When I started this blog, I started it while sitting in my wife's aunt's garage. At the time I didn't think of what I was doing as couch surfing but then it was brought to my attention, I'm not paying anything, I'm here temporarily and I'm living out of luggage. So technically we are no longer couch surfing virgins. Now for me this is the way to do it, if you ever decide to roam the world one stop at a time, a good way to find out if you can do it is by living out of a suitcase for a week or two while staying with a friend, relative or try to couch surf in your home country and visit places near you before you leave.
I always seem to learn my lessons "after the fact" but learning is a process and this one is mine! That is what this blog is about afterall, learning about what to do and what NOT to do with the latter being the one people will learn the most here. We aren't exactly living out of our luggage here because we do have a car to drive and more "stuff" with us then I would like but it's a process too right? You have to start somewhere and the perfect time and place is here and now no matter when or where it is. Procrastination has kept me from doing a lot of things and instead of complaining about it, I have tried to find "silver lining" in the things I do or don't do. I try to reason with myself and explain why I do whatever it is that I do but when I talk about it to others I get "don't make excuses" or "procrastination is defined by missed opportunities." I'm having a hard time seeing what everyone else sees because in my humble opinion, I do the things when I am ready to do them, and while I may miss doing one thing, I end up doing another. Putting things off to do at the last minute isn't what this posting is about but for those of you out there that have issues with that, get ready for fun because traveling doesn't leave much room for people who do move at a different pace. While it may not bother you or I, when traveling and staying with others it will bother them so remember to always think about your hosts or travel mates.
I haven't attempted to really dig into couchsurfing to much at this point mainly because when I travel I will be with my wife and I can't help but think that people that are hosting couch surfers would prefer to have singles rather than a married couple. To my surprise, just like with everything else there are exceptions. That's why if you want to know... ASK. Being a bit stubborn has slowed me down a little so I tend to get in my own way and take longer to get the things I want. In life there are many paths, this one is mine. As you read, watch and listen to my blog you will see the peaks and valleys in my journey. I plan on trying my hand at couchsurfing, help exchange, travel blogging and running my websites while meeting people all over the world and if my plan doesn't go according to plan then I guess plans changed. Enjoy your plans!!
Friday, April 26, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Buying one way tickets to...
I can't tell you for sure that I know how everyone reacts when buying a one way plane ticket for the first time. What I can tell you is that Brownie has had a really tough time with the idea of buying the tickets, remember money security is our issue right now. I am a care free (maybe a little dumb) American that feels that I can do anything I set my mind to, and my mind is set on being a digital nomad and blogging, the latter being easy since I'm an opinionated wind bag, or so I'm told. We really don't have enough cash in the bank to be doing this and while I know this, I can't exactly tell her. If I tell her then I have to come up with a new plan and answer all her questions like; who, what, when, where and how. It wouldn't be hard to look into my life and see that I'm not exactly the guy that answers questions before he's asked. I don't know if that is because I'm lazy, careless or functionally dysfunctional. So what am I going to do since we can barely afford to take the trip, much less take a chance on a job that doesn't really exist. So for all of my readers, this blog is about my transition from being a simple sales person living a simple life in the states to living a life of travel, backpacks and foreign languages. That's what I think it's about but if I were reading this blog I'd be waiting for the other foot to drop.
I would love to go, dollar for dollar and explain what costs what, how much I have saved up or how much I expect I'll need but all of the answers to these questions vary so much that my answer would be one in a million. So instead of giving you exacts, I'll paint you a picture and hope that you see my wife's frustration. My brother-in-law suggested that we have around five thousand USD to survive the first couple of months while we look for school, work, visas and a place to live. This was when we were thinking about moving to Ireland to live for a few years and take a few classes for the student status but once I did my research and her brother told me that in Ireland he hadn't had the opportunity to wear his shorts the "live in Ireland" idea started to die quickly. I'm sure there is a tinge of Irish blood in me somewhere, but that little ice cube will have to melt cause the devil's been keeping me warm for so long in Texas that I'm not sure I'd survive living closer to the poles than the equator. My saying has always been "If it's cold I'll bundle up with so many clothes I can't bend and end up looking like the gingerbread man in coats" but "if it's hot, you can always strip down buck naked and jump into water to cool off." Granted everyone has a preference and as such it is what it is, a preference. So instead of trying the student approach and build up more loans to repay, I thought I should utilize my gift of gab.
So back to the moral of this little posting, buying one way plane tickets out of your home country is terrifying to some people but what I think most people are missing out on the adventurous feeling of taking risks. People look at the "fear" they feel when taking risks as "warning" signs that maybe you shouldn't be doing that. On the contrary I think that emotion you may be feeling is the feeling of possibility, the emotion of life flowing through your veins. Taking risks will undoubtedly keep your brain firing on all cylinders and sharpen your wit for the rest of your life. There are as many paths in life as there are lessons and there is no "perfect" or "right" way to do anything, there just are ways of doing them. The biggest obstacle we face in our plans is our own fears. Google the word fear by itself and the first four links are two wiki definitions, one video game and one movie. If "fear" was a bad thing then there would be more links warning people on how dangerous it is right? Now Google the words scam, AIDS or something you perceive as bad and I promise you that there will be more negative results than when you look up the word fear. Fear is one of those double edged swords in life that come at you, what is important is how you react. Fear for me pushes me to stand strong, not give up and it motivates me to respond. How many feelings require a response? I'd be willing to be not a lot do but then again I am a man and my wife does repeatedly tell me how few emotions I have or understand but in this case I'd be willing to bet i'm right. So if it's fear that's holding you back from your dreams then your placing blame in the wrong hands, fear is an emotion and it isn't always rational so keep that in mind when your scared of something. Being afraid of falling out of the sky and hitting a mountain at 300mph is rational if you fly everyday but feeling fear about whether or not North Korea will fire nuclear missiles at your home is irrational because there is no precedent for that and unless you are the president of the United States of America, then you really shouldn't think so highly of yourself, +Kim Jung Il isn't after you, I promise.
So buying one way tickets to anywhere is exhilarating, eye opening and promising. I'm about to buy two sets of one way tickets. One set from San Antonio Texas to Dublin Ireland the second set from Dublin Ireland to Rome Italy. Where we go after that and what we will do after that is all a mystery to me but from what my theatre arts teacher once told me, "Mysteries attract smart people because they like to solve puzzles." Well smarty pants, what do you think so far? I'd like to know how i'm viewed up to this point so anyone willing to be honest, shoot me a message or comment. Until then keep coming back for more updates, I've got a scheduling issue to resolve before I buy the tickets but I should have them before the end of the day so we'll see how my post sounds tomorrow when my bank account is half empty. We are down to the last 12 days or so people, things on this site are about to start getting a lot more interesting, stay tuned!!
UPDATE** 4/29/13 0130**
In the event anyone is looking for another site to use to look for flights, I'd suggest using them all but make sure you add THIS one to your tool kit. I had never heard of it until my brother in law living in Dublin told me about it and it blows away the american companies when it comes to flights from the good ole USA to the other side of the pond. We have also found the airline Ryanair to be a very inexpensive airline too.
I would love to go, dollar for dollar and explain what costs what, how much I have saved up or how much I expect I'll need but all of the answers to these questions vary so much that my answer would be one in a million. So instead of giving you exacts, I'll paint you a picture and hope that you see my wife's frustration. My brother-in-law suggested that we have around five thousand USD to survive the first couple of months while we look for school, work, visas and a place to live. This was when we were thinking about moving to Ireland to live for a few years and take a few classes for the student status but once I did my research and her brother told me that in Ireland he hadn't had the opportunity to wear his shorts the "live in Ireland" idea started to die quickly. I'm sure there is a tinge of Irish blood in me somewhere, but that little ice cube will have to melt cause the devil's been keeping me warm for so long in Texas that I'm not sure I'd survive living closer to the poles than the equator. My saying has always been "If it's cold I'll bundle up with so many clothes I can't bend and end up looking like the gingerbread man in coats" but "if it's hot, you can always strip down buck naked and jump into water to cool off." Granted everyone has a preference and as such it is what it is, a preference. So instead of trying the student approach and build up more loans to repay, I thought I should utilize my gift of gab.
So back to the moral of this little posting, buying one way plane tickets out of your home country is terrifying to some people but what I think most people are missing out on the adventurous feeling of taking risks. People look at the "fear" they feel when taking risks as "warning" signs that maybe you shouldn't be doing that. On the contrary I think that emotion you may be feeling is the feeling of possibility, the emotion of life flowing through your veins. Taking risks will undoubtedly keep your brain firing on all cylinders and sharpen your wit for the rest of your life. There are as many paths in life as there are lessons and there is no "perfect" or "right" way to do anything, there just are ways of doing them. The biggest obstacle we face in our plans is our own fears. Google the word fear by itself and the first four links are two wiki definitions, one video game and one movie. If "fear" was a bad thing then there would be more links warning people on how dangerous it is right? Now Google the words scam, AIDS or something you perceive as bad and I promise you that there will be more negative results than when you look up the word fear. Fear is one of those double edged swords in life that come at you, what is important is how you react. Fear for me pushes me to stand strong, not give up and it motivates me to respond. How many feelings require a response? I'd be willing to be not a lot do but then again I am a man and my wife does repeatedly tell me how few emotions I have or understand but in this case I'd be willing to bet i'm right. So if it's fear that's holding you back from your dreams then your placing blame in the wrong hands, fear is an emotion and it isn't always rational so keep that in mind when your scared of something. Being afraid of falling out of the sky and hitting a mountain at 300mph is rational if you fly everyday but feeling fear about whether or not North Korea will fire nuclear missiles at your home is irrational because there is no precedent for that and unless you are the president of the United States of America, then you really shouldn't think so highly of yourself, +Kim Jung Il isn't after you, I promise.
So buying one way tickets to anywhere is exhilarating, eye opening and promising. I'm about to buy two sets of one way tickets. One set from San Antonio Texas to Dublin Ireland the second set from Dublin Ireland to Rome Italy. Where we go after that and what we will do after that is all a mystery to me but from what my theatre arts teacher once told me, "Mysteries attract smart people because they like to solve puzzles." Well smarty pants, what do you think so far? I'd like to know how i'm viewed up to this point so anyone willing to be honest, shoot me a message or comment. Until then keep coming back for more updates, I've got a scheduling issue to resolve before I buy the tickets but I should have them before the end of the day so we'll see how my post sounds tomorrow when my bank account is half empty. We are down to the last 12 days or so people, things on this site are about to start getting a lot more interesting, stay tuned!!
UPDATE** 4/29/13 0130**
In the event anyone is looking for another site to use to look for flights, I'd suggest using them all but make sure you add THIS one to your tool kit. I had never heard of it until my brother in law living in Dublin told me about it and it blows away the american companies when it comes to flights from the good ole USA to the other side of the pond. We have also found the airline Ryanair to be a very inexpensive airline too.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Can you travel with your pet?
As with all questions there is always an answer but as you read this posting you will soon realize the answer to this question is frustrating, incentivizing and plain dumb. The frustrating part is the fact that everyone has a set of rules and by everyone I mean each country, airline and even veterinarian so to keep your head straight you need to know all the answers to the questions you don't know yet, understand?
The incentive isn't really meant for you or I but for someone looking to get into a niche business here is one with hardly anyone to compete with. That industry needs someone to gather up all the information there is, get all the different players together and give them a home where people all over the world could find the answers they need. Like a wiki for traveling pets. Now the dumbest part comes down to cost. Why in HELL does Delta airlines want to charge me nearly $500 to fly my tiny little toy Yorkie from San Antonio Texas to Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico? Now I pointed the finger at them but they aren't the only one. Some airlines refuse to take animals on their plane which is fine but if you do why would you charge so much? They put my pet (also known as my four legged daughter) in the bottom of the plane with the rest of the luggage and packages. Now tell me, isn't the occasional pet flying from point A to point B extra income for them? I know they get paid to ship packages so the space on the bottom of the plane is being sold just as the seats up top are, but why charge more for my dog to fly on the plane like a furry package than they do to ship a box the same size and weight? They take the same care of their packages as they do animals, they all get unloaded put on a conveyer belt and set aside until the owner or delivery guy gets there. Why does my dogs plane ticket cost more than our two tickets? My wife and I will have over 150 pounds of luggage that they will charge us an extra $50 for, make sense? My dog weighs 4.3 pounds, if you include the kennel she'd have to fly in it would be roughly 12 pounds. Again, why is the airline charging so much? Is it a deterrent to shipping pets or traveling with pets?
Now I would love to has over all the points on what frustrated me or explain how a person with a bit of time could go about making money off this niche but what I really want to talk about is the money!!
I really don't like money, I could honestly say I loathe it. People don't NEED MONEY, American society has made money the only way of payment for anything and I think that has lost some of the warmth of society. Don't understand where I am going with this? Then let me break it down for you.
In the beginning of man, was there money? Was there any sort of currency? Look it up, go ahead I know you're going to Google it anyways so I'll just wait till you confirm what I'm saying...
Ok so when a man wanted something another man had he would "pay" for the item but it wasn't always with trinkets because some people aren't interested in trinkets, I'm not. Men would trade services, supplies or work for whatever it was they wanted. Now I understand that I can't expect this world to still trade in animal pelts, weapons or other outdated form of currency but I do think that if I do something for a person I think that we could agree on other forms of payment. I am starting my new life of travel blogging and being a digital nomad by selling everything I own, giving away anything that is still useful and leaving my comfortable (barely middle class life) existence in the states for a life of learning, adventure and exploration and in my travels the need for money can be replaced with an internet connection, roof and a small portion of food. Now the reality is that I will need some sort of income during my travels so I do plan on moving this blog to its own domain and with a completely different look and I also plan on building up my network of websites to help produce some semblance of income. In between now and then I plan on trading my talents for room and board by using the helpX and work-a-way websites. I have mentioned them in previous posts and I will probably continue to write about them for months to come because they are the only reason I will be able to afford this life change.
So I've explained my money issue? Probably not, so this won't be the last rant I have on the subject so stay tuned.
Now back to the original question, can you travel with your pet? The answer is yes. You definitely can travel with your pet if you have a good stream of income and stay in each country a short/long enough time to get the next country's paperwork ready. I promise you if you do travel with your pet for too long you will easily become the subject matter expert (SME) because people with money don't want to blow it on dragging their pet around the world to see things the pet could care less about. On top of that, all of the work needed to travel with them is too expensive, tedious and time consuming makes the idea of taking them overwhelming. If you plan on sailing around the world and you have a pet that is cool with boats, then take your pet. You can leave your pet in the boat when you dock and they never have to go through customs. Problem solved and again it is solved with money. So to do the most annoying thing ever, I'll answer a question by asking a question (my wife hates that.) Why would a person want to travel the globe with their pet? My answer would be because some people can afford to live their dreams with or without a pet. We have decided to send our dog to my sister's in east Texas, Tekila can stay with her and when Brownie and I settle and get a home base then we will pay the bounty for our daughter. She'll just have a vacation of her own. So good luck to you, whichever category you're in because either way it goes if you have a pet and want to see if you have enough money to accomplish your goals with your pet, then you will still have to do all the leg work that I did since every situation is different it will literally take someone to collect all the information, decipher it and explain it to the rest of us before this process will get any easier. Right now it's so hard to figure it out that a lot of people give up, I think that was the plan all along.
The incentive isn't really meant for you or I but for someone looking to get into a niche business here is one with hardly anyone to compete with. That industry needs someone to gather up all the information there is, get all the different players together and give them a home where people all over the world could find the answers they need. Like a wiki for traveling pets. Now the dumbest part comes down to cost. Why in HELL does Delta airlines want to charge me nearly $500 to fly my tiny little toy Yorkie from San Antonio Texas to Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico? Now I pointed the finger at them but they aren't the only one. Some airlines refuse to take animals on their plane which is fine but if you do why would you charge so much? They put my pet (also known as my four legged daughter) in the bottom of the plane with the rest of the luggage and packages. Now tell me, isn't the occasional pet flying from point A to point B extra income for them? I know they get paid to ship packages so the space on the bottom of the plane is being sold just as the seats up top are, but why charge more for my dog to fly on the plane like a furry package than they do to ship a box the same size and weight? They take the same care of their packages as they do animals, they all get unloaded put on a conveyer belt and set aside until the owner or delivery guy gets there. Why does my dogs plane ticket cost more than our two tickets? My wife and I will have over 150 pounds of luggage that they will charge us an extra $50 for, make sense? My dog weighs 4.3 pounds, if you include the kennel she'd have to fly in it would be roughly 12 pounds. Again, why is the airline charging so much? Is it a deterrent to shipping pets or traveling with pets?
Now I would love to has over all the points on what frustrated me or explain how a person with a bit of time could go about making money off this niche but what I really want to talk about is the money!!
I really don't like money, I could honestly say I loathe it. People don't NEED MONEY, American society has made money the only way of payment for anything and I think that has lost some of the warmth of society. Don't understand where I am going with this? Then let me break it down for you.
In the beginning of man, was there money? Was there any sort of currency? Look it up, go ahead I know you're going to Google it anyways so I'll just wait till you confirm what I'm saying...
Ok so when a man wanted something another man had he would "pay" for the item but it wasn't always with trinkets because some people aren't interested in trinkets, I'm not. Men would trade services, supplies or work for whatever it was they wanted. Now I understand that I can't expect this world to still trade in animal pelts, weapons or other outdated form of currency but I do think that if I do something for a person I think that we could agree on other forms of payment. I am starting my new life of travel blogging and being a digital nomad by selling everything I own, giving away anything that is still useful and leaving my comfortable (barely middle class life) existence in the states for a life of learning, adventure and exploration and in my travels the need for money can be replaced with an internet connection, roof and a small portion of food. Now the reality is that I will need some sort of income during my travels so I do plan on moving this blog to its own domain and with a completely different look and I also plan on building up my network of websites to help produce some semblance of income. In between now and then I plan on trading my talents for room and board by using the helpX and work-a-way websites. I have mentioned them in previous posts and I will probably continue to write about them for months to come because they are the only reason I will be able to afford this life change.
So I've explained my money issue? Probably not, so this won't be the last rant I have on the subject so stay tuned.
Now back to the original question, can you travel with your pet? The answer is yes. You definitely can travel with your pet if you have a good stream of income and stay in each country a short/long enough time to get the next country's paperwork ready. I promise you if you do travel with your pet for too long you will easily become the subject matter expert (SME) because people with money don't want to blow it on dragging their pet around the world to see things the pet could care less about. On top of that, all of the work needed to travel with them is too expensive, tedious and time consuming makes the idea of taking them overwhelming. If you plan on sailing around the world and you have a pet that is cool with boats, then take your pet. You can leave your pet in the boat when you dock and they never have to go through customs. Problem solved and again it is solved with money. So to do the most annoying thing ever, I'll answer a question by asking a question (my wife hates that.) Why would a person want to travel the globe with their pet? My answer would be because some people can afford to live their dreams with or without a pet. We have decided to send our dog to my sister's in east Texas, Tekila can stay with her and when Brownie and I settle and get a home base then we will pay the bounty for our daughter. She'll just have a vacation of her own. So good luck to you, whichever category you're in because either way it goes if you have a pet and want to see if you have enough money to accomplish your goals with your pet, then you will still have to do all the leg work that I did since every situation is different it will literally take someone to collect all the information, decipher it and explain it to the rest of us before this process will get any easier. Right now it's so hard to figure it out that a lot of people give up, I think that was the plan all along.
The Hardest Part
Almost Two years ago my wife and I had the "baby" talk and ended up with a puppy. Now we have our baby so what do we do with her? The first idea is to take her but it will take about 10 minutes of research to learn that if you have money to spend and trust just any veterinarian to care for your pet then sure you can take your pet anywhere. In the event you don't have either a fat savings account or a steady stream of income then this is not an option. We opted to send our little baby to Mexico to live with my mother in law. If I had it my way I would leave here here state side but we don't have anyone here that we could leave her with for an undetermined amount of time so off to Mexico she goes. At this point in our travels we don't know how long we will be bouncing around from country to country or if we will get a "home base" somewhere. If we do get stable then we plan on shipping her to where ever we are, depending on the country we end up calling home depends on what we will have to do next.
When you cross international borders with a pet, you need to have a lot of documentation stating your pet is up-to-date on their shots, they are micro-chipped and that they are disease free. The whole process could take up to six months depending on your home country but in the states you can get everything done in a month as long as you find a vet to help. I currently live in the 8th largest city in the United States and there was only 1 vet here that would agree to do the health certificate that our pet needs to leave the states. The pet health certificate you will need to leave the states costs approximately $200 not including any shots, the micro chip or other Vet fees which they can easily tack on and you must start the health certificate 10 days before they are to leave. It's the one time in my life I felt like I was the dog, jumping through hoops and begging for a treat. The micro chip you need to get for your pet before you go to most European countries can't be a simple chip it must be compatible with ISO standard 11784 or 11785 if not you must provide a micro chip reader. You also need to ensure you have the chip implanted well in advance because some countries require you to have your pets rabies shots done a certain amount of time after the chip was implanted and before the expected flight date. I will repeat myself, you MUST start looking at the requirements from both the home country and receiving country so give yourself as much time as possible and it would be helpful if you are starting to plan your trip to get out a calendar and start putting the dates down.
Other than all of the red tape you have to go through to ship your pet anywhere there is also the stress you will have for the stress that your pet will have. The transition from our apartment to my wife's aunt has been confusing enough for her and the next step will really blow her mind, we never crated our puppy and to fly your pet internationally, the pet must be in the cargo hold area and can not ride in the cabin with you. So now to ease our pet's stress we need to buy a carrier that the airline approves and crate her now before we leave so she is at least familiar with the cage and that will be one less thing to freak her out. Again, I stress to those of you who have a pet and want to travel, do your research early and often because there are a million and one regulations. After you satisfy the border crossing requirements you still need to figure out the requirements of the airline, train or bus line you choose. We are planning on flying our pet to Mexico rather than by bus or train so I haven't had to look at those requirements and while I probably should help out anyone reading this blog and try to translate their requirements too but I'm not a super blogger yet. Do your pet justice and think about them in this move, what will be best for them no matter how you feel. If taking your pet all over the world will work for your pet and you can afford it then by all means enjoy all that the world has to offer. If taking your pet will cause you mental and financial problems then either find them a loving home or work from a home base. Good luck with your pet travels, I know my puppy is worth it and I'd bet yours is too.
Here are some helpful links.
USDA
Another USDA Link
When you cross international borders with a pet, you need to have a lot of documentation stating your pet is up-to-date on their shots, they are micro-chipped and that they are disease free. The whole process could take up to six months depending on your home country but in the states you can get everything done in a month as long as you find a vet to help. I currently live in the 8th largest city in the United States and there was only 1 vet here that would agree to do the health certificate that our pet needs to leave the states. The pet health certificate you will need to leave the states costs approximately $200 not including any shots, the micro chip or other Vet fees which they can easily tack on and you must start the health certificate 10 days before they are to leave. It's the one time in my life I felt like I was the dog, jumping through hoops and begging for a treat. The micro chip you need to get for your pet before you go to most European countries can't be a simple chip it must be compatible with ISO standard 11784 or 11785 if not you must provide a micro chip reader. You also need to ensure you have the chip implanted well in advance because some countries require you to have your pets rabies shots done a certain amount of time after the chip was implanted and before the expected flight date. I will repeat myself, you MUST start looking at the requirements from both the home country and receiving country so give yourself as much time as possible and it would be helpful if you are starting to plan your trip to get out a calendar and start putting the dates down.
Other than all of the red tape you have to go through to ship your pet anywhere there is also the stress you will have for the stress that your pet will have. The transition from our apartment to my wife's aunt has been confusing enough for her and the next step will really blow her mind, we never crated our puppy and to fly your pet internationally, the pet must be in the cargo hold area and can not ride in the cabin with you. So now to ease our pet's stress we need to buy a carrier that the airline approves and crate her now before we leave so she is at least familiar with the cage and that will be one less thing to freak her out. Again, I stress to those of you who have a pet and want to travel, do your research early and often because there are a million and one regulations. After you satisfy the border crossing requirements you still need to figure out the requirements of the airline, train or bus line you choose. We are planning on flying our pet to Mexico rather than by bus or train so I haven't had to look at those requirements and while I probably should help out anyone reading this blog and try to translate their requirements too but I'm not a super blogger yet. Do your pet justice and think about them in this move, what will be best for them no matter how you feel. If taking your pet all over the world will work for your pet and you can afford it then by all means enjoy all that the world has to offer. If taking your pet will cause you mental and financial problems then either find them a loving home or work from a home base. Good luck with your pet travels, I know my puppy is worth it and I'd bet yours is too.
Here are some helpful links.
USDA
Another USDA Link
Thursday, April 18, 2013
It Starts
Ok, so I'm last minute but who cares right because the only person waiting on me is me. So I'll start this blog out with the answer to the question that everyone will ask when they happen to find this site, and the answer is "because you have nothing better to do but daydream!" The question, for those of you who couldn't tell was "Why add this to your favorites?" Don't get upset! I only say it the way I see it and it's not personal. I am risking everything I have to travel the world and become the only person in my family to become a “digital nomad” and up to this point in my life, I have never been paid to write anything nor have I made any “real” money of my gaming network. So if for no other reason than the fact that I have either giant brass balls or I'm the dumbest most naive person on the planet.
I truly feel that with the right mind set you can make it anywhere. The United States may have been the “promise land” or the “land of opportunity” but it's not the only place you can find opportunity. It all depends on what you are looking for and perspective, for me it's all about opening my eyes to the world around me. I have wanted to travel the world since my first taste at 14 when I took a church trip to Monterrey Mexico. That first trip gave me a bug that I have never been able to get rid of. I joined the military and get another taste of it but I was married to a woman that wanted to stay close to home so I moved back home. Times have changed and the world is even smaller now that I'm in my mid 30's and I have realized one fact that makes life very, very hard on me, I'm fucking lazy! Pardon the rough language but I can't be nice about that, I have taken a good long look at my life, accomplishments and future possibilities and to be honest with you it was pretty depressing. I have done a little of this, a little of that and a lot of nothing! I was a welder out of high school but I would have had to travel to make real money in that job but I would have had to travel alone and the ex wasn't having any of that. Then I joined the military, we knew I'd have to travel and be away but it would only be a "short" time and it was a small sacrifice we would make to ensure college money, health care for the kids and security for my family if anything did happen. Those were a great 4 years but to be honest, I would have only stayed in if I could have gotten an easier job than a mechanic (it’s not that I’m lazy, it’s that in the military the three toughest jobs were cook, cop and mechanic because none of us got any sleep) and they if they would have sent me to Germany but they wouldn't give me both so I got out. My ex joined the Air Force shortly after I left the Army (I won't try to explain all the questions this posting will leave you with, but know that not all of my decisions were effective in creating the outcome I had intended.) After the divorce I moved back home to San Antonio where I met the woman of my dreams. If this was a romance blog I would add in all the details but to keep from boring my readers we will just say that I found a beautiful and great woman that I don't deserve but I wouldn't give up to save my life.
My wife "brownie" is much like I am as in she is a nomadic soul, always looking for a change intrigued by new things and always ready to learn something else. She was born and raised in Guadalajara Mexico and came to the United States to study English. To my surprise my lovely wife is much smarter than her beautiful green eyes tell, she learned English in 6 months, which to me was amazing considering she couldn't complete a sentence in English when we met. Brownie brought out this trapped soul of a traveler that I had buried so deep once I started having children. My youngest daughter is 14 and if I could be an active participant in her life then I would stay in the states until she turned 18 but I'm not, so we're leaving. Brownie and I have been on the move since we met. I had a really nice job at the cable company when she and I hatched (Well actually her dad was in the business and brought it up to me) an idea to import silver jewelry to the states from Mexico and wholesale the jewelry to mom and pop businesses.
We gave up our apartment, second car, all of our home furnishings, everything! We sold everything then turned around and put every cent we had into jewelry and we were going to make it or break it. To be honest with you, we found out there was another option too, survive and have fun. I have been to 27 of the lower 48 states and 7 different countries and I have made up my mind that I will not stop moving until I have been to every country (wonder if I'll ever get to Cuba) in the world. All of the things I saw, people I met and things I did are all just a memory for me and some are slowly fading from my memory too which for my family early memory loss is normal.
So this blog will be my journal to document my travels and to keep safe the memories that I am so prone to forgetting like names, dates and images. I was born in an insignificant little town in the heart of east Texas, raised on a farm to be nothing more than a good salt of the earth hard working man. I feel that after all this time I have lost that direction, the one my father tried to point me in when I was a child. My father may have been a redneck hippy which may sound like a contradiction of terms but it's true. He worked hard and smoked a lot of weed. I have fought being like my father my whole life, I always felt that I didn't have to have a job where I get blisters, sweat or break my back unless it was something I enjoyed. So at this point I realized I have wasted space, time and energy in this life. I don't have a child that depends on my care and support any longer so I am going to expand my mind to its limits. I am going to be a full time travel blogger. I am going to be a digital nomad. I am going to be a full time webmaster. I am going! This is my motto! This is my creed! Follow along and see how my roller coaster rolls!
I truly feel that with the right mind set you can make it anywhere. The United States may have been the “promise land” or the “land of opportunity” but it's not the only place you can find opportunity. It all depends on what you are looking for and perspective, for me it's all about opening my eyes to the world around me. I have wanted to travel the world since my first taste at 14 when I took a church trip to Monterrey Mexico. That first trip gave me a bug that I have never been able to get rid of. I joined the military and get another taste of it but I was married to a woman that wanted to stay close to home so I moved back home. Times have changed and the world is even smaller now that I'm in my mid 30's and I have realized one fact that makes life very, very hard on me, I'm fucking lazy! Pardon the rough language but I can't be nice about that, I have taken a good long look at my life, accomplishments and future possibilities and to be honest with you it was pretty depressing. I have done a little of this, a little of that and a lot of nothing! I was a welder out of high school but I would have had to travel to make real money in that job but I would have had to travel alone and the ex wasn't having any of that. Then I joined the military, we knew I'd have to travel and be away but it would only be a "short" time and it was a small sacrifice we would make to ensure college money, health care for the kids and security for my family if anything did happen. Those were a great 4 years but to be honest, I would have only stayed in if I could have gotten an easier job than a mechanic (it’s not that I’m lazy, it’s that in the military the three toughest jobs were cook, cop and mechanic because none of us got any sleep) and they if they would have sent me to Germany but they wouldn't give me both so I got out. My ex joined the Air Force shortly after I left the Army (I won't try to explain all the questions this posting will leave you with, but know that not all of my decisions were effective in creating the outcome I had intended.) After the divorce I moved back home to San Antonio where I met the woman of my dreams. If this was a romance blog I would add in all the details but to keep from boring my readers we will just say that I found a beautiful and great woman that I don't deserve but I wouldn't give up to save my life.
My wife "brownie" is much like I am as in she is a nomadic soul, always looking for a change intrigued by new things and always ready to learn something else. She was born and raised in Guadalajara Mexico and came to the United States to study English. To my surprise my lovely wife is much smarter than her beautiful green eyes tell, she learned English in 6 months, which to me was amazing considering she couldn't complete a sentence in English when we met. Brownie brought out this trapped soul of a traveler that I had buried so deep once I started having children. My youngest daughter is 14 and if I could be an active participant in her life then I would stay in the states until she turned 18 but I'm not, so we're leaving. Brownie and I have been on the move since we met. I had a really nice job at the cable company when she and I hatched (Well actually her dad was in the business and brought it up to me) an idea to import silver jewelry to the states from Mexico and wholesale the jewelry to mom and pop businesses.
We gave up our apartment, second car, all of our home furnishings, everything! We sold everything then turned around and put every cent we had into jewelry and we were going to make it or break it. To be honest with you, we found out there was another option too, survive and have fun. I have been to 27 of the lower 48 states and 7 different countries and I have made up my mind that I will not stop moving until I have been to every country (wonder if I'll ever get to Cuba) in the world. All of the things I saw, people I met and things I did are all just a memory for me and some are slowly fading from my memory too which for my family early memory loss is normal.
So this blog will be my journal to document my travels and to keep safe the memories that I am so prone to forgetting like names, dates and images. I was born in an insignificant little town in the heart of east Texas, raised on a farm to be nothing more than a good salt of the earth hard working man. I feel that after all this time I have lost that direction, the one my father tried to point me in when I was a child. My father may have been a redneck hippy which may sound like a contradiction of terms but it's true. He worked hard and smoked a lot of weed. I have fought being like my father my whole life, I always felt that I didn't have to have a job where I get blisters, sweat or break my back unless it was something I enjoyed. So at this point I realized I have wasted space, time and energy in this life. I don't have a child that depends on my care and support any longer so I am going to expand my mind to its limits. I am going to be a full time travel blogger. I am going to be a digital nomad. I am going to be a full time webmaster. I am going! This is my motto! This is my creed! Follow along and see how my roller coaster rolls!
First step towards becoming a Digital Nomad
Ok, well here I am sitting in the garage of my wife's aunt blogging about how I am off to travel the world, write about it, and build my online business to become something more than just a hobby. This is my first phase of becoming a digital nomad. My wife has sold nearly everything we own minus my T.V and the bed but they will go soon. We haven't sold our truck yet either which is stress inducing. Money is the root of all evil but it is needed when you want to leave your home and travel. I am learning what the phrase "necessary evil" means, because when most people decide to do something like this they save money and a lot of it but me... I like doing things the hard way I think because I got fired six weeks before we had planned to leave. I haven't gotten any unemployment, not another job, not even part time work. All the money we have is what little savings my wife and I had (which wasn't the three months of bills that most financial guys say you need to have either) our tax refund (which is small when you don't have any children and you don't make six figures) and the money from all of our household goods and Brownie's clothing. So the truck selling and making a little money on it would ease some of our money worries, so hopefully it will sell soon. It's not like it's a piece of junk either. It's a 2007 Toyota FJ, bright yellow and I love it but apparently not everyone does so it has taken a lot longer than I had hoped. I have been pressuring Brownie about buying the plane tickets even if the truck hasn't sold yet because it is inevitable that it will sell it's just a matter of time. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll finally buy them tomorrow.
"Buying plane tickets is an art form if you like to be frugal. The fact of the matter is that you have to put in time to find cheap flights, and I don't mean you have to buy the tickets one or more months in advance, I mean that you have to look at ticket prices from every website you can find every couple of days for months."
Seriously!!!
So now we have all of the boxes filled with our "sentimental" items saved at my daughters house here in San Antonio. I used the word sentimental but what I mean to say is shit. I love my wife but she is attached to a lot more things than just me, she really doesn't like to be limited clothing selection either which has stressed her out with this move to Europe. This is something I will have to write a post about but more in depth because I am sure there are a lot of people that have this fear as well so we will see how she handles it. She has faced this challenge once before, when we first got married I bought into the silver jewelry business like her father and we traveled for two years living out of our 2002 Nissan Sentra. This will be even harder for her since we are starting out as “helpers” on an amazing site called HelpX (go to this site to understand how we plan to live for the next few months) which means we will be staying in people's homes and traveling using busses, trains and taxis. Did I mention that my wife is a shop-a-holic? Again, this topic will be a more in depth posting to help people like my wife to see how to live the way you want in every way.
The hardest part about this trip so far has been dealing with my wife's fear. She has stressed out about money and to be honest with you she has the reason, we don't really have a lot of money and we are risking everything so maybe I'm the one that is crazy because I am so ready for this that I almost drool. I am so hungry for a life with more meaning. We really wanted to travel but couldn't afford to live out of hotels or hostels for that matter, so we looked for alternative means. Websites like Work-A-Way and HelpX are exactly that, alternatives. These sites connect people from around the world to help each other and exchange services. For example; “Jean in France just bought an old farm home and they want to convert it to a bed and breakfast style hotel so they post that they need help. These people are called hosts. Other people looking to visit France will see the posting and if they have any of the skills that Jean needs help with they start communicating with Jean and eventually become helpers.” This is our cheap way of traveling in Italy for the next six months. During which time I will work on this blog and hopefully entertaining as many people as I can along the way. My goal is to become financially secure through my gaming network and blogs. I never thought I was a good writer but I have learned that blogging isn't writing in the literal term. Journalists apparently aren't fond of bloggers that think they are journalists and visa versa, but what do I know? Up until this point I didn't have a dog in the hunt.
Today is the 18th of April and I want to buy our plane tickets today for the 1st or 2nd of May, let's see if that happens. The plan is to meet up with Brownie's brother who lives in Ireland right now. He wants to meet up with us as soon as we get there because he is moving back to Mexico in July and we haven't seen him since he moved to Ireland two years ago. Right now I want to meet him in Dublin and then fly to Rome Italy and meet up with our first “host family” which is also our first job. We start our first summer camp job in Italy on the Adriatic coast the third week of May and we'll be there until the last day of June. Our job at the summer camp is supposed to be teaching Italian children to speak English. Brownie and I are bringing our favorite game, Catch Phrase to play with the children and help make learning English fun during summer so we're super excited.
So here we go... We're nervous, excited and even a little scared but fear is a healthy response when you put every dollar your worth at risk. What's the payoff you may ask, well let's ask that question again in another six months.
"Buying plane tickets is an art form if you like to be frugal. The fact of the matter is that you have to put in time to find cheap flights, and I don't mean you have to buy the tickets one or more months in advance, I mean that you have to look at ticket prices from every website you can find every couple of days for months."
Seriously!!!
So now we have all of the boxes filled with our "sentimental" items saved at my daughters house here in San Antonio. I used the word sentimental but what I mean to say is shit. I love my wife but she is attached to a lot more things than just me, she really doesn't like to be limited clothing selection either which has stressed her out with this move to Europe. This is something I will have to write a post about but more in depth because I am sure there are a lot of people that have this fear as well so we will see how she handles it. She has faced this challenge once before, when we first got married I bought into the silver jewelry business like her father and we traveled for two years living out of our 2002 Nissan Sentra. This will be even harder for her since we are starting out as “helpers” on an amazing site called HelpX (go to this site to understand how we plan to live for the next few months) which means we will be staying in people's homes and traveling using busses, trains and taxis. Did I mention that my wife is a shop-a-holic? Again, this topic will be a more in depth posting to help people like my wife to see how to live the way you want in every way.
The hardest part about this trip so far has been dealing with my wife's fear. She has stressed out about money and to be honest with you she has the reason, we don't really have a lot of money and we are risking everything so maybe I'm the one that is crazy because I am so ready for this that I almost drool. I am so hungry for a life with more meaning. We really wanted to travel but couldn't afford to live out of hotels or hostels for that matter, so we looked for alternative means. Websites like Work-A-Way and HelpX are exactly that, alternatives. These sites connect people from around the world to help each other and exchange services. For example; “Jean in France just bought an old farm home and they want to convert it to a bed and breakfast style hotel so they post that they need help. These people are called hosts. Other people looking to visit France will see the posting and if they have any of the skills that Jean needs help with they start communicating with Jean and eventually become helpers.” This is our cheap way of traveling in Italy for the next six months. During which time I will work on this blog and hopefully entertaining as many people as I can along the way. My goal is to become financially secure through my gaming network and blogs. I never thought I was a good writer but I have learned that blogging isn't writing in the literal term. Journalists apparently aren't fond of bloggers that think they are journalists and visa versa, but what do I know? Up until this point I didn't have a dog in the hunt.
Today is the 18th of April and I want to buy our plane tickets today for the 1st or 2nd of May, let's see if that happens. The plan is to meet up with Brownie's brother who lives in Ireland right now. He wants to meet up with us as soon as we get there because he is moving back to Mexico in July and we haven't seen him since he moved to Ireland two years ago. Right now I want to meet him in Dublin and then fly to Rome Italy and meet up with our first “host family” which is also our first job. We start our first summer camp job in Italy on the Adriatic coast the third week of May and we'll be there until the last day of June. Our job at the summer camp is supposed to be teaching Italian children to speak English. Brownie and I are bringing our favorite game, Catch Phrase to play with the children and help make learning English fun during summer so we're super excited.
So here we go... We're nervous, excited and even a little scared but fear is a healthy response when you put every dollar your worth at risk. What's the payoff you may ask, well let's ask that question again in another six months.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)