Back on the Road!

We’ve decided to revive this blog! A lot has changed since I last wrote (in case you’re really out of the loop, Roberto and I got married!), and we’re back on the road, so we figured it would be a good way to keep people up to date on our whereabouts, our impressions about the places we visit, upcoming plans, and more. I have a hard enough time keeping up with the other two blogs I’m now writing (here and here), but it’s nice to have a place with no pressure, no need for SEO, no worries about visitor statistics, where I can post updates and share my thoughts. Good practice to get more writing done, too! Roberto will also be posting, so you’ll have a chance to work on your Spanish. :)

We’re in Portland, Oregon, right now, housesitting for my brother and his girlfriend. On Tuesday, we start our epic adventure south to San Diego and back. In a stroke of luck, we’ve managed to score a loaner car for the next few months, and we’re thrilled to have the freedom to go where we want, when we want.

After almost a month in the States, I think we’ve slept in something like eight different beds (more for me, since I went to Vancouver by myself and stayed in two more places!). It’s been great visiting with friends and family in New Jersey, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, but we’ve also learned the value of staying put. As usual, it’s all about balance, tempering movement with stillness. We’ll continue to seek that in the coming months (and years), no matter where we are.

We’re in the States until early December, but our plans are more up in the air than ever. We had planned to be on the West Coast until late September, when I was supposed to be back on the East Coast to co-lead a retreat. But the retreat has been canceled (the location fell through), so we’ve suddenly found ourselves a little less sure and a lot more flexible, with no totally concrete plans until Thanksgiving in New Jersey. It’s fun to have a wide-open itinerary, but it’s also rather daunting, especially when we know we don’t want to moving around constantly. All the more reason to find more housesitting gigs and other opportunities to stay in one place for longer. We’ve been invited to visit people all over the country, but the cost in getting to some of those places is a bit of a deterrent, so we’re still figuring it all out.

For now, I’m excited about the road trip, and I can’t wait to see old friends and new, and to show Roberto around San Francisco and other treasured spots in California. It’s going to be a great adventure!

P.S. Our place in Buenos Aires is for rent while we’re gone! If you know anyone interested in a vacation rental, check it out.

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Check out my new blog

In case you haven’t heard, I’ve started a new blog called Nomadtopia. It will still include a lot of my personal experiences, but presented in a way that I hope will appeal to a more general audience and help and inspire others who’d like to live an unconventional life of travel and adventure. Check it out, sign up for email or RSS updates, and let me know what you think!

Nomadtopia

I’m starting a new blog! It’s not live yet, but I just had to share. Nomadtopia is about, as the current draft of my tagline says, “Creating your ideal life, wherever you are, wherever you go.” This means that I’ll write about a lot of the same things I’ve written about here – traveling, freelancing, finding community and enjoying domestic pursuits abroad, and more – but in a more universal way, and on a more regular basis, with the goal of appealing to an audience beyond friends and family (nothing personal!). I’d like the blog to attract enough readers and interest that I can eventually make some money from it. (I won’t go into all the nitty-gritty of that, but in most cases that means creating products like e-books or courses, as well as participating in affiliate marketing programs, where I’d sell other people’s products and earn a commission.)

My current plan is to eventually retire this blog, perhaps after moving/reviving some of its content for the new site. I hope you’ll continue to follow my adventures on Nomadtopia!

And… we’re back!

My apologies for the blog silence… there’s been a lot going on at Nomad headquarters! The last few months have seen two really big changes in my life, one that has had a significant impact in the short-term, and one that will have a major impact in the long-term: I took a full-time contract gig in an office in Buenos Aires until March or so, and Roberto and I got engaged!

It’s been crazy trying to balance my return to a regular work schedule, freelancing, and Roberto’s work and classes (he’s been in school three nights a week, studying graphic design). But he’s nearly done with school for the year (it’s nearly summer here, remember!), and my freelance work has gotten a little more tranquilo, so it’s the perfect time to bring this blog back to life and work on a bunch of other projects we have pending. Stay tuned for news, musings, and more!

Typical Post

I have about a million things to say, and no time to say them. The long, dreamy post I’ve been writing in my head about this nomad having a home base again will just have to wait, but it’s time to spill the beans (to the possibly one or two readers of this blog who aren’t on facebook or haven’t already been told about all this in person!). For now, let this suffice: I’m at a WiFi cafe because I don’t have Internet at home, and I have to leave to go buy some lights and outlet covers and get home in time for my new fridge to be delivered tonight. To MY apartment. That I bought. In Buenos Aires! More soon – and pictures!

Books I’ve Read

Just a reminder that I’m still updating the Books I’ve Read page (link to the right on the main page). I’m trying to read more (last year I read more books than in 2007, so that’s a start, though as my friend Sarah pointed out, maybe it should be about number of pages, not number of books!), and also getting back into my old habit of writing some brief comments on each book. Enjoy!

Happy 2009!

I haven’t completely fallen off the face of the earth… Just, you know, busy as usual. I’m in San Francisco (just visiting), falling in love with the place all over again.

There should be much more news and excitement coming to this blog soon… stay tuned!

Zero to Sixty – Or, Still Not Blogging

I’ve been on vacation for a month, which has meant much less computer time for me, and lots of time for hanging out with family and friends both in the States and Argentina – since I last wrote this has included highlights such as a wonderful extended birthday celebration, a road trip to see friends in Maine and Massachusetts with a stop in Westchester County NY on the return, a brief jaunt into NYC, a great time with a friend from Chicago who came to visit me in Buenos Aires, and a trip with her to the northwest of this amazing country.

My guest left yesterday, and though it was sad to say goodbye I’m eager to get back to “real” life – join the gym again, finally finish unpacking, restart my Spanish studies, and get back to work! And back to work with a vengeance, it seems. I’m suddenly super-booked for the month of August, and happy to get back into the swing of things (hopefully the transition won’t be too hard!). Lots of work is also the perfect excuse to be antisocial for a while – all the visiting has been wonderful but I’m very ready for a little downtime, a little “me” time.

Phew!

Apologies for the radio silence. Suffice to say I’ve been dealing with some health problems the last few months, and it kind of took over my life for a while. But it wasn’t anything serious – as in, life-threatening – and I am slowly, thankfully on the mend.

On top of all the doctors visits and trips to the pharmacy, I’ve been busy finishing up some work and PACKING for a trip! First time on a plane in over a year – wow – I can’t remember the last time I didn’t fly for a whole year! And it’s my first time back to the States in over a year. That is also a first! It feels exciting and overwhelming and all kinds of things rolled into one. And it will be really strange to go from a week of temperatures in the 30s to temps in the 90s! Thankfully it’s a little more mild today, so hopefully my system won’t freak out too much with the change in seasons. First stop is Florida, then a road trip with Grandma.

To answer a few anticipated FAQs:
This will be only an East Coast trip. And I can’t promise I’ll get to see everyone!
This is only a trip. I am keeping my apartment in BA and will be back here in July.

I am hoping to take a computer vacation for most of the next week. After that, I suppose I’ll return to somewhat more regular blogging. We’ll see!

Fall Has Fallen

Fall has hit Buenos Aires with a vengeance. As if the plummeting temperatures weren’t sign enough, yesterday the wind whipped a crispy yellow leaf off a tree and smack into my forehead, forcing my non-coat-wearing, shivering (and slightly hungover) self to finally admit summer is over. Time to break out the sweaters and start cooking up some soup! And time to fire up the heater, but we can’t get the pilot light lit. If only the fix-it guy would show up when he says he will. In the meantime, I’m shivering inside as well.

Weather.com claims that it’s 59 degrees out at 3 p.m., but I don’t believe it for a second. It also says it will be 42 degrees overnight, which unfortunately I do believe. Thank goodness there’s a hearty lentil stew handy, cooked up by one of my roommates.

Yes, I said roommates. Plural, even. After 9 (great) months of living alone, I’ve reentered the world of communal living, but in the best way. I have two roommates (one from England, one from Puerto Rico) and we share the kitchen (and occasionally the living room, where I’m hanging out today since my heater isn’t working yet). My room is separate – outside through the patio, up the stairs, and across the terrace – and is huge, divided into living and bedroom areas. And I have my own bathroom. So I get the savings and community of living with other people (we have been sharing a lot of meals), but the privacy and quiet of living by myself. Perfect!

My camera is on the fritz, but I’m working on getting some pictures together. Soon.