The Economy is Falling Apart, Should I Travel?

on 9-19-2008 in Travel Advice, Travel Lifestyle

Economy, Inspiration, traveling, travel advice, economic downturnWhen my husband and I sold all our belongings and committed ourselves to traveling full-time, we were lucky.  It was 3 months ago, and while the economy wasn’t great, we didn’t have to make our decision against the backdrop of an uncertain financial future.  I just checked my retirement account (401K invested in mutual funds) and it has dropped 20%.  I’m not worried, because I’m confident  things will bounce back well before I need those funds and I’m invested for the long term.  But it is a little unsettling.  I had to wonder, if I was planning my trip now, would I still do it?  The short answer:  absolutely.  If you’re starting to get cold feet on your next trip, (whether RTW or two weeks abroad) here are some things to consider:

1.  You can’t control what will happen to you, even if you stay. You work 9-5, do a great job, and then get laid off.  Or no raise for a year.  Or added responsibilities to cut costs.  If it’s going to be rough, there isn’t a lot to be accomplished by skipping your travel plans and sticking around.

2.  This too shall pass. Remember 2001?  We were all high  on the dot com euphoria when suddenly you couldn’t get a job coming out of school with an MBA.  Things got better overtime, and this crisis will pass too.  Chances are you could return  to a better job outlook than when you left.

3.  Traveling is way more fun than hanging out in grad school. After the dot com crisis, everyone I know started polishing up their grad school applications, figuring that they could hide in academia until the economy turned around.  Now armed with thousands of dollars worth of debt, and bleak prospects for PhDs, I wonder if they would have been better off hiding out in Thailand instead.

4.  If you have planned financially for your trip, the market shouldn’t impact your decision to go. I’m making a big assumption here, that you have the cash in place or a plan to work on the road, but if that’s the case, whatever happens back home isn’t going to have much impact once you’re on the road.

5.  Traveling overseas is often cheaper than living at home. If you did get laid off, living in another country is cheaper alternative to the high cost of the US.

6.  You have a great excuse for gaps in your resume when you do come back. If the worse case scenario happens, then lots of people will have gaps in their resume as they try to find new jobs.  I remember when my husband and I were both laid off in 2001, we were unemployed for 8 months (freelancing on the side).  This was a non-issue when we tried to find work, as it was so common for folks in our age group to have similar experiences.  HR folks get sick of hearing about lay offs, so they just stop asking.

In some ways, this is the best time to travel. Has the economic crisis changed your plans?

America’s Fascination with Itself

on 9-19-2008 in Travel Advice, Travel Lifestyle

America, Patriotism, Online Travel

Since I’ve been home, I’ve been plunged head first into the maelstrom of news and coverage regarding the upcoming election and the economic crisis.  When I was overseas, I followed the election tangentially.  I read the coverage.  I talked to people about who they thought would win (most people in Spain said McCain and thought Obama was a “phony”).  I had a very hands off and distant relationship with the events.  It was nice.

Now that I’m home, I feel like I’m constantly bombarded with news.  Practically none of it’s useful.  Update:  no change.  Update on the Update:  McCain announces no change.  Breaking News:  Obama confirms there is no update.

Is there much difference between the frothing at the mouth coverage of presidential elections and the paparazzi that followed Britney Spears around for months?

What has changed most since being home, is the insular nature of the news.  I don’t hear about the rest of the world anymore.  I wonder what is happening with the Treaty of Lisbon or Georgia.  It’s strange to feel like the rest of the world has dropped away.  While we’re hyperventilating over Palin (either for or against), there is a whole wide world of things going on, that are likely more important than what kind of animal with lipstick she represents (or doesn’t).

When I was overseas, I heard from a lot of trash talking about Americans. We don’t travel. False:  we travel as much as Europeans, but when they take a three hour flight their not in Florida, they’re 2 countries away.  We are monolingual. True, but not fair, Europeans have access and exposure where we don’t.  We’re stupid. True, but so are you.  Dumbass 20 year olds from any country are still dumbasses.  Trust me, that accent doesn’t make you waking me up at 2 AM “charming”.  We’re fat. Yeah probably, but we’re more products of over processed foods than plain lazy.

Obviously, I will defend the US all day long.  I don’t think we’re a fraction as bad as our reputation.  We’re a big country, it’s complicated, and we’re not that different.

But I didn’t hear anyone say, “American’s don’t care about the rest of the world.”

I should have.  It’s a valid complaint.  In every country I visited, people knew who Obama and McCain were.  Do you know the leaders of European countries?  Italy?  Ireland?  The British Prime Minister? (No it’s not Tony Blair).

Sarah Palin doesn’t know, although I’m sure she’s studying up.  She didn’t know Kissinger’s stance on negotiating with Iran.  Do you?  Does it affect us?  Well, only if you think building a nuclear weapon is something we should watch.

This is just my observation after living abroad for a few months and being out of the loop.  I’m sure it’ll all feel “normal” soon enough, and I can go back to wondering what kind of cereal I should eat this morning.

Contest Update: The announcement for entering the contest will be going out this weekend, so stay tuned!  If you haven’t signed up for the RSS feed or Email, now’s the time.

The Brave New World of Twitter

on 9-19-2008 in Travel Advice, Travel Lifestyle

Twitter, travelling, technology, social mediaA quick story, adding to the general mythos of when social media works (or how).

You might have heard that a blogger got a writing gig last week from something she wrote on Twitter. The blogger was Pam from Nerd’s Eye View (great site, check it out) and she wrote:

“Freelance technical writing pays my bills. In between gigs, I submit stories to travel, culture and outdoors publications in hopes that one day, Conde Nast will call.”

And then they did. With a writing gig.

My own brush with twitter-luck came yesterday, when I got an email from the LA Times Travel Editor, referring to a tweet he had seen about my site–not even one I wrote. Later that morning, I got a pingback telling me that travel.LATimes.com wrote about my American Airlines Can Bite Me Contest.  All from a little tweet.

Perhaps these kind of connections are why more people are jumping on board. I came across this article today on TheHill.com where they claim:

“Even members of Congress have gotten into the act — not only do they maintain personal blogs, they are Twittering from the House floor to engage with their constituents.”

Even companies like Apple and Jet Blue are using it to expand their brand.

So if Big Business, Politicians, LA Times and Conde Nast (and more) are using twitter, does that mean it’s officially “arrived”? Will it become as pervasive as email? Or is this just another social device that will go the way of the Chat Room?

By the way, you can find me at twitter.com/almostfearless. And if you want to enter the contest, you have to be a subscriber first (so subscribe via RSS or Email).

Waking Up on a Different Continent

on 9-19-2008 in Travel Advice, Travel Lifestyle

It’s cold outside. I drank my morning coffee on the porch and watched the fog lift. The trees are already turning and I can’t hear people, cars or anything except the cackle of some crows. I’m definitely not in Madrid anymore.

We arrived in Vermont on Saturday, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I tried to think of a way to encapsulate the last three months, like some kind of mad lib. Madrid was (adjective). I like the (favorite noun) and the (another noun). If you go there you should try (active verb that ends in -ing).

Thankfully no one asked me to give my mad lib version of Madrid.

We’ve been staying in my sister-in-law’s house, and I have been working in their office during the day. The internet connection is so strong, I could weep. The coffee on the other hand, not so much. I’ve been permanently spoiled by European coffee and lesser varieties will forever be held in comparison. Don’t get me started on what passes for a baguette here.

The change between living in Madrid and now staying in Vermont, is like diving into cold water. It’s a shock to the system, even colder than you expected, but after a while you get used to it. We left a city for a small town. Europe for New England. Brown for Green. Hot for Chilly. I hadn’t planned on such a large change, but in a way I’m glad it worked out this way. It’s a clear defining line between chapters. There was Madrid, and now Vermont. There is no confusing the two. Soon there will be Mexico. (Maybe I’m creating my own seasons by country.)

I’ve already taken advantage of being back in the States. I bought my favorite shampoo and conditioner, after months of using generic Spanish brands. I did laundry and used a dryer– a real live dryer (which they don’t seem to have in Madrid). I watched American TV and even caught the premiere of Heroes. I didn’t actively miss these things, but I do enjoy them when available.

So it’s good to be back, it’s the perfect time of year in New England. I plan on diving into the “local” culture: apple picking, making pies and snuggling up with a hot cider. After a summer of traveling, even these creature comforts seem foreign.

7 Tips for Being Productive While Traveling

on 9-19-2008 in Travel Advice, Travel Lifestyle

This has been a struggle for me all summer.  You show up in Paris, and you can either sit down with your laptop or explore the Latin Quarter.  Guess who wins?  If you’re trying to balance travel and work (for me, writing) you might find it harder than you thought.  Pre-trip, I imagined cranking out thousands of words per day while sipping espresso in a cafe.  In reality, I found myself sitting on the floor in the hotel lobby, trying to squeeze out 500 words before catching my next flight.  It took me a while to come up with a system, but here are some of the tips for working on the fly.

1.  Know yourself. You don’t have time to be unproductive, so don’t try to force your work habits into someone else’s ideal.  For me, that means working late at night.  My husband, is a morning a person and in bed by midnight.  It’s not unusual for me to work until 3 in the morning, because this is my most productive time.  If you find yourself slogging through work and easily distracted, try cutting those hours out and focusing on the times when working comes easily.

2.  Use travel time for easy tasks. Part of my work as a writer is to read.  I read blogs, travel magazines, books on writing, travel memoirs, anything I can devour that will either a)  tune me into current travel trends or b) help my writing by exposing me to the good stuff.  I use those countless hours flying, driving, ferrying or just waiting when you travel to catch up on as much reading as possible.  I will even download articles to my laptop for reading when I’m offline.  If you’re just sitting there, chances are you can work on something (even if it’s writing to-do lists).

3.  Use your days between trips to catch up (or get ahead). I tried to schedule a few days or a week between trips, just so I could spend full days working.  After failing at this a few times, the incentive to not spending the next trip worrying about how far behind you are, is an amazing motivator to get serious on your days off.

4.  Give yourself a break. I didn’t write about it here, because I was too beat.  But in Croatia I was just worn out.  I couldn’t write my name of if you beat it out of me.  So I took 1 day off.  I sat in a cafe all day and did nothing people watch and read my book.  I went to bed early.  I so needed this break, but up until I crashed, I was pushing so hard that I was barely productive.  When you’re body needs rest, don’t fight it.  You’ll be twice as productive after a good day off, you won’t actually lose any traction.

5.  Cut out the things you can. I would love to spend more time promoting my work or commenting on the smart, funny or amazing things my colleagues write.  I will get back to it, but when you’re on the road, there simply isn’t time for everything.

6.  Create systems. Figure out ways to minimize your time doing any specific task.  Check email once a day, or keep a notebook with your for ideas, or track your tasks in a spreadsheet or only write while off-line (eliminates distractions).  Everyone has their own ways of working, but find those that work best for you and stick to them.

7.  Be organized. Nothing will waste time faster than trying to figure out what you’re supposed to do.  I keep my inbox clean of clutter, have specific folders for projects and even a naming convention for my photos.  It’s a pain to always put things where they belong, but a blessing when you don’t have spend 10 minutes searching your hard drive for that photo you took last week.

I still don’t have a perfect system– let’s face it, it’s hard!  What do you do to keep yourself on track while on the road?