We were talking about blogs over at the Tri-Dub (my favorite online forum hangout), and my friend Heather mentioned she wanted to hear more about my traveling, which is a HUGE part of my life (though not right this second) but I don't talk about it very much. I started wondering WHY I don't talk about it that much, and I came up with a few reasons:
1) I read about travel a lot. And I meet a lot of travelers when I'm traveling. Because of this, I assume everyone has the same experiences and mine aren't that special. But I guess it's like a doctor who only goes to the bar across the street from the hospital assuming that everyone everywhere is a doctor too, right? So just because I think I'm run-of-the-mill doesn't mean everyone else does too! Just trust me that there are WAY cooler travelers out there.
2) There is so, so, SO much to tell about that it's overwhelming to even think about it. To circumvent this, I think I'll just start randomly posting stories with only as much background info as you need. If I tried to sit here and "write about travel", I would end up going all the way back to 2004, when I read an article about orphanages in Thailand in
Mothering magazine leading all the way through to the other day at the library, when I thought I was over it but I walked past the travel books and got weak in the knees, and then my head would explode and I would spend an hour looking at LOLcats and not post anything.
3) I tell the stories a lot in real life, so I feel like typing them out is redundant. But YOU'VE never heard them, have you?
So, let's start with one of Heather's questions:
"I'd REALLY love to hear how you decide to go somewhere."
There are many ways I choose a place. Some, like Oregon, are because I have a friend that lives there and she says it's cool, and she's cool so I trust her ;), and it turns out to be AMAZING! This is Cannon Beach, about and hour from Portland. Portland is the coolest city on the planet, but you already know that, right?
I choose some because it's common knowledge that they are amazing -- like Fiji. Fiji is heaven on earth. Everyone should go to Fiji at least once in their life.
(Note: I took these photos with my point and shoot camera and before I knew about editing... I like them better than ones I take now with my DSLR! Maybe I need to go back to those days LOL)
And then there are the places that are serendipitous... places I never would have thought of going, but end up there for one reason or another. When I arrive there, I know it's exactly where I need to be.
Like Laos. It's that beige shooting-star-looking country that's not even labeled.
(picture from Google Image Search)
It's a tiny country between Vietnam and Thailand, not the sort of place that tops vacation lists, but it's amazing.
The story of how I got there is a great one! It deserves its own post, after I tell you about Dan... or maybe to start out me telling you about Dan, but to do that I have to find my favorite picture of him on my external hard drive that I somehow deleted from my computer in an attempt to export.... it's complicated. I don't know.
Anyway, I will make that my next job!