Patti Post

My friend Patti just booked a flight to Argentina to join me April 3-12! I'm still doing a majority of the trip by myself but it will be really nice to have an adventure buddy for a little bit of the time I'm abroad. We lived together for 2 years so we'll be able to handle the 9 days no problem. In those two years we practically made a ritual of Merlot Mondays every week, so I can't think of a better person to go check out the Argentinian wine region of Mendoza with.

In addition to making a notable contribution to the trip by flying to South America to drink wine with me, Patti has also been feeding me information on things to do while I'm in Key West in a couple of weeks. My favorite suggestion in this blog post has to be #1, "Spend at least 12 hours in a hammock.."

You got it, Bitches Who Brunch. I happen to love hammocks so much that I spent the past two years at work campaigning for a nap hammock to be installed in the office. 

Though you'd think someone from the DC area would listen to anything remotely brunch related because our second favorite activity after eating and drinking brunch is to talk about the best brunch (it's so true), I'm not on these ladies' side with eating at Blue Heaven. I went there with my mom when I was young and vividly remember ordering a chicken dish before realizing that chickens would be pecking around me the whole time. I have no issue eating animal products... but that was mildly traumatizing. I'll find new places to eat when I'm there. Or I'll just eat Key Lime Pie and brunch and avoid chicken the whole time.

You know who loves brunch maybe more than anyone I know? Patti. See... it all comes full circle. 

Here is a picture of Patti hosting a brunch at her house in typical Patti fashion. No, that is not where we lived together. We were still working on breaking up with our inner Paris Hiltons (minus the money) and finding our inner Martha Stewarts (minus the money and jail) when we lived together. I admit she's been much more accomplished in making that transition than I have...

"OM" for Thought!

A like-minded coworker of mine gets a Daily OM email and forwarded this to me because it reminded her of the recent decisions I've made and my journey ahead. I have to say that I do agree with her and that regardless of your spiritual or philosophical beliefs, it can resonate somehow or is thought-provoking at the very least. If there is something you really want, eventually you just have to cut ties with the things that are stopping you and make room in your life to have all the good things you want and believe will really make you whole or grow. My upcoming trip wouldn't be happening if I hadn't made some tough decisions! So, in my coworker's words, here is some "OM" for thought...

"There will likely be times in your life when your soul evolves more quickly than your circumstances. Your subconscious mind may be ready to move forward long before you recognize that you are destined to embrace a new way of life. Your soul intuitively understands that changing habitats can be a vital part of the growth process and that there may be one part of you that is eager to move to another home, another state, or another plane of existence. But the ties that bind you to your current mode of being can make moving into this next stage of your life more challenging than it has to be. If you find it difficult to move on, consider that just as people in your life may come and go, your role in others’ lives may also be temporary. And many of the conditions that at first seemed favorable served you for a short time. When you are ready to match your situation to your soul, you will find that you feel a new sense of harmony and increasingly connected to the ebb and flow of the universe. 

Moving on can be defined in numerous ways. Your forward momentum may take you from your current locale to a place you instinctively know will be more nurturing, comfortable, and spiritually enriching. Once you arrive, your misgivings will vanish, and you will know that you have found a sanctuary. Similarly, subtle changes in your values, goals, or emotional needs can motivate you to distance yourself from one group of people in order to reassociate yourself with individuals that are better able to support you. For example, this could mean moving away from your birth family in order to find your energetic or spiritual family. The route you need to travel may not always be clear; you may feel inspired to change yet be unsure as to why or how. Clarity may come in the form of a question if you are willing to seriously ask yourself where your soul is trying to take you. 

In a way, moving from one point to another when you feel strongly driven to do so is a way of bringing your spiritual and earthly energies together. It is a two-step process that involves not only letting go but also reconnecting. You will know you have found your destination, physical or otherwise, when you feel in your heart that you have been reborn into a life that is just the right shape, size, and composition."

This is coming with me to India

My Stepmom and Dad sent me a card with this picture on the front reminding me how proud that are that I'm following my heart to yoga school in India and I'm still laughing every time I look at it. I feel very good about where I am in my yoga practice and that if I keep at it before I get to India, I'll be in great shape for the training. I just hope I get out of there with moves like this cat! 

The adventure starts in just a couple of weeks and I'll be in India a month from now! 

Tantra Trip

"Tantra is a combination of two words, tanoti and trayati, which mean 'expansion' and 'liberation' respectively. Therefore, it is the science of expanding the consciousness and liberating the energy. Tantra is the way to attain freedom from the bondage of the world while still living in it."
- From the book "Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha" by the Bihar School of Yoga

To be pretty honest with you... that's not what I thought the word "tantra" meant at all. I'm not going to spell out what I thought it meant, but if you have ever seen the movie "Meet the Fockers" and recall his mom's profession, then I think you'll figure it out. And actually I just looked it up on Wiki and I think my assumption actually is one of many definitions. However for the purposes of keeping this blog at a PG/ PG-13 rating, we're going to pretend I didn't see that and that the above definition is the only one.

I started reading the APMB because Ashiyana, the establishment where I'm getting my yoga teacher certification, will be using it during the course and recommended I get it to bring on the trip. I only just started and came across this definition of Tantra and thought it resonated with regard to my journey. In order to get the most out of a trip like this, you really do have to have an open, expanded mind and I think that the detachment from life as I know it on the day-to-day is going to be very liberating. I plan to keep this definition in the back of my mind at all times in case I ever forget why I'm doing this. Not that I think I'm ever going to be forgetting. This isn't like when you run up the stairs to get something and then get to the top and say "Oh crap, I forget what I came up here to get!" That would be classic me though to land in India this February and be like, "Wait a second, what was I gonna do here?"

Getting excited about every. little. thing.

Preparing for this trip has even made coming home to see what has arrived in the mail exciting again.

In the past week, my International Driver's Lisence came in the mail. You can get them with surprising ease through this website http://www.idlservice.com/. So easy, I had my suspicions that it wasn't legit. It would probably have been for the better if it weren't legitimate... since the entire world is in jeopardy now that I'm licensed to drive all over the place.

I also had the contact cards I'd had made come in today. I read in several places that it isn't a bad idea to have business cards with your personal contact info printed up so that you can exchange information with other travelers and locals you might make friends with without having to whip the iPhone out or struggle for a random piece of paper to write on. I got them for next to nothing. Really, vistaprint.com has a special where you get 250 for free so long as you can have their website on the back side and just pay for shipping.

And coming soon in the mail... getting my passport back with my Indian tourist visa in it!!! If you're going to India, you do need one to enter the country (not for Argentina), and you can only get it from Travisa Outsourcing. If you're not sure if a country you're headed to requires a visa or not, you can find out from the U.S. Department of State, which will also have other travel tips and advisories that are good for Americans to be aware of.

Whenever another piece of the puzzle comes together like this, I'm feeling increasingly pumped up. Most invigorating of all is a development as of last night... all of my flights are booked!!!!! I have an official itinerary now and it's looking good:

• February 9 - Leave in a rental car with my friend Tricia and head to Myrtle Beach, SC to see my Grandmama and our friends Alex, her husband Michael, and Kendal.
• February 13 - Tricia flies home and I continue the drive on my own toward the Florida Keys. I might stay a night in Savannah to see my Aunt Caitlyn on the way there. 
• February 14-18ish I'll be in the Florida Keys staying in hostels. Yes, I might be taking myself on a romantical dinner for 1 in paradise on Valentines Day. Worse things have happened. 
• February 18ish-22 - Visiting Sarah & John in West Palm Beach, as well as Kim & Mark and Ashley & Ray (yes all of my friends are in couples) in Miami.
• February 23 - Leave the US on a flight bound for Mumbai with my Dad (a very experienced international traveler - he's getting me to the front door of yoga camp, just like when I was a kid!)
• February 24/25 - long layover in Mumbai with Dad. We MIGHT venture out of the airport here.
• February 25 - Continue on another flight to Goa, India and enjoy a free day there before heading to Ashiyana the next day
• February 26 - March 25 - Dad goes home, and I start Yoga Teacher Training Certification 6 days a week! I'll have a full day off on Sundays and half of a day on Wednesdays to relax, catch up on communicating with the outside world, or adventuring out into Goa to hit the beach, shop the markets, or go see some of the sights like temples, spice plantations and wildlife preserves. When I'm in training, I'll be spending my days practicing yoga and meditation, eating very healthy, and learning more about the body, mind and spirit. Mostly, my own. 
• March 29 - Arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to spending time in Beunos Aires, I plan to backpack all over the country over the next month, and I might have a friend or two from home come join me for short periods of time. 
• April 29 - Arrive in San Diego, California. Rent a car. Maybe stay a couple of days with people I know out there... and then hit the open road headed back east! This is around when I'll revisit my career/employment options and depending on how that progresses as well as how I'm doing on funds, I'll determine how much time I'm going to spend on the road. I doubt I'd spend a week or less, or more than 3 weeks, so I'd probably take approximately 2 weeks to make my way back home from California. The Grand Canyon, El Paso, New Orleans, and Destin are definitely on my radar for this part of the trip, but who knows where else my travels will take me!

It's coming together more and more with each day and it doesn't stop getting more exciting! 

There are everyone else's friends, and then there are mine.

I just stayed up past my bedtime and worked really hard on a graphic to represent how much cooler my friends and family are than raw cookie dough, wine, and puppies combined. As more you you know than I am proud to admit, those are pretty much my most favorite things ever. Note that the word "friends" is inclusive of family:

That really doesn't do it justice, but I hope it made you smile. Or want to buy me photoshop.

For some reason, you all not only read/skimmed my incredibly long and mostly self-serving email and blog post about my upcoming world tour, but you also responded with tons of subscribes to the blog and kind words of encouragement. It seems that now the cheerleader.... has the cheerleaders! Thank you so much!

I hope nobody minds that I use their words (and in some cases edit down), but I thought I'd anonymously share some of the comments. Going back to my not as totally self-serving objective of also wanting to encourage others to do the things they've always wanted, I thought you might benefit from seeing the kind of support you can get for doing such a thing:

• Congratulations!  As the famed philosopher Joseph Campbell said, "Follow your bliss."  Nothing is as illuminating, educational or entertaining as travel.  And I like staying in one place for a time rather than dashing about six countries in six days.  Your letter radiates enthusiasm.  I am so glad I strode into waist-deep rice fields (etc., etc.) in my 40s because I could not do so now.  When you become much older, memories are what your life will have been about.  So make memories!
• Longest email ever. 
• Sounds sososososososo amazing carlyn. Have the best time ever!!
• I couldn't be more thrilled for you that you're doing this!  That is so incredibly exciting and I plan to live vicariously through your journey.  If anyone could do this and get the most out of it, it's you. 
• DREAMS DO COME TRUE!!! I knew it!
• I just got your e-mail, and I guess I was one of the ones that didn't really know about this, but reading it got me really excited for you. As you know, I took a similar route and it was hands down some of the best times of my life... a major reason my trip was so great was because of the uncertainty of the whole thing, not knowing anyone and not much of the language. That's really cool that you are deciding to do this, and it definitely takes a lot to go through with it, but I'm telling you that it will 100% be worth it.
• Safe travels!  If you don't do something like this now, you won't be able to do it until your old, and hunky strange dudes at the bar won't hit on you when your old, so now is the time! Good luck friend-o!
• AAAHHHHH I am so excited for you. I just read your blog too and it sounds like you have everything really well planned out. If I don't get to see you, best of luck on the trip. I know you'll handle it like a boss! And I can't wait to follow your blog.
• Wow Carlyn that's incredible! I'm really happy for you and a little jealous!
• What a bold, life changing move. I’m proud of you and can’t wait to share the adventure.
• Carlyn!! Such exciting news and such an inspiration! So happy for you and excited to hear about your adventures :) Although, I have to admit when I initially read your message I had a fleeting thought..."Oh no, we're going to see Carlyn on an episode of locked up abroad!" Hehe - just teasing - Best of luck and safe travels!
• So happy for you! You're going to have an amazing time. 
• Congrats girl!  That's exciting and I think anyone who wouldn't do the exact same thing (or a similar travel itinerary) is nuts, gotta go for it since this ain't no dress rehearsal :)
• I just wanted to say how excited I am for you!! I think it is going to be an amazing trip, something that a lot of people will be envious about. I know you will be safe and learn a lot. And I think you're right, this is the perfect time to do this, no kids or mortgage, so you might as well take advantage of it! Best of luck!!!
• WOW!! Initially I was surprised to see your email, but then I thought, duh, this is Fun Aunt Carlyn we’re talking about…I am sooo excited for you!!!!  You have really done your homework and got this whole thing planned out so well, you’ve left no room for worry (well just the unplannable stuff).  I’m SO glad we’ve scheduled some time to hang out before you leave.  You are truly an inspiration - if we want something in life we can’t just talk about it or wish for it, we have to make it happen, live it! As my dad says, “Wish is one hand and poop in the other and see which fills up faster”, haha but seriously, I’m so glad you’re not sitting around here wishing up some empty dreams.  Here’s to living out our dreams, pushing out of our comfort zones and learning more about ourselves than we may have ever wanted to know! HAPPY NEW YEAR 
• This is so freakin cool.  Hope you have an amazing time Carlyn!!!  Watch out for the Bengal Tigas!  I'll be checkin out your blog.
• I am so happy for you! You are going to have a fantastic time. It's important to follow your dreams. I had a really good friend and her husband take more than a year off during the height of the recession to travel around the world and write about it. You can check out their story at ishouldlogoff.com. I was surprised to learn how many people actually do this. You are right - you are among friends. I admire your guts and your ambition. I look forward to keeping up on your travels on your blog.
• DON'T LEAVE!!!!!!!!!! ok, I know you're still leaving, but it was worth a try. Great blog AND [my work] lets me onto the site from my work computer, double yay! This is all very exciting, can't believe it's approaching so quickly!

THANK YOU everyone!! I love you! Mean it! And I promise not all of the blog posts will be this long! And if you want to subscribe and get notified whenever I add a post on my journey, just enter your email address in the space in the right hand column.

Happy New Year!

Really, new years is just a change of date, but it represents renewal and that is a pretty exciting thing. I hope everyone is looking forward to the days, months, and year ahead of them. As most of you who I would have shared this link with already know, I am certainly excited about what I've got coming up just in the first half of 2012.

If you don't know yet or are light on the details, I'll fill you in. I'll warn you now, it's going to be a long post. For those of you who feel like you already know and don't want to keep reading, I just want to at least make sure you know that while I'll try to email (omgitscarlyn@gmail.com OR carlyn_kelley@yahoo.com)/skype (carlyn.kelley) whenever I can, this will likely be the best way for me to give people updates and I'll be starting to write posts now in the final month before I leave to give people more information. There is a place in the right sidebar of this blog where you can subscribe via email so that you can be notified whenever I add a new post so if you're interested, please do that!

I love to travel, meet new people, try new things and learn. I've also always lived in pretty much the exact same region. I'm not complaining, the Washington, D.C. region has a lot to offer. And I've been fortunate enough in my 26 years to have visited every state on the east coast, Kentucky (for the Derby, of course!), Chicago, Texas, New Mexico, Vegas, Hawaii, Louisiana and California, as well as the Bahamas twice and Costa Rica once. I'm so grateful that I've gotten to do that so far, but I've always had this thought in my mind that I'd like to spend an extended period of time traveling and experiencing other places in the world. Not just a vacation. I don't think I'm unique in that regard. Many people I've talked to have expressed the desire to do the same thing. And with the exception of a small handful, most people haven't, and have the same excuses/reasons I do or that you're thinking of why not to right now.

For a long time, I didn't do it for reasons such as I was afraid to leave a boyfriend or friends and family behind and miss out on experiences with them. Or, I thought it'd be too hard to make it work financially or because I had a good job or at least one that paid the bills and I didn't want to seem irresponsible in what has always been a down economy since I graduated. Also, because as much as this is something I want, it's a pretty scary idea to go it alone.

I decided to be bold and just go for it, so this is the short version of what I'm doing: 

• I'm leaving in early February for a road trip down the east coast. I'll be stopping through Myrtle Beach, SC first to see friends and family, then making my way down to Florida to spend time in the Keys and with friends in Miami. 
• Following that, I'll be flying to Goa, India (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/goa). I'll be spending a month in this beautiful part of India, the birthplace of my beloved yoga, getting my yoga teacher's certification. I don't know that I want to stop everything I'm doing and become a yoga teacher, but I might want to do it on the side on some nights or weekends when I return or if nothing else, it will be a great personal challenge for me doing something I enjoy for a whole month and it make me a better student of yoga. I'm getting my certification at this place in Goa called Ashiyana (http://www.ashiyana-yoga-goa.com/index.shtml). 
• From India, I'll then make my way to Argentina (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/argentina). I'll be flying into Buenos Aires, but in the month that I'll be spending there, I plan to do some traveling to other parts of the country, including the Andes mountains and their wine country. I want to spend some time in the city, and some in the country, and I really look forward to doing some horseback riding here. I chose Argentina because it is know to have European influence in addition to Latin American, but at half the cost of going to Europe because the dollar is so much stronger in South America. It was important to me to spend part of my trip in a Spanish-speaking country because I really want to work on my spanish and they say immersion is the best way! I am also interested in finding something here that I can volunteer my time doing.
• From Argentina, I'll be flying into California, and then renting a car to road trip down the bottom of the United States, hitting the Grand Canyon, Albuquerque, El Paso (to see family), New Orleans, and finally Destin, where my brother and his wife should still be living. I'll likely fly home from there.

There are a ton of reasons not to do it, but I recently had cause to stop and think about what I'd regret NOT doing if I were to look back on my life later on, and this trip... this risk... was right there at the top of the list. Nothing else comes even close. Once I realized that, it became a no brainer. This is just the kind of thing I had to do. And though I'm young, I've acquired enough wisdom so far in life to learn that there is no such thing as perfect timing, so you just have to take control. If you wait, you could be waiting forever. And the thing about forever is that it's always in front of you... it never is *actually* happening to you. 

So yes, I have a great job that I am leaving behind and am taking a risk that it won't be here for me when I return, but that is the only really bad thing about doing this now. Other than that, this is a pretty good time. This is the best possible opportunity, I believe. I'm single, I have no children, I have no mortgage and I'm young and energetic. A lot of people ask me about the job and money and safety because they're worried for me about that, so I'm going to spend a little bit of time sharing my rationale.

Are my finances going to take a little bit of a hit for me to do this? Yea. But I do have some means already to do this and have some very supportive people in my life that have in their own ways, helped me make this possible financially. Also, consider some of the things that other people my age are paying for that I am not right now. And there is nothing wrong with the fact that they are, we all just value different things:

•  The average Masters graduate owes about $30,000. Not saying I never want it, but I want more time to decide and though unconventional, I will be getting an education on my trip and I already have my Bachelors, which I'm comfortable with for now
• Plastic surgeries that have become popular with people my age set them back thousands of dollars. There is nothing I plan on changing there.
• The average cost for a brand new car in 2011 was near $30,000. And in the area I live in, I know people are spending way more than that. I'm not really interested personally in driving new or super nice cars, so this is something you could say I'm spending that money on instead
• The average American has over $15,000 in credit card debt, never mind other debts. Other than a little I put on credit cards, I have NONE :)
• Having children costs a lot. I don't have any and don't plan to for a while. I'm just not there.

... I think you get the point I'm trying to make. Just want to put things in perspective for people who are worried about me. I'm a healthy amount of worried.. just enough to make me not spend like a maniac and do this trip lavishly... but not so much that I'm going to let it put the fear in me to not go at all.

Leaving my job in this market is a risk and it's not that I don't worry about it at all, but I also believe in myself and I'm not one to come home and start trying to freeloading off of others, so I will be dedicated to either going back to my position with my current company, or finding another job if that is not an option or no longer my interest. I also think this trip will actually add to the value I can bring to whatever I pursue professionally. Since I will be traveling mostly alone, I will be enhancing my ability to problem solve because I'll be figuring things out on my own. I'll also likely be inspired creatively, and I'll have more international and cultural knowledge. I also informed my current company about this in such a way so as not to burn any bridges  and to give them plenty of time to prepare because I really care about the company, and I think that speaks to my professionalism.

The last thing people are really worried about is if I'm going to be kidnapped/killed/raped/mugged. I have a healthy awareness that those things happen and that there are things I can do that make me less of a target. I know what "stupid" things not to do. I know that as a woman alone in different culture, I have to take some measures and be alert of some things I wouldn't normally here at home. Trust me, I've done LOTS of research! However I'm not going to let this paralyze me with fear and keep me from going or keep me from enjoying and experiencing my trip. I'll make friends. I'll explore. And I'll take care of myself the best I can. I believe MORE in the good in people and more than anything, I'm excited about all the friends I know I'm going to make. Yes, the world can be a dangerous place but please remember:

• The United States in included in that and I myself have been in plenty of scary situations and unfortunately witnessed the worst in people right here in the USA. It's good to be smart EVERYWHERE, including at home!
• I'm not the first person to do this and make it back in one piece. TONS of people chose to take some time for long term travel and even go it alone. If you want to know more about this kind-of culture, check out http://www.vagabonding.net/ or http://www.bootsnall.com/
• The media dramatizes everything. One person goes missing in another country and everyone seems to freak out and say it's so dangerous to go. The media doesn't tell you how many Americans safely went there and came back and had a fabulous time. 

Hopefully that answers a lot of questions about why I'm going on this trip and eases people's minds a little about some of the up-front concerns. I don't mean to come off as defensive, but I have already gotten a lot of questions about these things, so I thought I'd just put it out there. Also, they're reasons for YOU to do this if you've been wanting to. I hope you're excited for me and I hope you also feel inspired to just go ahead and go after your dreams! Even if you can't just go and do whatever it is next week, maybe you can figure out what steps you need to take and start making forward progress. Whatever you think about my trip, I think we can agree about this, 2012 is definitely my year to be bold!!!