How I met a Full Time Traveler

Posted on April 18, 2017April 16, 2017 by Dusty Roads

How I met a Full Time Traveler

Last week I took a few hours off from work to take a class at the Boston Center for Adult Education. http://www.bcae.org/Located on Arlington Street near the Arlington T stop on the Green Line. I took a class there a few years ago and it was an excellent experience even if I haven’t used the skill set I was working on. Now I was back again to meet the Boston Blogger, Brittany from Boston http://brittanyfromboston.com/; a full time traveler and blogger.

Who is Brittany from Boston?

Brittany is a full time traveler whose home base is Boston. Her blog is full of the places she’s been and hints for things to do and see. She first came to my attention when she was interviewed by a TV news station. She is young. I mean seriously young, I won’t reveal her age even if I knew it but I’d say under 30.

Boston Swan Boat, Public Garden

Like I said, Brittany travels full time and I want to know how she does it. Not how in the sense of booking her trips but how can she afford it with no income? Did she win the lottery or something? Was she independently wealthy? Inquiring minds want to know!

According to the news report she quit working 2 years ago to begin her international adventure. I immediately signed up for her blog and bought her E book. Its free to sign up for the blog but the E book is $9.99. If everyone who discovers her blog buys her book she could be making a tidy sum there.

The Budget Travel Class

The class wasn’t about Brittany so much as it was about how to keep travel expenses under control. I know quite a few tricks but I don’t always use them so I wanted to see if I could get any new ones as well as meet Brittany in person. So here I was on a Thursday afternoon heading into the BCAE in Boston.

The class was small which allowed for a lot of personal interaction with Brittany. Her tips ran from the obvious…like traveling on a “shoulder” season to the more unusual like “couch surfing”. She told of staying in Hostels all over the world, some for as little as $5.00/per day. On one adventure she work on a yacht to pay her way. She shared photos from her journeys and stories of her trips and some misadventures. Of course, like a good TV show, everything worked out fine. She was standing in front of us all in one piece.

Conclusion

I can’t tell you her specific tips because then I’d be stealing her lesson plan. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed her class and enjoyed meeting this extraordinary young lady. Times sure have changed since I was her age! (For the better)

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Let’s all keep traveling!

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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The Hunt for a New Car

Posted on May 15, 2016May 15, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Since I knew the time was coming when I would need to say good-bye to my old Saturn, I’d started to do some searching online about various cars and trucks. I knew I wanted more cargo space so that meant an SUV or a truck.

I wasn’t thrilled with having to shovel out the truck bed in the winter but I liked the idea of having that open bed if I wanted to set up the tripod and take some shots of something over the heads of a crowd. Then there is the make to consider; Honda, Chevy Toyota, Kia, Ford and the list goes on and on.

I’ve rented a lot of Toyota’s. They seem to be popular with car rental companies but I’m just never comfortable in them. I just don’t like the way they drive. I know they are really popular and have a great reputation but I set them aside.

I keep circling back to GMC products. My last 2 cars were Saturn’s which were GMC step children and I loved both cars. In fact, my current Saturn still looks good even if it isn’t running. If Saturn was still around it would be no contest. I’d be back in their showroom.

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The mechanics got my car running again but it was loud and rough and they couldn’t give me any guarantees. My first thought was to get it home and parked but then I realized I needed transportation to a dealership. Instead of heading home I turned the opposite way. I made it as far as McGee Chevrolet. Guess that solves one question.

I had a great Salesman. I gave him my list of requests, I wanted GPS, a hot spot, cargo space, front wheel drive and power locks & windows. I did not want 4 wheel or all wheel drive because of the tire balancing issue. If possible I wanted the color white.

Jeff showed me a couple of models and I decided on the Equinox because of the extra cargo space. Its only a 4 cylinder so it should get good gas mileage. The only thing I couldn’t get was the color white. I didn’t want to wait for them to look for a white car. I needed a car asap. They had a gray one on the lot so that was it. I took it for a test drive and signed the papers.

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Monday morning they will run it to the registry for plates and give me a call. By this time tomorrow I’ll have wheels again.

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A Trace is still a Trace

Posted on February 22, 2016February 22, 2016 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

My sister was tracing my mother’s side of the family tree and said she found a Native American in our linage.

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I thought this was just great. I’ve always felt a connection to Native Americans.

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Of course I started asking for more information that she just didn’t have so finally I submitted my saliva (aka spit) to Ancestry.com. It seemed to take forever. Every couple of weeks I’d get an email from them with an update…we have your sample…we’ve submitted your sample…your sample is being analyzed…Then the big day came. I got an email with the title: Great News! Your DNA results are in!.

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I was so excited!

When I checked the result I felt a little like the Ancestry.com TV ad where the guy says “Growing up we were German then I submitted my DNA to Ancestry.com and found out we were Scottish. I traded my Lederhosen for a kilt.”

My heritage breakdown was

33% Irish

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26% Great Britain

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11% Western Europe

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But where was the Native American? In fact where was Canadian? I know my maternal grandparents were French Canadian! But I really wanted the Native American bloodline. I felt so let down. But wait, there’s a tab that says “America Trace”. I clicked it and there it was…Native American, just a trace but that’s ok.

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At least I have a little bit flowing through my veins.

Its A Blizzard Out There

Posted on January 24, 2016January 24, 2016 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

Yesterday an unprecedented storm struck much of the east coast reaching blizzard conditions in many areas. Washington DC, Pennsylvania and NYC reported record snow fall. As the storm progressed northward it wound it’s way through Connecticut into Southeastern Massachusetts. Falmouth, Cape Cod, Plymouth were some of the communities most hard hit but I’m happy to report that in my little corner of the world the storm was just a snow storm.