can always leave them with a friend all packed up and then when you need them have them mail them to you! I’ve done this before too – and it’s worked just fine!

Q: I was wondering about storage when/if you take extended backpacking treks/circuits (ie, Milford Track, Annapurna Circuit)? Where do you store the items you do not take along with you (ie, laptop)? When I did long trips in Patagonia I was able to store unnecessary items within the park’s hostel systems. Just wondering what has been your experience in this regard? Do you feel safe leaving valuable items behind in storage?

A: I never feel safe leaving my valuables behind when I trek – however it’s something that’s necessary else I’d never go anywhere! Sometimes the company will store them. Sometimes I store them in a secure room at the hostel or hotel. You can always find somewhere to put them – and simply try to make sure it’s a locked area. I’ve done this all over the world and so far it’s been fine. You just have to remember – if something gets stolen – it’s not the end of the world…everything is replaceable. It would suck, but it’s part of life, it happens.

Here are a few other resources out there regarding packing. It’s personal to everyone, there is no right or wrong way to pack. Yes, you should try to pack light without a doubt, but make sure it also fits your style. Some of these resourcesPacking Resources:

Pack light - I'm not a great example of this!

http://www.bootsnall.com/rtw/faq-packing.html (includes a male and female clothes packing list with links)
http://www.poweredbytofu.com/how-to-pack-for-a-1-year-round-the-world-trip/
http://alittleadrift.com/rtw-travel/rtw_packing/ (includes a female packing list)
http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/how-to-pack-your-backpack/ (how to best pack your backpack)
http://www.travelindependent.info/whattopack.htm

A turtle captured on my Photo Safari

A familiar diesel idle echoed through my ears as the big safari truck pulled up next to me and my little rental car. This truck was my transport to go on safari on the Big Island of Hawaii. However I wasn’t searching for wild game, instead I was searching for good photography.

Photo Safari Hawaii was immediately of interest to me when I started researching my trip to the Big Island. They offer private photo ecotours all over the Hawaiian Islands, creating a custom experience for each client. The Photo Safari guides are experts in their knowledge of the islands as well as photography of the islands. The tour provided an insiders guide to the best places to shoot, as well as fine art photography exercises to enhance your photography.

Even though I have been doing photography for a while now, I always think it’s good to try to improve your skills and get refreshers. I get into bad habits, I get lazy, and I was hoping that this Photo Safari experience would help me brush up on my skills as well as take me to some hidden places on the island. I chose to do the Big Island Light Chaser ½ day tour.

Kohala Coast - chasing the light

Sean picked me up in the early afternoon and we went out to shoot the Kohala Coast and ‘catch’ sunset pictures. Sean clearly loved the Big Island, he came here 10 years prior from the mainland and had never been back! His love was evident also in the amount of knowledge he had about the Big Island. He rattled off stories and facts as I enjoyed the view and asked questions. It was nice to let someone else drive me for once and allow me to look for shots . The whole week I had been juggling the beauty of having complete control of my journey and being able to stop where-ever I saw a great shot, with having to watch the road and figure out where I was going!

Our first stop was the Pu’ukohola Heiau; a sacred rock structure peered out over the Kohala Coast. We stepped out of the truck and I secured my camera and lenses while Sean brought a little laminated notebook full of lessons to help me think about photography in different ways.

Kohala Coast

Sean and I had already talked about my experience as a photographer, but I told him that I wanted to experience the tour as his normal student would experience it. Typically their customers carried SLRs and were beginners or enthusiasts, but he did say that many clients also come with point and shoot cameras and more frequently there are people who simply show up with a mobile phone! He mainly focused on the beginning steps of photography and how we see and process light. It’s a great place to start when it comes to photography, as it’s important to understand the types of light and how our brain processes them.

We wandered along the paths and Sean provided a nice mix of history and photography information. He would ask questions about aspects of light and composition and then show examples from his book. Next he would challenge me to find examples of what we were speaking about and shoot them. We didn’t get into the nitty gritty of aperture and shutter speeds very much, yet I know we could have went there had I wanted to.

We changed a bit of our itinerary based on the weather on the mountain; the heavy cloud cover made us stick to the coast for our sunset shots. We made 3 or 4 more stops after the Pu’ukohola Heiau; a mix of beaches and resorts to practice the various parts of composition. We ended on a secluded little stretch of beach where the sun glistened off the still tide pools; a perfect location for sunset. I thought to myself, I doubt I would have found this place on my own.

There's plenty of inviting beaches along the Kohala Coast

Sean spotted a big sea turtle resting on the rocks so we went over as close as we possibly could to get the shot. He advised me on the lighting conditions and I was able to capture the big creature without disturbing it.

We stayed until the sun went down shooting away experimenting with different settings and angles. My light finally disappeared and therefore my photo paintbrush disappeared with it. I packed up my camera and Sean drove me back to my cottage. On the way back I was able to get some great advice on other places to visit for continued photography practice during my time on the Big Island.

Sunset on the Big Island

The Good:
• They pick you up anywhere on the island in a large, comfortable truck with plenty of room for equipment
• You get a ton of information about the island, the history, and the must see places.
• It did reinforce the basics of photography for me and really did get me to think about contrast and light more before I took the shot instead of just dealing with the situation in post –processing. I thought the exercises were effective at getting you grasp the concepts in a non-technical way.
• Even though my experience focused on basics of composition for beginners with light, contrast, lines, and points, the tour has the ability to be more advanced and cover aspects of more technical manual settings too.
• They have cameras you can use – but you do have to rent them as a separate charge. Same for underwater casings and any other specialized equipment.
• They operate on all of the islands and they offer multiday workshops with focus on underwater photography.

The Could Be Better:
• Since this is a half day tour, there is no real review process of what you shot and discussion of what worked and didn’t work. However that type of portfolio review is included in the longer workshop tours.
• The cost is prohibitive for a solo traveler – $550 for 4 hours. This is an investment in your skills, not just a fluff tour, and the price reflects it. The downside about the prices is that it is a private tour and therefore you can’t really be combined with other people if the truck isn’t full. However, if you are traveling with companions and you organize it as a group – then you can fit up to 5 people in the truck and then the cost is reasonable for such a tour. So the key is to find people to go with you and help reduce the cost!
• The website provides information about the tours, but you will likely really have to contact them personally to get additional info that you need regarding details of the tour and the photo instruction. I didn’t find the website very informative for the price of the tours.  On tours with higher price points, I do believe more information is better than less. In addition, there are not many images or reviews of the tours listed on the site. I personally think that a photography business like this should be showing off the great images that their clients have taken, but, what can I say, I’m picky about websites!

Would I recommend it?

I love this concept, especially for the islands of Hawaii where everywhere you look is begging to be photographed! The key is that it is a private tour – so it can be tailored to your needs, and that’s what you are paying for ultimately.
I would recommend this tour for the person who:
• Really wants to invest in learning about the basics of photography
• Someone who wants to learn how to get off of auto mode and start to learn about the more technical side of shooting
• Has a few companions that want to also learn about photography in order to bring down the cost a bit
• The super serious photographer who wants access to the best locations on the island but doesn’t have time to research them on their own.
• Someone interested specifically in underwater photography as they have a special workshop for underwater shooting

To get more information or to book a tour check out
Photo Safari Hawaii – www.photosafarihawaii.com

Disclosure: Photo Safari Hawaii hosted my ½ day Light Chaser tour. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

The ticket to your dreams

Accepting change is hard. Most people don’t have a choice, when the world changes – they eventually have to change with it. My mother on Facebook is a great example of this; it was the only way she was going to keep up with her grandchildren’s lives. I have to admit though – I’m a bit scared of the day I need to try to teach her how to use Twitter – that just may be the scene of my head exploding and brain matter going everywhere.

But actually making change, creating it from your own idea or desire for an end product; that’s about impossible for people. Creating changes in your life that society or no one person didn’t dictate can be seen to be as challenging as climbing Mt. Everest, starting a career break movement in the US, or teaching my mother how to use a cell phone.

But change has to happen if you want to save money to accomplish your travel dreams, or any dream for that matter. You have to be strong enough, have willpower, accept sideways glances and sometimes ridicule, and you have to follow through no matter how much the world around you is against you. However I can guarantee that when you persevere, and the willpower wins, the world will pay you back in ways that you can’t even understand now.

See Warren and Betsy on MarriedwithLuggage.com

Warren and Betsy Talbot know this. They are experts at making change in order to achieve their travel dreams. That’s why I was excited to hear that they wrote a book to teach others how to save enough money to travel or achieve any dream. The ebook, Dream Save Do , is not simply about saving money for career break travel; it’s about saving money to accomplish whatever dreams you have. It’s about how to make change in your life; how to take control of your finances and mindset in order to achieve goals.

I met Warren and Betsy in 2010 as they were preparing for their career break travels. They agreed to be our inaugural Seattle Meet, Plan, Go! hosts.  They have since been traveling for one year now and have decided to turn their 3 year planned career break into a lifestyle of location independent work and travel. Their first big project was writing the Ebook Dream Save Do which describes a focused way to think about money differently and how it can be used to fund your dreams. They took the processes they used to change their lives and save loads of money to create a plan with concrete steps that apply to everyone so that others can do the same. They continue to track every dollar spent on their travels at their Around the World Expenses Blog They live what they teach.

Saving money isn’t rocket science. It’s willpower and the ability to make change in your life. There is no way to get rich quick, just as there is no effective way to lose 20 pounds in a week and keep it off. The ebook provides concrete ways to save money, change your life, and provides you the inspiration you will need in order to follow through.  Woven among the concrete steps is their story of how they did it; the successes and the failures, the a-ha moments and the tears. It’s theory put into practice.

Kindle Version on Amazon $9.99

The book covers:

Dream: Defining your Dream, Creating Dream Porn, Determining the cost of your Dream, and Setting a Date
Save: Create the Vault, Calculate Current Spending, Resolving Credit Card Debt, Creating your Phrase to Save, Cutting Expenses, Revising Spending Habits, Where to ‘Find’ Money, Performing a Monthly Review
Do: Publicizing your Dream, Screwing up and Getting Back on Track, Learn to Handle Peer Pressure, Planning Your Holiday Spending, Enjoying the Saving Success

It’s sold on Amazon in a Kindle version for $9.99

But my personal take-aways from the book was how to :

Achieve goals
Create change in your life that you and others can be excited about.
Look at our consumption based society differently
Look at how we live differently
Achieve goals (yes, I know I said it already, but it’s such a strong message in this book. If you don’t like to achieve goals, then don’t get the book – you will be disappointed.)

As I read through the guide, I highlighted things that really spoke to me such as,

•  “We were trying to let money dictate our lifestyle instead of the other way around.”
•  “A budget is limiting only in your spending. Your imagination has no limits.”
• “You will learn to assess the value of everything – what it costs you in more than just money and whether it is worth having. It will become second nature, and you will be surprised at how often you truly want to say no to something when many people just accept what is offered without evaluating the true cost. You will be more discerning about what comes into your life and therefore what comes out of your life. “
• “People notice what is different from them. You can dye your hair blond, get a tattoo, or wear a cowboy hat in the city to get attention. Or you can stop spending and see how many people take notice. Some will think it an oddity, and some will consider it a challenge to their own spending habits. Either way, you’re setting yourself apart and opening your self up to scrutiny.”
• “…money is a means to an end, not the end itself.”

Why should you consider buying this book if you have a dream of doing extended travel?

Because the first thing I hear from people I speak to is – “You have to be rich to take travel like you do– right?” And it’s normally followed by “How much does it cost?” People’s biggest perceived hurdle to extended travel or career breaks is financial. Now I’ve just given you a way to shatter that perceived financial hurdle and understand how you personally can save money live the life you are dreaming of.

No more excuses.

Buy Dream Save Do today.

Warren and Betsy also collect dreams for others – here’s mine – Be a Solid Gold Dancer.   What’s your dream you want to save for? Please share in the comments!

Where will you spend your money this season?

Have you checked out Passports with Purpose Travel Blogger fundraising yet? Why the hell not? Let’s look at this logically…

$10 for shopping this holiday season can get you:

• A parking space to shop in Soho, NYC for an hour.
• 2.7 gallons of gas to drive from mall to mall trying to find the new Kindle or Ipad.
• 2 slices of pizza and a coke at the shopping mall food court.
• A 10 minute neck massage at the local mani/pedi shop after carrying all of those bags.
• Sending approximately 4 Holiday Cards via snail mail.
• 2.4 hot apple ciders to quench your shopping thirst.

On the other hand…

$10 for Passports With Purpose this holiday season can get you:

• $500 voucher for a European Apartment stay in your choice of a Rome apartment, Berlin apartment, Barcelona apartment, Paris apartment or Florence apartment
• Kindle Fire worth $200
• 2 night stay at the Four Seasons in Scottsdale, Arizona worth $1400
• 5 night stay on the Big Island of Hawaii worth $1692  – I personally love this one!
• 15 day 1st class Eurail pass worth $1160
• A private Florence Italy Market Tour for 4 worth $665
• 1 year Boingo Internet global account worth $708
• And MANY other great travel prizes!

What are you waiting for – stretch your $10 this holiday, plan your 2012 travels and help build a library in Zambia!

An essential item in Spain

We all know how to look like a tourist; carry a camera, map, wear tennis shoes and white socks. But how to you fit into a culture?  There are a few things I observed about the locals in Barcelona and with these tips, you can fit in too.

Carry a fan.

A woman on the metro fans herself

One of my favorite things about Spain culture is the fact that everyone carries a fan. I used to think those fans were just for show – but not at all. I saw them being used on the subway, in the market, walking down the street, by women, by men, and by all ages. I even bought my own.

Stay in an apartment in a local neighborhood.

A quiet neighborhood is a great place to meet locals

I found that by staying in an apartment in Barcelona it was a great way to learn more about the locals and see how to better fit in. After all, by staying in a local neighborhood instead of a tourist hotel I was forced to get out to the grocery store, meet neighbors, and see the day to day life in Barcelona.

Stay up late.

This culture is all about late nights. People don’t go to eat here until around 10PM, which means on a weekend they go to the bars at midnight and clubs not before 3AM. All ages seem to be out late – kids, grandparents, and of course teenagers. Granted – I don’t think everyone goes clubbing, but they do enjoy the late nights and being outside.

Take a nap.

Siesta in the Sun

The Spanish really do have the right idea – you are never too old for a nap. If you are going to stay up late, then you better make sure you get your siesta from 2 to 5PM. Prior to siesta, everyone goes to the market gets what they need, goes home, makes lunch, and then promptly takes a nap. Granted – not everyone does this, but they should!

Shop with wheels.

Locals don't go anywhere without their wheelie bag!

The sidewalks are littered with bags on wheels. Since Barcelona is traditional European city, there are no real big ‘super-stores’, instead the locals simply walk to their neighborhood market and get what they need on a frequent basis. Since everyone walks, they all pull a little bag with wheels to put all of their shopping purchases in and then wheel them back home. In grocery stores they even have a little ‘parking’ area for these carts so you can store your wheelie bag while you shop.

Eat Small.

Small bites frequently

It’s all about tapas – small bites with wine. I have yet to see many restaurants where you sit down and have a big meal. Instead people tend to eat small amounts and eat frequently.  My neighborhood was full of little tapa restaurants where the locals would sit, eat, drink, and gossip.

When you travel to Barcelona, make sure you wander out of the touristy Las Ramblas and see how the locals live when in Barcelona!

What other suggestions do you have to fit in like a local in Barcelona?  Please share in the comments!

Disclosure: Oh Barcelona Apartments hosted my accommodation in Barcelona. However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Non-verbals will take you around the world!

Sometimes I feel like I speak in mime. The universal travel language doesn’t contain words; it contains gestures. When I take a step back and see how I’ve traveled to 50+ countries without ever knowing another language – I am amazed at how far a few gestures can get you.

I’ve compiled a list of the most important and universal ones that I find myself using all the time. Theses non-verbal gestures are known all over the world and will keep you communicating with locals as if you were old friends.

Heyyyyy!

Thumbs Up

This gesture isn’t just for Arthur Fonzerelli – it is used all over the world
Action: put your hand in a fist and stick your thumb out straight so that it’s pointing upward….Heeyyyyyyyy.
Meaning: I’m good, it’s good, I like it, yes, great, I am ok
Generally it’s positive and goes along with raised eyebrows and a toothy smile.

Check Please!
I’ve eaten all over the world and one thing holds true if you want the check/bill, there’s only one gesture that is known throughout the world. I’m a bit embarrassed to say that even though I lived in Vietnam for a year I never did learn the word for bill or check – I simply used this gesture. Lazy…yes, but effective.
Action: Hold one hand as if it’s a notepad and the other hand should be miming writing on the notepad/hand. Hold it up high so the waiter can see it and make eye contact. You’ll have your bill in no time!
Meaning: May I have my bill please?, I’d like to pay now.

How Much?
I always recommend having a calculator within reach when you travel. It’s used constantly to bargain at markets or simply understand the price of something. But before you start to haggle with the calculator, first you have to find out a starting point.
Action: Hold your hand out with your palm facing up. Bring all of your fingers together so the tips are touching. Then with your fingers pointing upwards, rub your thumb and first two fingers together.
Meaning: How much does ‘X’cost?, What’s the price?

Sleep
We had a lot of trouble finding hotels and hostels during the Mongol Rally thanks to language barriers. We would get a blank stare if we asked where a hotel was, but when we used body language to try to find a hotel – we always got a smile and an answer. Granted – I can’t say that we always found the said hotel, but we tried.
Action: Put your hands with your palms together in the prayer position and then put them on the side of your head and act as if you are laying on them like a pillow. It is most effective when you close your eyes too!
Meaning: I want to sleep., Where is s hotel?, I’m tired, I need to find a bed

Conversations with a smile

Smile
This is by far the easiest and most understood gesture in the world. A smile speaks words and is probably the easiest way to get people to open up to you.
Action: no explanation necessary!
Meaning: – I like you, Welcome!, I’m happy to be here.

With these frequently used gestures, you’ll be able to communicate around the world!

What are some of your most used nonverbal when you travel?  Have they worked or do you get blank stares?

You guys can guess what this non-verbal means!

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!

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

Keep moving!

It’s my sister’s birthday today and I’ve decided to write this blog post for her birthday present. No bows or unwrapping required. Yes, this is what budget bloggers do instead of buying presents…we write. After all, my sister doesn’t need more stuff in her life, but she could use a good Facebook wall update and some tweets.

Strangely this birthday present post has to do with travel and quite frankly something you should all be interested – so don’t tune out…listen up… I promise I won’t make you sing at the end!

Do you ever feel like the universe is speaking to you; tapping you on the shoulder and giving you a stern look that says, “Hey you – pay attention!” Ever since I returned to Mongolia the Universe has spoken to me. It started with my friend David telling me about a co-worker of his who had a sister in the hospital who just had her toes amputated due to a blood clot in her leg that was found too late. Unfortunately the surgery didn’t work and she would be losing her lower leg in the coming days.

A week later I had a call from my sister. It started out normal as I was hopping on a plane the next day to go see her so I figured she was calling about picking me up at the airport. However after the small talk hellos, she said, “I’m in the hospital.” My heart sank and my voice dropped to a serious low octave. “What’s wrong?” I replied.

Cyndi and I hiking in Dali China

She went on to tell me that in the morning she had completely fainted for no reason at home and luckily came to and went to the doctor to see what was wrong. They found blood clots in her legs – Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), and one had broken free and passed through her heart to her lungs otherwise known as a Pulmonary Embolism (PE). At the point where the clot passed through her heart and into her lung –she fainted.

Now my sister is as healthy as possible. To say that she’s a running and exercise enthusiast is an understatement…fanatic…a bit closer…addicted is probably more like it. (Yes – she’s is probably hating this birthday post right now…) So why all of a sudden was she literally floored one day before her 51st birthday?

This is where travel comes into the story…

Flight Danger

Four days earlier she had returned from a long haul flight from Singapore to Minneapolis. A flight she had taken many times before as she used to live as an expat in Singapore for years. Long haul flights, dehydration, and immobility associated with those flights are a known cause of DVT.

My sister is now out of the hospital, but DVT is not quickly fixed – it sticks with you for upwards of 9 months in the form of medication (blood thinners) that you must take to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Also, currently she has to give herself shots in the abdomen to prevent clotting. All of this medication means no drinking (or very little drinking for 9 months…boo) She joked around that it was like pregnancy…but you really get no reward at the end!

DVT Facts:
A Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is a clotting of the blood in any of the deep veins – usually in the calf. If a clot develops, it usually makes its presence known by an intense pain in the affected calf. Medical attention should be sought immediately if this occurs, especially after a long journey. In some cases this can be fatal, if the clot breaks off and makes its way to the lungs where it can then affect the lung’s ability to take in oxygen. The DVT risk applies to any form of travel where you are stuck in one place for hours at the time (train, car/bus, or plane)

DVT Symptoms:
DVT can occur some days or even weeks after a trip. In most situations the person will have no symptoms and through normal movement the clot will break up. A large clot can prevent the blood flowing through the veins. When this happens a person might experience pain, redness and swelling in the calf – this pain is made worse when walking or standing. Complications can occur if the clot breaks off and travels to the lungs, blocking the flow of blood. Breathlessness and chest pain can occur hours or days after the clot formation in the calf. This is a potentially fatal condition and urgent medical attention is required.

Reducing your risk:
Those at risk should try to exercise at least every hour on long journeys. Get up and walk around every hour if possible. Exercise the calf muscles by rotating your ankles. Stay well hydrated. Some people also recommend to take aspirin daily 4 days before and after a long haul flight or long journey.

Strangely after this whole episode happened with my sister, I continued to hear stories of DVT from friends of friends randomly. How could these three little letters be so prevalent in my conversations where it never existed before? The Universe was speaking to me.

I’m on long haul flights frequently and I recall hearing things about this in the past; seeing little exercise and stretching diagrams in the backs of seat pockets, but I never really paid attention. In fact, I normally pop a sleeping pill and try to move as little as possible on a long haul flight. However, now I will take heed; I will get up every hour and walk, I will stretch, and I will drink liquids that aren’t solely alcohol. My perfectly healthy sister landing in the ICU was all I needed to jolt me into paying attention; hopefully it did the same for you.

FYI – I’m writing this post at 30,000 feet from the plane on my way to San Francisco; and yes I just got up and walked around and I didn’t even have to go to the bathroom. I also ordered lemonade. So my dear travelers – you should too.

A BIG Happy Birthday to my sister Cyndi who turns 51 years young today! I’m relieved you are ok. Sorry I’m cheap and didn’t get you a present!

Have you or anyone you know ever experienced DVT from long flights or travel? Tell us about it in the comments.

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!

Zero Longitude aka Greenwich Mean Time

I was excited when my friend Vera invited me to Greenwich for a rainy Sunday afternoon. This was my chance to complete an important step in my global travels. I had already stood on the equator in Kenya when I began my travels in 2006, and now I would have the opportunity to straddle the Meridian line in Greenwich; I would experience zero longitude!

I hopped online to research the best place to get a picture of the famous line where time seems to stand still. Google delivered my answer swiftly. To get a picture straddling the Meridian line you would need to go to the Royal Observatory and head out in the courtyard where the center of world time is marked with a line and a monument. Perfect – mission accomplished.

People queuing up to get their expensive picture taken at the Observatory

Ahhhh – but wait a second. On my Google search results another headline caught my eye.

“Greenwich Meridian Line Visitors to Pay £10 – Travel News”

My mood dropped as I read the article. As of March 2011, the Observatory started charging 10 pounds to get into the facility, which was the only way you could really take a picture of your feet in two different days. I was quite upset about the whole thing. 10 pounds is 16 US dollars – all for a picture. Sure you could go visit other part of the observatory, but I didn’t really have the time or desire to do that, I simply wanted a picture; and I know I’m not alone in that desire. This new charge comes at a very convenient time as the 2012 Olympics arrive in London and specifically Greenwich in a year’s time. Sounds like the Prime Meridian Line will be prime source of income.

Being a budget traveler, I drew the line at paying $16 for a picture. Hell, the line isn’t just in the observatory, it runs from the North to South pole…I didn’t need the crummy observatory for my picture – I was now on a mission to find a way to get a picture of me on the line for free.

I continued to research online searching and studying maps of the line and where it ran through the city of Greenwich and if there were any markings. The search proved harder than I initially thought. However, I did come across a picture of a street with little dots on it representing the Prime Meridian and it had the title Park Vista. I found the street on the map and was on a mission.

Where to find the Meridian Line outside the Observatory

As soon as I arrived in Greenwich, Vera and I set out to find Park Vista. The location I had identified was just north of the children’s boating pond in the Greenwich Park. Look at a park map and go to Park Row Gate, there you’ll see the beginning of Park Vista street. Walk east on the street and watch the road carefully. You’ll come to some raised metal ‘dots’ in the road – those represent the Meridian! If you look south, you’ll see a little plaque that identified the meridian line too.

Mission Accomplished!

So, if you are heading to Greenwich for the 2012 Olympics in London and want to see and photograph the Prime Meridian, then be sure to save money and go to Park Vista and have your own personal photo shoot for FREE. That’s exactly what Vera and I did…enjoy!

Me in both Sunday and Saturday...

Vera balancing her time

Video of our free visit to the Prime Meridian:

Download a park map with the Meridian Line on it.

Live like a Local in an Apartment

I sat outside in my neighborhood in Barcelona at one of the many outdoor cafes on Avenue de Gaudi. The avenue was lined with little shoe and fashion shops I had never heard of, coffee shops, mobile phone retailers, and some small tapas cafes. I was surrounded by locals of all ages at other tables drinking coffee enthusiastically and talking to each other in Spanish at a rapid pace. The sun was shining, but everyone was protected under the café’s tents. The atmosphere seemed lazy and laid back. Most of the people were clearly friends or neighbors catching up with each other this morning before running their errands to the market.

Contrast this with the Las Ramblas – the Times Square of Barcelona where most visitors to the city stay near. Las Ramblas is loud, packed to capacity, and lined with Burger Kings and Starbucks among Zara’s and H&M’s. The place is heaving with excitement, people trying to sell you things, and simultaneously take things (pick pockets). That’s what most people see when they come to Barcelona.

Don’t get me wrong Las Ramblas can be a ton of fun and excitement, but for me it’s not really what I look for when visiting a city and it certainly isn’t where I want to stay.

My apartment

As a long term traveler and nomad, where I sleep is quite important to me. Over the past few years I’ve been experimenting with various types of accommodations when I travel. I’ve done hostels , house-sitting, couchsurfing, guest houses, and regular hotels. But with my recent trip to Spain I decided to try yet another form of accommodation – short-term apartment rental.

I stayed in an Oh-Barcelona apartment for 2 weeks in a local neighborhood near Sagrada Familia. I had ample time to explore my quiet little neighborhood and critically look at the benefits and downfalls of staying in an apartment while traveling.

Benefits of Staying in an Apartment While Traveling:

Local Culture
This is one of the best ways to meet local people, understand local culture and feel like a local. You see the real culture of the city, not the tourism culture; trust me, there is a big difference. I met my neighbors, I learned where my local markets, pharmacies, and post offices were. I even learned about the grocery shopping culture which can be quite unique to each country! It’s hard to imagine, but as I walked down the street to my apartment, I felt like I belonged. Granted, you can stay in the more touristy areas, but I really loved visiting sites and then coming ‘home’ to my quiet little neighborhood.

Quiet Barcelona

Saving Money
This is probably the most concrete benefit. Short term apartment rental might be a similar cost as a hotel, however you save money in other ways that are huge. I went out and got 100 Euro worth of food which lasted me 4 nights of dinner, 5 lunches, and about 7 breakfasts. If I would have had to go out for all of those meals and cups of coffee it would have been about 300 Euros easily. In addition, the internet access was included and it was FAST. Most hotels make you pay for wifi these days – ridiculous rates for crappy bandwidth. Here it was all included. In addition, I was able to do laundry in my apartment which also saved money and made it much cheaper than a hotel.

Home Sweet Home
Basically you have a real home, a couch you can nap on, comfy chairs and a place to really relax. When I travel a lot one of the things I miss most is a real chair. I get tired of sitting on hotel bed or uncomfortable hotel ‘office’ chairs. My apartment also had an ipod doc, dvds, and a nice kitchen. You have your privacy and don’t have to deal with any front desk clerk or common space. It’s all blissfully yours, and because of that, it’s also more secure than staying in a hostel or hotel where people come in and out of your room.

Neighborhood
You will really get to know your neighborhood. After a few days I had figured out where the post office was, running routes, grocery stores, butchers, bus routes, and the pharmacy. A few more weeks and I’m pretty positive I would have known everyone on my block! One of my big surprises is that the nightlife in my neighborhood was very quiet. I used to have this vision of Spain as the party capital of the world, and it held true in the tourist areas I went to. But in my neighborhood, it was laid back, and comfortable. Restaurants closed at midnight and few people were out.

Barcelona without tourists

Concierge Service
It’s also important to note that most apartment rental companies make sure they you aren’t missing out on a concierge serve – they provide you with loads of information to help you get around your new location. My apartment had maps, subway routes, guides, and Oh Barcelona provided me with a huge stack of discounts for tours and sites. Oh Barcelona also provided great information on their Facebook page as well as their Barcelona Blog.  I honestly used it as my guidebook and to find out what events were going on in the city during my stay.

Disadvantages to Staying in an Apartment While Traveling:

No maid service
You’ve got to keep the place tidy yourself; if you are like Pigpen from the Peanuts gang, you may be in trouble. And if you are staying for an extended time then you have to clean the sheets and towels too – or you can opt for just being gross.

Supplies
You have to remember you are staying in an apartment – not a hotel. You don’t always get everything you need and end up having to buy daily things that are expected in a hotel – soap and toilet paper for example. Most places will have some staples for cooking such as oil – but there is no guarantee. My apartment didn’t have any soap, kitchen towels, pepper, or close-pins to hang up your clothes after washing them. In this respect, if you aren’t staying in the apartment for a short time, this can become expensive. You have to purchase all of these staples and you barely get to use them. Especially when you cook, you have to buy a whole bag of sugar, but you may only need a couple of teaspoons. I look at it as karma….leave the non-perishable things for the next person!

Dining Guilt
Here you are in a new city that is known for their amazing cuisine, but you have your own kitchen in which you can save money and cook for yourself. I went out to eat at restaurants very minimally for the two weeks I was in Barcelona because I felt guilty about having this great kitchen that I should be using. I sort of felt like I missed out on the food culture in Barcelona (however my pocket book was happy about it!). My best advice to combat this loss of country food culture is to take a cooking class when you arrive and learn how to cook the local cuisines. Then you can have the joy of learning how to shop in a foreign country, get your supplies, and cook up the local food yourself immediately practicing what you learned!

Local Butcher/Ham store...yum!

Isolating
If you are a solo traveler, staying in an apartment by yourself is a bit isolating. In hostels or couchsurfing it’s easy to meet people and other solo travelers, but when you have your own apartment, it becomes harder. I honestly think this is a great lodging solution for couples and family, but it’s certainly possible to do it solo too. If your solo, you’ll just need to make some extra effort to meet others which I actually prefer to do.

Conclusion

Overall I would absolutely recommend this type of lodging for travelers – especially long-term or career break travelers. It’s a great way to slow down, save money, and feel part of a community that is very foreign to you. You’ll connect more with the country and the people.

Rating my Lodging Experiments:
1. House sitting
2. Apartment stays and Couchsurfing (tie)
4. Hostels
5. Guest Houses
6. Hotels

Have you ever stayed in an apartment as part of your travels, what was the best and worst thing about it?
Disclosure: Oh Barcelona Apartments is hosting my accommodation in Barcelona. However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Preparing for the worst?

It’s in my DNA to be prepared, to plan, to have a giant project plan that I can happily tick off the accomplishments. I’m happy when I can graph the critical path, and build dependencies. I’m a project planning geek and in my past corporate life I was paid big bucks to plan and prepare software applications and rollouts for some of the largest American retail stores.

But seriously, how can one really prepare and plan for this?

“Imagine you’re lost in a massive desert, hundreds of miles from civilisation, driving a car even your granny would be embarrased by. 50% of your wheels just fell off and a search for tools turns up a dirty sock and two dried apricots.
This is what the Mongol Rally is about. Getting stuck, lost and in trouble, then finding your way out armed with just your wits and the sock and apricots.
It’s about setting forth to tackle 1/3 of the surface of the Earth; unprepared, ill-advised and with no idea of what might happen. What you generally find is a whole giant shit heap of adventure.” –From the Mongol Rally Website

I have met my match in the Mongol Rally and it has won. I’ve given up trying to plan for it and have surrendered to the absurdity of it all.  I don’t really think it’s possible to plan for adventure – as the word ‘adventure’ is like a slippery, wet water balloon…you can never get a good grip on it, and it could completely burst at any time.  Adventure is immune to planning.

I still remember the first skype call I did with Dave, Deb, and Rick; I immediately went into project planning mode, and quickly learned that I was losing ground against the unknown of the Mongol Rally. There are so many risks and contingencies on this project plan ; it was an exercise in futility.

My packing sure was an exercise in futilitiy!

I have been able to break down a few things and prepare the best I could – but it’s far from a plan:

Physically Preparing:
How do you prepare to sit in a car for 6 to 8 hours a day for 6 to 8 weeks? Well the obvious answer is you sit. And you sit a lot. This is actually pretty easy for me as most days I’m sitting at my computer for about 8 hours a day…sometimes I barely move! I have also been busy updating my play lists on my ipod and I’ve been practicing saying “Are we there yet?” in the perfect questioning, whiny tone that will make my teammates want to push me out of the car and put me out of my sitting misery.

Tactically Preparing:
I’m not a camper, yet this rally will have me camping for about 3 to 4 weeks. That’s the longest I’ve ever camped. I’m expecting I should get a Girl Scout badge when it’s all done (or I would be equally happy with a box of Thin Mints). I figured I better give my tent a test run so last night I set it up all by myself in my friend’s NYC apartment. Seriously – if I can set a 2 person tent up solo in a small NYC apartment, then I can set it up anywhere…right? I blew up my new air mattress, and laid in the tent trying to imagine being in Uzbekistan in the tent…but the NYC taxi noise distracted me from my camel daydreaming.

Sure - it's a little cramped...but it works!

Geographically Preparing:
My good friends at Lonely Planet donated the digital guides for all of the countries we pass through in the rally…woohoo…that means we have less books and more space for toilet paper! Since they donated the guides, I purchased a Kindle and have been busy loading it up with the guides and other books for the long days of driving and no internet access. I’ve also thrown in a big bottle of Dramamine in case I find that I can’t read my Kindle while riding in the car!

Mentally Preparing:
This is the hard one. The key to long term traveling is to find your ‘travel zen’ ; the sweet spot of not knowing what’s going to happen next and to be ok with the unknown. It’s about embracing uncertainty and discovery. I wish I could say that I was fully mentally prepared, but I’m not. I feel like I’ve got a pretty good start on it though, as I’m tired of futile planning and simply want the ‘games’ to begin and see what happens. If there is anything that travel has taught me, it’s that the only predictable thing is that it will be unpredictable.

Until I find my travel zen, I’ve been watching this to mentally prepare me…the Mongol Rally trailer from a few years back….still entertaining, still disturbing, still kickin’

I have been able to gain a little sanity by preparing myself physically, tactically, geographically, and mentally – but the rest is left up to the big, bad unknown.

I’m now at the point where I’m super excited to simply get on the road and see what it throws at us. I’m tired of worrying, planning, and trying to plan for contingencies…I just want to drive.

Chance, Luck, Faith.  That’s what my plan is.

Reunited!

Re-united and it feels so good…(come on, sing it with me!)

My true love is back in my arms. The two months apart had been difficult for me, I longed, even ached for my beloved.

My passport finally arrived in crisp FedEx envelope; I promptly ripped it open and showered it with kisses. And I believe that it was just excited to see me too…it had a special glow, it beamed when I held it in my hands. It came back to me with 4 shiny new visas from countries I can’t pronounce. We sat back, shared a beer and started dreaming of our next trips we’d take together.

We will be a busy couple this summer. We are living it up in class, experiencing world sporting events, seeing friends, and then we are roughing it for 8 weeks across 1/3 of the globe. The say variety is the spice of life – so here’s what we have in store for you:

Valencia Spain | June 20th – June 27

I’ll be a guest of Tour Spain on a press/blogger trip to Valencia Spain to see the famous Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe. Um…hot men speaking in foreign tongues , in fast cars…yup…give me some of that. Top it off with wine and delicious Spanish food…okay, if I must. I was as surprised as anyone when I had an email showing up in my inbox inviting me to the F1 race in Valencia, I thought about it for a few seconds and promptly said yes trying to appear not too desperate. Considering this is my first trip to Spain, I’m really looking forward to experiencing the best it has to offer and sharing that back with you. Expect a few pictures of fast cars…zoom, zoom.

Barcelona, Spain | June 27th – July 11th

I’ll be hanging out as a local in Barcelona. My goal is to simply relax into the city for two weeks, eat well, drink well, and work on photography and writing. I’m staying in my very own apartment near the Sagrada Familia thanks to Oh Barcelona . As you know I prefer to experience cities and locations slowly, and off the tourist track. Granted – while I’m in Barcelona I will be doing some typical tourists things like exploring the city by motorbike , taking a cooking class, and taking in the architecture – but for me it’s more about walking around the neighborhoods, meeting locals, and taking pictures. Most of all – I want to soak in the joy of having an apartment for 2 weeks since the rest of my summer will be camping and sleeping in a car for 7 weeks.

Brussels, Belgium | July 11 – July 15th

Next I head north for a little girlfriend time. I needed a place to crash for a few days and will go see my girlfriend Veronique in Brussels as well as my friends from Cheeseweb who I housesat for last year. Friends will be great – and friends with frites and waffles will be even better!

London, UK | July 15th – July 23rd

Game on…this is where the craziness begins. I along with Dave and Deb, my Mongol Rally team partners arrive in London on the 15th and will spend the next week frantically running around trying to ensure our car runs, and getting last minutes supplies for the Mongol Rally. Luckily we’ll have a nice apartment to stay in and be sleepless while doing final prep for the rally thanks to Oh London.  For any of you reading this who are in/around London – please make yourself known so we can potentially meet you, share a pint with you, and shamelessly contact you for help when we desperately need it that week!

London to Mongolia | July 23 to who the hell knows???

The Mongol Rally officially kicks off on July 23rd. I have a feeling it may be slightly different than the Formula 1 race…but in my head out little blue rally car will be just as good, pretty, fast, and reliable. Positive thoughts help – right?! Each day will bring something different, exciting, painful – and most of all it will remind me that I am alive and I better f’ing enjoy this ride called life.

Something else very, very important…Real-time Blogging…

Normally my writing and photography run about a month behind where I actually am at the moment, but this summer of ‘travel in overdrive’ will bring on a big change with my blog. Creating my blogging/writing/photography on my website takes a lot of time online…I mean a LOT of time. However – I will have very little online time when I’m doing the rally this year. My blog will have to go real-time while I’m participating in the Rally as well as the time leading up to it. This probably means the writing will suck, there will be very few photos once the rally begins, and you will be getting small, disjointed, real-time updates rather than lovely literary prose about culture and travel. So – get ready to get a little trailer trash blogging…down and dirty, gritty, basic, and a bit of a wreck at times.  So sit back, and enjoy my blogging this summer with a Pabst Blue Ribbon and tater tots.

During the rally I am getting the help of the lovely women at SMAC (Social Media Atlantic Canada), Candice and Cailin are social media gurus and will be keeping you informed about our team’s whereabouts on the rally road. I’ll be communicating with them to tell them what happened on the road each day. Then they will then send out the tweets and facebook status updates under my account and write a quick blog post for me. They will be my voice so that you can hear me while I’m racing down a dirt road in Uzbekistan.

After the rally I will be sure to provide some proper recaps and the complete Mongol Rally story as I move out of the trailer trash blogging and back into the deee-lux apartment in the travel blogging sky and back to my regular style.

Please bare with me…don’t give up on me…and keep reading! I promise I’ll be back to my normal verbose, photographic posts in October.

So – buckle up….we are going from Formula 1 racing to Rally Racing…crossing 15 countries in 3 months. I just wonder how I , my beloved passport, and my little blog will come out the other side.

Start Your Engines!!

The best (Glorius Superba) of Sri Lanka...and the worst

Since this was the first time I had traveled as a couple, to wrap up my travels to Sri Lanka, I decided to give you a little best/worst article; but not just from my perspective…from me and my travel partner’s perspective.  Finally – Russ gets to speak up and be heard!  We came up with the questions together and answered them completely separately.  Then I put both of our answers together for the post.  I found it quite interesting to see what we agreed and disagreed on!

Favorite overall place and why:

Russ: Unawatuna – Brand new hotel, great service, lovely little beach town and we found a few great restaurants. It was a really relaxing place to finish the trip. The only downside was the lack of a good beach, but the hotel and food more than made up for it.

Sherry: South of Galle at Auraliya Villa…it was the beginning. Not only was it a luxury villa we had to ourselves with a private beach, 3 black labs, and a staff of people waiting on us – but it was where we really started. I love the newness of a relationship and getting to know people. Besides that – the location was perfect as it was near Galle, and you seriously couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful beach and place to play in the turquoise waters.

Auraliya by night

Worst place and why:

Russ: Polonnaruwa – While there were some beautiful ruins there, especially the sleeping Buddha and the Vatadage, but getting there was when I realized I’d messed up the trip planning and there wasn’t anything, I mean anything, in town and to make things worse the hotel and it’s manager just sucked.

Sherry: Polonnaruwa – I was just generally unimpressed with Polonnaruwa since I’m not a temple person. The day was super hot, and I was tired of temples, and you couldn’t wear shoes in area so you were walking on hot stones!

Best Lodging :

Russ: Kingfisher, Unawatuna – Brand new room with every modern amenity, a view of the ocean, a phenomenal restaurant downstairs and most of all, the staff were wonderful and especially doting. Ask for Nama.

Sherry: Unnawatuna – Kingfisher Boutique Hotel. It was at this time that we finally agreed to slow down and just relax. After being on the move the whole month we found this perfect hotel to stay for 4 days.

Worst Lodging:

Russ: Top Secret, Hikkaduwa – Tiny little room with unbelievably stifling heat and oh yeah, that big ass cockroach that walked across me while I was trying to fall asleep. Never again!

Sherry: Polonnarwja Siyanco Holiday Resort. It was way too expensive for what you received. And my final straw was that there was no wifi at all and everything I asked for on the menu they were out of. Something as basic as cheese. I just felt the place was poorly run from a service perspective.

Best Food:

Russ: Waterfalls Homestay – They served us an amazing home cooked curry outside overlooking the valley and the waterfalls.

Sherry: Waterfalls Homestay in Ella served the best and most authentic breakfast by far. Fresh curd, and egg hoppers. The nightly dinners were amazing too. Curries were good, but the 2nd night they served us fresh crab which was a real treat!

Worst Food:

Russ: Devon Restaurant, Kandy – All I can say is grizzled, boney chicken anus.

Sherry: Actually I’d like to nominate the whole town of Kandy as the worst food! Everyplace we went – Devon’s, White House, a Chinese restaurant, the pub – they were all huge disappointment because they were empty, closed all together, tried to overcharge us, or simply had horrible service. Specifically the sweet and sour chicken at Devon’s was my most memorable worst. It wasn’t that it tasted horrible; it was that the whole night was horrible. That was the night the crappiness of Kandy food actually brought me to tears – much to Russ’s surprise.

Best travel moment with the other person:

Russ: Sherry scoring us the expensive room at a new hotel by bartering her writing and photography services. Get Some!

Sherry: Actually I will go into sappy mode for a second and say that there were actually many of these to choose from. Russ helping me with my technical email issues, removing bugs from the room, riding the trains together, making it to the top of Adam’s peak when Russ cut the line. But one time sort of sticks out to me as I found it surprising. I am lazy, when something breaks I tend to throw it away. However when my bra broke and I was disappointed and about to throw it away, Russ stopped me and said he could fix it. He pulled out a little sewing kit he carries with him and preceded to stitch it all back up – and I’m still using it today! I just found the image of him toiling with a needle and thread on my bra quite amusing…and nice.

Worst travel moment with the each other:

Russ: Dinner, Kandy, Devon restaurant. Sherry needs to eat, because when she doesn’t eat, she can get a bit…cranky. I’ll only add that when the food did finally come, it made things worse, for both of us. Refer to ‘Worst Food’ above.

Sherry: Let’s just say – it’s never good to mix 24/7 of togetherness with ex-girlfriends, quitting smoking, and booze; a lethal combination for being able to get along. Somehow we got through that night thanks to a deck of cards.

Best activity:

Russ: Three temples and gardens tour in Kandy . The temples and the gardens themselves were very nice, but everyone we encountered that day was a breath of fresh air and wanted nothing from us except to show us their country. It was a welcome change of pace and a rare travel day.

Sherry: Festival in Nuwara Eliya.  It was completely unexpected, great photography, and totally off the tourist trail…everything I love.

Hindu procession

Worst activity:

Russ: I’d have to say the safari at Yala. While it may be due to my expectations, the park wasn’t that interesting, we saw very little wildlife and definitely no leopard, the guide was pretty average and didn’t care much what we saw and the ride in the jeep itself was horrible.

Sherry: Yala Safari. It reminded me to never spend money on a safari unless it’s in Africa and you have a big long lens.

Most stressful moment:

Russ: Honestly, I don’t really remember any except dinner at the Devon restaurant in Kandy.

Sherry: trying to get on a super crowded train to Hatton during Poya festival. It was as if we were strategizing a war as the train pulled in and a large crowd of people tried to push and shove their way on. I was actually wondering if we would get separated in the craziness let along be able to get our bags on and not break our bottle of vodka in our side pocket of the backpack! Once on the stress didn’t really stop – we rode for 3 hrs in a very uncomfortable and cramped position.

The one thing I’d return to Sri Lanka for:

Russ: – Auraliya, a villa we stayed in near Thalpe on the south coast. It was huge, beautiful, right on the best beach and the food and service was to die for.

Sherry: Easy…Auraliya

Most annoying travel habit of each other:

Russ: Sherry can sometimes have trouble getting moving, I’d be ready to leave to eat or head somewhere and she’d say “I’ll be ready in 5 mins” but 15-20 minutes later, there’s a good chance I’d still be sitting there.

Sherry: My obvious answer is smoking. But that’s too easy so I’ll go with the fact that Russ could not leave a question unanswered; or maybe it’s just boyish curiosity. I would ask a question like “I wonder how many steps there are to the top of Adam’s Peak?” He would immediately hop on his phone and look it up. I simply asked the question not really wanting to get an answer…just thinking aloud…I’m not used to people around me actually acting on it. I realized that if I didn’t want him to look up the answer to some random question I had then I shouldn’t verbalize it.

Best item we packed /brought:

Russ: Backgammon board.

Sherry: Russ’s unlocked smart phone which allowed us to contact guest houses while on the road, and tether to his cheap 3G connection and allow me to work when I desperately needed to. Also – I’ll include backgammon and a deck of cards as the most used items!

Even the cat wanted to play backgammon

What item did we forget:

Russ: Me? Forget something?? Nah…

Sherry: Sleep Sheet – would have really helped me mentally with those buggy rooms! Yes – I’m a wimp.

Best new travel tip learned from each other.

Russ: Probably trip advisor as a central source of information.  I definitely use it more often now.

Sherry: A process for collecting and recording receipts. Now – ask me if I’m still using the process…

Favorite person you met:

Russ: Roshon, our tuk-tuk driver in Kandy. He came along at the right time, just when we wanted to see a lot and didn’t want any bullshit along the way and that’s exactly what he gave us. Along with a smile and a good sense of humor.

Sherry: The staff at Kingfisher hotel and restaurant. They were all great – Nama helped us with everything – and was just a cool guy. The waiter at the restaurant would hang out and talk with us at breakfast time and tell us about the surrounding area. You could tell that they all really liked what they did.

Thing we didn’t see that we wanted to:

Russ: I would have like to have scuba dived the great basses. Can you say humpback whales?!?

Sherry: The leopard in Yala Park. We spent all morning on safari looking for leopards and didn’t see a one. Then learned that the afternoon safari had many sightings…damn luck.

Favorite photo taken.

Russ: Young men washing to cleanse themselves before hiking up Adam’s Peak.

Sherry: People boarding the train in Hatton

Favorite photo take of the other person:

Russ: Sherry Doesn’t Like to Have Her Picture Taken
Sherry: Flower Inn with the stuffed animals

Plan your trip to Sri Lanka with Sri Lanka Holidays

How will we stay 'connected' on our epic adventure?

The Mongol Rally is the ultimate road trip for 4 plugged in travel bloggers and social media addicts. However traveling across 15 countries for 10,000 miles presents some challenges for even the best techie geeks. I decided to enlist the help of Anil Polat from FoxNomad and Tech Guide For Travel to be our official Mongol Rally Team IT Manager – no geeky glasses or pocket protectors required. He’s an expert at managing your bits and bytes while traveling but we’ll put him to the test in this interview…

CONNECTIVITY

Q: We need to stay plugged in during this 6 to 8 week journey across 15 countries. Our goal is to still put out one short daily blog post, and be able to tweet regularly and update facebook (including uploading small images). What will be our best solution to accomplish this as we cross countries? And what is the realistic solution to accomplish this as we cross countries?

A: I’d first start by checking out WeFi and Jiwire to map out free wifi hotspots and other open connections along your way first. I would also be sure to have Ethernet cables with you for the wireless connections you have to pay for, so you can share a paid connection with one other person . Although that tactic makes for a slower connection for both people, it cuts your Internet costs in half.

For more desperate times – A phone cable might come in handy as well, as you can probably find dial-up connections in all of the countries you’re traveling through. You can search ahead of time to keep a few handy. Furthermore, on the hardware side you can dish about $30 to get a strong USB wireless antenna, effectively widening the range of wifi signals your laptop can reach by several times.

To further Internet-prepare, I’d recommend learning how to, and enabling tethering on each of your mobile phones. Tethering allows you to use your mobile phone data plan to connect your laptops to the Internet. The method varies by phone and it’s almost always an expensive way to get online. However for a few minutes of urgent connectivity it might be worth having the option at hand. There are two good apps for tethering, one is MyWi ($10) and the other is PdaNet ($30). There are free methods as well but they’re very cumbersome and take some time before each connection. AT&T has enabled tethering on their phones if you happen to be using them, so you wouldn’t need an app in that case.

There are also USB modems which let you connect to the Internet over 3G mobile connections that will likely cover much of your route. The major drawback being the price. Generally such services run for $250/month with a limit of about 500 MB. A more expensive but reliable connection would be a portable satellite kit. You’d have a solid Internet connection practically anywhere, even in the most remote of locations. This solution is expensive though, starting at $2,500 for the hardware and costing about $1,000 per month for the data connection itself.

POWER

Q: How can we stay ‘juiced up’ with power during our travels? Most places will have limited plugs and sometimes we’ll be camping with no plugs. I expect we’ll have a minimum of 3 laptops, 4 smart phones, 2 SLRS, and a video camera. Is there one solution that could potentially charge all of these things? Wishful thinking?

A: I would suggest making your laptops the “power stations” if possible – so we’ll work on getting them outlets. All of your other equipment and batteries should be chargeable by USB. Just about anything has a USB-to-most-anything-else adapter so try to get the SLR batteries, smart phones, and video camera compatible with USB. (Something like this can give you even more USB charging space ). Charging over USB slows down the process for the devices (and laptop as well) but saves you precious outlets when they’re at a premium. A power strip with surge protection can also give you more plugs when there’s only one available. Neatly enough, some even have USB ports as well for even more charging options

When you’re using your laptops and have limited access to a power, make the most out of what you have. Give yourself more battery life by shutting off wifi (use only as needed), dimming the screen, and keeping you laptops cool by not putting them on your lap, aka. warm legs. Running only one or two applications at a time will also make your computer processor work less, run cooler, and extend battery life ever so much. When you’re not using your laptops, shut them down or put them in hibernate (not sleep) modes so they don’t leak power while you’re driving.

Finally, I don’t know if any of you are on the laptop market, but an inexpensive netbook (~$200-300) would be a good choice for the trip. They typically have nearly twice the battery life of a standard laptop.

We will have more electronics than camping gear!

SECURITY

Q: Any recommendations on how to keep all of this expensive equipment safe, secure, and hopefully not stolen? We’ll be staying in a new place every night and sometimes will be camping by our car. There will inevitably be times when we have to leave the items in our car. In addition, we will want to be discrete at border crossings.

A: A good laptop lock goes a long way and I would also recommend encrypting each of your laptop hard drives or at least the sensitive folders. TrueCrypt is not only free, but easy to use and very effective. Additionally, ProjectPrey can help you track, lock, and delete any laptop data remotely if you are unfortunate enough to have them stolen.

Good physical storage would be a safe bolted somewhere into the car itself. Several companies make these (for typically guns) and a large one installed by a professional would at least be a major obstacle for a thief in a hurry. It’s not discrete of course, but smaller ones for your passports, money, and other valuables might be worth considering.

BACKUP

Q: Since we don’t have a ton of space, do you have any ideas for backup solutions for all of this digital data we will be capturing. Is there a solution that we can all use so that we can save space in the car?

A: I’m a big fan of CrashPlan and would suggest you use it in two ways. This first method is free – CrashPlan lets you set up other computers as backup destinations. You can all designate each others’ laptop as a destination for part of your data, as well as any desktops you might have access to (for example sitting at your parents’ house.) Since you’re all using Macs, it’s even easier to set up the local network for backup sharing. You just select “Create network” under the Airport wireless icon – on the upper right of the top menu bar. Once everyone joins that local network, CrashPlan will be able to send the backup information between you all. Also Crashplan encrypts all of the data so each backup can’t be read by the host.

The second backup setup involves purchasing their Unlimited Family Plan. It’s $12/month or $119/annually for unlimited online backup storage for up to 10 computers. Yes, it sucks up a bit of bandwidth and requires an Internet connection but runs quietly in the background without interaction after the initial setup.

Another reason you overlap the two methods. Depending on the specific operating systems you’re using, it’s possible to setup a wireless local area network (LAN). That way you can backup to each others’ machine when you don’t have Internet for extended periods of time.

CLEANLINESS:

Q: We will be going where there are no roads which basically means there will be a LOT of dust. Is there any way that we can keep our equipment clean in this type of crazy road trip environment?

A: Dust is a tricky one but by using cans of compressed air regularly you can prevent the buildup around sensitive components. Most electronics manufacturers will have specifications on where focus cleaning in their manuals or will tell you if you ask. For laptops that’s usually around the air vents but for all electronics equipment any openings (e.g. around buttons) should be cleaned often. You could also consider anti-static and dust wipes.

Dust storms are common...and may kill our electronics!

MY CONCLUSION

A super ebook for any tech savy traveler

I loved all of Anil’s advice – I have a lot of follow up to do! If anyone has any leads or names of companies who provide portable satellite kits, please let me know! Else – we are definitely looking into a USB modem and 3G connection. I love the idea of the Ethernet cables as I think it’s always good to have one in your pack. Also I did phone tethering for the first time in Sri Lanka – and it was awesome – and quite cheap there.  Love the power strip idea – will look into it. Plugs are a hot commodity when traveling with bloggers! Also like the idea of physical storage box somewhere in the car. I think the car is less likely to get stolen than the electronics in the car!  I will make sure to write a follow up to this post with what we all decided to do  – what worked, and what didn’t.

Anil not only consults for us when I ask him nicely, he also does other IT consulting and has written a great ebook that every traveler with laptops should have – The Ultimate Tech Guide for Travelers. You can read the review of it on my career break travel site.  The best part though is the book comes with Anil – the tech geek himself!  For a full 6 months after purchasing The Ultimate Tech Guide For Travel you get one-on-one technical support for anything you read in the book.

If anyone else has advice or gear leads for us – please share it in the comments!

Who says you need two people? The ultimate entertainment for the solo traveler...it comes with a (plastic) friend!

You may be wondering – why did I go back to Sri Lanka. After all, I’ve been there before and I don’t really like to go back to a place I’ve been before; the world is too big and life is too short.

There were a few reasons for this ‘do-over’ of Sri Lanka.

• The last time I was there it was only for 6 days.
• I was there working photographing a luxury villa for some friends and only stayed at that villa and went no where else.
• I was sick in the very short time I was there, so was mainly sleeping and miserable most of the time. I was only able to explore villa and one pharmacy in Galle.
• And… I suppose I must confess…I went to see a boy.

Yes, I’m a self professed solo traveler and I often evangelize about how great it is and how it allows me to actually meet more people than if I were with someone. Traveling solo also opens me up to a lot of flexibility and opportunities… and attention (welcome and unwelcome). But everyone needs change once in a while; and certainly I don’t shun companionship. The idea of flying off to meet Russ and have a travel companion for a while sounded like an adventure itself.; and I love a good adventure.

When we looked into where we could meet for a month, the most sensible option seemed to be to meet in the middle. He was coming from his career break travel in Southeast Asia and I was coming from my cultural exchange and work in the Middle East. In the middle was Sri Lanka…with no visa fees for Americans…so I went to Sri Lanka…for a second time.

It was especially ironic that I was flying there to shed my solo-ness for a month since the last time I was there I was all alone and having a hard time adjusting to being solo after traveling with my father in Nepal.

I feel like I’m now sort of qualified to finally weigh in on solo travel vs. couple travel after conducting a month of research while traveling around Sri Lanka with Russ. But that is a debate that is probably very personal to everyone. Instead I simply decided to take my experiences and decide what I liked about traveling as a couple and what I didn’t like.

What I liked:

• Someone to share moments with. Everyone talks about this sharing ‘thing’ and it has always eluded me. I quite frankly file it in the sappy, fluff, romantic category in my brain which isn’t too often accessed. I never really cared before; or truth be told I avoided thinking about it because maybe I secretly I wanted it…something to ponder. If I was somewhere cool and I wanted to share it I would mention it on Facebook or Twitter. However having an actual human being to interact with had its benefits.
• Cheaper accommodation costs. Being solo is expensive. Sharing costs is good…nuff said.
• Have someone to help me put my luggage up on the overhead rack on the train and bus. Sometimes a girl just likes a little help.
• It’s easier to negotiate everything. With a partner you can actually take on the role of good cop – bad cop and normally do better with negotiation. It was quite fun to look at Russ before we got in a tuk tuk and say..”you got this one.” (a.k.a. – you play the hard ass this time.)
• Someone to kill bugs. Yes – I’m a sissy when it comes to big cockroaches. Thank you Russ for putting up with my bug phobia.
• Someone to take my picture without me trying to contort my arm to take my self portrait. Thanks to Russ now I have an abundance of photos of myself.
• I learned new travel tactics and a myriad of other new techie stuff from Russ. When you travel alone…it’s easy to get in a rut after 4+ years of being on the road. This is the way I always pack my bag, do my photography workflow, find wifi access, get access to movies online, ensure my gear doesn’t get stolen, etc. Quite frankly traveling with Russ, a new career break traveler, was an education. At times it made me feel pretty old fashioned and I realized I hadn’t changed many of my travel tactics or gear in the years I’ve been moving around.

I'm caught doing photography in tea country surrounded by groupies

What I didn’t like:

• Being with someone else made me painfully aware of how much I work when I’m traveling. A travel bloggers life may seem like all fun and beaches…but there is a lot that goes into this little digital journal and personality of mine as well as my other websites. It is my main source of income, so it’s my job. Until I traveled with Russ I didn’t really know how tethered to it I was. It left me wondering how my work/life balance became so unbalanced.
• Two people with cameras are really intimidating. For some reason I when I travel solo with my camera I feel much less conspicuous. But when Russ and I would both have out our cameras taking shots of people, I was painfully self-conscience of what we were doing and it felt like we had invaded a village in camouflage carrying ak47’s and hand grenades.
• This may be obvious, but when you travel with a boy you tend to get hit on less. I’m not sure that this belongs in the ‘cons’, but when you are not seen as a single woman, you simply don’t get any of the attention and perks I’m used to when I travel alone. No one offering to take me places, give me little tastes of food, no one buying me a drink. However, in Russ’s defense – he did pick up the slack. It wasn’t bad…just different.
• It’s challenging dealing with the ups and downs of another person…and trust me – I know I’m no cake walk. When I’m solo I can wallow in my own phobias, esteem, quirks – but hard to do when you are with another person…they are exposed to it all. Granted, I know this is no different than being in any relationship – but when you travel the stress is hiked up even more as you are testing patience, flexibility, communication constantly.  I suppose the sappy side of me would say that it makes the ‘ups’ even better when you are with someone.
• You get used to having a companion…which makes it hard to part.

So…welcome to my travels in Sri Lanka. You will be seeing lots of “We” in my upcoming writing – which still feels a bit foreign to me. However I think ‘we’ were able to get a really great dose of what Sri Lanka had to offer – the good and the bad. Stay tuned…

Weigh in on how you feel about traveling solo vs. traveling as a couple…I’d love to hear what others experience!

“It’s just too hard…” People often say to me.
“…the airport security strip search, the extortionary bag fees, the long flight, my knees being crushed against the seat in front of me, customs, immigration, not knowing the language or the currency, the hassle of transportation, the fear of being ripped off, and then there’s the process of where to stay and what to do…it’s all just overwhelming. That’s why I don’t travel out of the US.”

Strangely – these are some of my favorite parts about international travel – minus the knees being crushed and the bag fees (which I think are robbery) . Strangely I don’t mind the security process…after all – a long-term solo traveler can use some ‘patting down’ once in a while!

However in my preparation for my Mongol Rally adventure (some would say absurdity), I had to go through an international travel process that about made me agree with all of the US international travel naysayers…getting visas.

My teammates and I are traveling through 15 countries this summer and I diligently went through the process of researching each country’s visa requirements for Americans. I was feeling pretty good when my research yielded the results of only needing 4 visas out of all of those countries…yippee!

Not too fast….

That yippee quickly turned to “Oh shit!” when I realized that the cost to get these 4 visas was be over $700 when all said and done.

Up until this experience, I had thought China and India would go down as the ‘worst and most expensive country visa processes’ – but now they were bumped by the Central Asian countries of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and the super ‘paperwork’ power – Russia. I was in the visa big leagues now.

Just when I was completely panicked looking through the myriads of forms, invitation letters, restrictions, and timeframes; ready to give up; I saw a light…a savior…a paperwork machine. Enter the Visa Machine.

A well-oiled machine?

No, this is not a George Jetson-like ATM device where you put in paperwork, scan your passport, and out spits a visa sticker (but damn that would be nice). It’s a service offered by the Adventurists who are responsible for creating and holding the Mongol Rally among other silly, absurd, scary international adventure races. They saw an opportunity and grabbed is…which is quite American of them…yet they are British. They put together a service and slick website where you can find out exactly what visa you need based on your nationality, order the visa, fill out the paperwork, mail it to them, and they will then be your bitches and run around to all of the embassies in London and get these ‘pain-in-the-ass-visas’ en mass. They are ‘experts’ at getting these hard to get visas since they have hundreds of Mongol Rally teams going through this process yearly. They know the ins and outs of the processes, forms, and silly requirements necessary to increase your chance of getting one of these visa’s issued.

I was sold. I was willing to pay a premium for them to handle this quickly as I would only be in the US for a couple of months and I certainly didn’t have plans to run around to various embassies or mail off my passport every few weeks.

As I started the process, I thought it would take a day to get it all organized and mailed to London. Five days later I realized it wasn’t as smooth of a process as I had hoped. Since I was the first of my teammates to go through this process I started taking notes for them so it would be easier. Being first is never easy. For those of you considering using the Visa Machine, here’s some information which might be helpful to you as you go through the process.

Materials Needed:

The first thing I learned is that you need some basic information prior to even being able to pay for the visas. Before you even start, you should have the following:
• A passport that isn’t expiring within 6 months with plenty of blank pages…duh.
• Access to a printer
• A glue stick
• A stapler
• Approximately 10 passport pictures 35mm by 40mm EXACTLY
• A ruler with mm on it!
• Scissors
• A copy of your resume/CV to refer to (for Russia)
• Your route for the rally with your entry and exit dates predicted for each country
• What city you will enter the border at in Russia
• A hotel in Russia and Uzbekistan with address and phone number that may be along your route. (Note that it is not necessary to have a reservation there or even stay there for that matter…you just need something close that you can enter on the form)
• PATIENCE….
• In the absence of patience…have whiskey or cigarettes available in great quantities.

What is the process?

1. Go to the Visa Machine website, choose your nationality, and then choose the countries you will be driving through (note that you must know your driving route before you can even complete step 1). It will tell you if your nationality requires a visa or not. If a visa is required, add it to your ‘cart’.
2. Then go to your cart and fill out the basic data required (name, passport number, nationality, address, where you want your passport mailed back to, the entry and exit dates for each country you are applying for, and for Russia include the cities you will be passing through and the name/address of the hotel you will potentially stay at).
3. Then get out your credit card and kiss your money goodbye.
Don’t be fooled like me and think that was all there was to it; this was just the beginning. Get your payment confirmation via email and continue…
4. Next print off all of the applications for each country as well as the instructions on how to fill out each application.
5. Read through them without filling anything out at first and learn what type of information you are going to need to gather in order to fill them out. For example, I had to get letters from my insurance company as well as bank statements for 3 months stamped and signed by my bank for Russia visa)
6. Spend the next few days filling them out EXACTLY as the instructions say.
7. Then mail them out to London along with your passport and extra passport photos.

Some issues I ran into:

Quite frankly, the Visa Machine website didn’t really have this type of info on it and therefore I wasted a lot of time trying to get everything together that I needed in a quick manner. You don’t know what you really need until you pay and have committed.
Plus, I had very slow responses to my email I sent to the Visa Machine which added at least 2 days to the process waiting to hear back from them and hounding them on Twitter.
Due to some of this delay I had to expedite two of the visas in order to get my passport back in time.

Some oddities I ran into:

I found it very strange that each of these visa applications asked my marital status and gave me the choices of married, single, widowed, divorced. It left me wondering what they would use this information for or why it was relevant. Would they be trying to find me a husband as I pass through their country? Maybe in Russia I could become an American bride – that would be a switch! Or maybe they would offer their condolences that I was an old maid. Or maybe they would require me to marry a border guard in order to enter the country? Crazy.

For the Russia visa I also needed to provide my complete work and education history complete with dates of graduation/work, supervisors names, and addresses. Were they going to hire me for a job in their country?

Final Results:

In the end with expediting some of the visa’s it cost me the pretty penny of $930 (880 for visas + 50 for Fedex to London). Of course it’s also important to understand that you may not get any visa issues at all; the embassy can reject the paperwork. And even if you get the visa issued and in your passport, this does not fully guarantee entry into these countries at the border nor will you get your money refunded. Basically…it’s a gamble…get ok with that.

Now my precious passport is living it up in London without me. I wonder if it’s having separation anxiety as I am. Has found a nice place to stay among all of those great  London hotels , is going to see Big Ben, and most importantly – will my passport attend the Royal Wedding and sit next to Elton John or Prince Harry?! I will be patiently waiting for its return into my life in a couple of months with (hopefully) 4 shiny, new visas attached to it!

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I am not simply a travel blogger and photographer traveling around the world making you all jealous.  I have another passion in life  – promoting and evangelizing the benefits of career breaks and extended travel.  Some of you may recall our big national event last year that we put on called Meet Plan Go! where we made some great traction in bringing the concept and benefits of career break travel to our overworked and burnt out culture.

Career Break Travel and our little events even made it into the New York Time Travel section! -> Making Your Dream Trip a Reality

What’s Meet Plan Go 2011 All About?

On October 18, 2011 in 17 cities across North America to learn more about career breaks and extended travel.

• MEET inspirational speakers and like-minded travelers in their area.

• Get motivation, contacts and resources necessary to PLAN the trip of a lifetime.

• And start taking concrete steps forward to get ready to GO!

Despite being common in many countries such as Australia and the UK, career breaks, life sabbaticals, “gap years” and other forms of extended travel are not currently an American or Canadian birthright…but the Founders of Meet, Plan, Go! are on a mission to change that!

At every event will be individuals who have fulfilled their own dreams of traveling around the world, or are currently in the planning stages. Their real-life stories include an understanding of the unique challenges that all long-term travelers must overcome in order to claim their freedom on the road and who appreciate the unbelievable triumphs of realizing one’s dream of a long-term international adventure.

Last year’s events were responsible for actually getting people on the road – and for that we are so excited!

“Your event convinced me that my pipe dream of traveling was actually possible… and then gave me tips and tricks on how to accomplish it.” – NYC Attendee

“I loved this event! It helped reassure me that I wasn’t crazy about thinking about quitting my job to hit the road, and it connected me with many other like-minded travelers.” – Orlando Attendee

“A life-inspiring event – covering an amazing amount of relevant material. I would definitely attend another and another until I “go!”" – San Francisco Attendee

Locations and Hosts

We are at it again.  Michaela and I area busy starting to organize and plan the Meet Plan Go! travel events for 2011 and we are starting with the locations and the hosts!  Today on our MeetPlanGo website we announced our super group of 17 hosts who will be holding this travel event around the country.  These are expert career breakers and travelers who will be a source of inspiration to their communities.

We can’t wait to inspire more career break travelers at this year’s event on October 18, 2011! So where can you attend a Meet, Plan, Go! event this year?

We are excited to have many of our original cities returning, including:
Austin | Boston | Chicago | Minneapolis | New York City | Orlando | San Francisco | Seattle | Washington DC | Toronto

And we are even more excited to welcome some new cities, including:
Denver | Honolulu | Las Vegas | Los Angeles | New Orleans | Portland | St. Louis

Meet our hosts in our 17 cities this year – it’s a super team that I’m proud to work with!

Meet Plan Go! Hosts

Finally, to stay up to date on the latest events, updates, and early bird ticket sales – make sure you sign up for the Career Break Newsletter and LIKE our Facebook page.  We’ll be sharing lots of updates over the months to come!

Hope to see you in one of our cities this year!

Books are weighty...

One of the hardest things about constantly traveling and living a nomadic life is the fact that everything you own you must carry.  This really cuts down on my shopping and actually helps me save money.  Every time I look at that colorful scarf, or cool new camera equipment I immediately think…but I have to carry it.  One of the most challenging things about carrying everything you own on your back while traveling is the dreaded ‘Guidebook Dilemma’.  I love having a real guidebook in my hands to flip through and read, not to mention the maps where I can make notes.  But they come at a big cost…they are bulky and heavy…and quite frankly my shoulders and back scream out in agony at the thought of carrying yet another book.

On my recent travels in Sri Lanka, I tried to go without a physical guide book and attemped simply have a file on my iphone.  But I’m old…and the iphone is small; I found the whole thing a pain in the ass and knew that it wasn’t the right solution even though it was the lighter solution.  While I was on that trip a representative from Sony contacted me about a contest they were running for their new Sony Reader centered around travel.  I immediately thought…this is the answer.  A light electronic file, but something that actually feels like a book.

I was really excited to be chosen as one of the few travel blogs hosting the Sony Reader contest where you can win $10,000 to travel anywhere in the world…yes you read that right.  You’d be crazy not to enter – you have absolutely nothing to lose!  It’s really simple to enter – all you have to do is imagine you’re on your dream vacation and you’re writing a postcard to me from that dream destination.  In your postcard, tell me where you are and what you brought along with you to read.

However if you are a math geek and look at the odds of this contest and think, there’s no way I can win…then consider this:

I’m also giving away a Sony Reader by handpicking my favorite entry from my website readers and giving away one Reader Pocket Edition™ and $25 gift card to Reader Store! Your odds are pretty good for this Ottsworld reader prize – there are only 10 entries so far and any statistician would tell you that these are good odds – so make sure you enter!

Entry ends on April 19th!

Winner selection

Starting April 20th, voting will start to take place at www.readergetawaygiveaway.com .  All visitors to the site will be allowed to vote for their favorite entries and you can begin promoting your postcard to your own online audiences and friends.  The person with the most votes** wins the $10,000 dream vacation and 2 Sony Reader and giftcard prizes!

**Voting runs from April 20 – 26th.  Participants are encouraged to promote their postcard to obtain votes. When voting begins, entrants will receive an email notifying them to start getting votes and will be given a unique URL for their entry.   Winner will be notified and entry will be displayed on the contest microsite at www.readergetawaygiveaway.com on or around April 28, 2011.

Please Note: The actual timeframe of this blogpost occurred in the end of January. All is currently fine in Lebanon now. My blog runs about a month behind my reality while traveling. So no need to worry about my safety – this is old news!

Modern Beirut

I looked out the window and wondered if I had boarded the wrong plane and I was actually landing in San Francisco. I quickly shook off my déjà vu and reminded myself I was landing in Lebanon. The landing approach to Beirut was exactly the same as SFO, flying low over water as if the wheels were going to dip down into it and to your left there were hills with green trees, houses, and building scattered all over them. It was lush. It was clean. It was green. It was Mediterranean. It was the Middle East….surprise.

Yola, the office manager for GeoVisions and IICExchange was waiting for me as I arrived. I had been emailing back and forth with Yola prior to my arrival in Lebanon in order to try to figure out the state of safety with the latest Lebanon political demonstrations. This whole trip was in jeopardy thanks to the latest round of political chaos which I came to learn is quite normal in Lebanon.

“Unfortunately, the situation started to get worse last night and today ,they are arranging a huge demonstration in Tripoly ( North Lebanon) . Although it is very far from Sin -El -Feel where Mira lives & where our office is located , I thought you should know about this critical situation.
As Lebanese this kind of action doesn’t stop our normal life ( Jobs ,Schools, Malls & even theaters ) remained open normally”

This was the note I received from Yola a week before I was to arrive as things were starting to heat up around the Middle East. Of course after reading the note I was more confused than ever, and I was frantically trying to get the Lebanon History for Dummies – which of course doesn’t exist (but should!). I tried to piece together the political history and how it related to present day in order to determine if I would still go to Lebanon or not. She, and GeoVisions, reassured me it had quieted down and the demonstrations were only for a day and located in Tripoli; far away where I would be in Beirut.  Little did I know that Lebanon would come to be one of the most confusing countries I had ever visited with regards to history, politics, and nationalism. This was just the tip of the iceberg that I was encountering, and I had a month full of education ahead of me.

The State Department issues travel Warnings when there are long-term, protracted conditions that make a country dangerous or unstable. They suggest Americans avoid or consider the risk of travel to that country. I appreciate and read these warnings carefully; however, you have to really do your research to understand if the conditions are unsafe for YOU. Each situation is different – and you need to know that even though there is a warning issued – it doesn’t mean travel to the country is completely out of the question at all. It just means you should be aware. Out of the 32 countries which have travel warnings currently issued on the State Department website – I’ve been to 7 of them. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not suggesting you should go to Libya now, but I have met a number of people who are living in Egypt, experienced the protests, and are fine and I even have a friend living in Tunisia and he has been fine. There are exceptions to every rule. Be smart, do your research, figure out your risk tolerance, and make your own, informed decision.

Lebanon Travel Warning from the State Department:
While Lebanon enjoys periods of relative calm, the potential for a spontaneous upsurge in violence is real. Lebanese government authorities are not able to guarantee protection for citizens or visitors to the country should violence erupt suddenly. Access to borders, airports, and seaports can be interrupted with little or no warning. Public demonstrations occur frequently with little warning and have the potential to become violent. Under such circumstances, the ability of U.S. government personnel to reach travelers or provide emergency services may at times be severely limited.

My process for determining travel safety is certainly not a science and it has a lot to do with gut feel; well-informed get feel. Reading the latest warnings is just the beginning. Next I read up on the news of what was going on in Lebanon in the English newspapers; I find the local papers/news agencies to be a little less one-sided normally. It’s good to get a local’s take on things instead of just a US Government take on a situation. Finally, I followed up with my contacts in the country and ask them questions about the situation.

I checked the Lebanon travel warnings issued by the State Department and saw there were no changes to the already serious warnings they had about Lebanon; the travel warning hadn’t been updated since October. In the last week of January, things had become relatively quiet in Lebanon so I had decided to proceed with my trip there. Things had quieted down in local papers, and my contacts in Lebanon were telling me it was ‘life as usual’. So I went. And here was Yola welcoming me with open arms and a big smile.

Beirut Street Corner

As we drove into the office my first look at Lebanon was stunning. The buildings were tall, more colorful and modern than Jordan; it felt like a big city. The architecture was still really boxy, but you could tell that the quality of living was pretty drastically different from Jordan for the middle class. BMW’s and Mercedes filled the roads. However the thing that struck me first was the driving. It was like Vietnam but with cars – no responsibility for the things/objects behind you or on your sides, absolutely no regard for lane assignments, and a lot of horn use.

My stay in Lebanon courtesy of GeoVisions was to participate in their Conversation Partner program. This is a program where you live with a host family and tutor other organizations in English. The program in Lebanon was still rather new and they didn’t have any outside organizations they worked with for tutoring, so instead my role was to go to the office and work with the Lebanese students who were signing up for the summer work program in America. I would be able to chat with them and tell them about American culture, what to expect, and help them improve their English.

After a short stop at the office Yola took me over to my new host family’s home. I had been exchanging emails with the mother (a widow) of the family for the last month and had the feeling from the emails that she had a very warm and enthusiastic personality. When the door opened and I saw Mira for the first time she squealed with delight and gave me a big hug welcoming me into her home. I felt as if I were a long lost friend, not a stranger. We sat in the formal guest room and she brought out a bouquet of flowers, Diet Pepsi, and a cake; all for my arrival. I was astonished by all of the attention I was receiving, but happily ate up my cake and had my caffeine fix for the day.

The Costa’s were a small, young family made up of Mira (the mother), Maria (14 year old daughter), and Mickey( 8 year old son). Mickey had been diagnosed as autistic and only spoke French.  I knew he was very excited to see me, but we were at a communication impasse. However as soon as I had arrived he smiled and shyly handed me an envelope with this adorable message:

Mickey's Welcome

Soon family friends started to arrive and we sat and talked for hours while more and more coffee was served and shwarma was ordered. It was a feast of attention that surprised and delighted me; such a nice welcome into this family’s home. Finally after hours of sitting, drinking, and talking I had a little tour of the apartment home and was taken to my room. I was surprised to find out that I would be staying in the kid’s room…minus the kids. I felt terrible for ‘kicking them out’ of their room, but Mira insisted that this was fine and the 3 of them would all share her bedroom for the month. They had also sent their two cats off to a relative for the month as they knew I was allergic to cats. This was my first taste of how accommodating the Costa’s would be every day, minute, and second.

Overall my entry into Lebanon was filled with attention and kindness. And to think, I just about didn’t even come here because of my safety concerns. As I lay in bed falling asleep that night, I knew I made the right decision to come to Lebanon.

No, this isn't me...it's my parents over 51 years ago...

We had been driving for about an hour, and that’s when he finally asked me what he wanted to know.

“Cherry, I want to ask you question – private question.  Is ok?”

I knew exactly where this private question was going; I would have bet what little I have on what was going to come out of his mouth next – and I would have won.  I just wondered how long he had been sitting there wondering how he was going to ask me the private question.

“Ok” I said.

“You married?”

In my mind I weigh the pros and cons of telling the truth.

Pros: I’m proud of my decisions, independence, and my culture which accepts that women don’t need to be married. There’s a part of me that wants to educate other cultures to my own. I know they don’t have to accept it, but I think it’s important to understand different cultures have different thoughts around marriage.

Cons: Do I really want to get into this conversation yet again; trying to explain to someone who doesn’t have the best grasp on English (and consequently I can’t communicate very well with) why I am not married? Explain it to someone who has never been to America…let alone Europe. Will he then try to marry me off to one of his family members…yet again?

Drum roll……..

Babies...sure they are cute...but they aren't for everyone.

I answer, “No, I am not married.”

I know what is coming next .

“Sherry, you have children?”

I’ve already decided to go the truthful route, so I might as well keep trudging along this cultural crevasse.

“No, I do not have kids.” I answer.

The inevitable comes next, “Why not married?”

I sigh, and try to explain in 2nd grade English, how I haven’t met the right man yet and that he shouldn’t worry, I am happy with my life.

Then he surprises me with the next statement and goes off of the usual script.

“Oh…I am so sorry.” he says.

I don’t think I had ever had anyone express their sympathy regarding my single lifestyle before. That floored me. I of course quickly tried to explain that there was nothing to be sorry or sad about; I was indeed happy with my life and my freedom.

But I knew that I wasn’t going to get through to him.

He went on about how I needed to have children, they were the best thing in the world and I would be sorry if I didn’t have them. I don’t think he knew I was 40, nor did he have any idea that kids were the last thing I ever wanted.

Me and my some of my nieces...that's all I need...

I tried to explain that my brother and sister have children and I see them often; he didn’t listen and he kept on going on about how it would be too late and then I would be sorry. That’s when I gave up trying to explain my cultural oddities to him.

I knew we were at an impasse. An impasse that I’ve been at many times before.

Are you a solo female traveler (or male traveler!) who gets asked this question frequently?  How do you deal with it?

Read my other musings on Travel vs. Motherhod

Morning Lights up the Treasury and Tourists

I sighed and handed over my 55 Dinar ($77USD) to the man at the ticket counter; a hefty sum for an otherwise budget friendly country to travel through. This fee would buy me two days in the ancient city of Petra. He asked me to type my name in the computer and then handed me a ticket. I waited for more, but there was nothing more; not even a map. I walked away and thought “Geez, even at Disneyworld they give you a map!”

Luckily I had a little Jordan guide book which provided me some sort of map and I had plotted out my Petra walking plan the night before based on the guide book and some advice of people at the hotel I was staying in. It all looked rather simple. First I would go through the Siq, see the famous Treasury, then I would go to the High place of Sacrifice and down the other side to see Lion Monument, the Roman and Soldier Tomb. Next I would go through the Upper Market and head towards the Monastery, then the church, amphitheatre, and other tombs along the East cliff. That would pretty much cover Petra…a simple plan for the day.

The long, winding Siq

It was my plan until I descended through the mile long Siq and stood staring in awe of the famous Treasury Building; then I knew I needed a plan B. I felt dwarfed by the rock formations that towered above me; the place was much larger than my little guide book map appeared. I should have paid more attention to the scale of the map. This was an ancient hiking playground; trails leading in every direction and all of them leading upwards. I was starting to sweat just looking at them. This was going to be a much more active day than I originally thought.

The buildings carved into the rocks were gigantic, ornate, and were the color of orange sherbet. The light was streaming through the rock formations providing an ethereal feel to the city. Tourists groups huddled around their guides listening intently as I tried my best to avoid them. But it was next to impossible, they streamed from the Sik and into the Treasury area as if it were a giant slide depositing them all at the bottom giddy from the wild ride. Vendors were immediately at your side selling you camel and donkey rides. Men were hawking jewelry and young kids raced up to you to show you’re their postcards. I wasn’t very fond of the masses of people; but it served me right for sleeping in. I looked around at all of the out of shape tourists and I decided to stick to my original plan and start climbing to the High Place of Sacrifice. I knew I could lose them as the steep flight of stairs would weed out the old and out of shape.

The High Place of Sacrifice was worth the climb; not only did I shake the tour groups, but it offered staggering views over Wadi Musa. It was a perfect place to sit down, have a snack and breathe in the fresh, crisp air. There were few tourists up here, a welcome reward after the challenging climb. After a short rest I continued down the other side of the mountain completely alone. I found myself surrounded by ancient tombs and absolutely nothing or no-one else. No merchants, no donkeys, no tourists…just me; I felt like Petra belonged only to me…and the occasional cat. I climbed around the tombs, inside them and generally stood in awe of my solitary experience in such a touristed location as much as I was in awe of the tombs themselves.

Petra to myself

It didn’t take me long to get back to the throngs of tourists as I came around the back side and towards the Upper Market. Everyone was heading towards the Monastery, the largest tomb façade in Petra. I had another big climb ahead of me, and this time it was like a super highway of hiking; everyone was trying to make it up to the top to catch the afternoon sun and the colorful view. I couldn’t shake the tourists, but I was able to shake the vendors. Between deep breathes I mumbled ‘”No” to each jewelry and donkey offer and kept plodding away up the steps. By the time I got to the top I was sweating and exhausted.

The Monastery view point was one of my favorites; despite all of the people. They had set up couches and had a tea house at the top; allowing you to relax after your exercise and take in the view. However, be warned, if you go at the end of the day, you’ll have to make your way all the way back to the Siq and another mile to the entrance. It was about 2 hours to get all the way back to the ticket booth – and all uphill.

The massive Monastery

I had severely underestimated the size of Petra and really was only able to see a couple of the sites in depth on day 1; I knew I had to go back the next day. That night I was sore and exhausted, but set my alarm for 6AM as I had a mission to beat the crowds the next day and attempt to get some tourist-less photography.

As I walked down the Siq the second day, the rocks were grey and drab as the sun hadn’t made it’s way into the narrow canyon yet to turn the color on. However the tourists also hadn’t made their way into the Siq yet and I only saw 4 other people as I walked downwards towards the Treasury.

The best part about going early was that you were able to watch Petra wake up and come alive. It’s a pleasant introduction to Petra without the harshness of guides and big groups of people huddling around. Not only was the light and the tourists absent, but so were the Bedouin vendors. The busy entrance was all yours.

Marble Room

I walked through the Treasury area and into the Street of Facades and enjoyed the peacefulness of Petra; a view not many people get. I arrived in Petra as the Bedouin families were showing up to ‘work’. I watched the women set up their shops and make tea. Men did their morning prayers and generally no one bothered you. I felt as if I was completely behind the scenes, everyone was getting their make-up done, and the curtain was about to open.

As I was taking photos two women in a off-the-beaten path jewelry stand invited me in for tea. They said it was or “fraw”
I repeated…”free?”
“Yes” they said. “Come have tea with us.”
I told them I would have tea but I would not buy anything. They were in agreement and I sat down for 10 minutes and drank tea with them. It was lovely. I asked them questions about their family and jewelry and they of course asked if I was married. It was a completely normal exchange and never once did they try to sell me anything. It was as if they weren’t ‘on the clock’ yet and I was a guest, not a dollar bill. The whole interaction felt like the most special moment I had in Petra, because it was genuine.

I continued to watch the sun rise over the hilltops and start to shine into Petra like a spotlight announcing the big show. The curtain was close to opening; so it was my time to leave.

Petra Monastery...ready for opening night

My substitute for Gelato

What is the first thing you think of when planning a trip to Italy?

Ruins, scooters, Italian men boldly wearing red pants, wine, Tuscan hill towns, medieval towns, plump Italian mothers, wine…

If you are anything like me, your first thought is that delicious, carbohydrate filled food.

I’ve been to Italy many times and have even taken cooking and language classes there; however on this recent trip to Italy I had a unique opportunity to travel as a local and begin to understand the non-touristy side of Italy. Thanks to the hospitality of my friend Vera and her family, I was able to get a special look into the culture of Italy – and of course to focus on the food.

I arrived during the holiday season and was treated to cultural food and traditions I had never experienced before in Italy.

The traditional Christmas and New Year dish is not pasta…it’s lentils. Cottechino or Zampone is a hearty lentil dish served with cooked salami (normally the whole pig leg for a visual treat). It’s a hearty winter dish that will warm you up inside. But most importantly the lentils represent your good monetary luck in the new year; so don’t be afraid to eat a lot of lentils…your pocketbook will thank you.

Oodles of Choices

On the sweeter side, if you go to Italy during the holidays you’ll most definitely get to try their special holiday cakes – Panettone. A light bread soufflé-like creation that has fruit and nuts in it. Think fruit cake but light as air. In addition to Panettone the bakeries are filled with all kinds of special holiday confections which are impossible to pass up. In fact, while visiting Italy in winter I didn’t have gelato once, but I made my fair share of stops at patisseries that were calling me to ‘come in and warm up with a little sweet’.

A fluffy fruit cake

A non-food related New Year’s tradition I was also exposed to was the expectation to dress up for the big count down to the new year. I was totally surprised when a very casual dinner in with friends all of a sudden came to a halt when all of the Italians stopped cooking for a moment to go change into their ‘dressy’ clothes. We weren’t going anywhere, we had all seen each other in our casual clothes, but everyone insisted on getting dressed up before dinner was served. I of course was the only one that didn’t know about this tradition, so I looked like a rather sloppy American in my jeans and sweater! Regardless the lasagna and company were great.

In addition to traditions, I was exposed to Italian food etiquette too. Luckily my friends put up with my many questions in order to put together this list of etiquette rules. If you know these food etiquette rules you’ll start to fit in as if you were an Italian; ok that may be a bit much, but at least you won’t stick out as a tourist as much. Throw around a Ciao and Gazzie mille and you will be even more convincing.

Only in the PM

• Only order cappuccino in the morning before noon.
• After noon, you order espresso.
• Order espresso after your meal.
• Go to a ‘bar’ and drink your espresso standing up at the bar. After all – espresso means fast…this is not a lingering drink. Get in and get out.
• Expect to be served multiple wines for each course (main and desert) and sometimes an apertivo if you are eating at someone’s home.
• Don’t use your spoon when you eat spaghetti/noodles. Only kids and tourists use their spoon. (I must admit – I was guilty of this and was quickly corrected…and laughed at). Simply use your plate to twist the noodles on your fork.
• Don’t eat pizza with your hands. Plus, don’t be surprised when your pizza is served with a fork and knife as it never comes pre-cut. You eat pizza like you’d eat a steak. Cut off pieces one bite at a time and slowly enjoy this crispy treat.
• Eat your pasta first and then your salad second. Never put these two things on the same plate…an Italian sin. Each course is separate and gets it’s own plate/dish and it’s opposite of what you’d expect. Lasagna is served in a shallow bowl, and salad is served on a dinner plate.
• Don’t expect a choice of dressing on your salad. A salad comes dressed with olive oil and salt…simpler and tastier than you might think!

This trip to Italy was like no other for me, I was exposed to customs I wasn’t aware of from my previous trips. More importantly, I was able to constantly ask questions to my friends about cultural what and why. This was better than any tour or independent travel could ever be! If you ever have the chance to go to your friend’s home country, take it; no doubt you’ll have the best travel experience.

What food tips do you have to share from Italy?

My old office, where the career break plotting began

Travel back in time with me…
May 2006 I was starting to plan my traveling career break. I was a novice. I had never traveled for longer than a 2 week vacation, I had never stayed in a hostel, and I had never backpacked. I didn’t have any role models who had done something similar. But I sat in my office and had a dream…a big dream. I dreamed of traveling around the world for a year.

When I sat down in front of my computer in May of 2006, I had no idea how to go about turning that dream into a reality.

I started to search furiously on Google. I honestly didn’t even know what terms I should use to search for learning about how to do extended travel. I tried a few things and found nothing that could really help me. I found some sites that sold tours, and were focused on the UK gap year market, but there was virtually nothing for the US. The only thing I found was BootsnAll and I quickly soaked up every last bit of information on their travel forums.

Fast forward to present day. If I went out to Google and did those exact same searches from 2006 I would be bombarded with relevant results now. I wouldn’t know where to even start. I find it hard and time consuming to sort through all of the information, personal stories, online products, and blogs.

I am constantly amazed at how fast things changed in the world of online travel and how many people are now doing extended travel.

For these two reasons, too little and too much, is how the Career Break Boot Camp was born. Like Goldilocks…we were looking for extended travel and career break information that was “just right”.

For those people who are looking for a “just right” fit, then you’ll want to check out this new online learning course which takes people through the process of planning and preparing for career break travels.

The 8 week course will lead you through weekly lessons, each of which will have a defined objective and touch on such key concepts for travel preparation such as finding inspiration, overcoming mental hurdles, saving & budgeting, alternatives to traditional tourism, owning your journey, essential to-do list items for the road, home, & career, and preparing for re-entry.

Plus – you get the added benefit of something I never had back in 2006…travel peers you are going through the same triumphs and hurdles you are going through in your travel planning. A travel community to bond with and lean on; this in fact may be the biggest benefit of the course.

Why am I writing about this today…well, it’s because I wish I would’ve had this class and community when I was preparing for my journey. In fact I so badly wanted something like this that I, along with my Boot Camp partners, decided to create it.

If the idea of a career break or extended travel is at all enticing to you, then click on over to Meet Plan Go! and find out more information on our Career Break Boot Camp. There you can learn about the curriculum, the instructors (me!), and the community.

We have opened up the Boot Camp for registrations and the space is limited – so reserve your spot today; and then get ready to hop on the plane. 2011 can be the year you stopped following the masses, and started following YOUR dreams.

Oh yes, and one more thing – the first 20 people who sign up will receive a $100 gift certificate from Unconventional Guides!

If you have any questions about the course, feel free to leave comments and I’m happy to answer them.
Hope to see you in Boot Camp!

Shopping Stampede

I used to love shopping, it was my therapy to spend a lazy Saturday shopping in New York City filling up my closets; however, these days I don’t do a lot of ‘therapy’ shopping any longer. I just get what I need and can fit into my suitcase, which generally isn’t much. But it’s hard to ignore the marketing mania of the Holiday season. So if you can’t beat them…join them.

I’ve tried to put together a list of unique holiday ideas for the travelers in your life. If you know someone planning a big trip, then consider getting them something they’ll really use instead of something that will gather dust in the far reaches of the closet.

I evaluated these on 3 traits that are very important to me:

Budget – Do you have to drop a lot of $$
Weight – is it going to take up weight/space in your suitcase
Travelability (yes, I know it’s not a word) – Will it actually help you travel

Each trait gets rated with between 1 and 5
Budget 1 = cheap 5 = splurge
Weight 1 = like a feather 5 = gives you a backache
Travelability 1 = won’t help you travel 5 = will aid greatly in your travels

Career Break Travel T-shirt from Hostel Dog

Budget 3 | Weight 2 | Travelability 1
Career Breaks are in fashion, so you might as well join the trend and show it off! Hostel Dog has created this creative new t-shirt to show off career break travel pride. “I prefer real views to screen savers” sums up what all travelers-at-heart truly feel. The shirt is cleverly designed and comes in mens and womens styles.
Product Details: Career Break T-shirt

Matador U Photography Class

Budget 5 | Weight 1 | Travelability 4
Many people ask me how I learned photography. I simply took some classes before I left on my travels and then had lots of practice! Everyone wants to take photos on their trip, but few people really know how to use their camera. Why not invest in photography lessons for the traveler on your list? Check out this 12 week online program that covers travel photography skills, equipment, building an Internet presence, and expanding your network of colleagues and markets. This gift doesn’t weigh an ounce and you’ll use it all the time on your travels!
Product Details: Matador U Online Travel Photography Class

Art of Non-Conformity Book

Budget 2 | Weight 2 | Travelability 2
The Art of Non-Conformity message is simple -‘you don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to’. Therefore you can see why I like it! The book goes into more detail on how you can go about setting your own path, your own rules, and find your purpose in your career and life. It covers the idea that career and life don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Sure – that’s easy to say; we all strive to spend our time doing things we love, but something stops us from doing that; normally it’s the expectations of others and our own desire to conform. This book is a motivator and I loved it. It helps you crash through the barriers before you, and connects you with another way of living a balanced life. Yes, it’s a bit self-helpy – but I find it inspiring. It’s cheap, light and it might just provide the necessary inspiration to help you travel. You can read my full review of the book here.
Product Details: Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau

Career Break Boot Camp

Budget 5 | Weight 1 | Travelability 5
The Meet Plan Go! Career Break Boot Camp an 8-week course and seminar series specially designed by certified Travel Coach Tara Russell and career break travel gurus Michaela Potter and Sherry Ott (yes…me!). Each weekly lesson has a defined objective and covers key concepts for travel preparation such as finding inspiration, overcoming mental hurdles, saving & budgeting, alternatives to traditional tourism, owning your journey, essential to-do list items for the road, home & career, and preparing for re-entry. Sign-ups for 2011 classes begin on December 8th. Yes it’s a bit of a splurge, but a drop in the bucket compared to the time you’ll save getting access to valuable resources which help you plan your trip. Plus – the gift lasts a lifetime!
Product Details:  Career Break Boot Camp Online Course

CAMENAE Travel Clutch

Budget 4 | Weight 2 | Travelability 4
The CAMENAE Travel Clutch is a stylish, durable carry-on for your TSA approved liquids. It’s hard to keep up with all of the security regulations; however, you’ll at least look good as you stand in line with your CAMENAE Travel Clutch, while others around you are holding their zip lock bags. The clutch was designed to FAA/TSA flight carry-on security regulations – so you no longer have to use zip lock bags! It’s easy to clean and use on every trip. It’s light and you’ll use it constantly as you travel.
Product Details: CAMENAE Travel Clutch

The Joy of Less Book

Budget 2 | Weight 2 | Travelability 1
Francine Jay writes about living simply with less stuff. She believes that “being a minimalist isn’t only about white walls and empty spaces.; it’s about eliminating the distractions that keep us from fully appreciating life. The less stuff we have cluttering our homes (and the less “to-do’s” cluttering our time), the more energy we can devote to the things that are truly important to us. I just finished this book and loved it. It’s perfect for anyone wanting to downsize and overwhelmed with how to start. For those ready to partake on a long term trip, this is a great way to help people get through each room of their house and downsize their possessions in order to fund travel or to simply make it easier to store when they are gone.
Product Details: The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life

Career Break Secrets Travel Video Guides

Budget 3 | Weight 1 | Travelability 5
A video travel guide specifically designed for career breakers and those taking a long term travel adventure, you can download the episodes of this program to your computer and mobile device to watch and re-watch before and during your trip. Each country guide contains information on how to give back and volunteer, how to pick up a new skill, and cool ways to see the country. The guides will help make your trip count and will really connect you to the country you’re going to. It’s reasonably priced, weighs nothing, and will definitely help you travel!
Product Details: Career Break Secrets Video Travel Guide

Air Miles

Budget 4 | Weight 1 | Travelability 5
Most frequent flier programs allow you to purchase miles as a gift for someone, or simply share/transfer miles to a specific person. Fees do apply, but it’s a unique way to help a traveler get from cubicle to Mt. Kilimanjaro. Every little bit helps! Each airline is different so go directly to their site and learn more. Miles don’t weigh a thing and will definitely help you travel!
Product Details: Here are a few lins to major frequent flier programs, however I suggest that you look yours up and see what the rules are
American Airlines Purchasing/Gifting Miles
United Airlines Purchasing/Gifting Miles

If you are looking for unique gifts for people based on a location, then you gotta check out these cool location based gift guides at BootsnAll.  They have lists for Italy, Spain, Thailand, Paris, Australia, and more!

Happy Shopping and Happy Holidays!

It's hard to ignore...

People always ask me if I’m scared to travel alone; my answer is “Not normally.” Sure there have been some crazy taxi rides and I always get a bit nervous when I arrive in a country late at night for the first time; however, overall I’ve never felt like I was in life threatening danger. Some of that might be luck, but I also believe some of it is skill. As a solo traveler, I’ve adapted my personality to avoid dangerous situations and scams.

Basically this means that I trust no one.

This lack of trust in human kind also means that I have to harden my personality in order to pull it off. Kids tugging at my shirt in India – I ignore. Aggressive shop keepers – I don’t even make eye contact. Someone comes to me to ask for something, and I generally don’t help. A nice man offers to buy me a drink – I kindly refuse. It takes a lot to get through the barrier I put up; and for good reason – my safety and sometimes for my sanity.

Yes – this sounds a bit harsh, but I think at times it’s necessary to have to dig deep and find your inner bitch when you travel. Some days that’s easier for me than others. As a traveler (solo or not) you are a target for all kinds of begging, petty theft, and scams. I’ve been exposed to my share of all of these. People simply want your money; some will just take it, and some will try to outsmart you.

In fact, while I was in Europe this summer I was reminded of how many scams a person can easily fall into. While in Paris I had someone try to pull the “Did you drop this gold ring?” scam. I answered the woman no, and started to engage in conversation with her – and then my inner scam alert went off and I simply walked away. She followed me for a short while and then gave up when I finally crossed the street.

There are hundreds of these types of scams – but how do you avoid them?

Educate yourself.  Read the guidebooks/websites before you go.

When I was in Italy a few years ago with a friend we were exposed to an elaborate scam. As we were walking to the Baths of Caracala, we had our map out and were trying to figure out how to get to the entrance – when all of a sudden a guy pulls up in a car all frantic telling us he’s from France here on business and he’s frantic because he needs gas and his credit card isn’t working here for some reason. Before we know it he’s asking us what size clothes we wear and asking us for gas money – he wants to barter with us. He obviously didn’t know he was dealing with long term travelers; we trust no one. My friend took one look at his gold bracelet he was wearing and said – “I think you can buy your own gas”. Later that night I was reading my guide book and came across this scam warning:

Your walking down the street and a man in a car with a map on the front seat pulls up next to you and says he is lost. He will say he works for Armani or Gucci. He will ask if you can help him with gas money and will trade you one of the sample leather jackets he has in his car for the small priced of 20 or 50 Euro. The Leather jacket turns out to be an extremely cheap, smelly PVC jacket not worth 2Euro

I probably should have read this before I toured around. But luckily we had our guard up anyway.

Tourists abound at Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Location, Location, Location

Scams grow like weeds around big tourist sites. It’s as if a fisherman is going to a stocked pond to fish – places like the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, or the Roman Coliseum are easy pickings. If strangers are coming up to ask you for help around these areas – put your guard up.

On the other hand, if I’m walking down a side-street in Paris and someone comes to ask for help – I’m probably more apt to trust them than if I were standing taking pictures of the Louvre. However even if you are not near tourist sites – keep in mind that it’s important to try NOT to look like a tourist – try to fit in if possible.

Don’t act like you do at home.

You don’t have to be nice to everyone asking for help. Repeat after me, “I am not a bad person if I ignore someone.”

I know, I know – ignoring people is hard and not in our natural make-up. But that’s what scam artists are counting on…the kindness of people. Most elaborate scams happen when someone thrusts themselves on you and asks for help. It doesn’t matter how well they are dressed or what kind of car they drive, you don’t have to help.

You don’t have to make eye contact, or even say thank you or hello. I give you permission to forget about all of your manners when you travel. Maybe this is the extreme, but I see more people get sucked into scams or begging by simply trying to be kind and acknowledge the scammer because it’s our natural instinct.

Some people may think this is too extreme. They feel being cordial and interacting with people is all part of the travel experience; if you aren’t cordial with people, then why get out and travel in the first place. However for me, I enjoy travel a lot more when my passport is in my possession, and I’m not spending time talking to the police.

Too good to be true

When something seems to good to be true…it normally is.

Finally – remind yourself of this…money doesn’t grow from trees and strangers don’t just give you gold rings or Armani jackets.

If you are looking for more information on this subject – here’s a pretty good article from Travel & Leisure about some of the top scams people encounter while traveling

In the meantime – stay on guard while traveling! And please share some of the travel scams you’ve been exposed to below!

Lovely Sunset over the Gobi Desert

I’m happy to announce – I’m in love!  My heart is all a flutter, I’m wearing a permanant grin, and when I see the pictures – I can hardly contain myself!

I’m in love with my wide angle lens!

I used to travel with two lenses a portrait lens 17 to 55mm and a telephoto 75 to 300mm – I thought that was all I needed.  And then I went to Mongolia.  I decided in order to capture the vast landscapes of the Gobi Desert – I wanted to get a real wide angle lens.  So I purchased a 10 to 22mm and took it to Mongolia to shoot landscapes.  I’d only limit my use of the lens to shoot wide open spaces.

Gobi Desert

Sure – I liked it – but I wasn’t necessarily in love with it…yet.

However over the last year I’ve gotten to know this lens better, and it has grown on me.  I realized I went into my initial relationship with my wide angle lens with all the wrong intentions.  I was narrow minded – I thought it was only best used on landscapes – big, wide-open spaces.  Granted, it is good for those types of shots…

Puma, Nepal

Grand Canyon

But then this summer I realized just how versitile the lens could be.   It has now become my favorite travel photography lens.  A wide angle lens can give massive impact to your photography.  It creates distortions and lines that my telephoto lens would never be able to do!  One of my favorite things to photograph with my wide angle is clouds.  In fact, I will now stop if I see good clouds, just so that I can get a photo – regardless of what the landscape is!  The clouds seem to zoom through the picture with the wide angle bringing the whole thing alive and the viewer feels like they are in the photo.

Gobi Desert Storm

Netherlands

Notre Dame

The lens isn’t just for the outdoors, it can also be used in cramped, confined, small spaces to take in a whole view.  This is perfect for rooms like this one in Amsterdam.

Museum Wall

Speaking of cramped space, it’s also perfect for city streets.  Very few cameras can get a complete shot of the buildings of New York City while standing on a street corner – that’s where the wide angle comes in.

NYSE Wall Street

Empire State Building

Leuven Belgium

It also has some fun distortion effects.  Whatever object, or part of the object, is closer to the lens will appear larger than the rest of the image; sort of providing a 3D effect.    I love to compose shots with the wide angle lens for this effect.

Brooklyn Bridge

Snow Canyon Utah

Louvre Paris

My photography tutor in Laos taught me that when photographing people – it’s better to shoot wide so that you can capture how the subject is relating to the space around them.  Sure, I still like tight people shots, but I do get so much more from travel photography where I can see the person and there surroundings.

Luang Prabang

Have you fell in love with the wide angle lens yet?  I thought so…

Better go make your holiday shopping list now!

Speaking of the holiday, I’d like to remind people that my photography is for sale – just click on any of these images to see how to purchase them, or simply browse through more photos from that gallery!

Buddy, Deirdre, and Orange

Why did I go to Brussels this summer?

Was it the beer, chocolate, frites or waffles? No. Was it the history? No. The architecture? No.
It was for those 3 furballs above…

Briefcase to Backpack just covered how to travel with pets…but I was actually traveling to take care of pets. As you would expect, I don’t really need much enticing to get on a plane.

I had never met these cats before – nor the owners, but thanks to a simple Ottsworld post about How to Housesit Around the World – I landed in Belgium this summer. The world is changing, no longer do we require a face to face experience to consider someone a friend or even trustworthy. In this new world of virtual relationships strange things can happen. A simple comment on a post can lead to a plane ticket and an amazing summer of travel!

This comment started a much lengthier exchange of emails between Alison and me culminating in me stepping off the train to Allison’s warm in-person welcome. Alison, a travel blogger and photographer herself, wasn’t what I expected…she was nicer than I imagined! She lead me through the Central train station to the Brussels metro and into her home. Luckily I was able to spend a day with Alison and Andrew before they left. I feverishly took notes on site-seeing tips, restaurants locations, grocery stores, garbage days, market schedules, and of course got my cat/house-sitting instructions.

Strangely I was having so much fun with Alison and Andrew, I was actually sad to see them go. But they had a plane to catch and I had kitties to take care of; not to mention a lot of exploring I needed to do.

So – what do you do if you have a month in Brussels?

Transportation

The Galleries

First – figure out transportation and learn how to use the metro – it’s easy and cheap. However the one thing that always amazed me about the metro in Brussels is that it was based on an honor system. You filled your ticket up with money, and then validated it every time you got on the train; however there were no gates or ways to require you to validate it…it was up to you to be honest. If an official came and asked for your validated ticket and you didn’t have it validated, then of course there was a fine. But in the month I was there and riding the metro daily – I never once saw an ‘official’ checking tickets.

Of course walking is also a great option as it’s a rather small city to walk around. But, be careful where you step. For some reason I’ll never understand, people don’t pick up their dog doo….why people???!!!! However, I did notice that thanks to the land mines of dog doo on the sidewalk, it created a whole set of jobs for street cleaners (guys who wear heavy duty vacuums on their back and sucked up all the garbage and doo on the sidewalks!)

Tourists spots

I’m not a big fan of heavily touristed areas, but some times you have to wade through the sea of tourists to see a spot. I recommend seeing the Grand Place (the mecca of tourism for Brussels), but go in the early morning and it’s practically empty. I was there by 8AM on a Saturday and had the place to myself. The Grand Place is worth a stop, and at night they even have a light show on the town hall if you like that sort of thing. While I was in Brussels, I was lucky enough to catch the aromatic flower carpet event. Once every two years in August they transform the Grand Place into a work of flower art. That was definitely worth braving the crowds!

The Colorful Flower Carpet

In the name of heavily touristed spots, I would also recommend a stop at the Grand Sablon, the epicenter for chocolate shops, as well as the Galleries. The Queens and Kings Galleries are domed, vaulted arcades, which were built in 1847 as the world’s first covered shopping gallery.

Museums

The home of Smurfs

Brussels has MANY museums, and no, I didn’t go to all of them. I visited the musical instrument museum which was quite unique as you walked around the museum with headphones and when you came close to an instrument display you’d begin to hear the that instrument in your headphones. It wasn’t without some technical difficulties at times, but I liked the idea. Even if you have something against musical instruments, you should still stop by the building as it’s one of the best examples of Art Nouveau architecture in the city.

My friend who grew up in Brussels was intent on taking me to the Comic Strip Museum. I have to admit, I was kinda luke-warm on the idea – I really don’t read comics. However once we went and she started to show me around, her enthusiasm for the history of it was infectious. All of a sudden I became interested in how important comics were in Belgium and how the country seemed to be the epicenter of comic art. Then I learned the most surprising thing – the Smurfs came from Belgium…who knew?! We actually ran out of time at this museum it was so good!

Live like a Local

This is my favorite type of exploring in Brussels…in the local neighborhoods, churches, squares, and markets. I absolutely loved the Sunday Midi Market and went every weekend I was in town. Every neighborhood has a weekly market – so it’s worth it to figure out the schedule as you can always find fresh produce, cheese, meat, clothing, and my personal favorite – yummy Turkish Delight candies.

One of my favorite ways to wander was with the ‘Use It’ Map I used it until it about fell apart! It was a nicely illustrated map that identified sites by ‘tourist’ sites and ‘local secrets’. This is how I was able to really get past all of the tourist hype and find the real neighborhoods – not to mention the Best Frites in Brussels.

The parks were somewhat small, but there were many. It didn’t take me long to figure out a running route to Cinquantenaire Park near the EU buildings. I really liked the area and all of the statues and well kept buildings – they provided great distraction from thinking about running!

Running Routes

I was also lucky enough to meet locals and they took me all over the city showing off their favorite places with pride! The architecture alone was enough to keep one busy for weeks in Brussels!

The Rest of Belgium

Even though it’s quite a small country – it’s impossible to see it all in one month. However one of my favorite excursions was to Leuven – a small college town with a real authentic feel. Not to mention one of the most ornate Town Halls I saw.

The perfect storm...Knokke

Brugge is also on the list for many people yet it wasn’t my favorite place at all. I much preferred the drive a friend and I did out to the Flanders coast to the beach town of Knokke. The drive was a great way to see the countryside, but the beach itself was a surprise too. Granted – we were there on a particularly gloomy day, but you could see what it would be like if the weather were nicer….packed with people no doubt.

Short Escapes

Yes, this is suppose to be about Belgium, but remember, thanks to fast trains you can easily hop to Amsterdam or Paris for a day or weekend get away.

My eternal love goes to this machine...

Even with a month, I ran out of time to do everything I wanted to do in Belgium. I like to have balance in activities and relaxing; therefore some places like Hasselt, Dinant, and Antwerp will have to wait until next time.

I know there will be a next time as I have to get back and see those furry kitties, their wonderfully fun owners, and this great Nespresso coffee machine which became my Holy Grail for a month.

Check out Alison’s take on our house-sitting ‘union’ – Meeting Virtual Friends in the Flesh! Also – stop by and see her amazing Forgotten Postcard Art she sells – a great way to ‘see’ Belgium!

If you or someone you know is looking for a house-sitter, please let me know…I will travel for pets and some travel adventure!

A comfy couch! That's all I need.

I live my life very deliberately – and I have very few regrets. In fact, my regrets are the usual…I wish I would have kept up my violin skills, I wish I would have learned how to ski at a young age, and I really regret I didn’t learn a language in college. But now I have one more to my small list…I regret I never tried couch surfing until this summer.

The usual reaction from friends and family was, “You’re going to do what?” “Do you know these people?” “How do you know it’s safe?” Couch surfing stirs up some valid concerns in people, but I decided I needed to finally give it a test run after 4 years of somewhat traditional travel and living nomadically. By signing up for couch surfing, I was going to stay with complete strangers while in Europe this summer. These weren’t my normal complete strangers that I often meet and talk to (aka internet/twitter friends), nor were they friends of friends – they were strangers; strangers with a couch, an open mind, and a love of travel.

For those of you who have never heard of couch surfing – it’s been around since 1999 and it’s here to stay; it’s now the world’s largest ‘hospitality exchange’ network with over 2.2 million members in 237 countries and territories. This isn’t a fad. It’s the ultimate travel community; encouraging people who love to travel to interact in various ways. This can be simply meeting for a coffee, walking around a city together or welcoming strangers into your home for a few nights.

The Facts

It was my friend Lisa Lubin who was my tipping point to couch surfing finally. There are a myriad of articles that have been written on how couch surfing works, so I’m not going to re-write a fact based article – but to learn more on the ‘how’ here’s some great resources:
The couch surfing facts
How it works
How to be a good guest

Instead I want to talk about my specific experience of staying with 4 different strangers who I know call friends in the Netherlands and France.

Meet My Hosts

Before arriving in the Netherlands – I had organized 2 homes to surf in through the online network; a single man and a couple. I wish I could say that I chose them very carefully from a journalistic research point of view – but quite honestly, they were the two people who accepted my couch surfing request!

Graham and I

My first host in Amsterdam was a Canadian expat who had lived in Amsterdam for over 15 yrs. Graham was a veteran couch surfer; having played both roles as host and surfer. When I arrived at his apartment, he showed me his space, we sat and talked for a bit and then went out for an evening walk together around the city. He explained the layout of the city, pointed out buildings, things to do, explained how the transportation worked, and then we went to dinner together. That night I only had one thought -

Why did I wait 4 years to try Couch Surfing?

I quickly learned anyone with good manners and social skills can be a good couch surfer. Yes, you are getting a free place to stay, however that doesn’t mean that your host’s apartment is a hotel and they are the concierge. Since I have spent time house sitting, I simply approached it the same way I do when I stay in someone’s home for house sitting. The key is to give back more than you get.

Graham was the perfect introduction to couch surfing. I stayed on his super comfortable couch for 4 nights and he completely opened his home to me providing me a key, a large bag of maps and guides, and access to the internet! We talked endlessly about travels, cultures, photography, our families, the Netherlands, and expat living. Every time I had a simple question about where something was or how to get there, he helped me.

He accompanied me to the Aalsmeer Flower auction, on a bike ride to see windmills, and on a canal boat ride. I’d like to believe that I actually showed him things and places he didn’t know about in Amsterdam; but maybe I’m that’s a bit much to assume! My favorite times with Graham were the dinners. He made me dinner one night, and the next night I made an Asian feast for both of us; it’s about give and take. You are a guest, and you need to be a grateful guest. Considering I have no home – trust me, I’m totally grateful when someone opens up their home to me!

Akshay and Payal at the cheese shop

Next I moved on to a new home in Amsterdam for 4 more nights; the home of Akshay and Payal an expat couple from India who were somewhat new to Amsterdam. This time I didn’t have a couch, I had a whole room to myself! The first night we must have stayed up until 1AM talking and drinking beer. Payal cooked up an Indian feast including homemade roti…yum! I hadn’t had homemade roti since I volunteered in Delhi years ago. I had just met this couple but we immediately clicked. We talked endlessly about India and I had a hard time remembering where I was – India or the Netherlands; as these cultures collided in my head like bumper cars!

As we talked about our cultures and travels, I realized that one of the big benefits for hosts is they can sort of travel the world without leaving their home. By opening their lives to travelers from around the world they learn about cultures from around the world. So far, my experience with CSing hosts was they were thirsty for travel. Akshay and Payal went out exploring with me one day and in true adventurous traveling fashion I even convinced Payal to have her first raw oyster at the farmers market!

That evening it was my turn to cook. Since Indian cooking doesn’t really require an oven Payal wanted to learn how to use her new European oven. I decided to cook an American classic – my mother’s chicken casserole. We went grocery shopping together and I showed Payal how to make Midwestern American food; a processed food nightmare including canned cream of mushroom soup and Velveeta cheese. I felt a bit guilty for propagating unhealthy American food…but she said she wanted to learn it! Sharing cultural foods and stories with Akshay and Payal were a highlight for me.

Next I moved on to unplanned couch surfing for a few short stays. I stayed with a gay couple Rotterdam who opened up their amazing flat with two pudgy adorable cats. Daniel was Dutch and Oliver was Lebanese. This was perfect because I had yet to stay with someone actually from the Netherlands and I was looking forward to meeting Oliver since I was planning to be in Lebanon this winter. Daniel and Oliver treated me like a family member…cooking up a multiple course feast! They also helped me with all of my transportation for the next day when I wanted to go out and photograph the Kinderdijk windmills.

Audry and Eros

My final CSing experience was in Paris. I wanted to go to Paris to do photography so decided that I was having such good luck with CSing, I might as well continue down that path.  Audrey and her cat Eros took me into their apartment for my very quick trip to Paris. I learned that Audrey not only used hosting as a great way to ‘travel’ without going anywhere, but she also used it to keep her English language skills up to date. Another great benefit for the hosts!

I was lucky enough to experience 4 very different environments from large to small flats, men, women, couples, expats, natives – but the one thing they all had in common was their generosity and interest in the world and other cultures.

I look back on my previous travels and wonder why I never tried this before; I feel silly for waiting so long. No more regrets – couch surfing will be a part of my travels moving forward. And if I ever do own a couch again – I will be thrilled to host travelers from around the world!

The benefits to couch surfing are numerous for the surfer AND the host. Here are the benefits that I discovered:

Steep, narrow stairs...

Doing Good – Let’s face it, the sharing of cultures and love of travel creates a better world
Social outlet – for a solo traveler like myself, CSing allowed me to go out and explore on my own, but have people to come ‘home’ to and talk about what you did that day which is one of the things I often miss when traveling solo. You can share your experiences with someone!
Insider information – every host armed me with guide books, maps, and sometimes even bikes or public transportation cards. I really had no need to buy any guide books before arriving in a new location.
Local Knowledge – I learned things about Amsterdam I never would have learned if I had stayed in a hotel or a hostel – like how steep the stairways are in an average Amsterdam apartment!
Lifetime Friendships – everyone of the hosts I stayed with are now friends of mine on Facebook and I converse with them regularly in the hope to see them again some day!
Saving Time – I saved oodles of time by simply being able to ask my host questions about how to get around or ideas on what to see/do. Transportation can be tricky and time consuming…but in my situation my hosts were able to provide me the information I needed to easily get around.
Saving Money – yes, you save money…but that really shouldn’t be your motivation for why you want to couch surf else you are missing the point.

The couch surfing motto is “Participate in creating a better world one couch at a time.”
Based on my experience, I think they are achieving it.

Thanks to my awesome hosts – Graham, Akshay, Payal, Daniel, Oliver, and Audrey!

It’s projects like this that give me faith in us as a global human race. It reinforces to me that even though we all come from different backgrounds, religions, families, cultures, and experiences – we CAN all get along.

Have you ever couch surfed? What benefits have you realized from surfing? If you have a couch would you consider opening your home to surfers?

Travel with excessive photo gear!

This week a friend and I are actually traveling on a ‘hi-speed’ roadtrip through the National Parks of the Southwest. We are stopping at major photography sites such as Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Hoover Dam, and Antelope Canyon to name a few. My friend is a photography enthusiast so as you can guess our rental car is full of photography gear!

Doing a simple one week road trip with camera gear is pretty easy compared to how I normally travel (remote countries on a tight budget). When traveling by rental car, I always have a place to lock away my equipment, I don’t have to carry it all with me and only take what I need at a particular site.

A couple of months ago I had a question from a reader of Ottsworld about how I travel with my photography gear. It was a great question and I’m guessing more of you out there may want to know the answer – so in honor of my National Parks photography road trip, I thought I’d feature it in Q&A this week!

Q: From Jason
I’m a newcomer to the career break world, I’ve wanted to do this for many years, but it wasn’t until now that it became a real possibility. I’m very excited about it. Like you, I have a passion for photography. I plan on taking advantage of the opportunity to enjoy this photo hobby of mine as much as possible, of course.

My question is: how do you transport your photo gear? I know you use a backpack for all else; but do you typically carry a separate day-pack/bag for your camera and lenses / tripod / whatever?

Basically, I’d hate the chance of being forced to check in my photo gear on a flight! But at the same time, I’m thinking it may be difficult to move around with a big back, plus another smaller backpack with photo gear.

A:
As for transporting my gear – my gear consists of my DSLR, 3 lenses, cards, battery recharger, sometimes a flash, sometimes filters, and a point and shoot camera that does video. Plus my macbook, iphone, and a card reader and backup 500 G drive.
I NEVER check any of this stuff- I always carry it on – I’m way too paranoid!

Carrying everything and still a hand free for a cup of coffee

I have a couple of different methods depending on how long I’m traveling for. On an around the world trip for a year – I have a rolling suitcase for my clothes, a daypack for my laptop/books/etc, and my camera case that I sling across my chest. That way I can carry everything. I always carry-on the backpack and the camera case on the plane.

My backpack (daypack) is AWESOME – great for the techie gear – It’s a Brenthaven Expandable Trek Laptop Backpack

It actually will fit my laptop plus my camera and lenses (in their cases) if I want – it still has room for a couple of books and other small travel stuff though.  When I do fill it up and carry it on, it is most certainly over weight restrictions – but I’ve never been asked to weight it!

My camera case is very simple – like this one – Tamrac 515 Compact Zoom Pack (Black) Then I simply hang my lenses (or flash or filters) off the sides of this holster and remove then when I don’t want to take them with me. I love this holster concept and just add the pieces you want to the sides – it’s perfect for me when I don’t want to take everything, but at the same time it can easily accommodate a camera and 2 lenses off the sides.

No airline has ever stopped me for taking a backpack and the camera case as a carry on – not sure why – but it has worked for 4 years!

How do other people out there carry their photo equipment?

Camera Gear

Getting the shot at Horseshoe bend this week!

To view the shot of Horseshoe bend that I was risking my life for…check out my Photo of the Week!

Please send more questions that you want to ask me about my travels or living abroad – I’m always happy to answer them!

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?