Consume & Update on a Saturday?!

Normally I publish my community outreach on Sundays, but as tomorrow is a holiday, I thought I would switch it up a bit...just this week.

That "Rascal," Kim Jong Il, and His Antics

Far from simply a rascal, North Korea's dictator is one paranoid character, with due cause, and has recently been noted for traveling with ridiculously extreme caution...and luxury.

Kim's train is equipped with conference rooms, an audience chamber and bedrooms, with a pair of Mercedes-Benzes on standby, not to mention satellite phone connections and flat-screen TVs so the leader can be briefed and issue orders.

His precautions make sense, I guess. He's not the coolest man on the planet. And even he knows it...

One tell-all memoir written by a former associate claims that Kim once even banned secretaries from wearing hairpins in his office, fearing they might be used to assassinate him.

Am I going to get one some red list for blogging about this article? Yikes. And speaking of North Korea, did you know American tourists are now allowed to travel on the guided tours just like non-American Westerners can. I sure didn't until earlier this week. Would you go given you were in the Asia area and had some free time? Comment below!

And You Thought YOU Were Generous...

Charles wrote a quality piece this week at Vagablogging about non-Western hospitality that pointed to our often short-lived hospitality at home. We're taught to shower "pleases" and "thank yous" at everyone we encounter or interact with, and paired with gratitude and proper body language, this is the upmost level of appreciation we can muster.

But what if your in a culture that doesn't accept your onslaught of gratitude and undeserving attitude?

What if they just want to give you the hook up without receiving sainthood-status in your eyes? I think many Americans are incredibly kind and hospitable, but is Charles right? Do we not know how to accept or deal with non-Western hospitable nature based on our own belief that hospitality is somewhat short-lived?

Don't Waste the Soap!

A fresh bar every time, a couple hand washes, and you're done with it. What happens to a bar of hotel soap once you've checked out. It usually joins its 2 million brothers in a landfill, but Clean The World has decided to change this around. Intelligent Travel fills us in on the lathery goodness.

Still a devastating threat to children in developing countries, diarrheal diseases cause some 1.6 million of the 1.8 million childhood deaths that occur each year, according to the World Health Organization. Suitable drinking water sources, regular hand washing habits, and proper hygiene practices can eliminate these entirely avoidable fatalities.

Can't Feel Blue Looking at This!

Thank you, Vagabondish, for this eye candy from Norway's coast.

Other Discoveries

This is quite a doosie of an article: The Absurdity of Spiritual Enlightenment

Found this interesting simply because I've been studying Mexico's interesting approach to Catholic veneration: Say a Little Prayer for...Death?

Check out Jenny's new interview with SoSauce. Who is Jenny? Well, she's my new boss, silly!

Update on Nomadderwhere

What on earth am I doing to you this week?!? Am I crazy?!?

Monday: The Nakavika Project Outtakes video Tuesday: Journeys of a Lifetime in May Wednesday: The Triple Importance of Cinco de Mayo Thursday: The First Hour of 2010 in the World Friday: Urgency and a Broken Hip Not to mention the Consume & Update on a Saturday?!?

I've been told it's much more thrilling to stay current with what I'm talking about, as opposed to the flashbacks to Fiji. And now that you know my big news for June, I've got to tell those Fiji stories mad fast, because while in Mexico you'll want to know what's going on in the moment!

My twitter is present day, my Youtube isn't far behind, but my blog for some reason is still experiencing New Year's 2010! Don't worry. The crazy schedule this month will make it all better.

As you can tell, I have many interests (personal travel narratives, reviews, inspiration, World Traveler Internship, ProjectExplorer, etc.), and I'll be writing about all these topics in the near future, hoping to find a balance and order with all of them, including their expression in multi-media form. If you have any ideas on how I can make my blog easier to follow, contact me!

1 Minute or Less Moments: This week on my Nomadderwhere Facebook Fan Page, I've published raw video clips of some fun moments with the kids and on the carrier with some of the boozing fellas.

Consume & Update: Stuff, Tsunamis, and 15 Days

I found some good reads this week! Take your laptop outside, enjoy the warming breeze, and read on, my friends, read on.

Writing Wherever

I seek location independence. I would love to be able to write and create multi-media work without a permanent anchor to my geography. Therefore, I look to those with the exact career I desire for the best advice tailored specifically for me. And though this interview about a location independent writer in Barbados didn't offer an incredible amount of sage advice, it introduced me to a few new sites that can do the trick.

Freelance Writing Jobs

The Writer's Bridge

Get Paid to Write Online

A Mission to See All Countries

I talk about this guy all the time. This week, Chris Guillebeau updates his following on the status of his mission to see every country in the world before his 35th birthday. With some quick trips here and there, he does tap into the reality of his limited exposure to the cultures he visits with this huge goal in mind. Chris relates this extreme desire to mountain climbing, justifying his goal as a triumph of the human body and spirit that connects him to the world in some sort of cosmic way.

Someone else asked if travel is “still fun” for me. This is another question that is hard to answer in a sound bite. Travel is fun, except when it’s not, and that’s perfectly fine. My theory is, if you think travel is supposed to be 100% fun all the time, I’m not sure how much you’ve actually traveled. Sometimes it’s not fun at all, and that’s OK. Most things that are worth doing aren’t always that easy, so you have to take the bitter with the sweet.

He's only got 65 countries to go in his next three years. I wonder if he'll make it...

Justice and Oil

While I was working on making a recent Nakavika Project video, I came across this animated video set to a Justice track. And judging by the comments under this one on Youtube, people had a lot to say about it. Can't deny the interesting animation style and editing (not to mention the great audio syncing). Just interested in what people think.

http://good.is/ If we're addicted to oil, our twelve-step program should begin with admitting that we have a problem. As the price of oil creeps higher, finding new energy sources is more important than ever. But the search for alternatives, combined with environmental disruptions, is putting new pressures on other essentials like food.

The Anti-Stuff Movement

Every time I come home from a trip (or get ready to leave for one), I go about purging my closet of anything that's been sitting in there unused for far too long. That means altogether, I've probably purged my closet at least eight times, each instance taking away a large box of crap at minimum. My closet still looks pleasantly plump with things, and I don't often go shopping. How do I still have so much stuff?

It's incredibly liberating to rid yourself of sentimental knick-knacks and clothes that remind you of a different decade, especially when I'm on the road and consider my backpack's contents as my only possessions. Even when back at home, I never need as much stuff as I own, and it ticks me off. They are barnacles on my butt, sand bags tied to my ankles; my stuff seemingly weighs me down.

Matt Madeiro was robbed, and instead of mourning the loss of his unused paraphernalia, he considered it a positive disconnection from the "culture of stuff" he was being sucked into.

Cathartic? Definitely. Time spent organizing the endless mess is now time spent living, a change so simple and wonderful that the next step fell in line almost immediately: stop buying. That sounds a little extreme, I’ll admit, but putting it in practice warrants just a few tweaks – think renting versus purchasing, borrowing versus owning, and so forth.

For those of us who prefer a solitary existence, is the accumulation of things similar to the accumulation of patches on a backpack, travel scars and photographs from far reaches and amazing adventures? Does this wall of books and picture frames at my parents house signify they've lived a fulfilling (and wordy) life so far? Do we all need to collect mementos from our past in order to remember what we've done on a daily basis? Is the "culture of stuff" a biproduct of our poor long-term memories?

What do you think about the "culture of stuff?"

Crusoe and a Wall of Water

Intelligent Travel posted an interesting story about Robinson Crusoe Island off the coast of Chile and the unfortunate blast it incurred from the recent earthquake and subsequent tsunami. To be short and sweet, I thought this post accentuated an interesting locale with a fantastical history, and the visual of the water wall impacting this beautiful South Pacific island was a vivid one.

Pedro Niada, Fabianna, and their two children were sound asleep, but a guest on the second-floor awoke and noticed water seeping through the floor. He looked out the window and thought he was seeing things: there was a fishing boat out the window, almost at eye level, and in the distance, a wall of water was racing toward shore. The guest woke the family and the five of them jumped into the boat, clinging to it with all their strength until the wave passed. Finally, they steered it to shore and raced up the hill just before two more giant waves hit.

Yikes.

Sporting Old Glory

Natalie Grant calls out to the American wanderers around the world: reclaim your flag.

In fact, Benjamin Franklin had a tasty little metaphor: “A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.” Our country’s reputation is easier to nibble at abroad, where there are fewer people to stick up for it.

Whether or not your office is an embassy abroad, you become an ambassador the moment you board an international flight. On the road, I find myself acting very differently than I normally would, because I often feel the pressure to represent young females, 20-somethings, backpackers, Americans, etc. worldwide. I read up on world news, especially that which is occurring inside my borders, before taking off on a trip, because I inevitably become a representative for the 308 million still at home.

I collect country flag patches and sew them on my big backpack. It's a traveler cliche, and I don't care. It actually bugs me when other people do it (rational, huh?), but I've found it's an incredible way to meet people. A woman on the train to Denmark commented on my Brazilian patch, and we soon got into a conversation about her mother land and the amazing hiking experiences I had in Bahia. An old WWII refuge in Ukraine started a conversation with me about my Malaysia patch and began posing questions that opened up a dialogue between myself and history.

And in 2008, I added the American flag to the mix, partially because I've technically traveled in said country and partially because I want to be a proud American backpacker. Other than by a drunken, homeless Parisian, I've never felt hostility for being an American, and I thought it'd be a good baby step toward becoming a better ambassador for a country I often misunderstand but continue to appreciate and love.

Other Discoveries

Getting the youth discount even if you're not so "youthful"

Our village in Fiji is getting a traditional make-over...no more modern hair styles

Sadly, kids aren't reading enough great travel literature these days

Update on Nomadderwhere

I am sick, sadly, but I'm still a productivity machine! I also got some great news this week - like huge, amazing news - that I'll be sharing in the coming month! It involves my future plans, and boy are they swell!

1 Minute or Less Moments: Last week, I announced the weekly posting of raw video files from Fiji onto my Nomadderwhere Facebook Fan page. This week, three new videos are ready for your viewing eyes. Click on the icon below to watch us farm with the kids, walk through the jungle, and sit at the Sunday dinner table with our host clan.

15 More Days: Though it's a normal day for most, I'm making it into a spectacle. My domain's "birthday" is coming in about two weeks, and I'm already knee-deep in plans to present a carnival of blogs for you, my beloved readers. Prepare yourself for a week of straight content that highlights the year's best stuff, a wide range of media, and a couple brand new ideas and series to Nomadderwhere.com. And if you're a fan of my Facebook page, don't worry; you'll receive a little reminder so you don't miss the good stuff.

Consume & Update: Greenland, Snobs and Facebook

Hey, readers! Looking for some good reading material this Sunday morning? I'll do the heavy lifting for you. Look below.

Quite a Title

The Truth About Happiness and Travel. Well, let's here it, Christine Garvin.

Reality is what we see, think, and believe. Our thoughts are what bring us happiness, and the anticipation of something good gets those endorphins going. Can we use this knowledge in order to build in more daily escapes to look forward to, even if that’s just walking through a different neighborhood in our town, or taking ten minutes for the ultimate mind-trip meditation?

Ah, so you're saying I should mix it up at home, give my mind the idea that I'm actually getting away from that which normally stresses me out - my normal life. But why shouldn't I just really pull the plug and get away?

...According to a recent study in the Applied Research in Quality of Life, it’s the vacation planning that makes us happiest, and not the actual vacation itself.

You lie! I can't believe that. But my travels have brought undeniable pleasure and beauty in my life!

...I think there is a distinction between the mindset of those who travel for longer periods of time vs. those who are taking a short vacation, due to the fact that long-term travelers usually know they’re in for some rough patches. That’s almost a part of the purpose.

Oh, I see. Well that makes sense. Week-long trips I've taken have always seemed far too short to really bring me happiness.

Still, when we can’t get away, whether that comes from a lack of funds, time, or dealing with life issues, it’s good to be reminded that mindset is the name of the game. We have the power to get away in the here and now.

Now I getcha, Christine. Why don't I do that?

Way to Go, Greenland!

Turner on Travel Writing

I really like Turner Wright's writing style and article topics, which is why it didn't come as shock to me when the new Vagabondish article I really enjoyed was written by non other than...that dude.

The travel writer's Catch-22: time spent writing on the road is time spent not gathering new content for more writing. Turner believes we should travel before we document, taking notes along the way to jog the memory later, but what about those of us who find incredible joy in the act of sitting and writing and doing something so fulfilling in a place that summons you like a drug?

Writing a good article makes me feel as though I've eaten. Of course I could always just...actually eat wherever I am at the time. But for some reason, I find working remotely, when I could be doing something else, somehow living out a romanticized version of a travel writer's lifestyle. I like the point he makes, especially the final irony that travel writing got us going in the first place; therefore, it must be written down/edited/published at some point. But maybe not while you still have the ability to add to your anthologies.

What Does Travel Teach Us?

(March 2, 2010) -- For episode 24, Robert Reid of Lonely Planet visits the New York Times Travel Show -- and other NYC sites during that travel week -- and asks a series of travel writers the most basic of travel questions: what we learn from it.

Taking Down Travel Snobbery

World Hum featured two writers recently that had me interested: Eric Weiner with his perspective on tourism as a subsidizer of otherwise forgotten traditions and Spud Hilton with his tips on the fine art of place-dropping.

Eric brings up an idea very few self-proclaimed "real travelers" would come to terms with: without our tourism money, these "authentic cultural displays" would go forgotten or unpolished for centuries. Is that true? And by the way, who are we kidding with the traveler vs. tourist argument?

The one-upmanship in the travel community is at times hilarious, at others annoyed-sigh-inducing, and Spud laid down a humorous piece about the traveler tendency to let it be known where one's feet have been. Do you place-drop in order to get some inquiries and envious gazes from friends and strangers on your globe-trottin' life? Tell me about it.

Other Discoveries

Cori Padget guestblogs on Problogger about engaging your readers, and she does it with such flare.

In order to increase my chances of writing ever making me money, I'm going to take all the advice I can get, including this Writer's Digest article by one of my favorites, Chris Guillebeau.

Update on Nomadderwhere

1 Minute or Less Moments: I've got gigs upon gigs of great material from our journey to Fiji that I couldn't find the right venue for publishing...until now. Would you like to see some raw footage of major, and minor, benchmarks in our experience? Witness our excitement as we landed in Nadi? Join us as we learn Fijian words? Just click the icon below to see these 1 minute or less moments and more, published exclusively on Nomadderwhere's Facebook Fan page. Since I won't be publishing these clips on Nomadderwhere.com, I suggest you become a fan of the fan page to receive subtle updates about new clips coming your way. New video clips will be published every Sunday!

Updated Pages This Week: I've been doing some updating on the following Nomadderwhere pages. Be sure to keep clicking around the site because I don't leave these static sits untouched for long... As well as...World of Mouth, Life List and more updates are to come!

22 more days: Though my blogging experience is in its toddler years, Nomadderwhere.com as a domain is an infant. Coming up in 22 days, NMW turns 1 year old, and with that big birthday will come some great new additions to the site. Stay tuned because one of those changes will possibly benefit you, the reader and commenter (cough cough).

Consume & Update: Blogtoons, Stress-Free and Flying Home

I'm back! And some of you will be pleased to know that Consume & Update is also back and temporarily on steroids! This edition will be bursting at the seams due to the hundreds of articles I missed while in Fiji that I just browsed all in one intense sitting. Grab a Red Bull for this one...

Good vs. Evil vs. Crazy

Brave New Traveler's editor Ian MacKenzie lets this cartoon open up the age-old conversation of humanity, while then linking it to a traveler's belief in people to do and be good.

We're Getting Soft

"Savvy traveling is all about the tentative and skilled balance between confidence and caution." Natalie Grant gives us something to think about in her article entitled "How to Defy the Definition of Dangerous." If we allow ourselves to be completely turned off a country for fear of a publicized threat, among many other great countries, America wouldn't see one tourist...and would probably lose some paranoid residents.

As someone who developed a somewhat fearful mentality of the world growing up, I feel a great deal of triumph every time I travel and overcome something that was seemingly tough and scary. Makes me feel like I'm putting my dull blade up to honing steel and becoming a "badass."

Sometimes it feels like self-induced stress, self-flagellation, or just plain unnecessary, but giving yourself the opportunity to realize most worries are unfounded is a liberating experience that allows the world to open up beyond your predetermined agenda.

This is why someone who has camped out in Burma might still fear walking alone at night in Brooklyn, or why someone can improvise à la 007 when his car breaks down in Egypt but can’t change a tire in Montana. This is why so many of us crave those hard-knock travel lessons like junkies: because that kind of traveling very easily shreds the definition of ‘dangerous’ into tiny pieces of arbitrary, amusing confetti.

Blogtooning

I've missed my daily readings from Problogger and how to improve upon my wobbly, self-taught skills. In this post, he uses Andertoons to explain why animating your post could be a nice way to freshen your blogs drink. Not sure if I'm interested in doing this, but I really like the idea and wanted to pass it on. Check out the post, fit with six cartoons illustrating his wise points.

Tips for Stress-Free Travel

Hey! What a title! Even if you're flying in Air Force One, getting rubbed down with coconut oil, and completely drunk, you're going to have some stress while on the road. However, Chris Guillebeau offers some good tips, some of which are fairly obvious and others that come with experience, perfect for applying to a budget backpacker's travel style. For instance:

Spend more money. I often get stressed out spending small amounts of money. Overall, this isn’t always bad—it’s led to a healthy paranoia about debt and a lifelong adherence to frugality. However, it has its downsides too, in that I can spend hours walking around trying to decide what to eat, or hours trying to figure out the public transit system somewhere instead of just flagging down a taxi.
It only took me about 100 countries—I’m a slow learner—but I finally created a $10 rule for myself that has been rocking my world. The $10 rule is that when I’m traveling, I deliberately avoid worrying about most things that cost $10 or less.

Tony's at the Keyboard

Before I left for Fiji, Anthony Bourdain hadn't updated his blog in months, sadly. I felt like one lucky little girl with a stuffed stocking when I saw many a posting from Tony in my reader. His writing style is so expressive of his personality and certainly has a modern storyteller, sarcastic tone to it. Check out three of his most recent tales, including one on Bill Murray's haphazard driving skills: Backstory, Working in a Coal Mine, Crystal Blue Persuasion.

Metropolis?

Who took film history in high school? Doesn't Shanghai here look like Fritz Lang got his hands on it? Lovely shot, Vagabondish.

Other Discoveries

30 Funny Travel Quotes to Make You Smile...including #22. “I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places”. – Henny Youngman

Just heard about this...lucid dreaming and dream control

In Defense of the Introverted Traveler. Something that makes me feel better for spending so much time writing instead of clubbing.

Problogger claims to have the Best Writing Advice. Ever.

Get a discount on the new AFAR magazine, thanks to Martha.

Update on Nomadderwhere

At this moment, I'm flying over the East coast in search of my home land: Indiana. Soon, I'll revert back to "home mode," where I work online for about 16 hours a day, babysit on occasion, and plan for the next big event. I may pick up a part-time gig involving singing, dancing, and oodles of smiling, but the primary focus of this period will be reworking The Nakavika Project and preparing for what could be my ideal work situation.

I'll be making a few changes on the site in the coming weeks, including a new series inspired by readers. More updates to come!

Consume & Update: Interesting Travel, 1 Question and Road Trip

Get ready to consume a whole lotta good stuff.

How Can I Resist This Title?

Vagabondish is a travelzine I keep my eye on and with good reason, as this week they posted How to Master the Art of Interesting Travel. I'm hooked! Amy Baker describes interesting travel in a way that makes sense, thanks to the crazy Brazilian teacher I met in 2007 who described the gut instinct reaction and identifying yourself with things or places:

You know when someone see’s a gift and exclaims “this has so and so’s name ALL over it”? Well, I believe that in order to truly enjoy your travels abroad, you should organize your itinerary and points of interest to have your name all over them. Planning a trip that caters specifically to your hobbies or curiosities is a rewarding, enjoyable and extraordinary adventure.

Sounds pretty obvious in hindsight, but I need these affirmations often. According to Amy's rules of thumb for this type of travel, here are my directions (what are yours?):

Figure out what you like to do at home: connect with friends, write, be outside and/or camp, get some physical exercise, musical concerts, read...

Get the scoop from those who know: I use twitter, the Thorn Tree Forum, travel narratives, and friends for location info, with a quick glance at the guide book necessities (no longer will I travel with a nose in a book).

Don't be afraid to try something new: Gotta bust out of my aversion to try weird foods and talk to more people. I have no idea why my timid nature is selective.

Savor it while you can: Traveling with fitting travel partners and drinking caffeine will definitely facilitate doing this more often than I do. Though I only coop up when sick, I know my most absorbent experiences come from connecting and savoring with fun travelers and lively locals.

Answer these questions for yourself, and savor this after dinner mint:

Mastering the art of special interest traveling may take time, but be sure to record and track what tools helped to make a trip very successful and what to avoid for the next time around. Traveling is about expanding new horizons while learning more about yourself, so absorb everything around you, stimulate your senses but most importantly do so while still holding onto you core self.

50 People, 1 Question

It's hard not to watch the whole thing.

I'm intrigued by these guys. Where would you like to wake up tomorrow? Comment below. I'd sure like to be in a small Fijian village called Nakavika.

National Novel Writing Month

It's not a novel I wish to write but a non-fiction travel narrative, and with the proclamation of next month's theme, I'm going to aim for 20,000 more words in my Big Journey Book (which is definitely not the title and is already hundreds of unedited pages), and the deadline is November 30th. Because I write with a desire to seclude myself, I often think there's no way I can accomplish a level of quality at home than I could obtain completely apart from society. Frankly, I make myself laugh with that excuse.

I'm mentioning this because if you're reading this blog, you're probably interested in travel yourself and may have your own ambitions of writing as well. Get on it, and let me know how you perform (that gets me motivated).

Tips from Problogger

I scan the work of Problogger.net every week with the same feeling of enrichment and necessity as I do brushing my teeth or getting some exercise. This week, I gave the post 5 Ways to Know if Your Blog is on the Right Track and felt a wee but present pat on the back. My comment and subscriber numbers have grown, but I also know what aspects of my blog I should closely follow to see some quantitative progress. After decades of schooling, I've found it a little difficult to reach that feeling of success with out this sort of verification of a job well done.

Other Discoveries

5 World's Most Dangerous Cities

5 Ways to Make Long Flights More Productive

Update on Nomadderwhere

Added to the Life List this week was a road trip across Mexico, conceived this year by reading On The Road and further solidified as a dream from my cruise two weeks ago. Even though my father immediately mentioned his concerns about the drug wars, I continue to bank on my [usually false] sense of confidence and security abroad. Hopefully, this can happen in the near future as I hate to let these ideas stew and gather dust in my brain.

Consume & Update: Bloggers on Happiness, Ambition, and Reason

I did a little reading this week, and this is what stuck from the lot. Click on the images to read the articles.

The key to happiness or maybe just a good stepping stone

Good Investments

I've only recently come to hear of Rolf Potts, and I look forward to reading his novel "Vagablogging" in the coming months. Here on his blog, fellow writer Scott Gilbertson discusses possible reasons for unhappiness as a result of putting your money to the wrong use: stuff for yourself, and not on experiences for yourself or the people around you. I've really tried to apply this philosophy to my life in the last three years, running from buying stuff and saving for memorable experiences...maybe not with the direct goal of happiness at the front of my mind but more for the "I know I'll be a better person for doing this" reason. I've never been Miss Moneybags and have been spending my own money for quite some time, but I've known I always had enough to do the things I wanted. It may also be that I've only chosen to desire the things that are within my reach. Travel the world? Who needs twenty years of savings! Buy some drinks for people I don't know? Bottoms up, strangers! And the times I've spent money on dresses or crap for the shelves have never been as fulfilling as the money spent on a chicken dinner and dance party for kids. I'm not trying to say I'm holier and happier than thou, but it's all we can do to make the sensible, compassionate steps toward being people we're proud of. And if we're proud of who we are, we're probably pretty happy.

Why its easy to be fat, stupid and untraveled

Shake Up Your Lazy Inertia

This the second Vagabondish article I've really liked from author Turner Wright. His piece entitled "Why it's easier to stay fat, stupid and untraveled" is pretty straightforward. It's too bad our priorities as a mass population reflect a desire to do very little and be happy with that. We never stay still when we eat, or rarely even cook with known, natural ingredients. If your trigger finger is strong and nimble, you can shoot down every online deal you spend hours on your butt searching for. I guess I fall into the sloth lifestyle upon coming home. I work online or read sixteen hours a day and drive to the gym when I need to move around. I rationalize it as time spent researching and building a foundation for those times when I'm running around the world with a mission and a desire to live out ambitions. Anyway, this is an interesting article and one I'd love to hear reflections on from fellow readers.

You're You Everywhere

Lea Woodward writes well and often about being unattached to a place and still making a living. It's called Location Independence. Look into it. Often it's easy to look at a purpose-driven life that's created from one's passions and think "That is the life!" Well, wherever you go, though, there you are. There you are doing the same things, and even though the initial thrills will please you and your travel objectives, we humans are habitual and get into routines, which often feel remarkably similar to those we once had at home...in that stable, stiffling, mundane environment. Wait a minute. Her article isn't to say creating your own lifestyle anywhere in the world is unnecessary because everything's the same everywhere, but it's a "reality check" to make sure you're not in a dream world. Travel and location independence for some is the holy grail, but romanticizing it too much will lead you astray from the realities.

Toxicity Kills the Journey

If I'm honest, I've felt very toxic for the last few months. The acid in my mind (figuratively speaking...) almost felt tangible at moments, and sometimes it takes all the energy you can muster to make those thoughts liquefy and disperse in the name of happiness. This blog from Brave New Traveler, a Matador magazine on the inner thoughts of a traveler, could have been very useful to me in preventing toxicity during my travels.

Update on Nomadderwhere

Since I've been home from the World Traveler Internship, I've begun work on my new website, researched potential projects, and connected with many people interested in my trajectory. My work week is something like 90 hours. I drink a lot of tea. It doesn't feel like work, which means it's the right path, and surprisingly I still don't feel like I have enough hours to progress as far as I'd like.

So what does all this mean for Nomadderwhere?

I'm learning how to write first and write well. Objectives = great subject matter, great blogs, potentially great book material
I've scheduled four different speaking engagements throughout the Northern Indiana area, some directed at photography passionates and professionals. I'm moving from online expression to that of the verbal kind.
The book on my solo RTW has begun its morphing process into a complete idea. It will take many years and many sessions in front of a blank screen...but that end result will come to be.
A new website will be ready and raring by September 23rd that includes more travel advice, suggestions for reading, technology and destination highlights, free city guides, and an even more exciting development for photography.
I have the incredible fortune of cheap travel in the near future, which gives me the perfect chance to create new work on places I've never been or really observed. October is the Mexican Riviera. November is Chicago, Illinois. Who knows if December will hold nothing or a fantastic travel opportunity with a favorite vagabond pal...

Wow. I Really Liked this Article.

Makes me feel so...legitimate.

Is the long-term traveler really nothing more than an immature child in others’ eyes? Not a curious soul seeking answers but rather an intellectual teenager, ignorant of the future and focusing only on the pleasure of the moment? I hope so, but not for the reasons you may think.

Turner hit it square on. Check out his entire post on Vagabondish.