What Does Travel Mean to You?

Posted on February 4, 2017February 4, 2017 by Dusty Roads

I was running around making lists of things I need to do before I leave for Hawaii and it suddenly hit me that I was tired. Very, very tired. The kind of tired that if I let myself stop for a minute will just fall asleep.

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I found myself asking why I do this to myself.

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To take a vacation everything is supposed to be caught up at work for the co-worker who will cover your absence. That’s only fair but this week I ended up doing my work, another associate’s work and she was covering a 3rd person’s work. Needless to say my last day became really hectic.

Now my cat is demanding my attention and I’m missing him already.

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I know once I’m on my way I will start looking forward to the trip again but it made me think about travel in general.

On the South Rim, Grand Canyon 2008

Is the reason many people never head out to explore because they get bogged down in the shear WORK of getting packed and out the door? One friend said she only goes on cruises because planning a trip was just too much work. Everything is planned for her on a cruise!

Key West 2013

Usually I spend months researching an area, planning and dreaming about the vacation. I get a lot of pleasure out of this planning stage. But no matter how prepared I am, the reality always trumps the planning. I love seeing new places, meeting new people, trying new things.

Maui 2016

Now although I often feel torn about leaving I really can’t see myself giving up the adventure. I no sooner finish one trip when I’m thinking about the next one. I told a co-worker that asked me why I didn’t retire that “I Work so I can Vacation”. I guess that sums it up.

Orlando, Fl June 2011 Photo by JR St Jean, Take Pride Photography

How do you feel about traveling?

What Does The Future Hold?

Posted on January 29, 2017January 29, 2017 by Dusty Roads

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I guess it’s because my birthday is only a couple of weeks away. I seem to be more introspective as I get older each year. I seem do more musing around this time than I do at New Year’s!

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What is eating at me these days is my future at work. So far my job appears secure but I’m not the workaholic I once was. With all the changes at the company I wonder if I will still be there in 1 or 2 more years. Then I look at my financial obligations and remind myself that I need to work another 10 years.

So I decided to revisit an old revenue source.

A few years ago, probably 5 by now, I looked into stock photography. The myth is that you can upload pictures you’ve already taken and build an income stream. I didn’t have much luck the last time I tried but to be honest, I didn’t try very hard.

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Anyway, I thought about all these pictures I had sitting on my hard drive and thought I’d try again. According to what I’d read the minimum portfolio to start earning money is 300 pictures. That’s the magic number but more is better.

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I signed up at a new stock company and started looking through my pictures. They have to look over your work to be accepted. That’s when I discovered that many of my photos were’d big enough. The minimum file size at this particular company is 4 MB. I was surprised to find that many of my favorite pictures were only 2-3 MB, just missing the minimum.

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Looks like I will have my work cut out for me. So I plan to print out some model releases and start taking my camera everywhere. I have a list of the most requested subjects and many are outside my comfort zone. Even so I owe it to myself to really give it a try this time.

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Are any of you stock photographers? Any advice?

I Was Just Thinking…

Posted on January 28, 2017January 28, 2017 by Dusty Roads

Awww, you know what that means. I was stumped for a subject to write about. But seriously I do think sometimes.

I read a post from a fellow travel blogger titled 7 Questions all Long Term Travelers Hate.http://girlvsglobe.com/2014/05/7-questions-all-long-term-travellers-hate.html

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This is a very humorous blog but it did get me thinking. First of all she refers to eighty-year old adventurers and twenty something homebodies.

(We’re not 80 yet but we are getting up there)

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When I was twenty something I never went on vacation unless it was to sit at my mother’s house usually with a book or two. I was convinced I couldn’t afford to travel. I soothed my wanderlust by moving my whole house every 2 years or so.

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Back in the day (yes I said that on purpose) young women didn’t pack up and move on their own but I did. First I left my folks home in New York and moved to Massachusetts. Then I proceeded to move from town to town every 2-3 years. My family claimed they couldn’t keep up with all the address changes. Looking back it would have been cheaper to just travel a little and keep the same apartment.

She goes on to say that Wanderlust is for life and I really think that’s true. The older I get the more things I want to see. I go through my “bucket” list all the time. It doesn’t get shorter with each vacation, it gets longer! In my mind I have vacations for the next 2 years all planned out! I just have to keep healthy and the money coming in to cover the trips. I don’t think I’m cut out for “roughing it” anymore.

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I’m always looking for ways to increase my freedom and flexibility while developing multiple ways to pay for my travel addiction.

What about you? Are you an arm chair traveler or do you have a touch of that wanderlust too?

Wacky Friday the 13th Superstitions

Posted on January 13, 2017January 13, 2017 by Dusty Roads

Are you superstitious? Do you run from black cats?

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Then today you are probably home in bed, refusing to even attempt to go out. It’s Friday the 13th!

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The fear of Friday the 13th is the most widespread superstition in the world today. Dr. Donald Dossey, a psychologist who specializes in phobias, estimates that there are 21 million Americans who suffer from the fear.

Enough people are afraid of the date that there is even a phobia name for it. Paraskevidekatriaphobia (I’m glad I don’t have to pronounce that)

Here are 10 superstitions that relate to Friday the 13th.

10. If you pass a funeral procession on Friday the 13th, you will die the next day. (This comes from across the pond so blame our British friends)

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9. If you cut your hair on Friday the 13th, it results in the death of a family member. (Who knows how this one came about)

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8. Ships setting sail on Friday the 13th will encounter disaster. (The deck may have been stacked against her but for the source of this superstition, look up the HMS Friday)

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7. Starting a business on Friday will result in a disaster. ( Not just Friday the 13th but all Fridays. Eve tempted Adam on a Friday, the Great Flood was Friday, the Crucifixion took place on a Friday; God tongue-tied those who built the Tower of Babel on a Friday; and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday…nuf said

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6. If you were born on Friday the 13th, your entire life will be plagued by bad luck. (Now that’s just plain depressing)

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5. Consulting an astrologer on Friday the 13th is a very bad idea. (In astrology, there are 12 signs of the zodiac as well as 12 months in a year, which might have given rise to this particular superstition…I guess throwing that 13th day in there messes up the system)

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3. If you change your bed on Friday the 13th, you will have bad dreams all night. ( I don’t even know what to say to this one)

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2. Starting a trip on a Friday will bring misfortune. (Perhaps the most famous example of unlucky 13 is the Apollo 13 mission. It was launched at 13.13 hours and was aborted on April 13.)

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1. Cutting your nails on Friday the 13th brings you very bad luck. (A very unlucky Friday the 13th occurred in the Middle Ages. Friday the 13th, 1306 was the day that King Philip arrested the Knights Templar, torturing them in a “day of evil”.)

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With Friday traditionally considered an unlucky day and the number 13 considered unlucky too, it’s no wonder that the fear of this day is the most widespread superstition alive today. What is more mysterious is why it has more power now than it did 100 years ago. I guess you should avoid walking under a ladder on your way to work!

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RESOLUTIONS

Posted on January 9, 2017January 9, 2017 by Dusty Roads

Last year I kind of let my photography slide. I made a commitment to myself to do a better job of getting out in the field for pictures. I got energized when an advertising agency contacted me on behalf of one of their clients. They want to use one of my photos for the lobby of a regional bank in the Seattle area. They plan to enlarge it to 4.5 ft by 8 ft. How awesome is that!?

Right after that friends started asking about Holiday Cards. I explained about my website www.dustyroadsphiotos.zenfolio.com so maybe next year I’ll finally have some orders from there. I started updating my vendor links and found that the most popular links, for single cards, was discontinued. Plus the birthday cards have been changed to party invitations only. I can still make my handcrafted ones but I’m trying to get as much through the website as possible. I guess I’ll need to reach out to my vendors over the summer.

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So with that out of the way, how many if you have fallen off the wagon already? Old habits are hard to change.

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Aside from the photography resolution above, the only resolution I made was work related. Oh don’t get me wrong, I’d love to lose 10-even 20 lbs but if I do I do, I’m not going to concentrate on it.

The “resolution” I made was a promise to myself to keep a positive attitude at work. After all complaining is just a bad habit, right?

Yes, there are a lot of changes going on around me right now and no I don’t like a lot of them. They make me very nervous. But I’m not the boss. As long as I keep that in mind I should be fine right?

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So back to work after the holiday and my boss stops by my desk. “How’s it going” she asks. “How do you like your new responsibilities.”

Immediately I found myself telling her how much I hated the new job and why. So much for not complaining! I started to laugh and told her that the only resolution I’d made was no more complaining and the first time she asks me about the new changes I hit her with a long list of why I don’t like it.

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Luckily she has a sense of humor.

I guess I’ll just keep plugging along. Maybe I’ll get used to the changes. I certainly hope so or it will be a long 10 years to retirement.

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One thing you can always count on is that there will be change, for better or worse, and you will have to learn to deal with it. I can accept my fate and apply myself cheerfully or I can be miserable and make everyone around me miserable too. Not the way I want to be.

So I guess I’d better suck it up and get back on the resolution bandwagon. My theme song for 2017…Let it Go, Let it Go (the changes never bothered me anyway)

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