Guest Post by Charlotte Piper, a panelist in New Orleans for Meet, Plan, Go! Here’s a couple of short stories she’s written about her travels. You can find out more about the New Orleans event on the Facebook page we’ve created! We’re aiming to create a travel community in the city, not just for the one event.

“Why I Went”

As I sat in my desk chair, May 2009, disliking the project I had been assigned and feeling overwhelmed by work, I promised myself that in a year’s time I would leave my job and comfortable reality for an adventure.

The decision to go traveling was easy. I knew I enjoyed it, I had been before, and I had this undeniable urge to see and experience different parts of the world. The hard part was leaving.  What would it mean to leave my job, family, friends, familiar city, and altogether “normal” path that school and society had prepared me for? What would be the financial and overall life consequences to my decision?

I experienced a roller-coaster of emotions preparing for my trip, at once feeling like I could write my own rules while doubting my choices and conviction. The greatest help was the support I received from friends, coworkers, and even strangers each affirming what I believed: I had to get out there and do this before looking back one day and regretting never taking the plunge.

In the end, I left almost exactly a year later with a one-way ticket to Asia on the first of hopefully many journeys abroad.

A top travel experience for me is SCUBA diving

“ Whale Shark, Red Sea, Egypt”

A top travel experience for me is SCUBA diving in warm waters filled with incredibly diverse underwater life. On a trip to Egypt in August 2009, I went on a day trip from Dahab to the Ras Muhammad National Park off the cost of Sharm el-Shiekh.

The focus of the dive package was the Thistlegorm, a 1942 WWII transport ship that sunk in the waters off the Egyptian coast. Dive groups are frequently brought there for the day to explore the outside and inside of the wreck. The sensation of being 100ft down so close to a part of history lost years ago was amazing. The interior of the ship was filled with trucks and motorcycles, rusted over and covered with algae, as schools of brightly colored fish swam from deck to deck making the ship their home.

The third dive of the day was meant to be a little bonus-dive, a cool down from the excitement of the wreck. In groups of five we entered the dive site only to be signaled by our dive master: flat hand perpendicular to forehead—meaning shark. Swimming towards us was the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, a 20ft long whale shark slowly undulating in our direction from out of the deep. It swam around us and out of sight, only to return at the end of our dive watching us with heightened curiosity. Back on the boat moments later, tanks and flippers removed, the 14 divers on board rejoiced in the experience and bonded over one of the best dives of our lives.

On October 18th, 2011 in the city that never stops dancing, eating,  singing , and mostly drinking we’ll be hosting Meet, Plan, Go! Meet, Plan, Go! will be hosting their second annual nationwide event in 17 cities to inspire people to fulfill their career break and long-term travel dreams. The event will offer participants the opportunity to MEET inspirational speakers and like-minded travelers; get motivation, contacts and resources necessary to PLAN the trip of a lifetime; and start taking concrete steps forward to GO on that global adventure. Meet, Plan, Go! is a nationwide event created to inspire and encourage Americans to take a career break, a sabbatical, or just to go out and travel for an extended time. The idea being, that taking time in your life to explore and live in another country and culture is not a career breaker but a career and life enhancer!

Tickets are on sale now! Limited space available so reserve your tickets today!

Go check out the facebook page we’ve created for the New Orleans group, and if you’re not in the Big Easy check out an event close by!

We have some amazing panelists gathered for this event, let me introduce them to you!

Meet our Panelists!

Kelly Lewis: Founder of Go! Girl Guides, Kelly is a writer, a dreamer and an avid traveler. Originally from Hawaii, Kelly lived in New Zealand for a year before traversing through South America and the South Pacific. After a prophetic dream in late 2010, she started Go! Girl Guides, the world’s first series of travel guidebooks made just for solo female travelers. Go! Girl Guides: Thailand debuts this fall.

http://www.gogirlguides.com

Twitter: @gogirlguides

FB: facebook.com/gogirlguides

Kirsten Alana: is driven by an intense wanderlust, never feeling more at home than when boarding a plane or living out of a suitcase. She is addicted to the butterflies that occur right before an unknown, becomes known!

It wasn’t always like that, at 28 during bitter divorce proceedings, she decided she would change her life for the better and follow her wanderlust wherever the wind blew. More than a year of traveling has taken her to Mexico, France, the Bahamas, Argentina, Uruguay, western Canada and a dozen US states. A career and life break has helped her grow and sharpened her focus. Now, she plans to make a home in NYC where flights are easy to catch and the wind is very multi-cultural. She writes and shares her photographs at “Aviators and a Camera” hoping to inspire others to realize how important travel is to a well-rounded life.

http://www.aviatorsandacamera.com/
http://www.kirstenalana.com/

Twitter: @kirstenalana

FB: facebook.com/kirstenalanatravels

G+: gplus.to/kirstenalana

Charlotte Piper: Charlotte grew up in Canada, the United States and the UK. She believes international travel is an important educational experience and has prioritized it in her life. In May 2010, she left her corporate job in NYC to begin an open-ended, solo backpacking adventure. In 7 months, she made her way through 10 countries, mainly in South East Asia. Upon her return, Charlotte worked as business development manager at Wanderfly, a travel start-up based in NYC. She is currently developing a personal website of travel photos and journal entries.

Jordan Franklin: he would rather be traveling than doing anything else. With a degree in History of Latin America from Tulane University, he spent two years teaching English in Guadalajara, Mexico, is fluent in Spanish, and loves all things Latino. In 2009, while working for a law firm in New Orleans, he started a blog with a friend on politics and current events. What started as a way for them to vent their frustration at the rat race turned into a small media company focusing on digital publications. He left the law firm, and is currently studying for a masters in English at the University of New Orleans. When he graduates next spring, he plans to return to Mexico and make his way towards Chile and Argentina over the next several years, with no particular path or plan in mind.

Ryan Michael Murphy: Shortly after graduating from university, Ryan taught English in Harbin, China. He backpacked extensively through China and Europe before a foray to law school in Boston. He later returned to China as a Contributing Editor for China Economic Review magazine in Shanghai. He has settled in his birthplace, New Orleans.

Twitter: @nouveausouth

And I’ll be hosting this event:

Alyson Kilday grew up as a traveler/expat all of her life. Her parents were “corporate gypsies” and sailors, having sailed the Pacific with an infant and a toddler, ultimately ending up in Japan when she was 3. What was supposed to be a short visit turned into 10 years of living in Nagasaki. After leaving Japan they continued to travel and live in Buenos Aires, New Zealand, Philippines, and the Caribbean.

After saving up for about a year, she and John quit their “good” corporate jobs to go backpacking and hitchhiking on sailboats across the Caribbean to Colombia for nine months. They started Hop & Jaunt as both a travel blog and as a platform to showcase their designs. And freelance work allowed them to extend their trip much longer, and at a pace that they enjoyed. They now use their design and marketing background to help brand other travelers, small businesses, and non-profits locally and internationally.

Website: Hop and Jaunt  |  Twitter: @hopandjaunt  |  Facebook: Hop and Jaunt

Are you looking to change up your life and needing a little inspiration and encouragement? Then join us! Let’s start the movement towards Americans taking time to travel and learn about the world around them. If you’re in New Orleans on the 18th we’d love to meet you!

Everything has been a blur since we’ve returned to sweet home Alabama after our trip to New York City this summer. Alyson and I have been steadily busy doing work for our clients at HOP & JAUNT Creative Design. Here are couple you may have seen within the travel community recently.

This was a custom blog designed for Spencer Spellman of The Traveling Philosopher fame. We met Spence in New York at TBEX10 and decided to meet up again down in Mobile, Alabama. He wanted a great looking site to accompany his great writing. I really love the custom Twitter, RSS and Stumble Upon badges we did. Check out Spencer’s site when you get a chance. He has some entertaining articles, and each includes a bit of southern charm and wit.

HOP & JAUNT did this custom logo and header for Matt Long of Landlopers.com . The circular mark of the Landlopers logo represents a path leading into the distance between two mountain peaks. Its sleek, simple and iconic (which makes my graphic design senses tingle). Check out Matt’s site too, cause he has a lot of great advice for getting around the globe without breaking the bank.

So, what else is new from the desks of the traveling designers. We’ve done blogs, websites, ebooks and now…perhaps theater.

When Alyson and I were in NYC we saw a Broadway play. The set and costume designs inspired me to use our trip photos to create a mock-broadway production of our trip. Check out some of the images from the soon-to-be Off-Off-Off Broadway play, “HOP & JAUNT TEAR UP the BIG APPLE”.

We arrive in New York City!

We rented an apartment for the week.

We took a trip to the top of the Rockefeller Building and watched the sunset and the city’s lights come on.

We advanced down Wall Street.

On Independence Day we visited Liberty Isle and Ellis Island.

For the long ride home, we caught the Crescent Line back to Birmingham.

Qinghai Lake, written as 青海湖 translates literally as ‘blue sea lake’. It is the largest lake in China. The reason it’s often referred to as a “sea” is that this lake, which sits at 10,515 feet elevation, is SALTY! This lake also happens to be the largest body of saline water found in China. The lake is famous for it’s almost surreal turquoise glow. The color of the water is one of the most unique I’ve ever seen, caused by the low oxygen levels in the lake. Or by the nuclear testing done back in the ’50s and ’60s… either way it’s an out of this world view.

Qinghai Lake at 10,500ft

I was fortunate enough to get a chance to travel to this remote “wild west” region of China for a couple of days with my Dad. I was living in Shanghai for a few months at the time and he was in the country on business. Heading west together we got to explore a whole new face of China, a world away from the bustling smog enshrined metropolis of Beijing and Shanghai, together.

Qinghai is the western most (un)official providence in China. To it’s northwest is the  Xianiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and to it’s southwest is the famous Tibet Autonomous Region. There are a few don’t miss places to see while in the area, the Blue Sea Lake and the Kumbum Monastery. Today, let me take you around the lake district.

To get to the lake we rode on a min-van across vibrantly green plateaus for an hour or two, stopping off at a Tibetan Buddhist shrine built on a hill in the middle of no-where to stretch our legs.

A Small Village We Passed By, The Yellow Flowers Are Harvested For It’s Oil

I don’t recall the name of this small shrine, but I do know that it was built for an important female deity. Though there are only a few building that might house people in sight along the horizon, the shrine happens to be right off the two lane highway to the lake. It is a big enough tourist bus stop to ensure roadside vendors, entry ticket salesmen, and locals dressed in traditional clothing either selling the clothing or selling the opportunity to take a picture with them.

Ticket Vendors. The Traditional Coats That The Locals Wore Are Perfect For The Climate, Thick And Warm (Plus Great Style)

It’s definitely worth the stop! Not just to stretch your legs but to walk up the little hill and take in the scenery, colors, and the beautifully ornate temple. There are yaks laying about with their traditional Tibetan outfits on (pay per snap), and several local merchants to buy the ornate jackets from. The air is so much thinner up at those heights that I remember feeling out of breath just from the short hike up. Also it was quite chilly, even during mid-summer, and the strong winds were a never-abating!

After the short lay-over at the temple we headed on ward towards the “Ocean In The Sky.” The pictures really don’t do it justice, as the color of the water seemed to glow, it reminded me of blue kryptonite for some reason….

This used to be an atomic bomb test site back in the ’50-60s as well, might explain the glow in the water…

A Camel by a salty lake 10,500ft up, not a sight you see everyday

Tibetan Prayer Flags

Tibetan Child “model”

I took that last picture of this amazingly beautiful little child, only to find out that I owed her money…and was then surrounded by another ten kids offering to pose with me. Turns out they are here to pose with tourists, and they can be VERY persistent so either have some change ready or hide your camera.

Once at the lake you can take ferry rides out to exposed sand dunes in scattered throughout the lake. On our ride over we met a very interesting elderly couple, who were both so sharply dressed in their own style in a way I wished I could pull of. Turns out this was their first vacation, and first time leaving their village to the east. They spoke a very strong dialect and even our friend who spoke fluent Chinese had a hard time understanding them. The most amazing thing about meeting them was once again finding out how small the world is. Though they had never left their small village in rural China it turns out that their son is currently living in Seattle…as a computer programmer! Guess which company..? They were planning on visiting him and flying for the first time later that year.

The Coolest Grandparent’s

Loved Her Look!

On the way out of the designated lake viewing area there are display tents from the regional nomadic tribes. Though these are for tourists, we saw communities of nomads who had set up their tents along the waterfront on the way in. The number of nomadic people are dwindling, part economic pressures to migrate to the city and also in part by a concentrated effort by the government who have built cities for the sole purpose of relocating the nomadic people to a permanent location.

Nomadic tribes camped out for spring

Set Up For Tourists To Tour

Another interesting thing to check out while you are in the area is the Tibetan Mastiffs. These are huge, woolly, adorable looking, but at times vicious guard dogs of the region. There are a several pens where the dogs are housed. When I was there there were a few teen pups that made you forget how tough these fighting dogs can get.

They Have Been Bred To Be Strong & Ferocious When Needed

But How Cute Is This?

Next post will be about the Kumbum monastery and temple. If anyone has been to this area or to the monastery please feel free to add any additional information or tips you might have come across. There is not that much accurate info on the web for this region.

Today, we want to tell you about two really fantastic people who are currently sailing in the south Pacific. Otto and Lili are two very good friends Alyson and I made while traveling through the southern Caribbean. Unlike us, they have their own boat named Vagabond. Its a 46′ Dix sailboat that Otto built himself. They left from South Africa on Vagabond over 3 years ago and have been sailing their way around the world ever since.

Otto, Lili, and Alyson reveling during the Colombian Independence Day Festivals in Cartagena.

Alyson and I last saw Otto and Lili in Cartagena, Colombia where we all spent several weeks enjoying festivals, playing backgammon tournaments and exploring the city. Since then Vagabond has sailed through the San Blas Islands of Panama and on through the canal. Yesterday, we received an email with some fun and amazing photos of their current location, the Galapagos Islands. We thought you guys would enjoy these!

From Lili and Otto:

“Hola amigos & amigas

Yesterday we went on a tour of the island and the attached pictures tell a story. We are incredibly impressed how things are done here – very eco friendly and tastefully laid out. Everywhere you go, there are signs carved out of wood that are very informative and loads of benches to rest ones weary feet from all the walking in the heat. We absolutely love it here – the wildlife is amazing and we are having such fun swimming and frolicking with the sea lions, especially the pups, in the water.

Today and tomorrow we will spend refuelling with diesel and then we are going to go diving in a place that is notorious for its viewing of hammerhead sharks, the following day we will take a ferry to the next island over called Santa Cruz where we will visit the Charles Darwin Scientific Research Centre and then we will just hang around for a few more days to enjoy the wonderful snorkelling and other sites. It’s so nice being a tourist again.”

At the Volcano Crater with our guide Carlos.

Benches in the Park.

Galapagos Land Tortoise.

Galapagos Marine Iguana.

Lil in the Tortoise Sanctuary.

Looking down from the Volcano

Otto, the photographer.

Signs in the Sanctuary.

More Signs.

Sea Lions doing Yoga.

Maureen making friends.

Sea Lion Pup.

More Yoga.

Playtime.

The Scenery.

Crewing with Otto and Lili is a fellow travel blogger, Ursula at Abroad Aboard. Her stories of their trip from Panama to the Galapagos are fun, insightful and hilarious. Here is a short excerpt from her post about dealing with sea lions during their second day in the Galapagos.

“A HUGE male seal stank the whole stern up this morning, and THEN he shit…. the smell was intolerable. Otto fixed a rope, lightly tied, to dangle onto the seal, like a bad itch that won’t go away, and well, he left. Maybe it is that simple to get rid of them? They are ALL OVER the anchorage & the dock & jetty & jetty pathway…. Over coffee this morning, Otto & Lili tell me that they discovered seals snort, fart, cough, whistle, honk etc & smell bad through the night, they are nocturnal! “

To read more about their adventures check out Ursula’s blog at Abroad Aboard.