Snail Mail Collective Update: September

So literally the day after I wrote my Snail Mail Collective post for my partner Jenna, my package arrived! Just wanted to share a picture of the wonderful goodies I received from her!

If you did not check out my previous post, here's my Snail Mail Collective post that I wrote two days ago for Jenna: http://loveatraveler.blogspot.com/2013/10/snail-mail-collective-september.html

She sent me yummy Chocolate Covered Dates, a cute Bee Notebook that her students use, two UAE magazines, and a cool Camel Postcard with a beautiful written note!

I love my beautiful package from Jenna! It made my day. :-) I can't wait to read the magazines! We thought our packages would take a longer time to get here than usual so I'm pretty happy with how fast we received our mail. (She told me about the post office process over there!) I feel lucky to have met her in this way and we plan on continuing to stay in touch! Once again, Jenna is a wonderful lady and I hope you guys check her out!

Snail Mail Collective: September

So once again my September Snail Mail Collective partner Jenna and I are still waiting for each others fun packages from last months SMC, Topic: Back to School. We figured it may take awhile to receive our gifts and so we decided to post anyway and then post later with the pictures once they arrive. I love Snail Mail! :-)

So my partner last month was Jenna over at the blog: http://jennainabudhabi.wordpress.com/ 

I'd post her twitter too but she does not have one....yet. I'm currently pushing her to get one! :-)

I am so glad I got paired with her! We are like two peas in a pod. I remember the first email she sent me where she apologized to me at the end of it for 'writing a book'. I knew then I was going to like her! I can't help but write long emails too! Or long texts. Or anything! We also plan on skyping one day!

She is currently living with her husband and teaching in the incredible United Arab Emirates and I think that is amazing! She is actually trying to help me get a job over there towards the end of next year when I hope to meet up with her! (This would be the 3rd time I'd meet up with someone who I've met on my travels! Or in this case, first for SMC!) 

She has told me stories about her travels, her experiences in Tanzania, and what I can do, travel-wise if and when I make it to the UAE. 

I truly enjoy talking to her, her blog is wonderful (check it out!), and really love how open-minded she is about travel and life. If you ever get the chance to write to her or talk to her, I know you'll love her too!

Here are some questions I asked her throughout our emails and getting to know each other:

When did you start blogging and why?

I started about a year and three months ago to keep my family caught up on our travels. At the end of the day I really do all of my blogging for my mom – I know having the blog reassures her and helps her feel like she knows what’s going on. Calling from here is hard and the time difference and work schedule make skyping a bit hard (we work Sunday – Thursday over here because Friday is an Islamic Holiday).

Where have you been?

Africa: Tanzania

Europe/UK: Paris, Ireland, London, Scotland, Holland

Asia: Nepal and Thailand

Middle East: Qatar and Oman

What is your favorite place to travel to?

I think for my favorite place I have to give two – In terms of a place to go and explore and relax and vacation I’d have to say Thailand. That country is just endless in its possibilities – from jungles to beaches to cities – the people are so friendly and I feel like I could spend my life exploring it. In terms of a place I want to disappear and live forever that would hands down be Amsterdam, Holland. Both my and my husband were like “how were we not born Dutch?!” We love biking, museums, beer cafes, and the slow pace of everything. 

She'd also like to add: Oman and Scotland!

What are 3 items off of your bucket list?

Seeing the northern lights is #1, owning a home in the Adirondacks #2, and go to Argentina to Patagonia and take the trip to Antarctica from there #3.

What are the 3 countries you must go to?

Japan (sushi and Mt Fuji), New Zealand (nature), Germany/Belgium (I just love my beers!)

Where in the world is the best food that you've ever had?

Thailand probably has the best food of any place I've ever traveled. They have this dish (I don’t remember what its called in Thai) but it’s a spicy Papaya Salad and we’d get it from street vendors almost every day – amazing – spicy, sweet, lemony, peanut-y, awesomeness! Middle Eastern food is really delicious too – the hummus here is different and way better than in the states and the Fatoush salad with pomegranate dressing is gorgeous! Plus they know how to cook a mean kebab – yogurt lamb and spicy chicken – YUM! Another favorite dish – and I don’t think it’s actually Dutch – is a dish I had while in Amsterdam was really nice bread with goat cheese, slivered almonds, honey, date syrup, and arugula and for dessert a stroopwafel!

What's your favorite food?

At the moment my goat cheese sandwich! But really probably Buffalo wings (I am after all from Buffalo, New York!)

What do you like to do for fun?

Writing, hiking, photography (not professional or anything I just love taking pics), reading, and canoeing.

What is the most daring thing you have ever done?

I can think of two things – moving here (I still can’t believe we actually did it!) and drinking cows blood in Africa with the Masai tribe – still surprised I didn't get sick!

What's your favorite drink? 

Homemade honey-ginger tea

What's your favorite dessert? 

Carrot Cake!

What's your favorite candy? 

Caramel filled anything!

What's your favorite movie?

Midnight in Paris.

What kind of music do you listen to?

Anything folk or alternative (love Bob Dylan and currently falling in love with Wilco!)

What's your favorite color? 

Orange

Check out Jenna's blog and get to know her too! She is a great friend and I hope to continue staying in touch with her. :-)

What's an itinerary?

Here's how to travel to _________ for a week! Only have 3 weeks? Here's exactly where to go when you are here:_______!

This is what I'm seeing when I look online and I always stop to think....

What ever happened to discovery? Going to new places on your own without being told? Making your own on-the-go itinerary and being open-minded to change. What about just booking one night and then making your own decisions once you have in fact seen the city and see where you'd like to head to next?    

Sure myself, as well as others, post where I've/they've been and that's perfectly fine! That's the fun part of traveling. Showing your experiences and memories and bringing joy to others while showing this magnificent world that we live in. 

But there's a difference between writing about your exciting trip and telling someone where to go.  

Being excited about your adventure and writing about it is inspiring to others and hopefully makes someone consider going to that country/doing that adventure. 

But I do not want someone else planning my travels!

What about the amazing places you did not experience because you stuck to your set schedule of what you were doing? Or because you did what someone else did? Is that even considered your trip?

This is for all the travelers out there, including myself, who book their plane tickets and go where they want to go! Kudos to you all! There is so much out there to discover and it would be a shame to have any sort of regret coming back from a trip and realizing you missed out on something.

The number one trip I always have in mind was when I went to Bolivia. Before I went there, I had it in my thoughts to return back to Chile as well. I saw the Santiago area during a previous trip but wanted to head out to the northern region since I was close to the area by being in Bolivia.  But I did not want to set a schedule just in case something special that I didn't know about here in the states popped up in Bolivia.

The time came when I was looking to cross the Bolivian border by land into Chile. The weather was so bad that they closed the roads between Bolivia and Chile and I would not be able to make that trip. If I had planned around that, I would have missed out on a lot. So with no plans, I went straight to Peru! A beautiful country I plan on hopefully moving to towards the end of this year/beginning of the next! *Originally I was thinking Brazil---I'm still going back and forth!

If I had planned my whole trip, I would have not soaked in this incredible world wonder!

Machu Picchu, Peru

  If I had stuck to a planned schedule, I would not have had this spectacular view to see for myself. Not just this trip, but all my adventures, in general. There has been at least one thing I never planned on seeing but had learned about while in the country. 

I'm not a tour guide book reader but what I can assume is that I'm sure not everything is written in the guide books. There are some secret places that are yet to be discovered.

And travel is all about discovery!

So how do I travel?

With no plans of course! I book the plane tickets and just for the day of arrival, I book a hostel for one night. That allows me to figure out what I'm going to do next. Or if I need the day to relax (I have yet to use the first day of travel as a day to relax!). Usually I stay there or I move on to different areas, depending on what the area offers. My schedule is very flexible by doing this. Which I highly recommend because plans don't always stick and issues will sometimes arise. Always have to be prepared for anything! Safety and otherwise.

I do:

Research the country--customs, history, points of interest, safety, food, and ways of travel. That's extremely important to me. I like to be 'one' with the country and not an outsider. To experience it like the locals.

This allows me to be my open-minded and adventurous self. It's absolutely thrilling to travel this way, in my opinion. It's not a rushed schedule at all. It's a go at your own pace traveling style. If you need a day of rest. Take it! If you discovered a new area, book the bus ticket! 

You work so hard to make the money to be able to travel and enjoy yourself. Don't you want to make the best of it? 

As for the future, whether I'm single or not, I still see myself traveling this way. I'll settle in certain places longer than others more as I get older if (and hopefully) I move out of the US permanently as an expat. But it definitely won't stop me from seeing this whole world!

So with all this said, go with your heart and gut. Make and follow your own path, not others. It's your life journey. Make it the best you want it to be!

How do you travel?

Snail Mail Collective: August

A little late but worth the wait!

I joined the Snail Mail Collective last month and it has been great so far! My first partner was Bonnie Rose at A Compass Rose:  www.bonnieroseblog.co.uk

We are both hard workers and busy bees plus sometimes snail mail does move at a snail mail pace! We finally got our packages and our faith in the mail system has been restored!

3 beautiful pictures from Bath, England, a wonderfully written postcard, and a super cute UK Bear!

So what can I say that everyone doesn't know about the wonderful Bonnie Rose?

Bonnie is a wife, mother, blogger, and photographer. How she has time to do everything, I don't know, but she is definitely a superwoman! :-)

I had a great time getting to know her and love that we have some things in common and some things we could take from eachother.

Our similarities:

We love dark chocolate, enjoy reading books, loving outdoor adventures like hiking, love desserts that aren't too sweet, we don't like country music, similarities in how we travel, we enjoy food, and we BOTH BLOG! We also talked about our love of homemade scrubs. We exchanged our scrub recipes. Bonnie also gave me her pie crust recipe and I'm excited to try it out! 

What I'd like to learn from Bonnie?

To balance life better! I'm always on the go but need to learn how to slow down, focus on life, and focus on my blog. Bonnie is great at this! As I know everyone knows her. :-)

I had some questions for Bonnie and here are her answers:

When and How did you get into blogging? 

I started in 2005 to share photos of my son after he was born. I stumbled on a friends blog that had one post while waiting to give birth and thought...I want to do that.

What is the most daring thing you've done in all of your travels?

This was not my choice...but man it was thrilling and scary and emotional. I got my phone stolen in my home town of Napoli ( grew up there six years) and had to go to the police station. They brought me in a room with a door in between me and a suspect that I could see through and he was literally inches from my face, really amped up on adrenaline...Something out of a Guy Richie film. It was so freaky! Esp since I didn't know what I was going to be doing with the language barrier that when I was brought in. I was really freaked out. 

What's your favorite country you've been to?

So many...but Austria holds a lot of memories and I cannot wait to take my husband and boys there and eat germknodel again! 

What's the one place you are dying to go to?

That list is very long, but from a place I've never been, Iceland! 

Three places you would like to go to next? (One is Iceland!)

Austria, and then a trip that includes visiting all the places on one visit: Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. 

Best travel advice you can give?

Stay away from tourists and touristy areas and travel like a local. 

Farthest you have been from home? 

I can't answer this as I don't have a home per se. But farthest I've been from my parents when I was still living with them was being in Australia for a summer while they lived in Arizona. 

Favorite part of going to the beach?

Hearing the waves and smelling the salt air.

Sea creature?

Mermaids Count?

Thoughts on Food?

I love food! Probably my favourites are from places I've traveled as they are tied into memories.  Like Germknodel. 

Comfort food?

Starch...since we try to stay away from it. So like potatoes and chips (French fries). I get my fill with sweet potato mash and sweet potato fries.

Favorite dessert? 

Germknodel. It's a traditional dessert to eat served at the mountain lodges where you go skiing in the alps during winter time. 

Favorite ice cream?

Gelato in Italy...any flavour! 

Candy?

Dark Chocolate!

Favorite book/s? 

I love Earnest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast followed by a Sun Also Rises. I also love Tolkien's LOTR and the Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia, and recently reading the Game of Thrones series. But I could equally read a travel book and be happy. 

What kind of music do you listen to?

Oh all kinds...really almost anything. Depends on my mood. Usually not country though. 

Favorite TV show?

I have quite a few. Some shows I currently love that are in their last season :( are: Burn Notice, Breaking Bad, and Dexter.

And lastly.....

5 items you can't live without!

My camera, may laptop, my glasses, coconut oil, and a good book! 

I had so much fun getting to know Bonnie and I'm so glad I got partnered with her. I hope we get to continue to keep in touch. Love you Bonnie! Check out her blog. She is amazing. :-)