August began my niche topic month on travel. I decided to only write about travel related items as I was about to embark on my own journey very soon. Looking back at the results, it felt a bit stifiling. That specific topic did not cause me to flourish, but instead made me hesitant to write at all. In finding the right “place” for this website I can officially say I don’t want to be pigeonholed.

A list of August’s Travel Posts:

1. Introduction: The NiToBloMo Experiment
2. A Confident Traveler: My Goal To Be More Confident
3. Building Legacy: How Travel Boosts The Momentum of Your Legacy and Offers Eternal Life
4. Luck: Stop Waiting To Get Lucky
5. Moving: Loving Life’s Shakeups – Top 10 Reasons I Love To Relocate
6. More on Legacy: Building a Legacy To Be Proud Of – 2 Cornerstones of Success
7. Where? And Why? Choosing Your Destination
8. Gear/Packing: 6 Best Travel Gear Posts Around
9. Shopping:  Shopping and Traveling – How do you manage?
10. Sensitive Travelers: Suggestions For Sensitive Travelers

Now in the main leg of my travelling journey I find myself thinking about all kinds of things, not related to travel. And it’s time to find the right balance between recording a wonderful journey for my own personal satisfaction (and keepsakes) and writing great new content for this blog. We can only wait and see how things will go!

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I’ll admit I’m a bit of a homebody sometimes. But as of today I have no official address, so that’s obviously going to need some adjustment time. This is a compliation of things I like to bring with me when I’m somewhere unfamiliar. More than others I would say — being an introvert — I need recovery time at the end of a long day of interaction and travel. So i’ve included a few recovery tools as well. (See the interactive set of items here.)

What else would you add to this list? Or, what do you bring with you to make you feel more ‘at home’ in a new place?

Further reading for sensitivity questions:

• Why it’s hard to be a highly sensitive (HSP) introvert (psychologytoday.com)
• The Introvert’s Survival Guide to Conferences. (dancurtis.ca)
• When Networking Is Painful (psychologytoday.com)
• The Secret Life of Introverts (psychologytoday.com)

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I need to fess up. I’m a shopping addict. But I’m in recovery so it’s okay. (Currently reading: Your Money Or Your Life by Vicki Robin & Joe Dominguez) What does this have to do with travel? Well, a lot actually.

The temptation to shop while on vacation is huge. Heck, some people vacation with the sole intention to shop their little hearts out. And that’s alright if you’ve got the money, do whatever brings you happiness. But for me I need to look at it from a different angle. So far I’ve already indulged in a few things it seemed I “needed” before heading out anywhere.

1. Incase grey backpack
2. Keen sandal shoes
3. Sam Edelman Sneakers
4. Several travel books
5. A new digital camera
6. Journal
7. Outdoor Research Jacket
8. Travel sheets
9. Swiss Army Knife
10. Eye-Fi Memory Card (+ hotspot subscription access)
11. Cargo Pants

Yikes! I’m working on holding back more. While I’m happy with my purchases now, I know there will be a lot of gazingus pins along the way pining for my attention and money. It’s clutter. It’s usually cheap, low quality, and for some reason we’re convinced we need it. I’m attempting to avoid souveniers altogether and just buy essential items while I’m traveling, in keeping with a new, more clutter free lifestyle. It’s hard. Really, but I’m glad that’s off my chest. Now I have a question for you.

Do you buy souveneirs? If so, do you collect a certain type, and what do you do with them when you get home?

If you don’t buy souveniers, what’s your policy on shopping while on vacation?

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I’m not 100% sure why I find “gear lists” so fascinating, but it probably has something to do with the similar “whats in your bag ” phenomenon on Flickr. Here are some of my favorites…

Go Backpacking: Packing List

Never Ending Voyage: What Do You Pack When You Are Leaving Forever

Ridiculously Extraordinary: How To Pack Ultra Light

Matador Goods: Packing and the Mantra of Minimalism

Live Uncomfortably: Travel Through Life Light

Chrissyfer: Packing List 12 Day Trip

Plus Two Bonus Before-You-Leave Posts!

Airtreks: 101 Things To Do Before Your Trip

One Bag: To-Do List

Oh boy I have a lot of paring down I need to do before I can get away with TWO suitcases!

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I am getting so ramped up and ready to move right now. Making decisions about everything I own. What I’ll need for a month. What I can’t part with for storage. Not to mention all of the junk I need to donate and recycle. Honestly, I don’t know how this all happened! Where did it start? How? It’s somewhat baffling.

In the past my blogs have been very personal and I’ve had no qualms about sharing random details in my posts. But that’s not my goal here. I’m aiming to be of some value somehow. To do something for other people. Since finishing the 12 week creative recovery program (The Artist’s Way) I feel very focused and open to new creative things happening in my life. Note: Creative being anything of creation, producing and building. The times when we’re not consumers.

I’m most excited about going on this vacation because in-part it’s totally random, and also there are a lot of beautiful things I’m going to see on the way. I just trust that there are.

Trusting

I’ve been asked countless times  “Why Seattle?” and the best I’ve come up with has been, “I found a place I could afford for a month there.” Also, “Why not?” Neither answer seems to fully satisfy people but the beauty of this adventure is the fact that reason is not steering the ship. My heart is. When an opportunity opened up and fit for me I had no reason not to jump right in. Staying stuck here, after losing my father just didn’t feel right. In fact, when being totally honest with myself it seems like it would be impossible NOT to act/move/do things at this time. When your goals are simply to absorb beauty and to reconnect with yourself it really doesn’t matter where you go.

But I’m going to heal. I’m going because staying doesn’t produce any internal movement. With such powerful emotions riding me through the ups and downs Seattle seemed to choose me. It was towards the bottom of my list of cities I might like to see. But now it feels completely right and I’m absolutely thrilled to see what happens.

Healing — A Choice

To continue my creative recovery I’m planning to do a lot of journaling and blogging. I just finished reading up “Globejotting” by Dave Fox . I even did a video review of the book here.

In short, I’m practicing not letting my vacation destination define what happens to me while I’m there. Traveling is such a tiny thing built up into lots of big overwhelming pieces sometimes. But in truth just choosing a destination in the future, that you can move towards, (anywhere really!) is the only part that truly matters. Any sort of movement and growth skip along hand in hand into the sunset of our dream vacation. (Oh yeah right, that vacation we’re actually going to take! Hell yeah!)

By the way I have a beautiful new TV page up for all of my book reviews. The collection should be growing steadily from now on and it’s a project I’m loving.

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I may also have titled this post “How to Earn Brownie Points with Anyone,” because we all love to be seen and heard for who we really are. My main reason for writing however is that I needed to add some thoughts to my previous post on legacy. This goal is loftier than gaining brownie points or quick fame.

I will highlight what I think is the most important guideline to a great legacy –
Your relationships must be fiercely honest and varied.

(That is, if you’re out to create a positive and long-lasting legacy for yourself. I’m going to assume that you are for the sake of this article.)

Honest

Why do the need to be so honest? You already know why, we can feel when we trust someone and we can also feel when we don’t. It’s a combination of that gut reaction we all get and careful observation in conversation. Is it like talking to a wall? Or a broken record? Do you know what they love, or just what they hate? (It’s easier for us to share things we hate/loathe/detest because whining is generally very acceptable form of ‘conversation’.) It can be hard to express our love for things to other people. Sometimes it just feels very personal.

I’ll use myself as an example; I really love the web and this whole blogging world. I spend endless hours reading about developing good articles, site design, optimization, social media and anything web related. But I don’t really share this with anyone in my day-to-day life. Because I know they don’t share the same love or understand, I usually just leave it out of conversation. But this leaves both myself and others with a lack of honesty.

You can’t help someone build a legacy if you don’t even know what it is! So do your friends a favor and stop whining about the things you’ll be happy to leave behind on this earth (parking tickets, mosquitos, whatever) and share what you’d love to have in your life forever.

To put it simply, all those things you complained about won’t bother you (or your friends) when you’re gone. But the effort and love you put in to things will last. It will leave impressions. Building blocks for your legacy.

Varied

Image by khalid almasoud via Flickr

What’s so special about variety? Picture a persons legacy as a stack of blocks, building on top of one another (like the pyramids in Egypt- mega legacy building there in a scary literal sense of the word). Every person you have a genuine connection with helps shape your blocks (circles, stars, whatever!) In return, you shape theirs aswell. It works symbiotically, and no other way. You can’t fake quality interconnection. And trying to shape all your blocks alone leads to burnout and an incomplete legacy. Nobody builds a monument by themselves.

That’s why we need people. It’s a basic thing. Loners and socialites alike, if we never share anything honest or genuine our legacies will be, well… nonexistent.

So take pride in the building process. Build whatever shaped/sized/colored legacy you want! It doesn’t have to be big to matter, nor need it be perfect. Legacies are built on BOTH successes and failures from our lives. The ups and downs. All of it contributes to the creation process, the building. Make decisions you are proud of now, and you can rest assured your legacy will be recognized with honor and integrity.

In the end, everything is decided by the relationships you create with others. Stick with honesty and seek variety. Be genuine, build upwards, be remembered.

Besides, everyone likes knowing they had a hand in helping cultivate a genuine, honest life.

Related article: How Travel Boosts The Momentum of Your Legacy and Offers Eternal Life

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Image by clevercupcakes via Flickr

I admit, I’m a novice “relocater” (or in other terms, I haven’t moved a bazillion times in my life — yet!) so this list should strike you as that much more powerful. I’ve only done it a few times, and I’ve had a blast with it every time!

1. You have no choice but to consolidate your stuff.
2. You can take the time to do a major purge.
3. It’s a simple reason and logical time to be charitable.
4. You’ll be living with my bare minimums for the last&first few days of a move.
5. You get a chance to literally take a look at what you need (and what you don’t!)
6. Your head is given a fresh space to observe, think, work, and wander.
7. It’s creatively motivating and refreshing. New surroundings mean new perspective.
8. Everything gets cleaned. (The deep kind of clean that you can feel in your bones.)
9. It’s a good excuse to completely overhaul your style (of home decor or otherwise).
10. You get to realign and readjust. Like the session you’ll need with a chiropractor after lifting all those boxes.

Bonus reason: You have guests over (to help out) so you get to feed and entertain them, if you’re into that type of thing.

So I hope that got you off your procrastinating behind to get you up and out of that inappropriate, ill-located, un-fabulous place you’re calling a home or office. Shake things up! Initiate some change. Purge, clean, observe your new space!

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Overnight success isn’t real. That’s not how it happens. And here is proof, see Chris Guillebeau. This IS how it happens. And his value is much greater than if it had been one giant sweep of random luck or chance. I just finished reading his free eBook about “overnight success” and it restated a lot of things I already knew but wasn’t completely confident about. Luck happens. And so does shit. He reminded me that you can work the middle ground and come out a hit!

I’d love to keep rocking my creative impulses and indulging them with tasks and work and projects. And I have all the time I need because I’m not waiting for my fifteen minutes to come and go. I’m actually enjoying life, enjoying writing, and enjoying the slow process of growing! Besides I need to stop thinking that life’s all one great big practice game before the superbowl. It’s really more like one really long practice that never ends.

This upcoming travel adventure has proved this all again and again to me. Renewal, change, transformation and ‘the unexpected’ are always waiting for new ways to act out in your life (whether you like it or not).

Here’s some things I’ve learned about myself (but that I kind of hate to admit are true)…

1. Luck is completely unreliable and you can’t just ‘wait it out’ hoping it will reach you eventually. You might wait your whole life.
2. If I have the attention of lots of people I want to deserve it, earn it, and value it. Attention on the internet is a great treasure, so don’t waste it.
3. My impatience sometimes causees me to not do anything at all. It doesn’t keep me busy and it doesn’t make me a productive person. Being impatient is a waste of time.
4. Tiny, little action steps take a lot less emotional (read: stressful) energy to act upon.
5. Big steps are called projects and you can’t just “do” them. (Example: Write a book. Not something to put on your to-DO list!) Process, process, process. Work with it baby!
6. There is very little that I can be convinced to do 7 days a week. I will sleep and I will eat every damn day. Beyond that, you may be out of luck. My pace is never steady and I’m okay with that.
7. Daily action steps usually end up being not-so-daily-but-kinda-close action steps. We’re not robots and we can never be positive how we’ll feel from one day to the next.

– This is how I work and I can still be successful, dammit!

So can you, just stop waiting to get lucky and go do something now.

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When all is said and done we leave our loved ones, friends, extended family, counselors, mentors, teachers, and faint acquaintances with one thing — legacy. Legacies continue to move on through life long after we are physically gone, but the time until our legacy leaves this earth is a great variable. For historic figures one could say their legacies will never die and never be forgotten. For your shut-in neighbor next door, it’s hard to say. I speak, both as a shut-in (on occasion) and as a grieving daughter trying to figure out what’s left of her father. What’s his legacy? How does it affect me?

I was challenged recently towards my overall feelings for my father now that he has passed. Perhaps I had turned him into an idol who never did wrong and appeared super-human. (This was the suggestion of my opponent.) It struck me badly and I knew it wasn’t right.

I wasn’t delusional… my dad had no super powers, nor was he even ever PTA ‘dad of the month’ or anything in that vein. He was good and he was bad. Like all of us. But what I’m left with is the wonderful feeling of being part of his legacy. Humbly, I am now an intelligent woman taught in part by him (1/2 credit goes to mom) to be inquisitive, open-minded, self-reliant, creative, kind and strong. He brought great things to this world, but what I know best, is what he left with me. These are the things that I will carry with me in my legacy.

But this effect is not exclusive to our loved ones and closest friends. We leave little bits and pieces of ourselves with everyone we interact with.

Which brings me to the momentum of a legacy. It would seem the more people we get to know the better our chances of living on for all eternity (deep down isn’t this something everyone kind of wants? To be remembered.)

However, I think the key lies much more in variety. Two examples:

• If you continue to meet the same ‘types’ of people you leave yourself closed off, entrapped by your own legacy within this group of people.
• However, when we treat a scared child with generosity (or love or trust) your legacy changes. It shifts gears. It moves faster. It begins to swirl around a bit more and gain powerful dynamic. Afterall a dynamic legacy is a lasting one! It can take on a life of its own; and before you know it you’re making history (if that’s what you desire).

Travel grants you incredible chances to build momentum, leave behind a trail of influence. The number of people is not as important as the vast opportunity variety brings. Equally as important (worthy of its own blog post) is to gain messages from others. Learn their stories. Build their legacies. Realize the connection everyone has in this task!

I’m not sure we’re all trying to change the course of history, but we all can relate to a longing for life. Heck we plan our lives months (and years) in advance depending on the presence of life in us.

99% of people would probably say death is it, the end, you’re done here and we’re beyond earth (in some way, whatever your beliefs).

However, if you could ask those same people whether or not that sounds satisfactory… what do you think they might say? What would you say? Are you okay with death being the end of your existence? If you left no trace of your life behind would you be okay with that? Leaving no mark on humanity in any way? If we don’t leave anything behind, did we even ever exist? (You all know the tree metaphor I’m thinking of so I won’t repeat it here.)

This topic is very complex, and I don’t mean to delve too deep into morbid “death” talk on this blog, but there is a lot we can do NOW, right now, to build the momentum of our legacy. To feel more fulfilled. And ultimately, satisfied with what we’ve done so far. I will be exploring this further in an upcomng post.

So now, what will you do with your new opportunities to connect on the road and build the momentum of your legacy? What can you do right now?

For more on this topic I can suggest you read:

• Legacy (califmom.com)
• Rachael Freed: Clutter: Shaping Our Lives and Our Legacies (huffingtonpost.com)

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When embarking on a new travel journey, your own confidence is one of the biggest things you’re forced to confront. Sure, there’s money to worry about, tours to schedule, planes to catch… but talking to a local? For me, that’s hard. Alright, very, very hard. I’m extremely introverted and when I read this article by (one of my new favorite bloggers) Karol Gajda it resonated deeply:

How To Be More Confident. A few straightforward tips everyone should be using (unless you were born with oodles of confidence, you lucky dog)! Also, I commend Gajda for the last tip in the article. Alcohol is a crutch, it’s cheating yourself the chance to really change. Don’t cripple yourself. And thank you for the article Gajda!

I have heard before the advice of trying to act like someone you admire when you’re in a new situation. There are lots of possibilities when you’re surrounded by strangers. You could be anyone. You could even try to be a little kooky if you’d like some more ‘interesting’ new friends. You can be elegant, or whatever you need to attract your Right People. If I were to add anything to this advice I would say, don’t stick to one personality, experiment; it’s all good fun anyways!

However, I’ve found this tip difficult to put into action. It’s hard not to run right back to our safe pattern of doing things. Avoiding eye contact, pretend you’re on the phone, or whatever you do when you’re feeling a bit shy. While it’s easy in some ways to walk our well-worn path of timid, shy behavior – it’s not so easy on our self-esteem. Consistently giving in to my fears is nothing I take pride in. Acting in spite of fear is when you really get to live and breathe easy knowing you’ve tried something new!

If it feels so easy to stay afraid, then why are we so gosh darn hard on our selves later on? I know many times I think to myself, “Damn why didn’t I say something? That was so stupid of me.” That’s not easy. It’s not easy to keep coming up with excuses. It’s hard to repeat unhealthy patterns of behavior.

Therefor, I’ve decided that on my upcoming trip I’m going to take the advice in the article, fake it til I make it, and be a lot easier on myself!*

- What might you add if you were advising a shy traveler on the journey ahead? Who do you look to as a confident role model? (For me Gala Darling oozes confidence and I love her for it!)

* And yes, you can hold me accountable for this statement. Hopefully next month I’ll have a progress report for you! Stay tuned!

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