So…I just unpacked and got my own place again after 4 years of living out of a bag and traveling around the world.

In some ways I am the typical American Gen-Xer.  I went to college. I got a degree in broadcast Journalism.  I went on to build my career in television.  I was a director, a promotions producer/editor and a specials producer.   My persistence led me from intern at Late Night with David Letterman to NBC to FOX to ABC.

I moved to Chicago in my mid-20s all excited and ready to take on the world Mary Tyler Moore-style,  I bought my first condo and found myself in a committed relationship.   I was going to all the cool media parties and events.   Life was on a roll.

Also in my early 20s…I came down with something.   An illness.  I caught the travel bug.  A college friend invited me to the EU to backpack with her for 3 weeks…and I was like ‘yeah, right.’

At this time, the internet was a wee lass, but I dialed up the ol’ AOL online and looked at prices for tickets (not even sure what Travel search site I used back then?) and realized…wait, I could do this. I do have the means to go.  I had been working and saving for a few years.  WHY NOT?

I went and fell in love…with Paris, the history, the old buildings, the character…yes, the joie de vivre (how fun is it to just so subtly touch that final ‘re’ in vivre? Okay, maybe it’s just me).

When I returned, I vowed to try and go somewhere ‘far’ every year when I had my typical US vacation of 2 weeks or so. And I did it…each year…going away to places like: Germany, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Ireland, and Japan.

I devoured travelogues and books.   I had a small, far-off dream of living abroad someday. Before there were all these travel websites and blogs, I started subscribing to email newsletters like “Transitions Abroad”, “Student Traveler” and even received some email newsletter from a company giving tips on overseas real estate investing. I hadn’t even purchased property in the US yet!

Sometime in my early 30s, some friends of mine, who were in a serious relationship, told me they were going to work for a few more years, save up their cash and then quit their jobs to travel around the world.  I think I got goose bumps. Wow.  I was envious of such a plan.  They were cool.  They were going to be able to do that.  They were so lucky.  They had each other and I wished I could do that with my boyfriend.  But it never even occurred to me…that I could do it.  The irony of the matter is: they never did it…but I did.

In early 2005, my 11-yr old cat became ill and a year of tough treatment and care took its toll on me and him.  The day came when I knew his quality of life was simply not what it should be and I had to make the tough decision to have him euthanized.   Also during that same year, my boyfriend and I were growing apart and I knew it was time to call it quits. I was also growing bored with my job. Don’t get me wrong.  I had a great job as a TV producer at ABC7, but nearly 10 years of doing the same thing was enough for me.  I was in love with the Globetrekker series and wished to work on that show or for a Travel Channel show.  At least that would still be “smart” and “secure” – to find a ‘job’ with travel.  That was the responsible thing to do.  I had been reading more travel memoirs and read one that year called One Year Off about a family who quit their jobs, sold their house and things and traveled around the world with their two kids for one year. I was floored. How cool was that?

That, coupled with the fact that I was more ‘detached’ than I’d been in long time…came together like a slow rising tide. Enough of envying these ‘others’– I could DO IT!

As soon as it hit me… the wheels started turning.  I could sell my condo (this was before the market crash) and have the security blanket I needed for such a trip.

Then I just sped forward with the plan:

• I sold my condo in April 2006 for double what I paid for it 7 years earlier.
• My ex-boyfriend moved out by May 1^st.
• I started this very blog in July 2006.
• I quit my job by August 1^st.
• I bought a backpack at REI.
• I got vaccinations.
• I bought the first 2-3 months worth of airline tickets at STA Travel.
• I found a tenant to live in my current condo.
• I sold my car through Craigslist.

And on Oct 5^th 2006, I flew out of Chicago O’Hare International to San Jose, Costa Rica and proceeded to travel around the world by myself for 15 months until January 2008 when I returned from London to New York City.  And then I left again in September 2008 for Europe and the Middle East and finally returned to the US in the Spring of 2009.

For the details of the rest of that story…Click on the archives of this blog and start in the summer of 2006.

What did we ever do before the internet? Well, the same thing we did without VCRs (and now DVRs), mobile phones, and microwaves. We went to the library and looked things up in the encyclopedia and we watched less TV and we called people when we got home. We lived like normal and we were just fine.

And before I had this blog, I still traveled.  Up to now I have been to about 43 of the US States and about 45 countries.  I have decided to post some of these trips here so I can basically have a more complete list of my travels all in one place…and also so people can stop asking why I haven’t gone to Greece or Japan, when in fact I have, it was just B.B. (before blog).

• My First Trip Abroad

In 1996, I met my college friend Katie in Europe for my very first trip abroad.  For 3 weeks, we backpacked from Paris to Rome, Florence, Venice, and Pompeii, to Zermatt and Lucerne in  Switzerland and finished in London. It was quite a whirlwind. I was amazed, awed, scared, anxious, shocked, and simply delighted.  I remember our very first night we had already befriended another traveler (a solo girl from San Diego) and drank a bottle of wine literally on a Parisian rooftop (we climbed out our tiny hotel room window).  It was amazing and exciting and yet I remember feeling scared and homesick. What was I doing? Why was I here? It’s hard to believe now as I look back how far I have come and  all the traveling I have done since that first night when I felt so very far away.

I was definitely out of my comfort zone and not exactly sure what I was in for. But, just like now, I realized I just needed a day to acclimate and then, boom! I fell in love. The streets of Paris amazed me. The history everywhere you looked; the luscious architecture; the cafe life; the fresh breads and pastries. My first European train ride through the French countryside literally reminded me of  “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron.” The animated countryside of rolling green hills dotted with stone farmhouses and cypress trees was right here before me in real life. I couldn’t get over the buildings of ancient Rome – narrow lanes of old buildings and shops, then BAM, you turn a corner and your jaw drops as the huge Pantheon reveals itself. Or you come face-to-face with the Colosseum still standing after nearly 2000 years. It is still mind-boggling to me to this day. I remember seeing Mt. Vesuvius and the ancient city of Pompeii. It was amazing and a much bigger town than I even imagined; shops, homes, and people wiped out in an instant.

Switzerland dazzled me with its perfectly quaint alpine homes decked with flower boxes bursting with hardy, chromatic petunias. I was in love with its efficiency, cleanliness, and perfection – a stark contrast to Italy’s craziness, bustle, and messy passion. I liked a little of both and figured my dream home would be somewhere near Lake Como and the alps of northern Italy, not far from the Switzerland border…the best of both worlds.

London was our final stop and, at the time, the least interesting. Perhaps it was because I was exhausted. Perhaps it was because everyone spoke English and it was like being back home. About ten years later I would be back in London for a month and would come to love it much more and get to know its great neighborhoods and fun, charming people.

After my trip, I made a new life goal – to go abroad somewhere every year during my vacation time.  And I did just that.*

*It didn’t hurt that in the ‘old days’ (read: 1998) of my job at ABC7 in Chicago, we  had this amazing deal with United Airlines for approximately 40% off international fares. Unfortunately, like all good things, it didn’t last. But it allowed me to travel abroad for cheap for the first few years at least. Yay, perks!

• 1998 – Return to Italy with Joe (Siena, Rome, Sorrento/Amalfi Coast)
• 1999 – Germany & France with Susan (Heidelberg, Rothenberg, Munich, Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Strasbourg, Paris)
• 2000 – Ireland with David & Shannon
• 2001 – Europe Trip with Mark – 3 weeks and my first time traveling alone for just half the time  (Barcelona, Nice, Cinque Terre, Lake Como, Bolzano, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Prague)
• 2002 – Canada Road Trip with Andy (Toronto, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec)
• 2003 – Greece with Andy (Athens, Santorini, Mykonos)
• 2004 – Croatia with Andy & his mom (Zagreb, Split, Brac, Dubrovnik, quick wrong turn into Bosnia)
• 2004 – Cayman Islands with Andy and ABC7 Crew
• 2004 – Mexico for work with ABC7 Crew
• 2005 – Tokyo, Japan with Mark
• 2006 – Montreal, Canada for work with ABC7 Crew
• 2006 -2010    World Tour Begins!   (((inhale)))   Costa Rica, Ecuador, Chile, Buenos Aires, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Dubai, Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Amsterdam, Spain, Sweden, London, Wales, NYC, Chicago, LA, NYC, France, Italy, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Stockholm, Paris, NYC, Virginia, Colorado, New Jersey, Chicago, LA, New Jersey, Chicago. ((((exhale))))

After several showings, I just sold my sweet 1989 Red Honda Prelude Si. 5 Speed, sunroof, fast, fun, economical—this was my favorite car…Well, only car…ever!
I had listed it on Craigslist about a month ago and had all kinds of interest, but no actual cash.

I bought this car in 1992 when I was a sophomore in college. It was my first and has been the ONLY car I’ve ever owned.

My mom and step dad found it a newspaper ad. It was at a BMW dealer where a NJ lawyer had traded it in for a more ‘lawyerly’ BMW.

It was perfect for me…and has been ever since! I drove it around South Carolina (where I went to school) for several years and it helped me out on several road trips back north to New Jersey. Then, in 1998, it carried me to my new home of Chicago. I drove it a lot less here. Let’s just say when I moved here 9 years ago it had 91,000 miles on it. Now it has 104,000. That’s about 2000 miles a year. Not much, huh?

It suffered a bit here thanks to the harsh winters and street parking it had to endure in Chicago. Little Prelude even got hit once while parked–classic hit and run. A nice neighbor actually saw the whole thing, but I could never get the people to admit it.

She’s got a few minor dings and scratches now, mostly due to parallel parkers riding up on the hood. Someone even stole my “H” emblem off my hood once. I pictured some guy wearing it around his neck–nice bling!

One year I even contacted the original owner–the lawyer from NJ. I know I’m a bit odd, but it was fun writing to him ten years later to tell him his old car was doing just fine. He actually wrote me back and said he thought he had made a mistake trading it in and missed the peppy prelude!

Of course, you know I have all the maintenance records in alphabetical order in the glove box. And I’ve been told the interior looks brand new. I’m not one to junk up the inside of my car. Like some, I never used it as a storage locker.

So, at least five people had already told me, “I’ll take it.”
But for some reason or another, they never did. Some just didn’t show up. One totally wanted it and accepted it at my price, then turned around a day later and said he wanted it for $500 less…after already agreeing to buy it! One said her son didn’t want red after all. One said it was overpriced. One wanted his mechanic son-in-law to check it out, but it wouldn’t be for another week.
But finally ‘a nice Jewish boy’ came along and gave me a $200 cash deposit. I wanted to secure a sale, but wanted to keep my car until the day before I left the country. After he test drove it and literally kicked the tires he said he would take it. I honestly got teary eyed! I did not expect that. I mean it’s a car for god sakes! But it’s been with me for fourteen years and just kind of confirms all the changes I’m making. So we signed a ‘letter of intent’ two weeks ago and I just watched him drive away in it. For the first time, I was nervous about driving it. I could just imagine something happening to it in the last 2 weeks I owned it even though I never got in an accident in 14 years. I couldn’t have sold it to a better guy—he even called me the following night to jokingly give me my “daily Prelude update!”

It was an awesome car, fun to drive and served me better than I could have imagined.

Okay. Here’s the thing. I quit my job. I’m slowly going broke each day. I used to always say, “money comes in, money goes out.”
But now I guess it’s just “money goes out.” So as I hit the road, airspace, and waterways of the world to explore further recesses unknown I also am hoping to make a small amount of cash along the way. How, you ask? Well, the first ideas are more conventional considering my line of work. I have contacted some production companies in hopes of being able to do some freelance producing of segments for travel shows and the like. I have also written to a slew of travel magazines (i.e. Budget Travel, National Geographic Traveler, etc.), as well as chick mags like Marie Claire and Jane. I’m hoping to write some articles about your average-girl-in-the-world and the not-so-average things she encounters circumnavigating the globe. Oh, and of course, I will be taking tons of photographs and would love nothing more than to publish some of these.

So, now for the unconventional ways to make money. How can I get this blog sponsored? Some of you may have heard or seen www.wherethehellismatt.com.
This guy travels all over the world, dances for a few seconds in each locale and posts them on his website. It’s oddly charming and BAM, he’s sponsored by a gum company and they pay for his next trip. Now he’s freakin’ famous with a possible show deal in the works. So…what praytell can I do??
Here are some of the bad ideas some friends and I came up with that I can’t do (for obvious reasons):

• Get arrested in each country and post my mugshot—obvious issues
• Show my boobs in each country—this could lead to the aforementioned arrest
• Take a picture with a famous person in each country—too much work
• Kiss someone on the cheek in each country—idea of Jen Ward. I liked it at the time and started with her and her husband at the Cheesecake Factory in Old Orchard. Kind of fitting huh—cheesecake pics at Cheesecake Factory…hmmm…maybe they’ll sponsor me.

But I fear all the odd implications or just plain hijinks that could ensue from kissing complete strangers. Or it could just promote total world peace and harmony and land me the Nobel Peace Prize. Ya think? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
I’m looking for YOUR ideas. Got any? Send ‘em in. Just post to the comments section of this post.

Well, not exactly, but it was party time! Last night was my big send off party. This was my ‘world tour shower,’ so to speak. Or maybe it was more of a ‘world tour bachelorette party?’ Either way it was a blast. So fun! All the cool kids were there. Just want to give a shout out (can I do that?) to everyone for coming and celebrating with me. Thanks for all the beer (anyone thirsty? I started out with 2 cases and ended up with 3!), wine, booze, assorted treats, gifts, and those nifty LLworldtour.com lanyards. I expect everyone to be wearing their work ids on those come Monday morning!

Thanks again…you all gave me something to look forward to returning to!

LL