Updating the List

"We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment." - Hilaire Belloc


I had great intentions of posting my travel experiences as soon as I returned stateside but everything seemed to get in the way: job, life and sleep. So it'll be slow going but eventually I'll hit on everything I did in PARIS!


But first, let's update the list:

1. Visit the world's only pub inside a tree (South Africa)
2. Giolitti - one of the oldest, family owned gelaterias in Rome (Italy)
3. 'Fly' through the rainforest (Costa Rica)
4. Stay in the Ice Hotel (Norway)
5. Stay on a working Dude Ranch (USA)
6. Go on an African Safari (Kenya)
7. Visit the Outback (Australia)
8. Hike the Cinque Terre (Italy)
9. Go dogsledding (Sweden)
10. Ice skate in Rockefeller Center (USA)
11. Walk the Great Wall (China)
12. Eat Sushi (Japan)
13. Deliver postcards from the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
14. Ski the Swiss Alps (Switzerland)
15. Christmas at the Biltmore (USA)
16. Camp at the Darvaza Gas Crater (Turkmenistan)
17. Visit the other Georgia (Georgia)
18. Drink wine in Bordeaux (France)
19. Dive off the Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
20. Watch the Changing of the Guards (England)
21. See the Running of the Bulls (Spain)
22. Sail the Strait of Gilbraltar (Spain/Morocco)
23. Ride a Camel (Egypt)
24. Ride the Orient Express (Eastern Europe)
25. Celebrate Oktoberfest (Germany)
26. Celebrate Carnival (Brazil)
27. See elephants paint (Thailand)
28. Tour the sewers (France)
29. Learn Spanish (Spain)
30. Walk Abbey Road (England)
31. Hike Brooks Range (USA)
32. Celebrate Easter in St. Peter's (Italy)
33. Ride the Mowcow to St. Petersburg wide gauge railroad (Russia)
34. See the Gigantic Carved Heads of Easter Island (Polyunesia)
35. Play blackjack in Monte Carlo (Monaco)
36. Float down the Amazon (South America)
37. Celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Dublin (Ireland)
38. Trek through Karakoram (Western Europe/Eastern Asia)
39. Snowmobile (Finland)
40. Sit on the lawn at Wimbledon (England)
41. Walk the fabled Bund in Shanghai (China)
42. Cooking Classes in Paris (France)
43. Shop the market at Ougadougou (Burkina Faso)
44. Watch the sun set over Machu Picchu (Peru)
45. Take surfing lessons (Australia)
46. Take the chunnel from London to Paris (England)
47. East street food in Bangkok (Thailand)
48. Ride the train down the Malaysian pennisula from Bangleole to Kuala Lumpur (Asia)
49. Journey along the Silk Road (China)
50. See the Acropolis of Athens in the moonlight (Greece)
51. Tour the ruins of the "rose-red city" (Jordan)
52. Ride the Chihuahua-Pacifico Railroad (Mexico)
53. Swim with the dolphins (New Zealand)
54. Spend Bastille Day in Paris (France)
55. See Stonehenge (England)
56. Attend a Venice Biennale Art Exhibit (Italy)
57. Fish for wild trout (Scotland)
58. Shop the yearly sale at Harrod's department sale (England)
59. Sail into the harbor of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
60. Stand at the Wailing Wall (Jerusalem)
61. Visit Peace City in Hiroshima (Japan)
62. Visit the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (Russia)
63. See the Royal Jewels (England)
64. Walk Milford Track (New Zealand)
65. See the Sydney Opera House (Australia)
66. Taste vintage port (Portugal)
67. See Angel Falls (Venezuala)
68. Snorkel Bora Bora (Polynesia)
69. Walk the Hall of Mirrors (Paris)
70. Climb the Harbor Bridge (Australia)
71. Tour the Kremlin (Russia)
72. See the Viking ruins & runes (Greenland)
73. Watch the sunset from Capitoline Hill (Italy)
74. Visit the Valley of the Kings (Egypt)
75. Ride through the Panama Cannal (Panama)
76. See the remains of the Berlin Wall (Germany)
77. See the Rosetta Stone (England)
78. Stan among the Tulips (Holland)
79. See the fountains of Vill d'Este (Italy)
80. Ride the double-decker buses around London (England)
81. Hike the Grand Canyon (USA)
82. Visit Lake Baikal (Russia)
83. Visit the Turtle Sanctuary (Seychelle-Africa)
84. See the David (Italy)
85. Tour Jane Austen's country (England)
86. See the Flamingos at the Lake Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania)
87. Float the Sepik River (Papua New Guinea)
88. See the Hieroglyphic Stairway in Copan (Honduras)
89. See foot on the Ho Chi Minh Trail (Vietnam)
90. Drive on the Autobahn (Germany)
91. See the Danube (Czech Republic)
92. See the great Sphinx (Egypt)
93. Visit the Blue Mosque (Turkey)
94. See the Paelolithic art in the Caves of Altamira (Spain)
95. Eat Limburger cheese in Limburg (Belgium)
96. Stand on the grounds of the first Olympics (Greece)
97. Tour the Baja (Mexico)
98. Take a class at Oxrford (England)
99. Stand at the beaches of Normandy (France)
100. Drink a Manhattan in Manhattan (USA)
101. Swim with the whale sharks on Isla Holbox (Mexico)
102. Experience Vaughan Town (Spain)

*Completed items in Italics*

So I added 2 more items while simultaneously checking 2 off the list. I've got a feeling that's the way it'll go for awhile since there is so much I want to do in this world and I keep discovering more places to go, see, and experience. Such is life!

After being in Paris, submersed in the language and feeling so lost, I'm wanting to add a language immersion program so I'm researching those and I'll add that to the list eventually.

31

"Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up our enthusiasm wrinkles the soul." - Samuel Ullman

My 31st birthday was spent in the Big Apple. I arrived mid-morning by plane, took the subway to Midtown to my friend's large office building and then spent the afternoon wondering around with my camera. My first moments in a large city now that I'm a country mouse again are overwhelming... my senses are on overload, there are so many sounds, sights, and actions coming at me from so many directions I'm overwhelmed with it all.

The endless possibilities, the freedoms of expression, the crazy combinations of skin/hair/eye colors with everyone looking different and the same all at once. Contrasted with my black and white small town full of familiar faces, the anonymity of the city is both comforting and challenging to me.

It's so easy to image the possibilities of life in NYC because they play out before you on the streets where so many have walked before. Searching for purpose, living their dreams, hoping to achieve and be a part of something greater than a solitary life. It inspires and intimidates me as the contrast is too much with my everyday life and little town.

My day was nice as I had time to wander, wonder and get lost while receiving texts and messages of birthday wishes... feeling loved all day is a great. Hopefully, I'll find a way to capture and recall those feelings when needed after a terrible, rotten, no good, awful day. I started out on 2nd Avenue, wondered up 42th Street to Bryant Park, walked through the Public Library, took 5th to Central Park - pausing with tourists and churches along the way. And enjoyed the hustle bustle of the city. I took pictures of things and places rather than my desired choice of people - some of them are ok and I've played around with some editing to enhance or create the desired look. I didn't take a huge amount of images on this trip which limits my options and results - I just was so much more into being in the moment rather than preserving it. I need to work on finding a way to accomplish both.

Turning 31 isn't a major milestone so I think I'm just having some hangover emotions from 30, questions and frustrations and challenges which seem ever present. Achievements, Education, Goals, Relationships and/or the lack thereof were ever present on my mind through out my trip and return. I've told several people close in my life I feel like I've lost my enthusiasm for life - never one to mourn the past, I've always looked forward to next best thing. Yet now, I feel there is no such thing for me. I have no direction, passion or drive for something to motivate me forward, to propel me into a confident and fulfilling life, and I hate it. I'm jealous of those with drive and passion, envious of those with light steps and happy hearts, and hiding my feelings behind a very thin veil of anger.

This is a very different post than I imagined writing while taking these pictures and I know I'll regret allowing those emotions to overwhelm my first trip to Europe. But it is where I am in my life and those emotions/struggles/frustrations don't take a vacation, unfortunately. While I definitely had those moments of "I am in PARIS!" with a silly grin on my face, I spent a lot of time wondering about my future, contemplating my choices and options for the future. And I still have no answers.

Along The Way

"I love short trips to New York; to me it is the finest three-day town on earth" - James Cameron

While I've mainly been focusing on my trip to PARIS! (yes, I'm still doing that), I have forgotten to mention my brief 24 hour stay in NYC along the way. My travel companion is my childhood BFF Jennie, who I've traveled enough with to know she won't kill me for being my crazy and ridiculous self along this adventure. And who will probably not speak to me for 6 months after having to spend 8 days straight with me but won't stop loving me so all will be ok. (Seriously, thought, it's going to be interesting because we haven't spent this much time together since middle school. Crazy, huh?).

I leave early, early, early Friday morning (gotta love the mile reward trip options on Delta) and get to NYC about 10:30am... according to Hopstop.com, it's going to take me a little over an hour to get to her office: taking the airtrain from JFK, then the E train, then hauling my suitcase up from the subway, then walking to her office building to drop my bags so I can go play tourist in The City while she works. It's not too far from Grand Central Station and Radio City Music Hall and just a little further from Central Park so who knows where I will end up. The last time I was in NYC for a bachelorette party, I arrived early on Friday before the festivities and just had fun walking around, feeling the urban vibe and people watching. I'm sure that's what I'll do this time too.

I love NYC - I don't know if I could live there but I've always said I'd try. In fact, for the first 13 years of my life, Jennie and I were moving there together after college graduation. She did and I moved out west. What can I say, I get distracted easily (ooh, mountains...). The last time she was down here, we talked about me moving to NYC. Which I could easily do... it's still on the life t0-do list.

It's the energy of the city, the pace, the constant motion - somethings always going on - that motivates me, encourages me to seek and do rather than sit and watch. Something I struggle with here since there always seems to be nothing going on in my sleepy, southern town. So I drink it up when I'm there. Should be great to walk around the city, with my camera and check it all out... never know what I might come back with. Last year it was this great image from the Macy's flower show.

Jennie lives in Brooklyn so I know I'm in for some great pizza Friday night... and checking out her new neighborhood since she just moved. What else, I don't know. We shall see.

300th Post

"Babies are my inspiration and my joy. In them, I see innocence and the precious possibilities of each life unfolding." - Anne Geddes

Side note: WOW... can you believe it's my 300th post? I haven't been keeping track and as I hit the button for a 'new post', I saw that I had published 299 posts. Hence, my next one would be number 300. Amazing since this isn't my main focus or job. I definitely go through stages with time, interest and having something to say. Right now, I'm fired up about my trip to PARIS! so I'm babbling about that and the sites I want to see and the food and wine I can't wait to try.

But today's post is different. Today, I finally watched the movie "Precious" (based on the book "Push") and made famous by the combined talent and efforts of Monique, Oprah, Tyler Perry, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Lee Daniels, Paula Patton and introducing Gabourey Sidbie. The book had touched me but since I don't see that lifestyle everyday and haven't visited many places where those standards, behaviors, and actions are commonplace, I had a hard time picturing happening as I read the book. But watching the movie made it real. If I had seen it in the theater, the scenes and the sounds would have been overwhelming. Such raw pain and power in the intimate scenes, the emotions and the daily abuse of the characters.

I live such a privileged life. My troubles are petty and superficial compared to others in this world... And I, just like so many others, deserve a swift kick in the ass when I start to feel sorry for myself. The world is my oyster in all ways that matter: family, future, career, et al. I guess I could complain about my love life but I'm a firm believer in the theory we all have the love life we want. So whatever's lacking there is my responsibility. Sometimes I need a reminder of how fortunate I am... and this movie reminded me.

It also reminded me that this is the reality of others... when I judge the choices and lifestyles of others. I started with so many advantages, with so many safety nets and was shown only one direction to go. At first, I didn't realize others didn't have the home life I did, now I know but it's still so foreign to me, I can't imagine living with those circumstances, obstacles, and challenges in my life. I struggle with too many options and being able to do whatever I want... Others struggle with making any options for themselves. I need to remember, to give back more, and to be more thankful for my life.

Precious was a reminder - Go see it and remind yourself of what's good in your life. Of all that you should be thankful for in your life. It will remind you...

In Less than Two Weeks...

"If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of troubles." - Elbert Hubbard



I can't wait for my facebook status to be "Je suis a Paris!" Less than two weeks for me to be in the City of Light... walking the streets that inspired the lives of Hemingway, Picasso, Child, Dali, Stavinsky, and so many more. I have lists of places to see and the planning is overwhelming... I have only SEVEN DAYS in a city with museums that can take months to see everything. It's a little much and I'm so concerned I'm not going to be able to see it all.

Reality Check: I will NOT be able to see it all. This I know for sure. So I've got to quit freaking out about what I'm going to miss and enjoy my time there. And while I don't plan to sleep, I also plan to return, to see it all again and experience Paris (with the rest of France) at a slower pace. So this trip will be about some of the must sees: Effiel Tower, Versailles, Mona Lisa, etc. And the food... Have I mentioned how excited I am to eat the food? I've gone on a Paris diet... not going out with friends to save money for eating in Paris... why should I eat a processed hamburger when I'll be able to eat Parisan cuisine!?!? And the wine? My taste buds start to do a happy dance in my mouth when I think about it. I have decided, if the opportunity presents itself, I will try escargot... It just seems appropriate, don't you think?

Following my desire to be more adventurous and experience more of life, trying this delicacy in a new country for the first time seems like a step in the right direction. So we'll see. It's not a goal but an opportunity. Haven't added it to the bucket list yet but am looking to include it on this trip.

Speaking of the List, what's there that I need to make sure I cover on this trip?

#29 Tour the Sewers

#70 Walk the Hall of Mirrors

and possibily...

#43 Cooking Classes in Paris

although, when I wrote that, I was thinking more along the lines of a 6 week intensive class, not an afternoon session but I won't turn my nose up at that either.

I've just finished "My Life in France" by Julia Child - she mentions attending afternoon lectures at Le Cordon Bleu open to the public for a small fee. I wonder if they are still a part of the school? If so, I'll definitely want to drop in... again, not good enough for a check on the list but still an experience not to be missed.

Ooh la la... Lookie here. (This is why I love the interwebs... an idea pops into my head and I can research it right away).

Culinary Demonstrations DAILY in Paris. With TASTINGS. I am in heaven. Also, options to tour the Parisian markets (something Julia did often in her training) to see how to properly pick produce, then followed by a cooking demonstration. Or a food & wine course, how to pair with foods, tastings included. I may stay at Le Cordon Bleu the whole time. Oh dear, Jennie may hate me by the end of the trip because of my obsession with Julia and cooking and Paris and food but I'm about to pop with excitement! ("French people eat French food every day!" - Julia Child).

And so I dream, 11 days to go...

Catching Up

"Enthusiasm is excitemen with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity" - Bo Bennett

I've been a little overwhelmed lately and when I got my new computer, I didn't immediately transfer my favorite sites so I've been a little behind on my reading. But here who is keeping me entertained and inspired these days. It's where I go when I need to feel less alone, rejuvenated, and renewed with enthusiasm for a different life.

Some are new, focused on travel or photography, and some are old favorites. Check them out, enjoy and be inspired.

Jennsylvania - ya'll know I love this lady and her crazy antics. Her stories are right up my alley - I can't read her at work because she makes me laugh out loud. And I will be attending her book signing in Atlanta this May after I missed it the last time. A mistake not to be made again. I might even bring her cupcakes.

Chookooloonks - my peaceful site... her pictures are beautiful, her words are thoughtful, and she gives me warm fuzzies. And inspires me to evolve and flow as life continues to come at me. I found her through the beloved Shutter Sisters, all of whom make me feel less alone.

betweenbird - one of my long time friends, a photographer with a great eye. Love her in person, love her work, and love her longtime. Enjoy her work.

Camels & Chocolate - Always on the move, this girl travels the world with style and looks like so much fun! I lost a good work day to her site, completely enthralled with her adventures and enthusiasm for life. I follow her on twitter and invited her to hang out anytime she's around my neck of the woods. If you've got the travel bug, she'll give you itchy feet with one post.

Nomadic Matt - the lone male in the group, this MBA has figured out how to work on the road. He'a making it work, has great advice and introduced me to the idea of seeing the sewers of Paris (which I am soooo excited about). Really thinking about how to make his lifestyle work for me.

Dooce - the queen of all bloggers, she's always on the list... especially when she's writes great posts about The First Lady, I'll forget to visit and then I'm drawn back in for all of her crazy antics.

More is Better - always leaving me in stitches, this one is always (and I mean always) up to something. Most recent posts: fire dancing, sex dolls, and yelling at school children.... I wish I was 8 years younger and living in San Francisco. I'd so want to be her friend just so I'd laugh each day.

Nomadic Chick - she shares my dream of a RTW trip, only her's has been made possible by a layoff in her corporate world. Very excited for her and can't wait to see what happens along the way, motivating me to make it happen for myself.

There you are, 8 of my favorite sites. They make me laugh (and cry), inspire me, encourage me, and make me feel less alone in this crazy world. When I can't sleep, it's reassuring to know they are there.

A New Window

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brillantly disguised as impossible situations." - Charles R. Swindoll

My life took a crazy turn last week... And I still haven't reacted... I'm frozen like a deer in headlights, suprised by the unexpected.

Last December, a job posting on a website I visit regularly caught my attention and I applied for a position. As my frequent readers know, I wrestle with my current job and wonder if I'm choosing the "right" path or just the "easiest" path. I look for less physical containment and constant obligation than my family's business requires and I don't enjoy the management of people and their daily drama to consider (and yes, it's always daily when you have as large of a staff as we do - it's more than daily, it's more like hourly). So, anyways, this job posting caught my eye. I applied. I received a questionaire. I complete it and emailed back. I never heard another word.

Until last Wednesday. Almost six months later. To schedule a phone interview. For Friday. So I thought, why not, I should always explore opportunities and keep my options open. Two and half hours later on the phone, I had a verbal job offer. Yesterday I received the formal offer by email. And now, I'm not certain what to do...

The job is

• A different industry and I would definitely entertain a change
• "Virtual" meaning I could do my job anywhere, anytime, anyway equaling a newfound freedom for me
• Commission based meaning hard work is rewarded (and rewarded well)
• Established & Defined - someone else is making the decisions and I just have to do my job
• Reputable - a young company on it's way up with tons of growth ahead and mass appeal

I'm purposely being vague and I apologize for the lack of detail but I'm uncertain of any policies and I would hate to get in trouble before I even accept the job.

And, as before, leaving my family business is hard. It would be even harder to do so without a physical move which I'm not looking to do at this time. Taking this job would allow me that option since I know I'd like to live other places at some point in the future. What's frustrating is when I applied for this job, I was in a completely different place concerning my life, my job, and my desire level to stay with my status quo. Now, things have changed and evolved, wheels are in motion and I can see progress.

It's a "have my cake and eat it too" moment because I want to try this new option and keep my finger in the pie of my current job. Sometimes, life is just ridiculously complicated. Or in this case, a seemingly impossible situation.