The Iceland volcano grounded air travel in Europe last week; it was a frustrating week for travelers. I know their pain because I too am grounded…here in the US. I’m waiting to travel. It’s hard for me to stay grounded and be patient waiting to travel; I have trouble taking my own advice -> Have a Little Patience.  However there is a good reason why I’m waiting. I’m waiting because I’m working on a project that will help others travel. I feel like a martyr after writing that last sentence; willing to sacrifice for other wanna-be travelers!

I’ve been in the US now for 5 months, which is about 2 months longer than I would have liked to stay – but a new project is keeping me here. My start-up venture, Briefcase to Backpack, has partnered with Three Month Visa Coaching & Consulting to hold a national conversation about long term travel. This whole idea was sparked by the upcoming realease of the movie Eat, Pray, Love (first a best-selling book). A very popular travel book that follows a mid career woman through travels around the world as she resolves her mid-life crisis. It’s not my favorite book, but I love it for the interest it creates in long term travel.

As the movie hits the theatres in August, it will hopefully spark interest in long term travel and hence that’s how our Meet, Plan, Go! event was born.

Meet, Plan, Go! events will be held with travel experts in major cities across the country on September 14th. Each event will be designed to help participants get inspired to follow their travel dreams as well as connecting them with useful resources and contacts that will make planning that trip of a lifetime that much easier.

I get letters every week from people who read this website or Briefcase to Backpack saying, “I wish I could travel like you do.” This breaks my heart because I know that in reality most people CAN travel like I do, but they are being held back by our own society and way of thinking about work, vacations, and time off. We put so many road blocks in our way, it’s hard to accomplish anything!

It’s great to interact with people on the web and via social media – however the opportunity to have a live ‘real person’ travel discussion is another avenue which we can use to inspire people to travel and help them realize the benefits of career breaks! We can’t do it alone, so we are enlisting the help of well known travel bloggers and experienced career breakers throughout the country to facilitate these events in their home cities.

You can read all about the national Meet, Plan, Go! event being held on September 14th at our Meet, Plan, Go! website. In addition, consider joining our Meet, Plan, Go! Facebook Fan page or our newsletter signup so that you can get the latest updates on new Meet, Plan, Go! locations and sponsors.

As much as the world is calling to me to get out and see it, I’ve decided that getting more career breakers out into the world is more important.

So mark you calendar for September 14th and attend a Meet, Plan, Go! event in your city. Or consider becoming a host, a sponsor, or simply tell others about it. By doing any of these things, it will make ‘staying grounded’ worth it for me and you will be a part of a cultural shift in how we look at travel in America!