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!

Have you ever just wanted to just pack up and catch a plane to some far-flung location? Stand up in the middle of your cubicle farm and announce that you’re going across the ocean to your bleary eyed co-workers? Or even just wanted to unplug and see what the world has to offer for just a few weeks? But how can you? You’re working, you have families, bills, mortgages, pets, RESPONSIBILITIES! Well gather around folks, we’ve got something to tell you…Career Breaks!! It’s not only possible but will most likely be the best thing that has ever happened to you and even to your career.

Career breaks are fairly common across Europe and Australia but have are just begging to be seen in the United States and Canada. What is a career break? It’s basically just what it sounds like, taking a break or sabbatical from your career, in most cases to travel.

Last year several seasoned travelers and career breakers created Meet Plan Go! An online career break site full of articles, tips, and insight about traveling and taking a career break from people who are or have done it. Not only do they have a great site, but last year they created Meet Plan Go! Events across 13 cities with over 1500 attendees all on the same night! Read what the NY Times had to say about it.

This year the event will be held in over 17 cities across the U.S. and Canada. And for the first time there will be an event in New Olreans, hosted by yours truly! Leaving our old life behind to go traveling wasn’t easy, but doing so not only gave us amazing expereinces and memories but have absolutly made us better people all around. It gave us the confidence to come back and start our own company in a new city, something we had wanted to do in our past life but was too uncertain to try. Taking the time to travel opened so many unexpected and amazing doors, and now we want to share this passion and experience with others. We want to nudge those who might be just “daydreaming” into taking the next step!

Does the idea of taking off and exploring the world get your blood pumping and nerves tingling? If so here’s where you can find out more:

Meet Plan Go! Website

Meet Plan Go! Facebook

Meet Plan Go! Twitter

Sign up for the informative and fun Newsletter

See all the cities and hosts for the event!

Early bird tickets to the event will go on sale at a discounted price in May, don’t wait to the last minuet as last year several hundred people were on the waiting list.

I will be hosting with backup from John, but I will be looking for people interested in becoming a panelist, help out as a volunteer, a venue, and sponsors! If you are interested or know of someone who might be a perfect fit let me know via facebook, twitter, or good ‘ol email: thecrew(at)hopandjaunt.com!

Here’s some quotes from people across the country who attended the event last year!
“This was a fantastic event! It made me realize that long-term travel is a completely realistic goal and that I have much amazing company also doing the same.” – Seattle Attendee

“Your event convinced me that my pipe dream of traveling was actually possible… and then gave me tips and tricks on how to accomplish it.” – NYC Attendee

“After this event the excitement for traveling was high for everyone. The panelists were helpful, gave excellent examples of things to do and not do, plus lots of encouragement. Everyone with this dream should go to see how it is possible.” – Chicago Attendee

“I liked the breadth of experience. Some panelists were younger twentysomethings, some were older with families. They made it clear there was no one right way to do it.” – Boston Attendee

“I loved this event! It helped reassure me that I wasn’t crazy about thinking about quitting my job to hit the road, and it connected me with many other like-minded travelers.” – Orlando Attendee

“I loved the presenters. I was so impressed with their generosity to share their experiences. It was such a good evening for me and my partner.” – Toronto Attendee

“A life-inspiring event – covering an amazing amount of relevant material. I would definitely attend another and another until I “go!”" – San Francisco Attendee

Well we’ve official started the New Year as freshly minted “New Orleanians.” It has been a crazy wonderful time for the past few months setting up shop and home in a new city, meeting bus loads of amazing new people, and squeezing in as much of the culture and events that this city has to offer. Thanks to the amazing travel community that keeps us in mind when they need a little creative design we’ve been busy as can be with the design side of Hop & Jaunt. (Check out our FB page for some pics from recent projects) However it’s also caused us to fall behind on our blog. We know it, and it’s been weighing on our hearts as though we’ve been neglecting the ‘ol family dog since Santa dropped off a new puppy. It’s also tough to sit down and write when you’ve let the time spread too long between posts. You feel awkward, not sure how to break the ice again. The only way to do it is to dive head first right back in!!

So for starters I need to just tell you that we have fallen pretty hard for this new town. I think this may be a keeper, I mean how could you not love a city that kicks off Carnival season on the twelfth night of the New Year and really doesn’t lay off until the wee hours of the thirty first of December?

Well OK, technically Carnival season ends with a bang on Fat Tuesday (March 8th) i.e. Mardi Gras! Then comes Louisiana Oyster Jubilee,  Old Algiers RiverFest,  French Quarter Festival, the world famous Jazz Fest,  followed by another half a dozen smaller festivals. Here’s a link to one event calendar for the city, but I imagine there are even more events going on. One of the events that I’m looking forward to attending this year, not to mention all mentioned festivals, is San Fermin in Nueva Orleans. It’s the running of the bulls, but with a fun twist. Instead of live bulls the local Roller Derby team’s girls are the “bulls” chasing the slightly (?) intoxicated mob clad in white all over the city.

The festivities don’t slow down for in the fall either, with Voodoo Fest, the craziness that is Halloween here, and finally the Po-Boy Festival!

We moved here in October so we were excited to spend Halloween in the city! To pay homage to the voodoo history in the city we decided to go as the Corpse Bride/Groom. The truth is we had this urge to paint our faces, and also long story short John found the dress on a scarecrow in the woods of Alabama…I mean what else could I wear for Halloween??

If ever in New Orleans for Halloween the place to see and be seen in your craziest costume is in and around Frenchmen St. The epicenter of the artsy folks, the hipsters, and theater people, so you know you’ll see the best costumes in this neighborhood.

Our friend Ashley with an uncanny look a like of Zach Galifianakis

After the Halloween ruckus abated the next main event on our plate was the Po-Boy Festival. Our friends Lindsey and Razz were living just a block from the festival so that Sunday we headed over to their place nice and early. We had no idea what to expect but knew there would be great food. Starting the day off right with Momosas made with satsumas growing in the backyard, we toasted Lindsey and Razz as they announced their engagement. Congrats you two!!

The Happy Couple

Champagne+Fresh Satsumas=Bliss

The festival soon become PACKED as some 45,000 people filtered through. We went in in rotations, taking turn waiting in line and sharing the different po-boys we had acquired. I wish I had pics but you can get all the info and pics your salivating mouth can handle at the Po-Boy Fest’s site.

December went by in a blur as we traveled across the country visiting our perspective family for the holidays. We did end up in town for New Year’s Eve. Though we still have a very sparse furniture situation we managed to throw a little pre-party with friends before heading off to the waterfront to watch the fireworks. As the fog rolled across the Mississippi river we all counted down to the New Year and made our silent resolutions.

Last night was another little event that turned into a bizarre and wonderful night. It was a New Zealand vodka, 42 Below’s world cocktail competition event. The theme for the event was Carnival and while the bartenders competed for the best cocktail we were served free cocktails all night while scantly clad women danced and a very muscly man walked around in a lion’s costume. There were jugglers, a clown on stilts, a photobooth, and a fortune teller.

Photo Booth Was A Highlight For Me

The venue was held at the 12bar on Fulton St. A comfortable and trendy little bar that often has great live music and comedey nights. To be honest I wasn’t sure who won the cocktail competition as I was captivated by the story of how a man who lost his arms ten years ago as an electrician ended up in New Orleans as the body double for Bruce Willis. True Story.  Love this city.

Bruce’s double for upcoming movie. Spoiler Alert: at one point Bruce might lose his arms

After our first night out in the Big Apple, Alyson and I just managed to slip into our cozy hostel bunks before the “tranquility” of dawn descended on the city of New York. The symphony of the morning began pianissimo before a quick crescendo of trumpeting cab horns and thundering garbage trucks. Burying my head beneath my pillow, I began to understand the meaning behind “the city that never sleeps“.

Stairs in our hostel.

The view from the roof of the Jazz on the Town Hostel.

We somehow managed to resurrect ourselves, grab a cup of coffee, and make it to the conference just in time to be a half hour late. The fact that we arrived late puzzled us a bit, but we were too tired to dwell on it. Only later did we discover that our mobile phone had not automatically updated to the new time zone. We spent the rest of the weekend arriving fashionably late to all of the TBEX functions.

After our morning boost of caffeine had begun to take effect, we made our way into the crowded auditorium. It was a packed house. Travel bloggers from URL’s all across the globe were in attendance. Surely, some world record for largest group of people simultaneously twittering had been broken. We had all taken our pilgrimage here to study, discuss and learn the revered ways of Travel Blogging. Very important issues were discussed such as, “What makes good stories?“, “How do you do Podcasts and Videos“, and “How the Hell Do You Make Money at Blogging?” Time will soon show whether Alyson and I were listening closely enough.

In the thick of it at TBEX TEN.

Yours Truly.

Aside from the panel discussions, the remaining two days of TBEX were filled with glorious gifts, platters of free food, and cups that overflowed. Alyson and I were seriously impressed (and impressing Alyson is no easy task). I have to say that both NYC and TBEX far exceeded my expectations. Understandably, the glittering lights and tall buildings of the Big Apple would ‘WOW’ anyone just off the plane from a sleepy, small Alabama town, but I still found it amazing that a group of backpackers and travelers could pull off such a well done convention.

Those glittering lights and tall buildings you just read about.

Obviously, a church.

Alyson twittering as usual.

At the close of the conference each afternoon we would all join a mass exodus and head to the pub hosting the “After Party”. These social engagements lasted well into the late evenings. Apparently, travel bloggers not only love 1) Travel and 2) Blogging, but also 3) Talking and 4) Drinking. The after party events have all become a blur to me. Not because of drinking to the point of memory loss…no, but because of the shear number of people we met during these soirées. The names, faces, web addresses and twitter handles have all become a jumbled collection of information hastily stored within my short-term memory. Perhaps self hypnosis memory recall could help sort out the details, but for now I will go ahead and apologize in case we meet again and I seem to have forgotten you. I blame the beer.

Naturally, after the “After Party” came the pub crawling. Though we managed to stumble our way in and back out of several fine establishments, by far my favorite was McSorley’s Old Ale House. McSorley’s is a 156 year old pub that is still open and going strong. They only serve a choice of either light or dark ale, but the selection wasn’t the attraction. The charm is all in the history. The walls are adorned with old photographs and newspaper clippings. Behind the bar looms an old wooden ice box and in the center of the pub stands a pot belly stove. You can smell the dust. The waiters walk up with fistfuls of beer mugs and slam them before you on the thick wooden tables. Some of the more famous patrons to McSorley’s have been Abraham Lincoln, John Lennon, and Woody Guthrie. Even American poet E.E. Cummings published a poem titled, “Sitting in McSorley’s”. After having danced where George Washington once danced in Charleston, we were happy to drink where Lincoln once had merriment in New York.

McSorley’s Old Ale House

Inspiration for travel writing.

The watering hole. Paul, Candice and Alyson wet their lips.

Paul Thompson enjoying some McSorley’s Dark Ale.

This bar is like a time capsule.

Sawdust strewn floors.

When not at the conference or pub crawling with other bloggers, Alyson and I spent our time wandering aimlessly through Greenwich Village. The summer sun was really beating down one Sunday afternoon so we stopped to cool off in the shade of the trees in Washington Square. The squares of NYC really reminded me of the plazas in Colombia. People flock to these oases hidden throughout the concrete corridors of the city. The squares are gathering spots, resting spots, and places to just sit and think. There were children and students cooling off in a large fountain and splashing around in its refreshing waters. Alyson and I watched in silent envy wishing we could join them. We wiped the beads of sweat from our brow and continued on our walk to find something to eat.

A shady stroll through Washington Square.

The arch at Washington Square. Notice the food vendors.

The fountain at Washington Square.

A shop in Greenwich Village that sells only Chess Games.

Shopping for records in Greenwich Village.

The concrete corridors of NYC.

Man, I could live on NYC street food… (but Alyson would never allow it). There is such a fulfilling yet simple pleasure from standing on a sidewalk and being offered grilled meats on a stick. And the best part is the food carts are everywhere. No matter where in Manhattan we went the wind always carried the savory smells of chicken and pork sizzling over a charcoal flame down the long avenues and right to my nose. Hot Dogs in Central Park, Kabobs at Union Square, Gyros at the Battery. Pizza on our stoop. It was like being at a county fair every day.

Pizza on the Stoop.

Hot Dogs in Central Park.

Sunflowers at Union Square.

Union Square, near our hostel, was a great place to score cheap, delicious grub. It was conveniently located with plenty of food carts and lots of shady resting places. While taking a rest from meandering around one afternoon we stopped at Union Square for some casual people watching and spicy chicken kabobs. I’ve never seen a city so historically old and yet internally young. Hordes of young professionals and hipsters covered the city sidewalks, filled the shops and cafes, and lounged on the emerald green grass of the square. They strummed guitars for change, surrounded outdoor chess boards awaiting their turn to play, and desperately promoted themselves from behind card tables of CDs. We watched a group of enthusiastic activists try to convince passers-by to take off their clothes. They held picket signs that read, “Its Okay to Be Naked” and sashayed around the square with barely anything on. Surprisingly, several pedestrians they had stopped would comply with their demands and disrobe while the young nudists shouted and cheered. Dinner and a show for four bucks fifty…perhaps only in New York.