A few minutes ago, I deleted a few versions of this post that I had struggled to complete. I’ve now realized that I was simply trying to say too much and so I think it’s best to let the core focus of this post do most of the talking.

And that core focus is simple: how we can all make a difference in this world.

Recently, I was asked by the mighty decent human being who is Raam Dev, to participate in [...]]]>

A few minutes ago, I deleted a few versions of this post that I had struggled to complete. I’ve now realized that I was simply trying to say too much and so I think it’s best to let the core focus of this post do most of the talking.

And that core focus is simple: how we can all make a difference in this world.

Recently, I was asked by the mighty decent human being who is Raam Dev, to participate in an idea of his, a collaborative project aimed at inspiring people to change the world by making small changes in their own lives.

The project is called “Small Ways to Make a Big Difference” and it came into existence as a result of Raam’s current life-changing travel experiences throughout India, Vietnam and Nepal. After observing first-hand the suffering, inequality and injustice that plagues much of our planet, Raam found himself asking the same question over and over again – how does one change this situation?

In short, this project is the start of his answer, or more correctly, it is the beginning of his mission to foster a global community of individuals with a shared interest in ways to “live more sustainable, to live happier and healthier, to get more out of life, to inspire and share, to reconnect with our true selves, to be a leader, to exist more intelligently.”

“Small Ways to Make a Big Difference” offers 160 of those ways, all of which were contributed by a diverse collection of interesting people with ideas to share, including the wonderful minds behind such blogs as Uncornered Market, The Life Thing, Live Collar Free, Travels of Adam, Live Richly, Vagabond Quest, Thrilling Heroics, Migrationology, JetSetCitizen and of course, Raam Dev himself.

Whether it’s a way to improve how we work, play, love, eat, treat the planet or interact with others, each idea can help us align our lives with that vision of a more harmonious, peaceful world that is forever present in our minds.

Perhaps the material in this book can act as a good old-fashioned kick in the butt or maybe it can provide an eye-opening wake-up call or even a detailed guide to help alter the way we live. Whatever it’s potential for each individual, I am confident that nothing but rewards await any reader of such inspiring information.

There’s no nonsense at all involved here. The result of Raam’s work is available to absolutely anyone and it doesn’t cost anything.

So I hope that you’ll have a look at his project and spread the word to all those you think may be interested. And let us never lose our focus on trying to make the world a better place to live!

During a walk around Playa del Carmen yesterday, I happened to pass by a small, colorful building down a narrow side street, a street that I had never been down before. In the front window of this building, hanging from some sort of rotting suction cup hook, was a handwritten sign advertising “Estudios En Renta Por Mes” (Studios for Rent by the Month). And even though I already have a place to stay down here, my curious nature led me inside the doorway where [...]]]>

During a walk around Playa del Carmen yesterday, I happened to pass by a small, colorful building down a narrow side street, a street that I had never been down before. In the front window of this building, hanging from some sort of rotting suction cup hook, was a handwritten sign advertising “Estudios En Renta Por Mes” (Studios for Rent by the Month). And even though I already have a place to stay down here, my curious nature led me inside the doorway where I soon found myself asking the woman behind the desk if I could have a look at her studio apartments.

Olga, the woman behind the desk, happily led me up two flights of stairs before opening up one of the doors and inviting me in. I walked around the cozy studio, inspecting the king-size bed, the small sitting area, the recently renovated bathroom and the new air-conditioning unit, before being shown the common area on the first floor, which consisted of a large, well-maintained kitchen and a pleasantly laid out space with a half dozen tables and a few old sofas.

The price for one of these studios? $300 USD per month, with wi-fi and all utilities included.

PARADISE IS CHEAP!

In all honestly, this wasn’t exactly the most amazing apartment I’d ever seen and if I was in need of a place, I’d still have wanted to continue my search. However, after I thanked Olga for her time and walked back out to the street, I couldn’t help but think how cheap it really is for anyone to live in this tropical paradise known as the Riviera Maya.

With a $300/month studio apartment (that is four blocks from white sand beaches and two blocks from the center of town I might add), one would be hard-pressed to spend more than a $1000 per month in total to live here. In fact, one could very easily live a good life here for closer to $700 per month.

Naturally, such a realization leads me to wonder why more people don’t take advantage of such opportunities. After all, so many of us speak often about our desire to make a change in our lives by taking an extended break in some exciting and foreign land. But too often we conclude that “now is just not the right time” and so we put off our goals for yet another year, usually because of a simple mis-belief that to achieve such a goal would require an extraordinary amount of money.

THE QUESTION TO ASK YOURSELF IS…

How much do you spend per month on your current lifestyle, the one that you may be itching to break free from?

My immediate guess would be that most people are spending much more than $1000 per month once you take into account rent/mortgage, food, utilities, car payments and the rising cost of pet food.

Now consider this… I’ve almost never, during the past 11 years, spent more than $1000 USD in one single month of living overseas. And I’m not always a super-frugal nomad! If there’s something I want to do, I’ll pay for it without worrying too much about the cost and rarely have I had to skip out on something because it was too expensive.

Does this sound too good to be true? Well, for anyone worried that an extended overseas break will instantly drain your bank account, I now wish to share some of the places around the world where I’ve managed to live on less (and in most cases, much less) than $1000 per month.

*This is not a list of places I’ve traveled around for less than $1000 but places where I’ve rented a house or apartment, settled comfortably into the culture and unpacked my backpack for a while without moving around.

WHERE YOU CAN LIVE FOR LESS THAN $1000 PER MONTH

• Mexico – I’ve now spent 11 of the past 13 months living in Mexico, the first half living in the beautiful Pacific coast village of Sayulita and the second half in Playa del Carmen along the Caribbean Sea. The two apartments I’ve rented have both been modern, more than comfortable and within five minutes walking distance to stunning beaches. And they each cost less than $500 per month in rent. Good, fresh food costs very little in Mexico, public transportation is dirt cheap and most activities that I enjoy (swimming in the ocean, attempting to surf, exploring local towns and villages and walking wherever my legs will take me) don’t cost much, if anything, at all. I’d say that on average, I spend approximately $800 per month to live well (according to my basic nomadic lifestyle) in wonderful Mexico.

• India – On two occasions during my many visits to India over the years, I decided to stop traveling and actually stay put in one location for an extended period of time. First, it was the Tibetan village of McLeod Ganj, where I rented a wonderfully warm and cheerful rooftop room, with a view of the snow-capped Himalayas from my bed, for $120 USD per month. In all honestly, I could have eaten 10 meals per day, taken taxis everywhere I went (although I much preferred walking in the fresh mountain air) and signed up for as many yoga and meditation classes as I wished and I still would’ve had difficulty spending $500 per month. And last year, when I spent one month living in Calcutta, I found a decent budget hotel room for $5/night and spent a total of around $400 during my stay without once paying attention to what I spent. Of course, Calcutta is not on everyone’s list of places to live for a month, but it’s just an example!

• Australia – Yes, Australia. At the end of 2008 I spent five months living in Melbourne and it was an absolute bargain. Using the excellent Gumtree.com I found a room in a shared house, located only a 15 minute walk from the center of the city, for a mere $400 USD per month. And even with frequent pub visits, live music shows, festivals, day trips and a shocking number of meals at my favorite Indian and Vietnamese restaurants, I managed to keep my expenses under $1000 every month quite easily.

• Thailand – When I spent a stretch of time teaching English in the northern city of Chiang Mai, I shared an apartment with a friend of mine. I believe we paid about $200 USD each for our seventh floor pad that had a clear view to the beautiful Doi Suthep mountain behind the city. We ate all of our meals out (most of them at a random place called “Mr. Smiley’s” that was indeed owned by the happiest person on Earth), took frequent day and overnight trips all around northern Thailand, enjoyed daily foot massages and again, never paid much attention to how much we were spending. In the end, I had an incredibly rewarding, fun-filled experience for approximately $500 per month. And if you’re yet to be convinced that living in paradise doesn’t have to be expensive, just last year I spent a month on the absolutely perfect Thai island of Koh Mak, where a simple but super-comfortable beachfront bungalow set me back only $300 for four weeks!

Of course, the above isn’t even close to being an exhaustive list of countries where one could live for $1000 or less per month. These are just a selection of my personal experiences in order to help debunk the myth that living overseas, even in a first-world country such as Australia, requires some sort of winning lottery ticket. Had I wanted this post to be any longer than it already is, I could have added Argentina, Indonesia, Nepal and a few others to the list.

I also know that there are other expenses involved with such a trip as well, most notably the flight from your home country to wherever it is you want to go, but even with that cost, chances are you’ll still end up spending less per month than you’re spending right now. And again, that fact alone should help eliminate ‘money’ from your list of excuses as to why you’re unable to do some traveling or live overseas for a while at this point in your life.

There certainly may be other obstacles standing in your way, but now that we’ve tackled one of the biggest ones, we’ll start to tackle the others in the near future as well!

How many times have you received a gift from someone, only to stash it away, with no intention of ever using it? Think about all of those gifts that we don’t need, don’t want or simply receive just because certain occasions demand that gifts, any kind of gifts, be exchanged or given. In the end, what’s the point of accumulating more stuff, year after year, that will spend its existence rotting away in a box pushed into the back corner of a closet?

It [...]]]>

How many times have you received a gift from someone, only to stash it away, with no intention of ever using it? Think about all of those gifts that we don’t need, don’t want or simply receive just because certain occasions demand that gifts, any kind of gifts, be exchanged or given. In the end, what’s the point of accumulating more stuff, year after year, that will spend its existence rotting away in a box pushed into the back corner of a closet?

It seems a bit silly.

Well, does it always have to be this way?

Fellow bloggers Bessie and Kyle over at OnOurOwnPath.com don’t think so. In fact, they firmly believe that the gifts we receive should not help us accumulate stuff we’ll never use, but should help us achieve what we really want and what will truly make us happy – our dreams.

I happen to agree, as would most people I’d imagine. And instead of just sucking it up, slapping a fake smile on their faces and accepting yet another book on towel origami for their birthdays, Bessie and Kyle decided to change the formula of gift-giving altogether.

Enter WiseGifter.com, a very cool and inspirational tool that not only helps save you some closet space, but even more importantly, helps bring you closer to accomplishing your life goals.

Consider it a wedding registry, but instead of a wedding, your personalized Gift List will focus on whatever you’re trying to achieve at any given point in your life. After creating a quick and completely free account, you can then add as many items as you want, along with their value, to your list. You can list absolutely anything. For example, my Gift List is focused on my upcoming trip to the Middle East and therefore includes my first night’s accommodation in Istanbul, a meal at a recommended restaurant in Aleppo, Syria and a traditional Turkish bath at a hamam.  You can also always check out the sample Gift Lists on the WiseGifter site, which list such items as tango lessons, a plate of fresh empanadas in Buenos Aires, car parts, yoga classes and even a kayak trip, in order to help get your creative juices flowing.

Setting up your account takes about one minute and you’ll be instantly provided with your own personalized Gift List page and link that you can share with family and friends. You can also add photos and descriptions to each item on your Gift List and you can even break up more expensive items into smaller increments, turning that $300 flight to Costa Rica into 10 separate $30 gifts that others can give you.

Here’s a snapshot of my Gift List as an example…

The more creative you make your Gift List, chances are the more inclined your family and friends will be to help you achieve your goals. When someone wants to give you a gift, they simply visit your Gift List and read through the items that are still available. They then choose a gift, transfer the money via Paypal through the WiseGifter site and just like that, a gift will be checked off of your list.

Who should use WiseGifter?

Anyone can use it. It doesn’t matter if you’re about to start a one year round-the-world adventure, if you’re trying to start your own business or if your goal is to fix your car. Whatever would make you the happiest or whatever you need most, that’s what you put on your list and that’s what others will contribute towards when it comes time to give you a gift. As a result, wasteful gift-giving and the accumulation of useless stuff is eliminated!

And what I believe to be the most rewarding aspect of WiseGifter is it’s ability to inspire and motivate others to live a fuller life. Once you sign up and invite friends and family to check out your Gift List, they will hopefully begin to realize that they, too, can achieve their life goals, just as you’re setting out to do. Perhaps they’ll create their own Gift List, using it to inspire even more people as well. The potential for creating a massive wave of positive change is infinite with this project, which is the main reason I’m participating in and interested in spreading the word about WiseGifter.

Of course, you may wonder how Kyle and Bessie earn money with this site if setting up an account is completely free. Basically, they take a small 4% fee of the gifts that are sent your way in order to maintain the website and allow them to reap some benefit from all of their hard work. This fee is actually about half of what similar sites charge, and Bessie personally assured me that they’re more interested in helping others achieve their goals than they are in earning huge profits.

And after meeting the two of them a couple of weeks ago in NYC, I am convinced that their motives are nothing but genuine. These are two wonderful, inspiring people who are clearly passionate about this project. If you want an indication of what these two are all about before you check out WiseGifter, have a look at their excellent blog, OnOurOwnPath.com, where they write about every aspect of their “global life” (which has involved 900+ straight days of traveling so far).

WiseGifter.com: Less Stuff. More Life.

Tonight I’m in Florida. Tomorrow morning I’ll be in Mexico.

That’s right…Mexico, the country I left over two months ago, and the country to which I assumed I would not be returning to any time soon. But that’s how life works and given the fact that I’m still unable to depart for my adventure to the Middle East (as a result of my ongoing dental issue), I see no reason why I need to avoid being immersed in a foreign culture.

Basically, [...]]]>

Tonight I’m in Florida. Tomorrow morning I’ll be in Mexico.

That’s right…Mexico, the country I left over two months ago, and the country to which I assumed I would not be returning to any time soon. But that’s how life works and given the fact that I’m still unable to depart for my adventure to the Middle East (as a result of my ongoing dental issue), I see no reason why I need to avoid being immersed in a foreign culture.

Basically, until this frustrating dental problem of mine is cleared up, I’m unable to stray too far from Florida. And that’s what makes a return to Mexico so enticing, as Playa del Carmen (the town where I’ll be headed) is closer to Florida than all 49 other states in the US. A one-hour flight, a 30-minute drive, and I’m there.

I’m also very ready for a change. Spending the past 2 months back in the US has been an extreme challenge for me as I’m just not accustomed to being here for such an extended period of time. Since I don’t have a place of my own and my family and friends are scattered all over the country, I’m forced to bounce around from region to region, sleep on sofas and floors as you know and never really get comfortable. And this ends up affecting my work, my website and my sanity in general.

When I combine that with the overly disappointing fact that most of my major goals and plans for this year have thus far been turned upside down and remained unaccomplished due to this unexpected setback, I’m just ready to be somewhere different again. Normally, whenever I decide to travel to a certain part of the world, I’m out the door within a couple weeks, so this is the first time I’ve had travel plans (aka the Middle East) pushed back month after month after month due to something beyond my control. It’s tough, much tougher than I ever imagined.

So back to Mexico I go, to spend some more time working on my projects (including some super-exciting changes to this site), practicing my Spanish and eating huaraches until I’m free to head off to places known as Syria, Lebanon and Turkey.

I’m determined to make that trip happen as soon as humanly possible and until it does begin, I must thank all of you for sticking with me during this period of uncertainty and lack of direction.

I also wanted to thank everyone who offered such excellent advice in the comments and in emails after I wrote my “The Perfect Camera for a Nomad” post!  My new camera arrived four days ago and so far, I couldn’t be happier. It wasn’t an easy decision though and it actually came down to a last-second change of mind in the end, but I’ll write more about it as soon as I test the camera out during my first week back in Mexico.

I walked along the sidewalk of Jamshedji Tata Road in Mumbai, sweating profusely in the 115 degree heat and under the increasing weight of my backpack. Both of my hands struggled to hang on to a 50 lb (22 kg) duffel bag that I carried for a fellow traveler I had just met on a bus and as a result, I was unable to wipe my face dry. My eyes stung and there was nothing I could do [...]]]>

I walked along the sidewalk of Jamshedji Tata Road in Mumbai, sweating profusely in the 115 degree heat and under the increasing weight of my backpack. Both of my hands struggled to hang on to a 50 lb (22 kg) duffel bag that I carried for a fellow traveler I had just met on a bus and as a result, I was unable to wipe my face dry. My eyes stung and there was nothing I could do about it.

To make the situation worse, my good friend (who had joined me on this trip to India) and I couldn’t locate the hotel we had booked, as every single person we stopped on the street led us in a different direction. We had already circled the huge Oval Maiden Cricket Park with no luck at all and we’d walked around the entire Churchgate train station without making any progress whatsoever. And, of course, we eventually found ourselves right back where we had started.

We decided to try yet a new direction. I stepped down from the sidewalk and stood in between two parked cars, waiting for the impenetrable Mumbai traffic to clear just enough for us to run across to the other side of the street. And then, only seconds before I was about to begin my sprint, the parked car to my right began to move forward, quickly ramming into the duffel bag I held and knocking me off balance. I immediately found myself pinned to the car on my left with my legs twisted into a most uncomfortable position and unable to move at all. If the car moved forward any further, my legs were sure to snap in half.

I remained wedged between the two vehicles for what felt like ten seconds (although it was was probably ten hundredths of a second), until the careless driver slowly backed his car away.

And at that very moment, the heat, the stinging eyes, the back pain, the being lost, the near loss of my legs, all mixed together into one giant fireball, causing me to explode. I dropped the duffel bag on the ground, faced the driver who had just hit me and with as hard a fist as I could muster, I slammed my hand down on the hood of his car, twice.

Still fuming, I then ran over to the passenger side door, yanked it open and started screaming at the driver, accusing him of trying to kill me. While his face was immediately filled with fear and he quickly began offering apology after apology, I could barely hear his words as I continued screaming, at one point slamming the door shut, opening it up again and screaming some more.

It was not until I glanced towards the backseat of the car and noticed a petrified young boy of about two years old, his face covered in tears as he cowered in the corner, that I snapped out of my fit of anger. At that point, I simply closed the passenger door one more time, grabbed my backpack and the duffel bag and walked off down the road.

THE REASON BEHIND THE RANT

In the end, my above burst of frustration had almost nothing to do with the driver and him pinning me against another vehicle. That was simply the tipping point, the culmination of several unfortunate incidents.

Traveling, and especially third-world travel, can be difficult and exhausting even when everything goes according to plan, so when extreme tests of one’s patience and sanity are thrown in your direction, the challenge intensifies, and with it the frustration.

Here’s what happened…

Two days prior to this incident in Mumbai, I had been traveling on a long-distance bus across the Indian state of Rajasthan when a rainstorm suddenly began and my face became soaked before I could close the window next to me. Unfortunately, though, after wiping the water away with my hand and licking some of it off my lips, I discovered that it was not raining at all. It turned out that the woman in the sleeper compartment above me had a bout of motion sickness and when she vomited out of her window, “it” had all re-entered the bus through my window below, consequently landing right on my face.

The following night, only moments after entering my own sleeper compartment that I reserved for an 18-hour bus ride to Mumbai, fully intent on resting my exhausted body, I proceeded to spill my 2-liter bottle of water all over the thin foam mattress. And so I spent 18 hours laying in a puddle, unable to change compartments or move into a seat as the bus was completely full. When I finally arrived in Mumbai, wet and on the verge of delirium, I discovered that I was still an hour and a half taxi ride away from the heart of the city.

It was after this taxi ride, after walking around lost in Mumbai for another forty-five minutes, after melting in the heat and feeling my arms and back slowly break, that I found myself pinned in between two vehicles. And so, I snapped, like I’d never snapped before.

Actually, my friend would later tell me how utterly shocked he was at my reaction as he had never seen me so angry in the 15 years that we’d been friends. Heck, in the 30 years that I had known myself at that point, I’d never seen myself so upset either, not even close.

Later that night, after we had finally found our hotel and I had taken a much needed four hour nap, I had a chance to reflect on my horrible behavior. And every time I replayed the incident in my mind, I nearly broke down into tears, feeling nothing but embarrassment and shame.

FRUSTRATION AS A COMPANION

As I mentioned above, frustration is an expected part of travel. The mere act of challenging ourselves to journey beyond our comfort zones can be, well, uncomfortable at times. Ideally, we should embrace these challenges to our routine, to our ideas of how the world should work. I’ve always considered frustration to be a traveling companion, one who is constantly poking me with a stick, trying to stir me up and knock me off of my course, but who, in the end, is there to teach me lessons about life and about myself.

For years I was able to maintain my focus, to equanimously accept and handle even the most brutal, potentially frustrating of travel challenges. But on the occasion above, I failed the test. Instead of taking a calm step back in order to prevent myself from reaching such a useless level of anger, I chose to lunge for the jugular of the next person I encountered. While I certainly did learn a great deal about myself through this incident, I did so at the expense of other people. And that is not acceptable to me.

I can honestly say that such an incident has never happened again and in fact, I think I’ve been an even calmer person since that one blip. Rarely do I find myself overly frustrated these days, no matter what sort of troubling situation I may be facing.

DEALING WITH THE TOUGH TIMES

The key is to find ways to deal with the frustrations of travel so that we don’t allow every negative incident to build up, one on top of the other. If we’re not careful and we keep our frustrations inside, this is when we might find ourselves yelling at the next beggar that approaches, snapping at the shop owner that tries to lure us into their shop or treating everyone we encounter as if they had already done us harm. And then, we’ll snap over and over again, quickly watching our once rewarding travels unravel into a string of negative experiences.

Here’s some tips on how to handle the frustrations of travel:

• Do something different: Just stop whatever you’re doing and do something different. If I’m frustrated while trying to buy a train ticket, I’ll leave the station and go grab a bite to eat. The longer you remain in the frustrating situation, the more frustrating it may become.

• Close your eyes and breathe: It’s simple and you’ve probably heard it before, but it works. This will help calm you down and allow your brain to regather itself before you make any irrational moves (such as I did above!).

• Call home: Pick up a phone or jump on Skype and call a friend, parent or anyone you’re close to back at home. Chances are that even a quick conversation will put a smile on your face, allowing you to realize that your frustration perhaps wasn’t so terrible after all.

• Think before acting: Don’t allow yourself to do something you might regret. First, think about the consequences and ask yourself how you’ll feel if your frustration takes control of your actions. I now know from experience that I’ll feel terrible for days on end if I act rashly.

• Change your habits: If frustration seems to be a regular occurrence during your travels, you may want to examine such factors as your diet, sleeping pattern and exercise levels. A change from the norm in any of these can easily knock us out of whack, leaving us far more vulnerable to becoming frustrated by small inconveniences.

Finally, if you just can’t find a way to return to that sense of calm that you have somehow lost, it may be time for you to move on to a different country or to take a break from traveling altogether. Sometimes a complete change of scenery is simply the best remedy.

Every time I visit Boston, or more specifically, my home state of Massachusetts, there is one place that I always make sure to visit within the first twenty-four hours of my arrival. I crave a visit to this place so much that as soon as I walk through its doors, I have a strong desire to kiss the ground, although I refrain from doing so due to the staff’s apparent lack of interest in the benefits of vacuuming. But considering that those same staff [...]]]>

Every time I visit Boston, or more specifically, my home state of Massachusetts, there is one place that I always make sure to visit within the first twenty-four hours of my arrival. I crave a visit to this place so much that as soon as I walk through its doors, I have a strong desire to kiss the ground, although I refrain from doing so due to the staff’s apparent lack of interest in the benefits of vacuuming. But considering that those same staff recognize and welcome me enthusiastically on account of my dozens of visits, I have now come to consider this place to be my second home (not that I have a first home).

This place is none other than the Bombay Cafe Indian restaurant in downtown Boston, whose unbelievably tasty, high-quality, $6.95 lunch buffet is, as my ever-so-colorful grandmother would say, “out of this world.”

However, even with that said, I do not intend for the Bombay Cafe to be the focus of this post and truthfully, I have no idea why I even mentioned it in the first place. So let me try to get back on track, although, if you’re at all interested in Indian food, you might want to have a look at TheCurryProject.com, a website (run by Alan from The9to5Alternative.com) that I contribute to every now and then and where I’ll soon be posting my review of the Bombay Cafe!

Focus Earl.

I really wanted this post to be written, not about my favorite place to visit when I return to the region of my youth, but about my second favorite place to visit during these yearly trips.

And even though this gem of a destination has nothing to do with Indian cuisine, ever since I ‘discovered’ it for the first time back in 1997, I knew I would be returning over and over again. After all, where else on Earth can one enjoy a beach walk, blueberry scone, eucalyptus, snow angels, a misty meadow, a bonfire, birthday cake, a splash of rain and some apple pie all in the same location?

How is this possible? Well, all you need to do is hop in a car, travel two and a half hours west of Boston to the small town of South Deerfield and ask anyone where you can find the Yankee Candle Company’s headquarters and flagship store.

As you enter the 30,000 sq-foot candle heaven, you’ll be transported into an intriguingly pleasant, yet undeniably wacky, environment (think ‘Willy Wonka’s Candle Factory’), one full of toy trains, snowfall, talking bears and of course, every single scent of candle that Yankee Candle has to offer. Within minutes, many of these scents will bring back long-forgotten memories of your youth, others will remind you of special people who have passed through your life, and unfortunately, a handful of candles just might make you vomit. (Rhubarb plum comes to mind.)

THE GRAND TOUR

Just to give you an idea of how this massive ‘store’ is laid out, I’ll share with you the route that I normally take during my wanderings through the building. And if you can believe it, one complete circuit generally takes me an hour and a half to complete!

Starting out in the educational toy section, I proceed through the medieval nutcracker castle, then into the Bavarian Christmas Village. From here, I wander around the elf workshop before visiting the beach cottage, full of seasonally-fragranced candles. And then I move through the New England crafts corner, stopping briefly in the country kitchen, before entering the fascinating mini-candle room, with its rows upon rows of every scent imaginable. After a lengthy look (or smell) around, I make a quick stop at the ‘dip your own candle’ nook before taking a tea and freshly-baked pastry break in the quaint cafe. With energy restored, I move slowly in front of the home-made fudge counter while staying far enough away to prevent me from hopping over the counter and stuffing all of the sweet-smelling fudge into my mouth. I then pass quickly through the less-exciting gifts and collectibles room, with a brief glance at the food section, and then into the sale and clearance corner, which is where the prices suddenly drop for many of the very same candles displayed in other parts of the store. After a bit of wandering up and down the aisles here, and after a few last sniffs of my favorite scents, I finally put my head down, pinch my nose and run straight through the candy store towards the exit, managing only a sloppy wave goodbye to the ever-so-friendly staff wishing me farewell.

I rarely buy anything during these visits, as in the end, what is a permanent nomad going to do with a bunch of aromatic candles? But regardless, I’ll trek out to South Deerfield as often as I can in search of refuge from my typically chaotic visits home. Sometimes I just need some scented-candle therapy, is that so wrong? Filling my nostrils with the aromas of freshly cut grass, baby powder, early sunrise, maple pancakes and pineapple cilantro is calming to me and helps me to clear my mind.

And perhaps as equally rewarding as the store itself, is the drive from Boston to reach this part of the state. Assuming you avoid the highways, you’ll have a range of excellent country drives to choose from, from the Old Mohawk Trail to the windy, forest-covered Route 122. These slow-going roads will also allow you to visit an endless number of picturesque New England villages and unique sites, including my two personal favorites, the New England Peace Pagoda in the town of Leverett and the Montague Bookmill, an incredible used bookshop set inside of an 1842 gristmill on the banks of the Sawmill River.

]]> http://www.wanderingearl.com/thank-you-scented-candles/feed/ 19

It’s time for a new camera.

At the moment, I have the above Canon PowerShot S5 IS and I’ve generally been a big fan of this camera over the 2.5 years that I’ve owned it. However, it’s once near-perfect photo quality has started to show some blurriness, the rotating LCD screen keeps on shutting off and the larger-than-compact size is quite awkward to use, making it nearly impossible to take quick photos.

I once believed that the larger the camera, the better and [...]]]>

It’s time for a new camera.

At the moment, I have the above Canon PowerShot S5 IS and I’ve generally been a big fan of this camera over the 2.5 years that I’ve owned it. However, it’s once near-perfect photo quality has started to show some blurriness, the rotating LCD screen keeps on shutting off and the larger-than-compact size is quite awkward to use, making it nearly impossible to take quick photos.

I once believed that the larger the camera, the better and so I opted for this Canon assuming that I would one day move up to an actual DSLR. However, I’ve now realized that I don’t want a DSLR and I have no interest in carrying around larger pieces of equipment. And since all of the features on my current camera (plus much, much more) can now be found in a smaller, more compact camera, that seems like the best route for me to take.

I’ve already done a good amount of research and of course, my perfect camera simply doesn’t exist. With that said, the leading candidate seems to be the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7, a camera that seems to offer very strong performance and quality – not necessarily excellent quality, but much better than average – while offering the features I find most important.

Apart from being able to take high-quality photos, two must-haves for me are a longer-than-average zoom (at least 10x optical zoom) and the capability to capture excellent HD videos. Ever since the night I met the Taliban, when I didn’t have a video-capable camera with me, I’ve vowed to always have one by my side in case such a thing were to ever happen again.

I’ve thought about buying both a compact camera just for photos and one of those small hand-held video-cameras. But if I could squeeze all of my needs into one, then I’d certainly prefer that over carrying around (and worrying about) two separate devices.

So I’d love to hear any recommendations you may have and any help would be much appreciated!

Is there anything I’m forgetting to think about when it comes to finding the ‘perfect’ travel camera? Do you have a favorite camera that might be exactly what I’m looking for?

At some point, almost all of us have had to ask (or perhaps beg) a family member or a friend to open their homes and allow us to crash on their sofa for a night or two. Maybe we’re coming into town for a wedding or a sporting event or just to visit some old pals, and we don’t really want to dish out big bucks for a hotel room. All we need is a bit of space where we can lay our heads [...]]]>

At some point, almost all of us have had to ask (or perhaps beg) a family member or a friend to open their homes and allow us to crash on their sofa for a night or two. Maybe we’re coming into town for a wedding or a sporting event or just to visit some old pals, and we don’t really want to dish out big bucks for a hotel room. All we need is a bit of space where we can lay our heads and so we simply turn to those we know.

Given the nature of my nomadic lifestyle, I’ve been forced to ask for such favors quite often, especially during my yearly trips home to the USA. I don’t exactly have my own house or apartment in this country and as a result, my comfort level during every night I spend here depends solely on the hospitality of others.

And no more has this been evident than during the past three weeks that I’ve spent visiting family and friends in Boston and New York City. During this 21 day period, I’ve slept in 9 different places, and I’m not talking about 9 different bedrooms or even 9 different beds. When I use the word ‘places’, I refer to any spot where someone has kindly allowed me to sleep, and on this trip, those spots have included the following:

• Rock hard, queen-size bed

• Child-sized trundle bed

• Giant chair that Bruce Willis once used

• Top bed of a child’s bunk bed

• Several blankets piled up on a hardwood floor

• Twenty-year-old, dead bee-infested, pull-out sofa bed

• Extra long, foul-smelling couch

• Super short, foul-smelling couch

• Floor space on a semi-enclosed front porch

Every few days during this stretch, I packed my backpack and moved on to the next location, from bed to sofa, chair to floor and closet to bathtub. Ok, I didn’t really sleep in a bathtub, but if that was my only option, I would have gladly taken it.

In fact, no matter where I end up sleeping, you’ll never hear me complaining. Quite the opposite, I’m truly thankful for everyone who continues, year after year, to offer me a place to crash whenever I’m passing through. I know it’s not easy to have someone show up with their backpack, spread their belongings all over the place and turn a normally spotless hallway into a messy closet.

And that’s why I take no offense when some of you, over the years, have only been able to offer me a corner of your kitchen floor (I did appreciate the thorough mopping before I arrived by the way) or a faulty inflatable mattress that I had to blow up twelve times during the night. I’m not even mad at my friend who handed me two old towels and told me I could use those as blankets while sleeping under the dining room table. And to the friend who once gave me a sleeping bag and instructed me to sleep on the grass in his backyard, I hold no grudge, even after you accidentally locked me out of the house that night while I proceeded to get drenched during a rain shower.

I have no right to be upset. After all, I’m the one asking for charity.

So, to all of you who, especially over the past three weeks, have allowed me to invade your lives, who have allowed me to eat your cereal (even if you limited me to 1.5 cups of Honey Bunches & Oats and a half cup of milk per day) and who have allowed me to occasionally bathe, I thank you with all of my heart. Without your hospitality, I might have found myself sleeping on a small strip of grass behind a dumpster overflowing with trash, which is exactly what happened when a last minute miscommunication with a friend in Honolulu once left me stranded with nowhere else to go.

Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for opening your doors, sharing your shampoo and fluffing your pillows, all so that I could enjoy a decent night’s sleep!

A couple of days ago, I had a little more time than normal to sit down and go through the dozens of blogs that I follow either through RSS or email. And it was perhaps one of the most rewarding blog reading sessions I’ve had in a while, as with the extra time on my hands, I was able to fully digest and enjoy so many posts that I came across.

Naturally, I wanted to share a few of the great posts that I [...]]]>

A couple of days ago, I had a little more time than normal to sit down and go through the dozens of blogs that I follow either through RSS or email. And it was perhaps one of the most rewarding blog reading sessions I’ve had in a while, as with the extra time on my hands, I was able to fully digest and enjoy so many posts that I came across.

Naturally, I wanted to share a few of the great posts that I found with you and that’s what I’ve aimed to do below. My original list included nineteen posts and in order to cut that list down, I just decided to pick seven of those at random. So if you have a blog and you wrote a wonderful post this week which I failed to mention here, my apologies! Feel free to leave a comment below so that I’ll know who you are and I’ll then head over to your site and have a read.

Shannon’s eye-opening story reminds us of why it may be a good idea to carry around our passports (or at least a photocopy) instead of leaving them inside our hotel/hostel rooms when we travel. As you’ll see, Shannon was lucky enough not to end up in jail, but there were plenty of other travelers in San Pedro, Guatemala who weren’t so fortunate.

What a moment when I discovered a post about one of my favorite fruits on the planet, one that I miss dearly whenever I’m not in Asia. And so I just had to share this post as I’m curious if anyone else has ever tried, and become addicted to, wonderful rambutan!

Instead of trying to avoid the crowds associated with high tourist seasons, why not approach these busy times of year with a different perspective? Suzy offers some convincing reasons as to why traveling among the throngs of other tourists may not be such a terrible idea after all.

If you’ve ever had difficulty dealing with the notion of breaking free from society’s expectations of you, this post will give you an extra nudge in the right direction. Todd share’s his thoughts on the ‘real world’ and why settling down is not the only option, all while explaining how he made the realization one day that he was already living the life he wanted most.

As you might guess by the title, Audrey and Dan discuss the importance of living outside your comfort zone, while offering some well-tested advice on how to do just that. And considering that they have now been traveling for 1296 days, these two have been out of their comfort zone more than most…or have they?

In just a few months, Stephanie will be taking off on a one year (or more!) round-the-world adventure. And now she’s answered all of the questions she’s been asked by those who might not understand why she’s leaving her current life behind. Such questions include, “Are you going alone?” and the more direct, “WHAT are you doing, you crazy girl?”

This photo post (with captions) is simply hilarious and had me laughing out loud for quite a while. And if you’ve ever witnessed a similar accident during your travels, I’m sure your reaction to these photos will be the same as mine.

Happy Thursday everyone! And for those of you out there on the road, safe travels!

Have you been to an REI store lately? (For those who might not be familiar with REI, it is a large chain of outdoor recreation/sporting goods stores located throughout the US.)

Well, I went yesterday for the first time in about three years and I must say that I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The store was filled with an endless variety of very cool gadgets and travel accessories, all of which cause travelers, such as myself, [...]]]>
Photo credit: Joe Mabel

Have you been to an REI store lately? (For those who might not be familiar with REI, it is a large chain of outdoor recreation/sporting goods stores located throughout the US.)

Well, I went yesterday for the first time in about three years and I must say that I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The store was filled with an endless variety of very cool gadgets and travel accessories, all of which cause travelers, such as myself, to wander around wide-eyed while trying to fend off the temptation to put everything we see into our shopping basket.

Luckily, however, I am now skilled in the art of restraint, so by the time I walked out of the store some 45 minutes after I had arrived, I had spent a total of $0 dollars.

But that’s not to say that I didn’t spend the entire visit seriously contemplating the purchase of an Osprey Flapjack Laptop Pack, a portable shower, collapsible water bottle, self-inflating travel pillow, citronella wilderness soap, floating camera strap and a full towel that folds into the size of a credit card.

There were many moments during my visit when I simply wanted it all (yes, even the backpack waterproofing spray!) and at one point I even convinced myself that spending several hundred dollars was a most necessary investment.

But in the end, and I believe this has something to do with the fact that I’ve now traveled for so long without any of these things, I found myself asking the same question over and over again: Do I really need this?

I’ve always traveled with a small backpack and only a handful of belongings and have never needed anything more than that. So it was natural for me to question whether or not a travel hammock with mosquito net would really make my life any easier.

While I’m certain that some of REI’s products would be neat and fun to use, I just couldn’t bring myself to purchase anything in the end. I’d personally prefer to keep the $100, $200 or $500 that I could easily spend in an REI store and use it to extend my adventures for another month or two.

But that’s just me. And so now I must ask… What am I missing out on? I’m curious as to what REI (or similar) travel products you recommend and your thoughts on how they improve your travel experiences.

As a side note: I don’t want this post to be viewed as a negative review of REI. They are a wonderful organization that is run as a consumer-cooperative and it is always ranked as one of the best companies to work for in the US. If you are going to purchase any travel-related products, a visit to REI would be a must.