Foreign Countries I Have Traveled To

Traveling has been on my mind lately, my mom and I are currently planning a trip to Italy for this fall and it is very exciting to think about seeing a different place. I love to travel because you get to meet new people, see new places, try new food, walk around and explore different cities and take lots and lots of pictures.

Unfortunately, I haven't been out of the country too many times, but I am very grateful for the places that I have been able to travel to during my life.

My first major trip that got me really excited about traveling was when I went to Sicily for a school trip. I took a travel writing and photojournalism class while I was there. It was a very exciting and beautiful trip for me, and I don't think that I would have traveled abroad during college if I hadn't gone on this trip.

(Picture is from Sicily)




The next place I got to travel to was Paris, France with my mother for a week. We had a great time exploring the city for a week and found that we travel really well together. We kept a journal while we were there, both taking turns writing about our experiences in it. It was a very memorable trip and I am really excited that we will get to take another trip together.



I then studied abroad for several months in Sydney, Australia during my junior year in college. I think that this trip changed me a lot and I do think its very important for everyone to live in another country for a while if they can. During this trip I did things that I never thought I would do in my life. I learned how to surf, I went skydiving, bungee jumping and even got to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

While I was in Australia, I also got to spend a week in the Southern island in New Zealand. Its a beautiful country that I am so glad I got to see. It was a really wonderful trip.
While I was in New Zealand, I was very homesick because it looked so much like Vermont. If you ever get the chance to go to Australia, you do not want to miss New Zealand.

Handbook for 2010

I got this in an e-mail. It has some good tips for living in the New Year and contains some interesting ideas for changes in 2010.

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants
4. Live with the 3 E’s -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile

Personality:
11. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t overdo. Keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of six.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. God heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank God for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Good Non-Fiction Reads

1. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
A celebrity journalist reveals her secret in this amazing book. The author grew up in extreme poverty and was able to get herself out and make a life for herself, while her parents remained homeless. A truly inspiring book.


2. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Krakauer investigates why and what happened when 24-year-old Chris McCandless decided to leave civilization behind and head into the remote Alaskan wilderness. This is the kind of book that makes you really appreciate journalism and wonder how Krakauer found all of the information out. Read the book before seeing the movie!
3. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
GoodReads really sums this book up well. "A memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment. It is also about the adventures that can transpire when a woman stops trying to live in imitation of society's ideals. This is a story certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change."


4. Dry by Augusten Burroughs
Follow Augusten Burroughs, who wrote Running with Scissors, through his journey in getting sober. This book is both chillingly scary at times and very funny.


5. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
In amazing criminal reporting, Capote recreates the 1959 murder of a Kansas farm family and the investigation that led to the capture, trial and execution of the killers.


6. Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
This book is based on 10 years of reporting by the journalist that wrote this book. It gives you an inside look at the life of drug dealing, jail and the hard life that goes along with it. If you have a general curiosity about these things, you will enjoy this book.

American Violet

Inspired by true events, this penetrating drama centers on Dee Roberts a 24-year-old mother of four who's forced to take on a corrupt district attorney when she's unjustly prosecuted in a large-scale drug case. This is an inspiring tale. - From the Netflix Web Site.

I saw this movie over the weekend. It was a very very good movie, based on an NPR story by Wade Goodwyn. It was mostly a believable, yet unbelievable story. A shocking thing this movie looked at, other than racial profiling by cops, was plea bargains, which almost every person who is arrested is offered. A plea bargain means that you admit you are guilty, whether you are or not, in order to take the minimum jail sentence and avoid the maximum jail sentence the person could get by going through with a trial. When a person admits they are guilty to a felony, they lose public housing and other benefits, such as welfare and food stamps, something that I personally was not aware of. Once you are convicted of a felony its also much harder to get a job because you have to put that on every single job application.

From the movie: America has the world’s largest prison population. More than Russia. More than China – a country with over four times our population. Over two million Americans are in prison. More than 90% of these convicts accepted a plea bargain. They never faced a jury of their peers because in our country we do not adjudicate cases, we dispose of them.

Check out their Web site or watch the movie, I think you will really like it.

http://www.americanviolet.com/

An intersting look at Whole Foods

Someone I work with recently passed this New Yorker article, "Food Fighter," onto me.

Its a very interesting look at Whole Foods and the Whole Foods CEO John Mackey. I like to shop at Whole Foods, I wish that there was one closer to where I live, but I do think it is expensive, although, I guess all food is expensive. This story gives a unique inside view into Whole Foods, such as the way that it began and the philosophy behind it. Some parts of it really surprised me.

You can read the story here:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/01/04/100104fa_fact_paumgarten?currentPage=all

Good Quote

"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit."
-Henry David Thoreau

Since we are all anxious for winter to end, I feel like this is a good quote to remind us to enjoy the season before its over and take advantage of winter things before we can't do them anymore. I need to try to go skiing before the season is over!

Must See Documentaries

Food Inc. is a very good documentary, that looks at the food industry and the way we eat in America. Basically, McDonald's fucked up the way we eat by making cheap fast food. Because McDonald's sells burgers, fry's and soda, the country started growing a lot of corn to support McDonald's. The cows were fed corn because it was so cheap and there was so much of it, but because cows are supposed to eat grass, and not corn, they get stomach infections which cause e-coli. The main message is that everyone needs to learn more about the choices they make when it comes to what we eat. See this movie! Its crazy to learn that almost everything we eat has corn in it. There are many more issues talked about in this movie.

http://www.foodincmovie.com/about-the-issues.php


Another moving film, The Way We Get By, is about a group of people in Bangor, Maine who go to meet troops coming home from war and go to say good-bye to troops that are just leaving for war. This movie was very sad and I cried through a lot of it, but it was also very uplifting to see people helping each other. It gave the people who greet the troops something to look forward to in their day and it helped the troops feel better about either leaving or coming back from war. This movie was very inspiring.

http://thewaywegetbymovie.com/

Some documentaries that I haven't seen yet, but plan to see are:

-The Business of Being Born
-Skid Row
-Darfur Now
-The Devil Came on Horseback
-Capitalism: A Love Story

If anyone has any other suggestions for good documentaries, please pass them along!

Songs I love at the Moment

I love music and am always listening to something. I love to find new artists that I like. Here are some recent songs that I am totally obsessed with.

K'Naan-Take A Minute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIhm94a-8SE

Sade-Soldier of Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR5_rTCi-Bo

This song comes on during some of my hot yoga classes and I just love it. It makes me so happy. The yoga teacher usually plays this during the power hour hot yoga class, and it gives me more energy. :)

I'm also really into Jay-Z, Beyonce and Alicia Keys right now, both their old and new songs.

Books I've read since 2010

I read all of the time, on the train, sometimes during my lunch break and before bed every night. Here are the books I have read since the New Year.

(I am currently reading the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.)

1. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
2. Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
3. Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
4. Mercy by Jodi Picoult
5. The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
6. Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
7. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

I have been reading the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series by Alexander McCall Smith, and if you aren't familiar with these books, I highly recommend them. I have read half of the books in the series so far. The series follows a woman who is a detective in Botswana. They are full of beautiful morals and interesting tales. They aren't action packed books, but have nice stories. In my opinion, they are feel good books and they also make me want to learn more about Botswana. The book describes the Botswana landscape and culture, so you can picture the country and the people there in your mind. Maybe someday, I will be able to go visit.

To see what else I am reading, check out this Web site.

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/173451

Some Recent Vermont News

I am originally from Vermont, which has been in the news a lot lately, for both some good and wacky stories. Here are some of the interesting stories from my home state.

The first story looks at skiing at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, V.T. I actually know the people interviewed for this article :)

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/travel/escapes/19sugarbush.html?ref=travel

This next one is a bit on the strange side, but very amusing.

http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100218/NEWS02/2180323

I even found out that someone from my hometown made it to the Olympics, which is pretty cool.

http://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2950&ac=0&Itemid=42

The beautiful picture above was taken by me in Vermont, from the top of Sugarbush, during a summer hike.

Enjoy!