Above image by Pedrosimoes7. Feature image by Lucas the Experience

The only thing that separates a real writer from a non-writer is writing. Do you put pen to paper, use a typewriter, on a computer? Then you’re a writer. If you don’t write, then you’re not.

You can tell yourself it’s more complicated, but it’s not. Want to be a writer? Write, even just ten minutes, every day. Done.

Some other tips to get you going.

When You Don’t Have Anything Specific To Say, Freewrite

Sit down and write for ten minutes without stopping. Don’t erase anything. Don’t edit. If you make a mistake, just move onto the next line and keep going. If you can’t think of anything to say, say that. If you feel stupid, write it down. I promise by the end of ten minutes, you will find something you like developing in front of you.

Do Away With Judgment

Good or bad mean nothing. The only purpose putting such labels on your writing serves is to slow you down and separate you from what’s on the page. If you’re having trouble with this, go back to tip one and freewrite.

Keep A Journal.

Photo byStarkos

Mine is a red, unlined Moleskine. In it, you’ll find, photos, drawings, to-do lists and various random thoughts. Your goal is to get things down down on paper.

Journals have two purposes. They become a repository of your ideas, somewhere to turn when you’re looking for something to write about. It also helps you shift from ideas in thought-only to ideas on paper. It’s all about practice.

Finish What You Start

Ok, so you’re writing. Now it’s time to finish something. It can be a short story, a poem, an new article. Just finish. Most writers doubt themselves at some point, and many allow their doubt to leave half-written works strewn about behind them. Truth is, it’s far worse to never finish then to write something awful. At least something awful is real, it has weight and meaning. The unfinished short story means nothing at all.

If you find yourself not-finishing, stop writing new things. Sure, put your notes in your journal, you can return to them later. But don’t sit down to work on anything new until you have finished something old.

Then you’re ready to publish, which is an entirely different game from the writing, and that, too, is much easier than you think.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

Spend some time at Matador’s Traveler’s Notebook to read tips, narrative and ideas from other writers, and don’t forget to join in the conversation by leaving your thoughts in comments. For hands-on instruction on how to become a travel writer yourself, check out our own Matador U.

Photos by Leigh Shulman

Mornings have been difficult in our house lately. My five-year-old Lila takes her proverbial sweet time getting dressed. Every little thing, shirt, shoes, socks, everything becomes a massive time consuming endeavor. Most days, I find her sitting on the floor wearing only underwear and a pair of socks while singing made-up songs and acting out little shows with her stuffed cat – Kitty – and two plastic toy puppies named Rainbow Sprinkles and Flower Rice.

While I have to admit, I find it adorable, and even more so, applaud her creativity, getting dressed involves multiple reminders on my part. Read: nagging. Otherwise, it’s impossible to get out the door.

Lord Save Me From Sticker Charts

“Use a sticker chart,” people told me. But I’ve always hated those stupid charts. How tedious and demeaning. I mean, if you tried to motivate me out of bed in the morning with a sticker, even a puffy, sparkly Hello Kitty one, I’d seriously have to fight the urge to punch you in the face. And I am not normally a violent person. I don’t want people talking down to me. I don’t want to be treated as if I’m an idiot, needing some small and pointless reward in order to move me onto the next simple step.

But after trying everything else I could think of, I gave in, bought a notepad, some princess stamps and a pile of stickers.

1. Put on clothes.
2. Brush Hair.
3. Shoes.
4.Brush Teeth.
5.Take a Shower/Wash Face.
6. Brush teeth once again.
7. Go to bed.

For each activity she completes with great alacrity, she receives a stamp on her chart. For every full day of things she does without more than two reminders each from us, she gets a sticker. Every five stickers – meaning a perfect week without constant nagging on the part of us parents – Lila gets to do or have something fun of her choice.

See what I mean? Painfully tedious. You probably don’t even want to read the list.

I Was Wrong

But you know what? Lila adores this system. It excites and invigorates her. Our mornings are nagless as she runs to us to show how she’s completed each task and relishes each choice of stamp. I watch as her delight in a sticker becomes synonymous with her daily routines. Kitty, Rainbow and Flower partner in her project and she incorporates play into the more structured framework of her life.

That’s when it hit me. How wonderful to find pleasure in these small things. Perhaps the real problem is that we adults somehow stop finding contentment so easily. And maybe, just maybe, it would be pretty damn great if someone coaxed me through each of my daily projects with the promise of some minor reward.

Maybe a sticker wouldn’t excite you, but what would?

Photo by Leigh Shulman

A good piece of chocolate? A strong coffee or an afternoon alone to do as you please? Those would all be lovely, but do they strike you with the same intensity as Lila exhibits when she gets to choose her sticker at the end of the day?

My graduate school writing mentor Ed Rivera, author of Family Installments: Growing Up Hispanic in America, told me once that he believes the crux of creativity lies in the ability to never stop seeing the world as a child. I remind myself of that each time I sit down to write.

What would it take for you to find that pleasure in life’s everyday ordinary joys?

Feature image by Chris P Jobling. Photo above by AngelsWings’

In a recent New York Times blog, Tim Kreider wrote about something he called ‘The Referendum’, which, succinctly put, is your defense of the major life decisions that you have made: marriage or no marriage, children or no children, career or no career.

To that list I would add to travel or not to travel.

As a recently married person, new to mid-life, and perhaps vaguely entering my first real crisis of conscience, I know exactly what he is talking about. I feel young at 40, and I suppose as newlyweds we feel younger than most, but those creeping question of starting a family begin to take hold like hyperactive vines rising out of the soil in some low-budget science fiction flick.

We have felt wondrously gluttonous this year after a destination wedding followed by trips to Palm Springs, California, Costa Rica and Ireland, while friends and family are busy having babies or are already raising families. We look out the window at them from our taxiing plane and wonder how they handle the late-night feedings, the extra work and, in essence, the tedium. Is it worth it? Are we doing the right thing or are we just selfish. Greedy. Irresponsible, even?

Making Your Choices

We have married travel as much as we have married each other,

Photo by hapal

because we always knew that travel would be a staple of our life together. More important than a house or an expensive car or children, and we have made our own sacrifices in order to travel.

I’m not suggesting travel with children is impossible, but perhaps it is too much for us to handle at this point, or ever. Of course people take family trips all the time. It’s just that family trips, by their nature, are just, well, different. Are they better? That is the nagging question I cannot answer. Perhaps they see us as unfortunately grounded while they fly into uncharted territory, growing and experiencing the world together.

But what is travel if not the thrill of decision-making? Of course, in choosing your particular spot, you will be not-choosing others, which will cause you to inherit the grief of the road not taken. You will be asked at the end: “Oh did you hike  ____  mountain when you were in ____?  Or “My God, did you take that wild ride down the ___ on the way to ____”

“No, we didn’t,” you’ll say, and then you can smile as you remember what you did instead.

The very idea of leaving everything I know behind literally rules my every waking moment.

All photos by author

Some would say, “Escape from what, Misty?”

In their eyes, I have built a pretty dang brilliant life for myself – the bad-ass pirate style sailboat in Marina del Rey; I’ve pimped out a vintage 14’ solar travel trailer and keep it down in the majestic mountains of Central Mexico; there’s the working about a half-year on TV shows around the world and the rest of my year spent schemin’ and dreamin’ in remote third world countries; oh yeah, and the grassroots NGO I started over in Indonesia is a doozie of a dream as well.

Thing is, I’ve now accomplished all these things and they just aren’t enough to satiate my constant need for the ultimate high – the one that comes from doing outlandish shit most people just daydream about. There’s more out there to be explored, my mind roars during all waking (and sleeping) hours. What am I doing here in this lovely moment, when there are trillions more of them just waiting to be realized? It’s a twisted fate, this audacious life I lead.

Which brings me to the current situation and the question that surrounds it: how do I possibly outdo the last venture? It’s not that I need to prove anything – I just need to be constantly on the make. In order to get through the hectic days of reality TV production, I need to be thinking to the future.

For some reason, I need to roll into a scenario and have the ability to make it bigger. And, by bigger I mean – my life has to take a turn from it. And, so do the lives of those in that immediate sphere. My approach to crafting the perfect tale is all about how it streams on down the line. That said, a real adventure is all about attitude and when I go in with no intent whatsoever, the cards fall as they may…usually to my advantage.

I discover a small boutique hotel on an island off the coast of Mexico and BAM! Why not create a Pilates/volunteering/cooking retreat around it?

I hear about the chance to crew on a sailboat down in the Caribbean and BAM! Within days, I’ve torn down to Dominica via coulda-been-a-movie-drama in Puerto Rico to spend days island-hopping and sleeping under the stars. I write about it on The Tooth (my RTW dispatches blog) and before long a writer from the NY Times is reaching out for deets so he can feature the journey on the cover of the travel section.

I devise a plan to volunteer in a small village in Indonesia and BAM! I’ve created a bona-fide NGO that brings incredible volunteers from all over the world to this tiny haven at the base of a volcano on the island of Lombok. One things begets another begets another.

My “simple” global escapades (usually hatched over a beer in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant) turn into things much more than just a trip – they become yarns that bring everyone with like minds one speck closer to figuring life out. It’s as if I’m out there exploring so I can be more than just on the cusp of the true realization of what it is I’m meant to be. Plus, I never met a map I didn’t like…and if the urge hits, consider it booked. No questions asked – and, probably leaving within 48 hours.

I pull off these radical efforts with boatloads of frequent flyer miles, small pockets of change tucked away in interest bearing savings accounts, and a seasoned set of bloodshot eyes gazing at the computer (searching for deals) at all hours. The off-grid places I trek to make it easy to live cheap, drink and eat like a king and immerse myself in the lifestyle of those who have really embraced the secret to a life fully lived.

Laughing til you cry, trying new things all the time, treating every single human being as you’d want your grandmother to be treated, and the understanding that cash money isn’t for $400 boots you’ll never talk about with a light in your eye – it’s for getting your spirit out into the world and making your mark any way you can.

If you want it bad enough, and live and die by it, let’s just say – careful what you wish for, it might come quicker than you think. My motto is: Normal is for the next life, why not make the ordinary suffer now….

Author note: This article was penned whilst quaffing icy-cold Dos Equis in a small Mexican joint in Santa Monica, Cali. – all while crafting my next big idea, of course. And, I just made up that motto, but it’s quite fitting, si?

Community Connection:

Ready to ditch your office job? Check out our tips for doing just that in this article.

Photo: Ross Borden

@tokyotopia To think outside the box – around it, over it and under it. If we’re determined we can lose the box for good : )

@benskutnik It means acting on urges, flying by the seat of your pants, and making others wish they did the same through your stories.

@craig_martin To be distant yet connected | to be in the moment yet aware | to hope, to dream, to do | to travel well.

@ohonestly To be a Matadorian means that you’re always looking for the next big adventure, either overseas or in your own backyard.

@hyperren I think it means being willing and able to share your experiences with the greater #travel community.

@mluedke being a Matadorian is about having an open mind when thinking about & interacting w/ the world & sharing the discoveries…AND HAVING FUN!!

@louisgraham82 A Matadorian leaves the guide books at home and gets lost. The only way to travel. Camera, notebook, and room key.

@louisgraham82 Get out there, travel, learn, share.

@peterhartl Matadorian = (inspiration + adventure + encounters + community) x Earth

@elicashmoney having so many great and strange experiences that you could tweet every minute for the rest of your life!

@martuchi13 Someone with a profound desire to discover through one’s own eyes that which has already been discovered.

Photo: kevin wen

@joanna_haugen Travel with a sense of place, community, environmental awareness, interest, humor & know-how to have fun & share w/ others.

@aerovelo101 To be Matadorian is to make your travels an adventure, and take your adventure by the horns!

@breathedreamgo It means being part of a community of like-minded souls

@ChiLuvs2Travel A Matadorian is passionate about travel. When she isn’t traveling, she is planning or dreaming of her next one.

Want to add to the conversation? Add a comment below with your thoughts. And if you’re on Twitter, be sure to follow us – we’d love to have you.

Feature Photo: Dreaming of Travel by √oхέƒx™’s

Photo: Ben Brown

When I returned from a long travel break, my initial enthusiasm to get back to work faded around the time I landed myself a shiny new job. It was much more prestigious and better-paid than the one I had given up to go traveling, but once the novelty of it all – wearing a suit! Drinking vending machine coffee! Free email without a two-drink minimum! – wore off, I found myself unable to get motivated.

This is not an uncommon reaction. Many people can’t take reentry into a work routine and end up leaving the country again within a few months. But if this isn’t a desirable or viable option, don’t despair. Your travels have not rendered you terminally unable to hold down a job. Here a few steps to help get your head back into your work:

Swear yourself off travel for a year.

Don’t plan another sabbatical. Don’t even plan a two-week vacation. A long weekend here, a week’s trip within your home country there, is fine, but nothing more ambitious than that. It’s important to get focused, and stay focused, on where your home is.

Make a five year plan.

Don’t worry if this does not center wholly, or even mainly, around work. It’s fine if it involves more travel or another sabbatical. But it will show you where your current job fits in with your wider plans and, hopefully, make it seem worthwhile.

Ensure you have a life outside of work.

Photo: chatirygirl

If friends have moved on while you were away and your social world is no longer what it was, work can take on a disproportionate significance in your life. Get out there and meet like-minded people, just as you did when traveling, and you’ll soon end up feeling refreshed and looking at your job with new eyes – even if it’s just as a way to pay the bills.

Keep the souvenirs at home.

Resist the temptation to decorate your office with that Thai wooden fish mobile or use a shot of yourself scuba diving as your screen saver. It will not – and believe me I know, because I tried – motivate you, inspire you, or help you concentrate.

It will merely distract and depress you, and will serve as a talking point to every visitor to your desk – which will result in you spending every coffee break chatting about what you could be doing if you hadn’t come back home and got a job.

Who’s the new guy?

After you’ve settled into your new job, or settled back into your old one, take some time to assess what skills or qualities you now have, which you didn’t before your travels. Then work out how you can employ them in this post to ensure you do an even better job than you would have before. It will make you see travel less as something you do instead of, or as an escape from work, and will help you start to knit the two aspects of your life together.

Community Connection

For more on long term travel and how it can affect your career, check out How to Make Travel Look Good on a Resume.

For those interested in making a career out of travel, please visit MatadorU.

Photo: mangpages

Last year I packed my job as a web designer to over 20 countries and worked the same job I did when I was at home. Let’s flash back- I had just graduated college in America and had started a job as a web designer for a car company. After a few months, it dawned on me that there was no reason for me to come into the office every day and I approached my boss about alternatives to the normal plan.

I still wanted to work for them, and I had built up a lot of employer confidence, so I simply asked: “Do I need to be here every day?” The transition to location independence started with me coming in three days a week, spending my free time taking road trips down to Baja California or fishing in the Oregon Mountains. As long as I stayed in a hotel with wireless internet or stopped by at a café long enough to do some work, everything was fine.

The arrangement quickly progressed to one and two day work weeks and then eventually my current situation: weekly output goals with free structure in terms of hours and days per week.

Interested in starting your mobile office? Here are 10 tips to succeed in going remote.

1. Start slow.

Don’t approach your current boss with plans of a permanent relocation to the Philippines without testing the waters first. I still try to come back to town once every four to six months just to let my office know I’m still a real person.

Photo: CarbonNYC

2. Calculate cost savings: It’s good for everyone.

Having one less body in the office cuts insurance and utility costs. People tend to work a lot smarter when they don’t have to do something that looks like work for eight hours a day.

You will need to sell your proposal well if you want to enjoy life out of the office. Less cost, less drain on resources, and an increase in output: you working remotely is good for your employer!

3. Plan ahead.

The downside to working while traveling is that you’re always working. If you have a deadline to make or a project that needs to be finished, it won’t get pushed back so you can visit the Louvre or have one more night out in Prague. Plan work schedules ahead of time to avoid complications and ensure consistent productivity.

4. Stay disciplined.

Many people lose their jobs while abroad because they can’t handle all the freedom. Take away the cubicle walls and replace them with the beaches of Biarritz or seaside walks in Cinque Terre and it’s a little harder to get work done. Treat it like a carrot in front of your nose. It’s all there for you to play with- but not ‘til you get your work done.

5. Deal with the stress.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve almost had nervous breakdowns based on spotty, unreliable internet while abroad. Know the situation beforehand and plan ahead. Things are going to get stressful at first, but try to slow down. Breathe and relax. At least you’re not in the office, right?

6. Increase output.

With the only real exception being commission based sales, almost everyone could work harder than they do. As soon as you get your boss to give you a chance at outer office freedom, show him that without the daily distractions of your usual work environment you’re able to get a lot more done.

Try not to cite how much you hate the place as a reason for the increase in productivity. Better scapegoats are escaping the commute, a quieter work environment, and increased happiness due to more time with the family.

7. Communicate.

No job in the world is going to let you work remotely unless you take the time to let your employer know what it is you’re working on, when you’re going to be available, and what your future plans are. Working remotely forces you to communicate clearly and effectively in a solely technological environment. If you can’t do that, you’ll be back in the office in no time.

8. Develop alternative sources of income.

Leaving the office and going mobile is great until your boss decides you’re having too much fun and decides to end your extended vacation. Work isn’t always going to be there.

Develop a savings account you can lean on when you need to but also work on generating recurring passive income. Start a blog, sell your photography, write for travel online magazines.

9. Sell your skills.

If you have a skilled trade like web design, graphic design, copy writing, or patent law, you can spend time abroad searching for work as well. Find interesting side projects for companies in your new country of residence and use these as an opportunity to learn about local culture and business practices.

Meet local people you probably wouldn’t meet in a bar. If things work out, you may find yourself another mobile job you can bring with you- or at least a good reference!

10. Enjoy your free time.

Photo: nattu

All too often I remember spending so much time working and stressing about deadlines that I forgot about why I was doing this whole thing in the first place. Do your work quickly and efficiently early in the morning and then GET OUT.

Go explore wherever it is you happen to be. Go to a museum, read a book in the park, go to the beach, do whatever it is you want to do- nothing is there to hold you back anymore.

Community Connection:

How to Make Travel Look Good on a Resume
How To Find An Internet Cafe Anywhere In The World

Photo: Marxchivist

Without concrete plans or much forethought, the two relied heavily on the kindness of strangers to help actualize their film. Since then, they have gathered over 300 hours of raw footage they aim to condense into a 50 minute length documentary film titled “The Recess Ends.”

“We went in with no plan, no goal, no vision,” documentary filmmaker Austin Chu said. “[Brian and I] thought, ‘Let’s just drive through every state. Let’s just observe. Let’s just listen. Let’s just be open to what people have to say.’ ”

As it turns out, having no plan was the best plan for them. From utilizing social networking sites and major media outlets (the brothers have been featured in CNN, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, and many other local media stations), Austin and Brian followed the spontaneous trail of human connection and always found extremely giving hosts across the nation.

“In Bennington, Vermont, we didn’t know anyone,” Austin said. “We passed through our entire network [and found] a friend of a friend who knew someone who might be working there. Two hours later we got picked up and had a place to stay. People are really generous even when times are bad. Humans are good people.”

And ultimately, that’s the message the Chus hope to impart to audiences. Though family budgets are getting squeezed and employment is harder to retain and even harder to find, there is value in basic human kindness, generosity, understanding, and communication.

Photo: Kevin N. Murphy

“A lot of the stories we’ve come to see and capture [show our] values are so simple, and yet we’ve strayed so far away from it that it’s become enlightening,” Austin said. “This film will give people 50 minutes to reevaluate themselves and connect with others spiritually and emotionally. Instead of asking, ‘How can we fix the economy?’ let’s start asking , ‘How can we help each other?’ Let’s start communicating with one another.”

Open communication is the backbone of “The Recess Ends.” Through candid conversations and even open mic sessions in an elementary school, the footage showcases the resilience of the American people in the light of a down economy.

Deeply impressing is the creative spirit of the 5th and 6th graders in Queens, New York. When a local teacher who was using the brother’s travel across the nation to teach his students American geography gave his students the optional homework assignment of expressing in their own words how the recession was affecting their family, the kids came back to school the next day with poems, rap lyrics, and songs. Two are featured in the film’s trailer.

“We set a time to spend a full afternoon with the kids after school,” Austin said. “This next generation, they are growing up in something many of us didn’t grow up in. It’s not, ‘I don’t get my Xbox360,’ it’s ‘I don’t get to spend time with my mom anymore because she has to work two jobs.’ They use words like ‘foreclosure’, ‘mortgage’, ’stock market’, ‘recession’.”

Photo: hermmermferm

While it was sobering to witness 11 and 12 year olds speak on such topics, the two filmmakers nevertheless noticed an optimism pervasive throughout their footage. That optimism and the inherent kindness of the people they met along the way, fueled the brothers throughout their grueling five month shoot.

“We’re only hearing negative news, but in reality, we saw everything completely opposite,” Austin said. “The relationships we’ve made and the people we’ve met [are] priceless. You couldn’t pay us a million dollars not to do it. We feel rich.”

The film is set to premiere in San Francisco September of this year with final copies available to the public in October. Check out the website for more information, updates on the film, and weekly webisodes.

Official Trailer: The Recess Ends from B-Rilla on Vimeo.

Feature Photo: Matt Perreault;Photo: Sasha W.

Truer words couldn’t be spoken nor could they have more aptly applied to three unforgettable months living in Costa Rica.

It was December 15, 2008. I had just survived a one month excursion through South America, where I watched my diet regress from jugs of Chilean wine and slabs of Argentinian beef to train station sink water and sleeves of Ritz crackers.

Financially speaking, it was time to make a move.

My buddy and I set our sights on Costa Rica, which promised good surf and job availability. But the tourist-friendly bars, restaurants, and grocery stores we had assured ourselves would be waiting with open arms greeted us with a “No, gracias.” Bank accounts were dwindling. Running short of options, we mulled our future one evening over necessary beers and exotic fruit in hostel hammocks.

Together with my best friend and newly appointed business partner, I was able to create a business that was both profitable and delicious, sans any former sales training or MBA, in seven basic steps.

1. Assess your situation.

Understanding that jobs weren’t going to simply fall into our laps, a makeshift supply and demand economic session got underway as we battled evening mosquitoes. The beaches were still filled with free-spending American tourists; it was just a matter of finding a commodity that would actually turn a profit.

Shoveling another ripe four cent banana down, up came the hovering light bulb over my skull. Noting how the beaches were packed with foreigners constantly harassed by 8 year old children selling ceramic pots, local stoners pretending to offer surf lessons, and old women with cheap shell necklaces, I realized, “We could be those people!”

Brainstorming and high fives ensued throughout the night.

Photo: hiddenloop

2. Realize that timing is everything.

Deciding that our new company would manufacture, market, and sell frozen bananas in various flavors, the next step was opening a factory within our hostel’s walls. What we eventually developed was a finely tuned two-man banana assembly line that would make Chiquita salivate.

We conducted bi-weekly raids upon our local supermercado, collecting about 30 bananas, whatever meltable chocolate was in stock, skewers, and our choice for that week’s toppings. We soon learned the importance of daily visits to the store as a banana’s green-to-yellow-to-brown lifespan seems to accelerate under fluorescent lighting.

Photo courtesy of the author

Assessing that late morning and early evening were prime selling hours, our schedules shifted accordingly. Our well-stocked banana cooler didn’t exactly appeal to the drunken masses when we set up outside a popular bar later at night. Plus, we had to battle with cigarette, gum, and sausage vendors.

3. Name it right.

The catchiness and cheesiness of alliteration works wonders; thus, the Banana Brigade and Potassium Patrol were formed. Using Sharpie markers, we emblazoned our Styrofoam sales cooler with our company name along with fake banana websites and freshly created gmail accounts displaying how legitimate this operation truly was. Our ever evolving menu kept consumer interest high as “chocolate” developed to “Mounds bar,” which later developed to the mysterious “experimental” selection.

4. Play the part.

Knowing that even a cool product with a catchy name would not simply sell itself, we realized that an amicable, crafty nature would be a useful asset. Fellow gringos always welcomed a familiar face and simply striking up a chat about the recession, the weather, or the Red Sox promised future sales.

When my feet were swollen from stingray attacks or mosquito infection I found the silver lining and bandaged and limped as pitifully into the hearts of lounging retired women as one could. Vacationing South Americans responded to our heavily accented cries of “CHOCOBANANOS” after we exuded our bilingual charm. What we lacked in sales experience, we made up with in friendly conversation.

5. Emphasize quality over quantity.

As founder of your own business, pride in your product is essential. After initially trying to cut a few corners and market our aged brown bananas as “double chocolate,” we soon agreed we were jeopardizing the integrity of Banana Brigade.

As our entire livable income depended on customer satisfaction and our advertising was not much more than word of mouth, we harnessed our culinary skills to create the optimal look and taste. Once satisfied, customers returned to our frozen cooler to purchase treats they could make themselves at a fraction of the cost.

6. Remember: Sex sells.

Photo: nyki m

The female creature should never be underestimated. Especially if you have two beautiful, free-spirited Spaniards willing to forego their bikini tops and stroll the sand as temporary saleswomen. This also helped to alleviate the awkwardness of offering grown men our long, sweet, frozen delights.

7. Enjoy your work.

Running my own business turned out to be the best job I’ve ever held. I worked my own hours, accepted a hangover as an excuse for a sick day, never struggled my way through a sales meeting, and literally ate our losses.

While self-employed, you find joy and satisfaction in what you do, which is the best and possibly only reason to hold a job. The recession seems to be nothing more than an excuse by many to stifle their creative selves and play it safe and dull. I’d even suggest that starting a business in a beautiful get-away locale like Costa Rica is more promising than any. Besides the sheer beauty you experience daily, a profit can always be turned in a location where people are showing up fully prepared to spend recklessly and be as lazy as entirely possible.

Step away from that cubicle, fellow dreamer; the world awaits your genius. The risk is worth the reward and the reward has never tasted so sweet.

Community Connection:

Read other inspiring stories from people who have escaped the cubicle! Want some advice about ditching the cubicle. Matador editor Julie Schwietert tells you how to get rid of your 9-to-5 job, and Dana Ranill offers advice for convincing your boss to let you telecommute.

All photos courtesy of Lynette Chiang

I “met” Lynette Chiang after snagging The Handsomest Man in Cuba from a New York Public Library bookshelf.

I approach narratives about travels in Cuba with one part interest, one part dread. So many of them sound alike– careful notations of the author’s observations about old cars, rum, music, and the famed congeniality of Cubans. And somehow, almost all of them fail to capture the ineffable moments and experiences that make Cuba Cuba.

But Chiang, a self-described Chinese Australian “adventurette,” managed to do what most chroniclers of Cuban journeys don’t, and perhaps that’s because her journey around the island was not like most people’s.

Chiang, who globe trots on a folding bike, tackled Cuba on two wheels. Between punishing heat and potholed roads, she managed to keep notes about her experiences, and while rum, music, and old cars aren’t absent from her travelogue, they’re certainly not the dominant images.

Chiang and I spoke over e-mail about ditching her job, traveling the world by folding bike, and our mutual love: Cuba.

(MT): You “fled a decent job, three-bedroom house, fast car, and a nice bloke in Sydney” for some Lycra bike shorts, a folding bike, and the open road. Lots of people dream of doing something similar (well, maybe not the Lycra shorts part), but are afraid to make the break from what they perceive to be the security and safety of a steady paycheck and benefits.

Two questions: First, what was your “Aha” moment when you made the decision to exit your predictable, stable life, and second, what advice do you have for people who say, “Great for you, but I’ll be slaving away in this cubicle until I pay off my debt or die?”

Two things happened:

Someone showed me a map of Great Britain – admittedly a small one – printed off the then-fairly new “internet.” That was around 1995, when it was still a novelty…. The map had a little dotted line going from the bottom to the top. The classic Land’s End to John O’Groats journey. My first reaction was, “I’m going to do that.” It was the first time in a long time I had such a decisive thought in my life…. I guess it was the decisiveness of the thought, rather than the trip itself, that was the turning point.

Second, I was getting more and more stressed in a job where I never felt I had any control – I was at the whim of a pyramid of people above me ready to squash my work for all kinds of spurious and reasonable/unreasonable reasons. That’s not uncommon in working life, but I always thought the ideal state where you can do your best is when you are “comfortably challenged….” Maybe psychologists would disagree with me, but that’s how I feel.

And all I can say is I have managed to pay off my condo in Sydney so my mother has somewhere to live for the rest of her life without fear, yet the highest I’ve earned is probably 40K a year or so since getting on the bike. Makes me think it’s actually cheaper to be on the road. You can’t accumulate STUFF – only the stuff you really need.

(MT): When you left Sydney, you headed for Latin America. Was there a reason you felt drawn to this region and what did you anticipate you’d experience in Cuba?

Actually, I headed for Latin America only after meeting a Costa Rican woman and her English husband in Windsor Station, near where I was paused after riding from end to end Britain and round and about Ireland. The three of us missed the train when it pulled away early, and shared outrage as the driver mockingly waved to us.

She said I should visit her family in San Jose, Costa Rica, as is the natural, embracing offer of many cultures excluding our WASPish kind. So I went to a bookstore, looked for a Lonely Planet to see where Costa Rica was and got a plane fare there. It was only when I got to Costa Rica did I start looking at maps of the area and noticed Cuba. I think that’s why we are naturally geocentric to where we happen to be. Far away is, well, just too damn far away.

(MT): Your primary mode of transportation is a folding bike. What have you learned about the world from the vantage point of a bike saddle? And what have you learned about yourself?

Things look a lot more interesting, because you notice more. Anyone who has ridden a bike for any distance will tell you that. I definitely had a higher level of internal frustration when I commuted 20 minutes to work each day in a Honda Accord as a cubicle dweller.

And I gained a lot more respect for my body after it hauled the pile of inanimate tubes and rubber from one end of Britain to the other. We celebrate superficial beauty and athletic prowess, really, there’s a lot to be admired in covering distance under your own power. A folding bike has the added cache of being strange. As one of our Bike Friday customers says, “When I don’t want anyone to talk to me, I ride my regular bike.”

(MT): When did you decide to write a travel memoir of your bike trip around Cuba?

I had no real intention at first. I just made bullet points each day in a Hyatt Regency Hotel diary…. After the trip I worked up a single story called “La Casa de Lolita” which was printed in the Tico Times, a Costa Rican English newspaper. I think it’s the only story I ever submitted to a print publication– I was always far more interested in the potential of the web….

It got read by a Latinophile and former bureau chief of the NYT Argentina, Barney Collier. He flew down from NY to locate me in the mountains of Costa Rica, where I was working as a cook and manager of Avalon Reserve, loaned me his “lucky Toshiba” Satellite brick of a laptop, and said “finish the story.” It meandered its way to where it is today, published by Random House Australia, me, Globe-Pequot USA and Piper-Verlag in Germany.

(MT): Every time I return from Cuba, I’m more confused than ever by its complexity and contradictions, many of which you convey so well in The Handsomest Man in Cuba. When you recall your experiences in Cuba, what remains most difficult for you to understand?

I feel there is nothing I did not “understand,” probably because I stopped trying to do do that a while ago. For me, “it is what it is….” If I tried to make sense of everything, like I did in my naive twenties, I’d go nuts. I remember railing at strip malls and manicured lawns when I first came to America and realized it was fruitless. I’m a failed hippie, hovering between being capitalist and socialist, seeking to integrate the best of both worlds but it’s impossible, because they just don’t mesh.

(MT): Could you share a bit with us about your process of pitching the book for publication?

I guess I never really pitched. Barney wrote an eloquent letter to a then-editorial head at Random House Australia and they asked to see it. A very successful Australian author, Brad Grieve, suggested I could have just picked up the phone and gotten the same result in a small place like Australia, but I’ve always honored people who try to help me along the way.

It sold OK downunder, maybe 7K copies; a Bill Bryson I’m certainly not, although I’ve been compared to him! Perhaps Cuba isn’t as top of mind downunder as other places, like India or Europe or Asia. Cuba out of earshot, out of buckshot.

In the USA, I made some halfhearted attempts to attract publishers. [I] went to the Willamette Writers Conference and soaked up all the encouragement which was probably more well-meaning than a means to an end, and decided to publish it myself. By that, I mean I learned Adobe Indesign Book, laid it all out, sent it to a printer and got a box of books back.

Because I was working for Bike Friday, the make of my folding bicycle, I saw that I had a bit of a market there. I figured I should at least be able to offload 1500 books. Despite 20,000 customers and an email every three days from someone who said they enjoyed it, it took almost three years to do that! So you can imagine what a massive achievement it is for a Grisham or a JK Rowling to sell half a million books in a matter of hours.

I mounted my own book tour, worked 24/7 making the collateral, calls, and PR – I think I had a nervous breakdown doing all the prep but didn’t notice.

I could do every part except get a lot of press and publicity. That’s why people pay PR agencies the big bucks. I had no real connections here. It’s all connections. Or a brilliant product, say, a Benjamin Button elixir in a bottle with no contraindications.

(MT): Do you have any plans to write another book?

I have penned a few chapters about my life in Costa Rica, my two years there working at a Saatchi & Saatchi office, and then at the hotel. It’s not about cloud forests or romantic walks along the beach. It has my trademark, ever so slightly ‘jaundiced’ eye, and is of course personal, like the Cuba book. It’ll never sell. But those who enjoyed the subtext of The Handsomest Man will like it.

(MT): In addition to your traveling and writing, you also make films. Can you tell us a bit about your “handlebar documentaries”?

I use a simple digital camera in movie mode, strung around my neck using a lanyard, shooting one-handedly. It’s really no different from taking a swig from your water bottle, except you’re talking to it and turning it on yourself. I download it to my 12″ Mac Powerbook and use iMovie, Quicktime Pro, or Garageband to put it all together.

What people don’t realize is that the resolution of most cameras is 640×480, same as a standard TV screen. So they blow up great and make excellent DVD movies – especially now they have image stabilization. “16,000 Feet on a Friday”, a movie about biking the world’s highest paved road, got the Boston Bike Film Festival Audience Choice gong one year– that was pre-image stabilization. I shot that on two 256 Mb cards at 320×240 on an old Canon Digital Elph 3.2 mpix and it still came out decent enough to be appreciated.

In 2006 I shot “Route 66 by Bicycle: Pedaling the Mother Road….” In addition, I am constantly uploading to the bikefriday and galfromdownunder YouTube accounts to illustrate my blogs. I’m not ever striving to be a Scorsese– I’m just interested in capturing the entertaining nuances of fact rather than fiction – it’s happening all around us.

(MT): Where are you cycling and filming these days, and what trips do you have coming up?

I’ve just come back from Colorado and Arizona. My title, Customer Evangelist at large, puts me all over the country, homestaying with customers. Right now I am in NYC filming the interesting city biking life there.

(MT): What’s your dream trip itinerary?

I actually don’t have dreams. I’ve lived almost every reality I never dreamed of after quitting my cubicle dwelling life some 12 years ago.

The trip to the corner store can be a microadventure, if you are open to whoever might approach you, or notice something you’ve not seen before. And oh how sustainable! Plenty of bang for your buck. If you press me about it, I might say the Eastern Bloc countries intrigue me now– Romania, Lithuania– and Japan. What a fascinating culture that is.

(MT): Those of us who travel and write are often asked how we fund our travels. So pardon the bluntness, but, how do you fund your travels?

Unless you live in a kibbutz or a monastery, you need a bit of money if you want to live life fully on or off the road. I used my background to get stints in two areas of work– my formerly professional life as an advertising copywriter, and a life I had an unprofessional interest in, food,– these two things funded my travels.

I’ve earned everything from $2 to $2K a month, for a week to six months work, at a time. There’s always something that pops up. You’re not in your usual situation at home, boxed in by well-meaning friends who say “What happens if xyz happens?” You are a beacon to these offers and for the first time you can avail yourself to them.

(MT): Back to the bike: What’s the gear that’s essential for you on a bike trip of any length?

…Pump. Spare tube. My traffic cone bag to stay alive.
And lights. If you’re out and about, your best laid plans can change if you meet someone or something interesting and end up shooting the breeze over an impromptu meal. You need to get home in the dark. It makes me really angry when I see a cyclist riding in the dark sans lights. Your life isn’t worth a $20 light?

Warm clothes to cover legs and arms are also essential. A bit of food, even a bar stashed away. I put an Emergen-C in my water bottle each day and a Rooibos tea-bag.

(MT): Do you think you’ll ever go back to corporate life? Do you think travel is a sustainable lifestyle?

I have always been in corporate life to a degree. Right now I am the Customer Evangelist for Bike Friday. It’s the culmination of everything I’ve done in the past– computing, advertising, food service (I cook for my homestay hosts!), networking. I’m just doing it in a way that is organic to the job.

I think many jobs could be done more effectively if they were really designed for people when they can be their best. Stuck in an office might not be the answer for all jobs, nor doing the same thing day in, day out. I actually think the ideal thing is to have two or three very different part time jobs, that give you physical and mental variety. That’s what travel does, and why many of us crave it. But do that all the time and it too becomes tiring….

Travel is not that sustainable. It does promote “I’m here I want to be there.” I have not owned a car for 20 years and have always always combined my folding bike with available transportation modes (bus, train, car, plane, banana truck), but I am not a martyr. I fly, but when I do, it’s one-way and I stay a while. Fossil fueled transport is not evil. It’s all how appropriately and sustainably you use it – it’s to be used, not abused.

After a long stint working as wilderness therapy instructors, Gregg Treinish and Deia Schlosberg were in need of some serious change. Lovers of travel and the outdoors, they began planning an extensive trek in the Andes. They researched and talked to fellow adventurers who had been there, but nothing could prepare them for the hardships and elation their two year journey would bring.

All photos courtesy of Gregg Treinish and Deia Schlosberg

By the time they finally reached Tierra del Fuego, Treinish and Schlosberg had trekked up mountains, waded through boggy marshes, bonded with local families, bushwhacked through bamboo, and even contracted typhoid fever.

The couple’s journey recently made them National Geographic Adventurers of the Year, and has secured their place in the history books of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

I caught up with Gregg and Deia to discuss leaving normal life behind in order to embark on a life changing trek, the big lessons they learned, and how they impacted the people they met along the way.

(MT): You decide to take off from your regular lives and trek the Andes. What goes through your head and heart before embarking on such an adventure?

To me, the unknown has always been incredibly exciting. Not having any clue what lay around the next corner captures this special place inside my head that is very deeply attached to a visceral feeling of being alive, of doing something worthwhile.

Oftentimes, I find myself saying that had I known what was in store I might not have gone; this is certainly the case with the Andes as the challenges were far greater than either of us anticipated. Before the journey, there was a lot of fear, which my mind somehow translates to excitement.

I think that it would only be fair to say that there was a high level of disillusionment as well. While I obviously thought about what it was going to be like, I somehow let myself believe that it was going to be fun day in and day out, this despite a cognitive recognition that it wasn’t going to be fun in many cases.

I think that in order to follow through with something that you know could very well be your demise requires a certain level of denial.

Travel is obviously a catalyst for learning. What were some preconceived notions or expectations you had that quickly disappeared once you got into your trek?

The preconceived notion that most-quickly comes to mind for me is the idea of poverty that we went into the continent with. My expectation was to see poverty, to see hunger, to see people living in tragedy.

What I found was that while it certainly exists in South America, the vast majority of people in the Andes are living with everything they need and in many cases more. They don’t have many of the modern amenities that we have grown so accustomed to, and which I must admit I missed from time to time along the way.

They do, however have food, shelter, clothing, access to health care, and perhaps most importantly, a connection to their families and where they come from. They live lives of leisure, at least for the majority of the year. They get what they need from the earth, and she takes care of them well.

In your second installment in Wend Magazine, Deia wrote: “How much and what kind of an impact have we had by being in any of those places along the length of the Andes? Do we want that impact to be more or less than it actually was? What impact have they each had on us?”

Having been back for awhile, can you now quantify that impact? How do you incorporate it into your current life?

I don’t think I’ll ever know our true impact on the people and places we encountered. I do know that we’ve kept in touch with several people we met along the way, and we’ve heard from many others who told us they were inspired by what we did–which is a wonderful thing to hear….

When I originally wrote that entry, I was talking about our impact environmentally, and I sure want to believe that our presence had a positive net impact. We tried to educate people as often as we could about human influence on the environment and about the concept of living sustainably.

Whenever people thought we were nuts for carrying our trash out of the field instead of tossing it on the ground, we would try to start a discussion about why. Things like that happened very frequently, and along with our very small carbon footprint, I think we came out on top.

The impact each place we passed through had on us is profound. Some more than others, obviously, but not necessarily the ones I would have thought at the time.

For example, although Fitzroy was perhaps the most stunning place visually, I think our internal processes at any given time had much more to do with the impact of a particular place, such that a nondescript corner in an unnamed canyon meant more to me than Fitzroy because of a particular realization I had there.

I think the only way to quantify that impact would be in terms of the number of people we’ve had the opportunity to share our story with, and especially, to share the lessons of our journey with.

To date, we’ve done presentations for maybe a thousand people spread out amongst several venues around the country, we’ve written for Wend Magazine, been in National Geographic Adventure, Backpacker, Outside, and many smaller publications.

And hopefully, for each person who saw our story, we were able to give them or remind them of one small thing they could take back with them to their daily lives. My hope is that the little bit that stuck was a mindfulness of our connection to the rest of the world and the significance we each have in contributing to the big picture.

In terms of sharing what you’ve learned with the greater community, what is one crucial lesson gained from your trip that you hope others will consider?

One of the most important things we learned from the trip is how connected to the outside world the people of the Andes are. While they don’t have modern amenities they do have AM/FM radios, often charged by solar power. They listen to the news, they know American politics, and they form their opinions of us largely from the media they see and hear.

Whether for good reason or not, the people of the developing world look up to us. They see America as the land of the way things should be and they very much strive to “progress” to what we have.

This becomes essential when we look at the choices both individually and with legislation that we make in the years to come. If we adopt new and “green” ways of life, the rest of the world will certainly follow.

If we continue consuming at a rate far greater than the rest of the world, the rest of the world will continue to consume more and more. Simply put, we are models for the rest of the world to follow.

Trekking 7,800 miles is pretty impressive and you were recently named National Geographic Adventurers of the year. Did you ever dream your trip would lead to so much press and acknowledgment? Did the two of you plan this trip with the intention of putting yourselves in the history of adventurers?

When we set out on what we thought would be a one year 5,000 mile journey, we had no idea no one had done what we were attempting. We had no idea that it would be as difficult as it was either, which may explain the lack of success people have had down there.

Somewhere near the end of the journey– after maybe 7,000 miles of walking– we joked with one another that it would be cool if we could write about our adventure for some of the magazines. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine we would get the honor that we did from National Geographic and never did we think others would genuinely want to hear our story.

One thing is clear, you guys are used to walking, so I have one final question: Do people make fun of you now when you choose to take the car to go somewhere instead of walking?

“Did you walk here?” is definitely one of the questions we have been asked the most since being home. That goes for a trip across the country or to the local bar. People really just don’t comprehend what it is like to travel on foot for so long. In our modern world of convenience we have forgotten how great it can be to slow down and enjoy what is around us.

You can listen to Gregg and Deia read the first part of their story published in Wend Magazine on podcast! Check out Wend Magazine’s Digital Story Project.

Community Connection

For those interested in a portrait of a local community in the Peruvian Andes, check out Huayhuash: A Convergence of Change and Resilience.

Spencer. A young dad. Another day at work. Linville Gorge, North Carolina. Photo courtesy: Spencer Cooke

Growing up, all I wanted to do was go kayaking. All my crew wanted was to go kayaking. As we went to college, we worked guiding rafts, teaching kids how to paddle at summer camps, working at gear shops, whatever seemed to help get you get river time. But nobody–it seemed to me–seriously considered being able to translate paddling into a career.

Over the years I’ve been stoked to see a few people make this happen however. One of them is Matador member Spencer Cooke. In this quick interview, Spencer talks about the realities of kayaking as a career, and introduces us to his latest production, The Eddy Feeling, a film about why people kayak.

David: Hey Spencer, can you give a quick intro on who you are and what you do?

I’m Spencer Cooke, owner and operator of Effort Inc, a media, sales and marketing company based in Western North Carolina. Water has been my element of choice for work and play for the past 13 years.

Effort Inc handles sales repping for paddlesports gear companies Immersion Research and Shred Ready. I also represent and endorse these and other brands as an athlete in whitewater and surf kayaking.

Rounding out the business model Effort Inc offers custom, contract video production and photography in addition to kayaking films sold through my company web site www.Effort.tv and the video site RapidTransitVideo.com.

Rapid Transit is a kayak filmmaker collaborative I began a year ago and through which my new film, THE EDDY FEELING, has been marketed.

Making Linville look easy. Photo courtesy: Spencer Cooke.

What’s it like working as a professional in the paddlesports industry?

On the outside it may appear to some folks that “I kayak for a living” and that is a quick, easy explanation for those who don’t or can’t understand how I make a living.

That comment is for in-laws and grandparents, though there are a ton of kayakers who truly think that a “rep” just goes around and kayaks and competes in competitions. It’s a pretty common misconception.

In reality I spend a ton of time in the office, in the car and on the phone and computer. Making all the sales, marketing and media occur happens only partially on the water but mostly with an ear to a phone and eyes on a computer screen.

Over the years the perks of this occupation have definitely been the fun of travel and exploration through which I’ve been able to collect a large library of photos, video footage and written journals… captured memories really.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have the support of kayak companies such as IR, Shred Ready & Aquabound to help fund paddling and surfing trips to Ecuador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Ireland, Morocco, Canada (BC, Quebec, Ontario) and all over the United States.

Filmmaking and video production haven’t been the most profitable endeavor but have certainly helped defray the costs of all the travel. I’ve produced or co-produced at least twenty of the most popular kayaking films out there.

How long have you been paddling / filming?

Paddling for 15 years, filming for 11 of those. One of my high school teachers along with my father got me into paddling in 1993. I started out paddling a 16 foot canoe and progressed from there. I have been a national champion twice, represented the USA at two world championships and had a laundry list of top finishes in various disciplines of kayaking.

I’ve been a skateboarder for 25 years and always enjoyed watching skate videos. My desire for the sport of kayaking has always been to do what videos did for me in the sport of skateboarding, which was to get me really excited and enthusiastic about getting out and doing it. Video has the power to get you stoked and it is probably the best learning tool you could have.

Linville Gorge. The most remote canyon in the Eastern US. Photo: Spencer Cooke.

I loved The Eddy Feeling. It’s different than any paddling film I’ve ever seen before. Can you talk about storyline, and what inspired you to tell it?

Yes, I haven’t ever done a real documentary, a serious film, and this film definitely fits that genre. It’s a story about people. Probably only half the 58 minutes actually show kayaking. Everything else is about these people, their lives, their spouses, home lives, their workplace.

It shows normal people living their lives who also happen to enjoy kayaking. More than that it shows how much kayaking means to these people even though some of them may only spend weekends or vacations on the water, at best.

The action junkie is not left dissatisfied though. There is a plethora of footage of that took me three years to shoot from the Class V rapids of the Linville Gorge, and it is all to an incredible soundtrack.

To top it off one of the cast members successfully runs a first descent of an 80 foot waterfall at the end of the film. This is the pro paddler character, not the banker of course. I feel the varied content rounds out the film to satiate every viewer from the teenage hair-boater to the elderly outdoor enthusiast and non-paddler.

Where have you shown it so far? What has reaction been?

It has been shown in theaters in Athens GA, Asheville NC, and Charlotte NC so far and has received rave reviews. Beauty is certainly in the eyes and ears of the beholder. That being said I am happy with this video after spending a couple years editing and shooting.

Let’s put it this way: a non-kayaker friend of mine who has never commented enthusiastically on any of my past kayak films made it a point to call me with his excitement and followed up with an email critique. He said “bravo” and that meant enough to me to just stop right there. My work was finished.

Community Connection

Please check out our review of The Eddy Feeling.

Interested in getting into paddling? Matador has a step by step guide that can help get you out on the river.

“Hi Samantha how are you!” My voice cracks just a little and I speak entirely too quickly. As an avid Travel Channel viewer, I have been a Samantha Brown fan since I discovered her show one rainy day in Taiwan over three years ago.

Every season, Brown takes us vicariously all around the world with programs like Passport to Europe and Great Hotels. Through the lens, she introduces people from diverse backgrounds and captures breathtaking scenes.

Viewers can’t help but be drawn to the natural warmth of Brown’s personality. She seems so down to earth that you almost feel like you’ve met her before, standing in line at the local grocer’s or sitting down at a neighborhood dinner party.

And yet, spending over 200 days traveling each year, Brown can rarely be found in her home in Brooklyn.

“I honestly never thought this would be my job,” Brown said. “I grew up in New Hampshire and came from of background thinking other people got to travel, not me. I didn’t think I had that much to bring to the table.”

In university, Brown studied musical theater and after graduation found her passion in improvisation and sketch comedy. Up until her agent informed her of the Travel Channel audition, Brown had no interest in travel or travel hosting. Unbeknown to her at the time, her theatrical skills that would help her land the job of a lifetime.

“Because we are unscripted, [travel hosts] have to roll with the punches and talk about destinations while somehow forwarding the plot,” Brown explains. “We have to juggle spontaneity with purpose.”

Landing the Gig

Spontaneity and purpose were exactly what drove Brown to stand in front of a commercial airliner poised for take-off in order to make her audition with the Travel Channel. Having missed the plane for her first audition, Brown was given one last chance at a live audition to impress casting directors who were unmoved by her demo reel.

Running late that day, Brown missed final boarding, but doggedly sprinted out onto the tarmac and begged her way onto the plane.

“I was standing at the nose of the plane shouting ‘Please!’,” Brown recalls with laughter. “I wonder about that pilot today [who] saw a little girl standing in front of his plane waving her arms and crying. The moment they let me on [the plane], I knew I had the job.”

Now, 10 years later, it’s hard to imagine anyone but the affable Brown leading us across boundary lines on our televisions. But travel programs were strikingly different during Brown’s audition and it took not only her brave determination, but classic good timing for her to land the hosting job.

“I was lucky that Travel Channel wanted a change,” Brown admits. “Back then, travel hosts were poised, perfect people, like Stepford wives, and I thought ‘I’m nothing like that!’ Now, you see a diversity of hosts, but back then it was a pretty boring pot of soup to be in.”

Becoming a Travel Host Today

With the advantages of today’s new media and web 2.0 technologies, aspiring travel hosts don’t necessarily need agents or the cajones to stand in front of airplanes to grab network attention. For those who are interested in travel hosting, Brown recommends taking full advantage of the omnipresent internet and building a fan base from there.

“I think people have a lot more going for them than I did 10 years ago,” Brown said. “[Use] YouTube, Facebook, any of those programs to get your name out there. If you develop your own steady fan base and bring it to the Travel Channel or any other network, you can grassroots your own career. You just have to show your point of view is different and compelling.”

It’s encouraging advice, but Brown warns that the naive that travel hosting is not simply a vacation with the camera crew. Travel hosts are on their feet around 10 hours a day, shooting and re-shooting takes, dealing with hecklers that inevitably follow, and overcoming technological snags along the way.

“We were just in Key West filming aerobatics,” Brown said. “I get nauseous pretty easily and was glad when we finally [landed], but we found out none of it was caught on tape so we had to go up and do it all over again. Through the years, I’ve learned that you definitely have to roll with the punches.”

A Life on Camera

In addition to juggling complications at work, Brown struggles to not let her personal life get overwhelmed by her career, not an easy feat for someone who spends most of the year away from home. This past year has been especially trying since Brown spent 240 days traveling, 20 days over her annual average.

Recently married, Brown is determined to make her personal life the focus of 2009.

“It’s tough, very tough,” Brown admits. “My life is literally on camera. When I go home, I’m just catching up with bills, but this year my big project is my personal life.”

Don’t get her wrong, though, Brown absolutely loves her job. It has taught her not only gratitude in her everyday life, but also the immense importance of communication.

“My life has completely changed [due to my job],” Brown said. “When I started, I thought travel meant checking things off a list. But I’ve learned that it’s all about connecting with people, looking at their everyday life. It’s about unlocking that and celebrating the small everyday moments; that’s my passion.”

For more information on Samantha Brown, including her taping schedule, you can visit her page on the Travel Channel website.

Photo above by howieluvzus

Many of us have heard of Banksy only within the last few years as he has transcended into worldwide notoriety and infamy. We have seen the stencils and heard the name, yet the man himself remains a mystery.

Photo above by DocZork – restless

Not much is known about Banksy outside of his work. In the midst of rumors, journalists and art aficionados have produced little verifiable concrete background information about the underground British artist.

UK’s Daily Mail published an article last summer, claiming to have uncovered Banksy’s true identity, although at the very end they concede that their whole discovery could be bunk.

The most commonly accepted facts are: his hometown is Bristol, UK; He was born in or around 1974; and his involvement with graffiti art began in the early 1990s.

In interviews granted to various media outlets, mostly anonymously, Banksy talks about his background only in relation to his work.

Having always been interested in art, Banksy started graffiti when he was just 14 years old. He gravitated toward stencil art because it was quick while still allowing him to do aesthetic, detailed work.

“If you damage someone’s property it’s good to show some dedication to it. [To] just slop it up is a bit rude, I fear.”

Having never been a fan of school, Banksy, instead, found his place and identity within the underground graffiti culture. Since picking up a spray can and stencils, the artist hasn’t looked back.

Photo above by howieluvzus

Regardless if you’re a fan or a member of Keep Britain Tidy (a group that believes Banksy’s work is criminal vandalism) you immediately recognize a Banksy when you see it.

His signature rat, children, monkey, and police men motifs and consistent anti-war, anti-capitalist, anti-establishment messages make his work uniquely identifiable.

Banksy Worldwide

Starting in the early 2000s, Banksy began to extend past Britain and work all over the world. From the Guantanamo prisoner in Disneyland to the sprayed art on Israel’s West Bank wall, Banksy’s art has covered the globe, uniting all sorts of people in his fan base. Currently, fans include some of Hollywood’s most famous stars, though in all likelihood Banksy wouldn’t brag about that.

What probably makes Banksy most notorious, however, is not just the message, but the overtly mischievous and humorous style evident in his work.

Photo above by LexMonkey

A few years ago, Banksy added his own prehistoric piece to the walls of the British Museum, mimicking cave art style and depicting a man with a shopping cart chasing a buffalo. The statement “This finely preserved example of primitive art dates from the Post-Catatonic era,” was in the sign hung beneath.

He once snuck into the London Zoo, spray painting the message “I want out. This place is too cold. Keeper smells. Boring, boring, boring.” in the elephant pen.

When Paris Hilton came out with her debut music CD, Banksy replaced 500 original copies with his own doctored CDs across 48 UK record stores. He Photoshopped the cover art to replace her face with that of a dog’s and added titles such as, “Why Am I Famous?” and “What Am I For?”.

In response to his increasing notoriety, Banksy offered for sale a painting of an art auction with the sentence, “I can’t believe you morons actually buy this shit.”

Photo above by armcurl

Banksy Today

A little less playful and a lot more disenchanted, Banksy has told The New Yorker’s Lauren Collins “I originally set out to try and save the world, but now I’m not sure I like it enough.”

He’s admitted that his infamy and the fact that just one of his pieces fetches hundreds of thousands of dollars makes him uncomfortable.

But this doesn’t mean he’ll retire from art activism. Just late last summer, he tagged several buildings in New Orleans to commemorate the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Hopefully, for his fans around the world, he’ll never stop working.

You can visit Banksy’s official website at www.banksy.co.uk. Original prints can be found at lazinc.com and are sold through his agent’s gallery in Soho, London.

Primal housemate Quinner, later at Point North. Another day in the office.

Editor’s Note:Please read part 1 of the story here.

Dec. 15, 1997 – Fly Fishing for Great Whites

Tal Fletcher bounced around in the back of a van with twelve other guys all wearing black gear, camouflage, and face paint.

“I looked around at the crew,” he says. “Jimbo was there, M.C., Miles D., Gambler, Dano, Senior, and Quinner, among others, and I wondered who in hell I was to be with them.”

It was Jimbo’s birthday, as well as the night that Joe Montana’s jersey was being retired in San Francisco. In classic Primal strategy, the crew figured most of the attention—police and otherwise—would be on Candlestick park. It was the ideal night for bungee jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.

Gambler at Auburn

The van dropped them off. They approached the bridge in the dark from the Marin side, then flung a rope up over a girder. Miles Daisher, with monkey-like gymnastic ability, ascended the rope then set up a rope ladder beneath the bridge for the rest to climb. As cars passed by 10 feet overhead, the group dropped into the understructure of the bridge, moving south toward San Francisco.

Some parts had catwalks for maintenance crews, but to get where they needed to go, the group had to cross several sections of thin I-beams with nothing below them but a 230-foot drop off into the Pacific Ocean. They moved slowly—most sitting down and inching along—except for Dano, who cruised around on the beams as if on a sidewalk.

To reach the center of the bridge, they had to climb ladders, slide down poles, and in some sections, climb hand over hand. At one point, their eyes were at tire-level. They peeped out across the road, ducking back down as cars passed by at 50 mph. In another place they encountered a video camera, and had to maneuver around it so as not to be seen.

The group made it out between the two towers, close to the center of the bridge, and set up for the jump. They called it “Fly-Fishing for Great Whites,” because the goal was to jump just far enough to get wet—a quick head-dunk in the Bay before getting snapped skyward on the bungee.

MC with bungee cords

When it was his turn to jump, Tal took a deep breath, then launched off the bridge. There were several seconds of wind and speed, the lights of San Francisco blurring into the darkness of the oncoming water. Then, six feet above the surface, he rocketed back, rebounding several times, gradually coming to a rest, dangling halfway between the bridge and the ocean.

The group lowered a static line through a pulley with a carabiner on the end. Tal clipped in, and the rest of the crew pulled him up, walking backwards on the catwalk tug-of-war style.

The others took their jumps, with M.C—who always used a bullet-like form—going the deepest, touching the water. There were a lot of high fives afterwards, and then the group went back to celebrate, drinking beers and watching videos of the jump that several people had shot via helmet cams.

“I wasn’t sure if it was ‘the ultimate,’” Tal says. “But if it wasn’t, then I don’t know what is.”

Photos courtesy of Tal Fletcher.

Thomas Camposano has worked as a broker, a teacher, and a firefighter, and he’s done these things all over the world. Yet, when he was finishing college, the economy looked a bit like the current one.

Camposano graduated Magna Cum Laude from George Washington University with a degree in International Business, and landed a solid job as a commodities broker with the US Department of Defense. After three years, he began to realize that he was miserable.

“I was surrounded by a lot of unmotivated people,” says Camposano. “I couldn’t spend my life doing something I hated, so I started looking for an exit.”

He had three criteria:

• The new path had to get him out of the office environment that he had found stifling.
• He needed to be able to make enough money to live comfortably.
• He needed the freedom to pursue his biggest passion: travel.

Teaching English Abroad

He found a program that provided certificates for teaching overseas. He submitted his application, quit his office job and moved to Prague to begin teaching.

“It was the best two years of my life,” Camposano says. “Prague is my favorite place on earth, and teaching is extremely rewarding. I met people there that are still some of my best friends. ”

Park Ranger

Camposano used to surf at Cape Hatteras, NC, and noted how the park rangers there seemed to love their jobs. He wanted in, but he also knew that these jobs were in demand and were highly competitive. “I figured, I’m not going to get this if I don’t at least give it a shot.”

He submitted the park service application from Europe. While on a ski trip in the French Alps, he received an email saying that a representative from the park service was interested in speaking with him. He called the interviewer from the slopes and was offered the job.

Elated, Camposano flew back to the US and drove to Cape Hatteras. He spent his days patrolling the beach, greeting campers, and enjoying the upbeat attitudes of his fellow park rangers. At first, he had a hard time believing that he was getting paid for it.

“It was the opposite of the stagnant environment at my first office job,” he says. “These park rangers were all getting paid less than the office workers, but they were far happier. I would have done it for free.”

Because his position at Cape Hatteras was seasonal and lasted from April until October, Camposano was free to pursue his passion for travel in the winter months, covering the globe, often choosing countries with beneficial exchange rates to stretch the park service money he had saved during the summer.

Camposano enjoyed the rotation for several seasons, but he knew he needed something a bit more lucrative.

Wildland Firefighter

During his time as a park ranger, Camposano often worked with wildland firefighters who were called in when brushfires occurred in the park. He was attracted by the adrenaline rush of fighting fire, and gradually began making the transition to wilderness firefighter while stationed in Cape Hatteras.

Once he had some experience under his belt, he began looking for bigger action. “I was sent out West, where there is always fire. Eventually I landed a position with the Bureau of Land Management in Utah. I’ve never seen so much fire in my life.”

Because of Utah’s centralized location in relation to other western states, Camposano was dispatched all over the West, depending upon where wilderness firefighters were in highest demand.

He would sleep in the forest, and wake up to fight advancing blazes. A typical week would consist of 100 work hours. It wasn’t always easy, but it was never boring, and overtime pay was high.

Camposano is now a firefighter with the Montgomery County Fire Department in Maryland, and is now working on a book titled “Jobs that Pay Well, and Don’t Suck”. He has some tips for workers looking to make a job change in a tough economy:

• Recessions can present opportunities to make a change. Seize them. “If you’re going to be laid off, why not use this time as an opportunity to make a positive change?”
• Ignore your critics. “I shake my head when I think about the life and work experiences I would have missed out on had I listened to folks telling me that my traveling and job changes were a bad idea.”
• Pursue your ideal job, no matter the demand or requirements. “Some of the jobs I’ve had are widely sought after. I didn’t expect to land them, but there’s no way to get these jobs without applying.”
• If you’re wondering whether or not it’s time to leave your current job, it probably is. “Life is too short to be unhappy at your job,” says Camposano. “I’ve spent my life experiencing a variety of occupations, and I’ve never regretted leaving a situation that wasn’t meeting my needs professionally. Find something that makes you happy.”

Feature photo by Paphio

Community Connection

For more resources on making a big move, check out our roundup of the Top 10 Places to Teach English Abroad as well as our guide on How To Become a Wildland Firefighter.