LLWorldTour

Howdy reader! I’m Lisa Lubin. And this is my blog. I wonder how many ‘about me’ pages start exactly like that?

Let’s get the important stats out of the way:
I’m a Virgo.
I love cheese.
I live to travel.
(But I also semi-permanently live in Chicago–a city I’m in love with)

Okay, now for the nitty gritty…(but no dirt band)

Here’s the headline:
I quit my TV producing job of 9 years at ABC7 in Chicago to travel around the world for a year. But I digress…it all began long ago…

I grew up in Randolph, New Jersey. Besides the bad rap, NJ is mostly a very beautiful place–lots of big, old trees, rolling hills, curvy wooded roads and colonial architecture. I defend it early and often. Where I’m from looks nothing like a scene in the Sopranos. In fact, I entered the state slogan contest recently. And NO, it’s not “what exit?” Mine was “NJ, the best kept secret.” But alas, I guess it’s still a secret because it wasn’t picked. Okay, on with my life. My parents divorced when I was about 6 and after a not-so-fun custody battle my brother, David, and I remained at my dad’s house until college. We did the standard ‘visit my mom every Wednesday night and every other weekend’ thing for years. My favorite times growing up were our annual summer trips down to our grandparents house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They were the most loving, fun people I knew. Plus they gave us all the junk food we wanted…and it showed. There were a few too many summers I returned to NJ much plumper than I had left. My mom and her boyfriend eventually moved out to Colorado to build and run a motel (Canyon View Motel) and live in a log cabin home in the mountains. Pretty adventurous for a gal who grew up in Brooklyn. My best friend, besides Holly Zimmerman down the street, was my cat Pookie. I always loved animals. At one time or another we had a total of 8 cats growing up. Plus my mom had 2 dogs, a horse, and a bunny. Quite the menagerie.

My first job in High School? Nagel’s Candy Barn—an-honest-to-goodness chocolate factory a la the famous “I Love Lucy” chocolate conveyor belt episode. At 16, I already was growing into my Virgo ways. I wanted to be ‘goal oriented’ so I thought I should be working somewhere more in line with my interests (even though Chocolate is a huge interest). I quit the mindless conveyor belt job and got a real job at Image Photo & Video renting out the latest hot releases like “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” or my personal fav, “Back to the Future.” Okay, it was just about as mindless as the last job, but I did get to sell cameras and photo equipment, which is why I took the job. Very cool or very dorky, you be the judge. Here, I also met my first love–the son of the Italian owners and my ‘first.’
Very sweet.

After years of teasing my hair and going to fun Bon Jovi and Motley Crue concerts, I went on to Journalism School at the University of South Carolina. I did not love the south. Too hot and not diverse enough. The most ‘ethnic’ restaurant in town was the “Olive Garden.” I think that pretty much sums it up.
But I did have fun–did all the big university things–joined a sorority, did a keg stand (once!), went to Daytona for Spring Break (where I did a lot of other ‘college things’ that we won’t get into here). I also met a lot of cool friends—and especially had fun with my Journalism friends. It was nice to finally have friends with something in common—not just being friends with the drunk whore in my dorm just because she was my roommate. (Oops! Did I write that outloud?)

While in college I started my TV career–I landed 2 internships back up north in NYC. The first was at CBS2 news. Here I met my next love. But even more than him, I think I fell in love with the idea of ‘being in love in New York City.’ Thus began my love affair with the greatest city on the planet (or so I thought until I met Chicago). The second internship was at “Late Night with David Letterman.” Yes, I met Dave. But hardly knew him. I also met tons of celebs on the show which began my jaded view and ‘who cares’ attitude about meeting celebs. Both internships look great on a resume, but a monkey could do the work they let you do. While in Manhattan, I lived with Esta, my grandmother. She was amazing–lived by herself in Chelsea and was still going strong. She used to be an actress in the Yiddish Theater. She even dated Milton Berle once. And yes, she tells me, it’s true.

(Need a coffee or snack break yet?)
So…after college I worked in Columbia, SC as director at the local NBC station (WIS-TV). Made a lot of great friends here. Your first TV job is fun because everyone’s young and no one is really from there so you all just go out after work and talk ‘shop.’
From there I went on to the local FOX station (WACH-TV) to produce promos or commercials. Then finally I escaped the south, dumped the boyfriend of 4 years, and moved my cat, Sneakers (aka the Beast), and I to Chicago on New Years Day 1998. It was a very Mary Tyler Moore moment. Okay, that was Minneapolis, but you get the idea!

From the beginning, I loved Chicago. What a great, clean, user-friendly city. It was hard for me to admit, but I liked it more than NYC. Don’t get me wrong, I love New York and miss the East coast, but the city itself rocks, hands down. I totally immersed myself in all things Chicago and kept busy. In the 9 years I lived there I: played in a summer tennis program every summer, bought 2 condos and became a landlord, taught a TV production class at Columbia College, volunteered for PAWS Chicago, took improv classes, took guitar classes, took acting classes, tutored English as a Second Language, and volunteered as a “Chicago Greeter.” Okay, I’m a bit of an overacheiver. Thanks to my job at ABC 7 I was able to learn more about the city than most locals. I helped start the show “190 North” which is a weekly entertainment/lifestyles show. Every week I had the fun assignment of shooting a story at the latest sushi spot, the hot new nightclub, or, my favorite, some of the coolest travel destinations (Aspen, Cabo, Montreal, etc.) around and have since won two Emmys for my work on it.

So that brings us back to the reason I’ve started this blog—the travel. I love traveling — especially abroad — and am ready to go anywhere, anytime. Before I started this Blog, I’d visited 17 countries (if you count the Vatican City and Monaco) and 33 of the U.S. states (Make that 37, just got back from a drive across country—gotta love the South Dakota Badlands!) (okay, now make that 40…). And I’m also somewhat of a savant in matters of maps, geography, & photography.

I’m finally at a place in my life where I can take off for a year. The latest boyfriend and I recently parted ways, but even more sad than that, my cat, who stuck by my side (and yes, bit my side) for 11 years, got very sick and had to be put to sleep. It’s thanks in large part to the ‘Sneaker Beast’ that this trip is even possible. Thanks Beast.

So, I’m off to see the world, write a little, take lots of photos, and meet the great people of this earth. Plus eat some really tasty food. But don’t worry, unlike my childhood summers in Florida, I’m hoping that traveling around the world for a year will be the best exercise/diet program ever. I’ll be surfing in Costa Rica, biking through Vietnam, climbing volcanoes in Ecuador, and literally walking around the world
everyday…