Around the world

Steampunk Halloween

09 Mar 2015 10 Comments

The Minimalist’s Ultimate Guide to Travel: What NOT to Pack

You have to take that shirt.

You wear it almost every day. It’s your favorite one. It goes with everything.

And your favorite pair of jeans. How could you NOT take those? You live in them.

Everything is laid out in perfect stacks on the bed, travel bag nearby, its gaping maw wide open, laughing at you.

You look at your stuff. You look at your bag.

You look at your stuff. You look at your bag.

You do this two, three, four more times. Every time you look at your stuff, there’s more. Every time you look at your bag, it’s smaller. You wonder, how can I possibly pack everything into a carry-on bag? packing graphic

How many times have you traveled with an over-full bag—or, worse yet, multiple bags—because you just didn’t know how you’d feel each day/what the weather would be/which soirees you might be invited to, so you had to take several options?

Remember when you had to step aside at the airport check-in counter and try to get your checked bag under the weight limit? You were frustrated, not to mention embarrassed, at having to pull out your clothes and shampoo and shoes and try to figure out what you could take out and shove into your carry-on bag.

All that careful packing gone to waste, and when you arrived, everything was balled up and wrinkled and nothing was where you put it in all that careful packing you did to make sure everything fit.

You swore you would never over-pack again. Well, didn’t you? Keep reading!

by Vagabond Queen in Around the world, dreams come true, RTW, Solo female travel, Solo travel, Travel blog, Travel tips, Wanderlust, What to pack, World travel Tags: , , , , , , , ,

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05 Mar 2015 2 Comments

A Paleo Girl at a Vegan Retreat

Nothing but vegetables AGAIN?!

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Hanuman Buddhist Temple, Mount Madonna

Oats, rice, wheat, corn. Again. Yogurt and oats. Peanut sauce. I knew it would be a challenge to keep myself fed for a three-day vegan meditation retreat, but I was tired of trying to get full on veggies alone. Now, there’s not much to complain about when I’20150228_141852m spending glorious silent time among soaring redwood trees and stunning Buddhist temples. I thought of it as a good test run for being in a foreign culture, and it was.

I practice meditation, so I was excited to learn that my meditation teacher was holding this retreat in California while I was staying within an hour and a half of its location. It was a no-brainer to go and a nice opportunity to quiet my busy mind, get out of the concrete of Silicon Valley, and connect with the familiar damp greens and browns of the redwood forest. I ate a big meat-based breakfast before I left on Friday, because I knew the only meat I’d see for the next three days would be walking around on legs or flying on wings. 

So I wasn’t all that surprised when I was greeted at the gate to the mountaintop retreat’s 373 acres by a huge flock of enormous, colorful turkeys. Yes, colorful! You ever seen those suckers up close? H-U-G-E. Colorful. And every single male had a full-on spread of tail feathers. What a greeting! These guys had seen several Thanksgivings come and go. I didn’t get a pic because I was driving, but I did see this flock several times throughout the weekend. Those males are very, very proud of their tail feathers. Keep reading!

by Vagabond Queen in Around the world, buddhist, buddhist temple, meditation, Paleo, Paleo living, vegan, vegetarian Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

earth

25 Feb 2015 4 Comments

I’m Packing My Laptop and Hitting the Road

Working as a vagabond traveling the worldearth

Three and a half years ago, in late 2011, I took the first hard steps toward liberating myself from a job that would tie me down. I deliberately chose a new career that would be portable, knowing that some day I would move from the Rogue Valley in southern Oregon, where I have lived for nearly 22 years. Much has changed in those years, myself included. The life I thought I was going to live in Oregon, after living for 17 long years in southern California, didn’t last. I changed careers more than once, reinventing myself each time. I broke hearts, including my own. Once someone broke my heart. (Isn’t that odd, to use the term “broken” for the heart, which must continue to function for us to even exist?)

All of that is in the distant past. I am happy, healthy, and ready to hit the road. I am a freelance editor by trade (my business site is http://www.redletterediting.com/), although, like many entrepreneurs, I also do things like coach public speaking, teach astronomy, and create PowerPoint presentations for clients. The best part of what I do, to my mind, is having the freedom to take my work on the road. Keep reading!

by Vagabond Queen in Around the world, dreams come true, freelance travel, freelance work, laptop travel, Paleo living, Primal lifestyle, RTW, RTW travel, travel and work, vagabond, vagabonding, Wanderlust, working on the road, World travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

WhatIsPaleo

02 Feb 2015 4 Comments

What is Paleo Again?

I might as well explain . . .

2012 I am fat
Fat in 2012

Once upon a time a couple of years ago, I felt old, overweight, constantly fatigued, and had given in to the idea that I would never again be healthy and vibrant. Then my gut (and I) got really sick, and I couldn’t ignore it any more. Something had to be done. I did what most of us do when we want information: I Googled it.

What I found truly and forever changed my life. After weeks of research, I came across Mark’s Daily Apple, a blog about the Primal/Paleo way of eating and fitness. (The Primal Blueprint is the version of Paleo that I use and one that has really worked for me.) I had always tried to eat well, so it wasn’t a stretch to eliminate grains, dairy, sugar, and processed foods from my diet.

2014 I am fit
Fit in 2014

In three weeks my brain fog lifted and my energy returned in full force. I had forgotten what it was like to feel so good. Within a few months I was hiking three to four miles 5 days a week, had lost 25 pounds, and felt more fit and healthy than I had in at least twenty years. People were asking me what I’d done. I started a Primal potluck group. I attended PrimalCon. I adopted Darryl Edwards’ ideas in his book Paleo Fitness. In short, I changed my lifestyle and changed my life. Keep reading!

by Vagabond Queen in Around the world, Fitness, Paleo, Paleo fitness, Paleo living, primal, Primal lifestyle, RTW, RTW travel, saving for travel, Travel tips, Wanderlust, Weight loss, World travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

RTW save money

26 Jan 2015 4 Comments

Seven Ways to Save for a RTW Journey

Yes, you CAN save enough money!

There was a tiRTW save moneyme when I didn’t think I’d ever have enough money to actually travel around the world. I mean, the travel industry sure makes it seem like you need to either be rich or win the lottery to get in any travel of significance. I have traveled quite a bit now, and I have done both the expensive and the budget versions of travel. And since I plan to be on the road for a year this time, you can bet that I’m going to make the trip last that long by having a very small travel budget. Like, miniscule. Itty bitty. Teeeenie tiny. Recently I was telling someone about my trip and she cried out, “WHAT?! You’re not staying in hotels?!!” She simply couldn’t imagine how one travels without the travel-industry-led idea that you must make your trips luxurious and, therefore, expensive. Otherwise, what’s the point? Ah, I wrote that blog here.

I will be writing a blog on how to make an infinitesimal, itsy bitsy traveling budget actually work, but this blog is about how I’m saving and scraping and selling in order to have enough money before I go. I have given myself a mere ten months—just 300 days—to save for this year-long round-the-world journey. While I will be making money working on the road, my goal is to save at least $8,000 before I go. This is a shade over five months of travel at $1,500 a month, equal to $50 a day, which is incredibly generous for world travel. Keep reading!

by Vagabond Queen in Around the world, Paleo, RTW, RTW travel, saving for travel, World travel Tags: , , , , , ,

At PrimalCon 2014 with fellow primates

15 Jan 2015 No Comments

Am I Crazy? What Have I Done?

Do I really think I can travel around the world for a year (or more)? Come on, now.

Pretty much every morning I wake up in a tiny panic. Do I really think I can just tuck away my normal, everyday life, pick up my backpack and laptop, and take off around the world on an almost-nothing budget?

At PrimalCon 2014 with fellow primates
At PrimalCon 2014 with fellow primates. Photo by Mike Lin.

As soon as I pass through that odd, sparkly-crystal-fog journey from asleep to awake, I lie in bed, amazed that I would even consider such a thing. Sure, I’ve always said I’d like to travel more. Many of us have that dream. So why don’t I make do with saving some money, picking a country or two, and just going for, like, a month? This is what most sane people do, right? Perhaps. But I’ve never lumped myself in with “most people.” I am special, just like everyone is. 

So why do I think I can just sell most of my possessions, pack away the few things I want to keep, and pare my entire life down to what I can carry on my back? Well, the easy (and honest) answer is, because decisions like this are just that: decisions. If you read my post about how I reach my goals (here), you know that the first step toward anything I do is to simply decide to do it. For me, there is a world contained in a decision: commitment, excitement, the planning to come, the unshakable faith I have in myself to do what I set out to do. Keep reading!

by Vagabond Queen in Around the world, Paleo, primal, RTW, World travel Tags: , , , , , , ,

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05 Jan 2015 6 Comments

Top Five Reasons for Traveling Around the World

Finding the “Why” in Your Deepest Desires

You have heard it before, and maybe you have even said it yourself: Some day I am going to travel the world. A few weeks ago, I woke up and realized, that day is here. The time is now. I decided to commit to traveling around the world for a year. You can read about that decision here. 

If you have ever taken a motivational course, you have probably heard about how important it is to solidify your “why.” Your “why” is your reason for doing anything. It is very easy to decide to do something (did you make any New Year’s resolutions?), but to see a decision reach fruition, you must have a solid, strong, and deeply felt reason that propels you toward that goal.

I seem to have a natural ability to accomplish what I set out to do. Many people ask me how I have made the dramatic life changes I have (this post is about that), but honestly, I had to stop and think about why I achieve my goals. I have realized that I practice not only the three secrets I blEurope trip June 08 114ogged about in my last post, but I also have a deep, strong, unshakable desire to reach my goals. If I am missing that part for a particular goal, it usually drops off the map. And yes, that’s happened plenty of times.

I have been writing down in my RTW notebook all the reasons I have for traveling around the world for a year (Paleo-style, I might add, but that’s a topic for the next post), and I thought it might inspire other wanna-travel-ers to begin planning their trips around the world. So, without further preamble, here they are: Keep reading!

by Vagabond Queen in Around the world, Ashland, Oregon, Paleo, Planning a Year Ahead, RTW, RTW travel, World travel Tags: , , , , ,

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30 Dec 2014 10 Comments

Top Three Secrets to Making Your Dreams Come True

Follow these three simple steps to make your dreams a reality.

People who know me know that once I commit to a goal, I accomplish it. I often hear “I wish I could do what you do,” whether it’s a career change, a body makeover, or planning to travel the world for a year. “How do you do it?” they ask. In this post, I’m going to share my top three secrets for accomplishing what I set out to achieve.

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Avebury, England, 2008. Way before I lost 25 pounds.

First, let me brag a little on some of the things I’ve achieved that seemed impossible at first:

  • After a 28-year career as a hairstylist, I graduated with honors at the age of 44 with a BS in chemistry. 
  • While I was in my first year of graduate school and living on a student income, I quit school and bought a brick-and-mortar business, building and all.
  • When I  lost said business after seven years because of the economic crash, I had to file for bankruptcy. Talk about starting over! My life was a blank slate at the age of 53, which sounds fun, but it’s not. After taking a year off (living on unemployment), I decided to become an editor, having no idea what that even really meant. And in just three years, I have an editing business that provides exactly what I want: the freedom to take my work on the road and travel for a year.

Before I go any further, I want you to think about something you really want to do, something that seems impossible. Now ask yourself what is stopping you. It’s probably the usual: family commitments, job, not enough money, not the right time, I’m too old, I’m too young, I’m too tired, and on and on.

While all of the reasons you have for not doing what you truly want to do are real, I am here to tell you that you can remove virtually all obstacles when you really, really want something. But removing obstacles is another post. Here I want to share with you my top three secrets for reaching my goals: Keep reading!

by Vagabond Queen in Around the world, New Year's Resolutions, World travel Tags: , , , , , ,

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