25 Feb 2015 4 Comments
I’m Packing My Laptop and Hitting the Road
Working as a vagabond traveling the world
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!
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?
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!
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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: Adventure, around the world, Budget travel, Mardi Gras, Paleo Lifestyle, paleo travel, RTW, Travel Planning, world travel