Was it a thousand African elephants? The fine features of the African Blue Mountains? The maternal touch of a baboon and her young? The more I travel, the more I want to go back to what Edward Rice Burrough's describes as Tarzan's philosophy. . . he had an EXTREME FORM of "return to nature". It's the Tarzan of the jungle, not the Tarzan of Jane and Greystoke.
What is the nature I am surrendering to? and What am I giving up? Let's go back seven year to my SERIES 7 Days. Over the years, the title of my job changed from a Stock Broker to an Account Executive, to a Financial Consultant to a Wealth Advisor. Yes, there was education that went along with the title change. And the mechanism for my pay was the same. The more I performed, the more I got paid. This dynamic worked well, yet it began to run my life. - or ruin my life. I hired an executive coach to help me transition from that career. I left the financial world, when I lost my belief in what I was selling. The habits I gave up . . . make money and spend it. A simple trip to the hair salon, located in a Mag Mile Mall, in Chicago, would set me back $500. It wasn't the cost of the trim, it was the stop at the Max Mara Shop to buy the latest cashmere sweater or silk scarf. -Because I could. This wasn't about Credit card debt, or lack of saving, like the Susi Orman, Oprah Winfrey episodes. It was about imbalance for one. Too much time spent on working. My identity was all wrapped up in my career and in things I bought. And I bought the best. . . Big House, Biedermeier, B&B Italia, Mercedes, Fortuny,Cipriani, Frette, Prada, Mui Mui, Channel, Chopard, . . . . the lists of best can go on and on, but the next few words are more important . . . then The cycle broke August 2001 with a little experiment I did. I went on vacation for a month and tested myself. The test question. . . Could I be as HAPPY staying in an $800 a night hotel as a $40 night hotel? Ya,ya, well this might not be within your realm of life, but I bet you got a questions to ask yourself to break the money cycle. Or if you're not into direct query, read the book CONSUMED , by Benjamin Barber. (Its not a light read, but its a mind shifter) Fast forward almost 6 years and the clothes that fit in one case, some art supplies, a camera and laptop became my simple nature. My blog is for you to see my experiences with travel, turned into a way of life. I will log, how I transition from 1 year of pure travel to travel as a part of my design/art career to some of my favorite big cities - Singapore, Wellington, Cape Town, London, Barcelona, New York, Chicago and San Francisco. This is a start of our journey together. Side note: For those of you reading from outside the US with liberal 5 - 8 week vacations polices, you probably haven't experienced, what happened to me in the USA, while working for a large corporation. After one month on vacation, it was a widely held opinion of my boss and peers, that I had abandon my clients and my support staff, therefore I was deemed irresponsible and not committed, eh? Mind you, I had not taken off a month in over 18 years, I notified my clients, staff, HR and my boss nine months prior. To top if off my cellphone bill back to my office and clients, totaled $2000 that month. It took six months, before I gained the understanding of my boss . By then, I was more determined to explore and search out a better lifestyle.
Your blog is so interesting and thought provoking.
Posted by: Keren Colsten | Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 03:11 PM
Your blog has a sense of wholeness and clarity. This is a site you'll want to come back to over and again. I know I sure will. Danielle Love- another name to remember.
Posted by: Danielle Love | Monday, July 09, 2007 at 09:39 PM
WOW Great! Can not wait to hear and see more..
Posted by: Sister Debbie | Friday, July 06, 2007 at 10:38 PM