Here is a clue:

Can you guess where this is?

If you can guess the location, let me know!

And now that I am at my new location, I will start blogging about my last one soon (you know, the whole blogging in reverse thing).

Happy guessing!

Basically, in a nutshell, I have been stalling because I am planning on blogging in reverse.

“Blogging in reverse?,” you might ask.

“What, is that like driving in reverse? Is it even safe?”

Yes, it is safe, and actually very rational – at least for a nomad like me.

I have to admit it – I am shy.

I prefer to go unseen and unnoticed.

So announcing to the world via the internet that I am in town snapping photos of the local church is not exactly something I would ever be comfortable doing, even if only a small minority of people will ever be aware of it.

I prefer to be stealth, sly, on the move, sliding into town in my secret nomad cape and then flying out again.

Then, a few days later, poof!  There’s the images online.

Ok, so I am not that cool about it.

Actually it usually goes more like this;

“I really want to take pictures of this church but oh my gosh won’t everyone think I have gone out of my mind if I just keep snapping pictures left and right of an ordinary parish church? This isn’t exactly Rome with 500 tourists taking pictures on an hourly basis. What do I do? Hurry! Snap!”

Then I run away.

Just joking on the last part.

Sort of.

So I have been stalling in blogging about my experiences because I am waiting until I am gone, and then I will blog away about everything I experienced until my heart’s content…and I will feel comfortable naming the city, location, etc. because, well, I will be gone!

I am shy like that.

So yes, this is still a nomad blog, and once I am at my next location the nomad blogging will finally begin…in reverse of course!

And tonight’s plan is to hit the road early tomorrow, headed for my next destination. 

Now where did I put my secret cape?

My mom has been renting her house for the past 4 years and it has now been sold….she and all of her housemates (she rents 4 rooms) have to be out by August 1^st.  We have A LOT of work to do to get ready.  We have 4.5 weeks left and out of those 4.5 weeks we will be spending a week at the family summer house for our annual family summer vacation in Deltaville, VA.  So yep, count it out…..we actually have 3.5 weeks!!

We are gearing up for another BIG yard sale next weekend and still have a lot of stuff to go through.  Not only my mom’s stuff but everyone else’s stuff…..over the past 4 years not only has my mom rented out 4 rooms but myself, my 2 boys and my sister have all lived here at varying times as well.  Every time someone leaves they leave stuff behind.  The house, especially the kitchen, is a maddening mod podge of STUFF!!  And no one really remembers what belongs to whom!!  To make matters even worse this past week I have been really sick.  So much for being here to help my mom……she’s been waiting on me hand and foot instead since I haven’t been able to get up off the couch!

We had a really great visit with a new “vandwelling” buddy from our vandwelling forum discussion group….Jessie.  He was great.  I really enjoyed talking to him.  He has the same type van as I do and so we had a little show & tell with our vans.  I almost passed out (did I mention I’m sick…….oh and we are having a heat wave) so I didn’t get to play show and tell for too long.  But just long enough to get some really great ideas for my van.  He had a lot more done on his van than I do.

Today I’m feeling a little better…..at least enough to get back on the computer…..so I have been getting a little bit of work done…..some new ideas, some rehashing of ideas, some brainstorming…..a little bit of reorganizing…..you know, my normal life!!

So that is about it….not really much to fill you in on…..no grand adventures this month I’m afraid to say…..family obligations are keeping me grounded for a little bit….but I’m working on the next chapter ….. so stay tuned!!  :-)

I started this blog on 6th September 2011, much to my surprise, I thought it was mid-November.

So far I’ve posted 18 times (19 including this one) with no real routine – an average of 2 posts a month, but not even managing 2 posts in February, and this will be my first blog post of June too.

My Stats have slowly but steadily climbed, although June has not continued the trend. A lot of my views are directly related to how active I am on twitter, both finding good people (hopefully real people) to follow and how regularly I tweet.

Absolutely everything I can possibly plug-in to twitter, I have done, so for example if I Like a video on Vimeo or Youtube, it automatically tweets. Twitter and facebook also echo each other, but I may end that unhealthy relationship soon. I have grown my twitter following fairly enthusiastically, half the reason I never get round to posting here, with 2,793 current followers of @PeterParkorr and 899 current followers of @SenorSunset, my travel pseudonym. So far I have vetted each and every account I follow or follow back using Pluggio, so while that is quite slow and distracting, I’m fairly happy my numbers are mostly real people, not just spambots and accounts that exist by retweeting.

In February, I decided to start experimenting with WordPress.org and used a free hosting service to start TravelFree.li – The Who, How and Why of Long-Term Travel. I didn’t think of ShockAndOrr as a place that I could also call a travel blog, it’s more of a live experiment. So I branched out into WP.orgs ‘MultiSite’ which means I can host several sites from one installation/dashboard. The free hosting was poor so I wouldn’t recommend it, altho it was a good way to try out self-hosting before choosing a paid option. I spoke to a few travel friends and made them Featured Travellers on the site, altho not much has happened since then! Total posts over there to date: 1.  

This week I decided TravelFree.li (pronounced ‘travel freely’) might not be the right vessel for my personal travel tales either, and started another site at TravelUnmasked.com. If you do happen to head over there, it is in even more need of work than its predecessor, but at least people’s first remark won’t be ‘Travel-free-dot-l-i? Why Lichtenstein??’. It’s current (completed) posts to date is also 1.

Photography-wise, I’ve had a lot of practice. In December I left the UK with my family and spent christmas in Malta. The family left after a week, but I stayed on, getting around to different parts of the island, and spending 10 days on the island of Gozo, its smaller cousin. After that I took the boat to Sicily to do some WWOOFing (working on farms), and ended up staying for 4 months. In late-April I attended a travel blogging conference and my DSLR camera hit the 10,000 photo’s mark. My actual DSLR total is a lot closer to 15,000 photo’s taken (maybe over that) as I reset the counter a couple of times in the past to cure a problematic SD card. I’ve been reading a lot about photography, techniques, and equipment, and also learnt from professionals I’ve met on the road. My understanding has improved, my editing is more effective (with GIMP), and I think my eye for a good photo has developed too. Taking part in the weekly Photo Challenge might show this, but I haven’t been. Tut tut.

Last week I decided to go with Zenfolio as the place for my photography. I’ve used Flickr but wasn’t in love with it, Facebook reduces the quality so much that my shots look horrible, and Google+ would be my choice if I hadn’t been scared off by talk of them owning the image rights to whatever I upload. So my Zenfolio page means my photo’s are backed up and hosted, I can embed them in my posts, and I can also create nifty slideshows to embed in sites (like at the end of the Etna post on TravelUnmasked). You can create private galleries easily too, and even put a price on for people to order prints (for when I feel my shots are worth buying!).

This week, at the culmination of weeks of research, I bought new camera equipment, finally deciding on the Panasonic GH2 – the main benefit being top quality video capture. I also got a few decent lenses for it, not expensive ones, but I can already see the difference in quality from my old Sony kit lenses.

Outside of blogging, there has been a theme of death! Sad but true. September 2011 was not a great month in general, as I had no real plans for travel or otherwise, and then my grandmother, aged 89, passed away. It wasn’t entirely unexpected because of her age, but it was still an unhappy time. Cue big family gathering in Ireland. Only 3 weeks later, the elderly neighbour of my parents, almost like family, also passed away. We were all shocked to find out she was 98 years old, as she had refused to tell us her age ever since we’d known her, 19 years earlier! I returned to the UK in early May to arrange new tenants at my own house for the year, and a few days later my grandfather took his leave as well, aged 93. Another family gathering in Ireland was one positive point, but losing the last of the older generation from the family is strange to contemplate. Finally, in a dark and no doubt coincidental pattern, on getting to my place in Manchester I was sad to hear that the elderly grandfather from nextdoor, who I often chatted to and sometimes took advice about leaking drain pipes from, had also passed away.

Despite the morbid season, I remain perfectly upbeat about the rest of life! I made good friends in Catania working at a hostel for the latter 2 months in Sicily, and met lots of great people. I hung out with hordes of inspiring travel bloggers in Assisi, and had the chance to photograph stunning places.

I do need to concentrate on actually blogging more, and trying to be a travelling blogger just makes it all more complicated. The road is also the worst place to eat healthy and keep fit. Nevertheless, in the next day or two I’m off to mainland Europe, starting in either Belgium or Holland and then overland to Finland. I’ll have almost everything I need on my back, from tent and sleeping bag, to enough photography kit to make a donkey groan.

Looking back on the first 9 months (sort of) I’m not unhappy with my overall progress, but I’m aware of the need to prioritise the blogging more. It’s exciting to set off with my backpack again (its still going strong after 10 years!) and I cant wait to start shooting pictures, timelapse and video with my new setup.

Here’s to remembering those we’ve lost, and not forgetting to live our own lives. You can choose if you think I’m succeeding or failing so far, but either way, I’m quite happy marching on.  

Peter Parkorr

R.I.P. Gran, Poppa, Marian, and Jimmy, thanks for being there, and you will all be missed.

Well, today was one of those days.

Don’t get me wrong – I am not even thinking about leaving behind the nomadic existence. I do not miss home one teensy intsy iota, and  I have no intentions of going anyplace but forward.

But some days you just have rough bumps period. You wake up on the wrong side of the bed, everything seems gloomy, the sky is blue but you can’t find the sun…you know how it is.

Then someone does something nice, shares a few kind words, and voila! You remember all the positives again.

That was me when I came home (i.e. rambled into my hotel room) tonight, turned on my computer, and saw that a really cool blogger had nominated me for the Illuminating Blogger Award.

(Thank you 8 Kids and a Business! You rock!)

My instructions were to share seven things about myself and pass the award on to a few other bloggers as well.

Since my first reaction to give the award right back to the one who nominated me turned out to be a no-can-do, I guess I will have to pass on that option, so here we go!

7 things about me:

1. I am trying not to think about me (seriously! You know, the whole humility thing…I guess this may not be the best place for that…)
2. I hate to shop. Like really, really, really, really hate it. I will let my clothes fall apart before I will drag myself shopping….
3.  …hence I have the genes to be a very good nomad. I can live with very little and still think I have too much (which I really do think as I sit here looking at my three pairs of shoes and one pair of fluffy pink slippers).
4. I am obsessed with the Extraordinary Rite (because, you know, it is just so darn extraordinary.)
5. I get really sad when I see critters get run over on the road (a bird flew under my car on the interstate as I was headed to Mass this evening, which was too terrible to think about).
6. I once drove 15 hours to attend one Sunday Mass.
7. I like to sleep way too much (why does life always seem better from a pillow?)

Ok, so enough about me and more about the few other blogs that I am passing the Illuminating Blogger Award on to (forgive me if the list is short, as I have been trying to avoid becoming the radioactive Catholic Nomad.)

Here are the blogs I am passing the award on to:

Public Catholic: This is a really good blog run by Rebecca Hamilton, a 16 year member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. She had a powerful conversion to the Catholic faith, and due to the nasty HHS Mandate has been blogging up a storm worth paying attention to.

Tea at Trianon: She is cool because she is just so darn well-rounded! From history to art to religion to politics…she has it all covered and then some. Oh, and did I mention she even writes historical novels?

Technomadia: I am not sure if I can pass the award on to non-Catholic blogs, but if I can then I am doing it, because this one is worth it if you are thinking about becoming a nomad. I highly recommend their site. It really helped me out a lot when I was searching as they give great advice and suggestions.

So there you have it! I hope I did not break any rules or anything by going outside of wordpress, but those are some blogs worth checking out.

And thanks again to 8 Kids and a Business for the award, and for making my evening a little more…illuminating!

It even has a cool and easy name to remember:

www.technomadia.com

Nice, right?

So I surfed around on their site, found some great tips on the essentials (“help! I need good internet to make this happen! Ooooo…here is some good information….sweet!”)  and kept dropping back in from time to see what was up. It was a healthy bit of inspiration to me along a rocky path to a nomadic future. (“Yes, there are other people out there doing this! See mom? I am not insane! Whew!…”)

Before I left home on my adventure, the Technomads (they are a nomadic wandering couple) came up with a challenge on their site. This is how they worded it:

~*~

• “Share with us your best story of serendipity in your life. When have you let go of plans and schedules, and embraced what is present around you?  What amazing things happened that wouldn’t have otherwise? What did you discover?” 

I have been thinking on and off over the last few weeks what I would write if I ever did respond to their challenge, and then today I realized just what I would say.

What is my  best story of finding serendipity in my life? This is my response:

I have always been a dreamer. From the time I was a young girl I would come up with the most outrageous plans for my life. In high school my grand career idea was to become (all rolled into one) a brain surgeon, the next Oprah Winfrey, and on my lunch breaks I was going to rush off and save the world in thirty minutes or less (of course I partied too much at the time to ever get very far with that).

But my big plans never stopped.

I read books by authors who claimed that the secret to happiness in life was to create some grand goal, go after it, obsess over it, want it with all your heart and mind, work really, really, really hard to get it and then…then…then…after years of obsessing and working and wanting and dreaming…after plans and efforts and lists and more lists…you would finally reach the magical, twinkling, diamond-studded golden gates of Shangri La! Happiness would be yours!

You would have everything you had ever wanted.

I threw myself into this like wildfire. I made lists, sometimes writing them over and over (and over) again (my poor friends who had to put up with me when they saw the pen coming out! Yes, I even shamelessly did this in public). I taped these lists to my mirror, carried them in my purse, spent hours riding my bike at night dreaming of them, meditated on them…. and I even made some come true.

But then I started to discover something.

The more I wanted, the more I earned, the less I felt I had achieved. A master’s from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland? No, I need one from London now.

One from there? No, not enough, I need to have a career in New York City….

The list went on and on, always running alongside and competing with my dream of finding a perfect life. While I was searching for the one, the other kept knocking too.

By the time I was a working girl in New York City, I was beginning to crack the illusion. I had always known it was cracked, but I was really beginning to see just how ugly that crack was; one big gigantic pile of suity tinsel on an overcrowded parking lot.

It was an illusion, a mask. A glamorous one, but still a mask.

Chasing happiness by getting what I want might not be the secret to happiness after all.

I began to see why people who use such concepts as obsessing over things, making lists, driving it home ad-nauseum, etc., get what they want.

They get it because it gets them.

It owns them. It takes hold of them and will not let them go. In planning to get everything they ever wanted, they end up loosing all they ever really had: themselves. All they can hear anymore is this self-willed call to achieve self-desired things, and the small voice within is gone.

I saw this dramtically when a friend who prescribed with all of his life to such an idea tried to kill himself, and ended up locked up for a time. In fits of rage he would kick garbage cans and kitchen cabinets, screaming “it wasn’t supposed to end up this way! I was supposed to be a famous musician! I am no one! I have nothing!”

He had obsessed so much that when the “universe” as he called it did not respond and give him what he wanted, he could not bear it any longer. He tried to end his own life.

I could see how his wants had him to the point of making him miserable if they could not be fulfilled. All he could hear was their call, and in being unable to get to it, he went mad.

I began to let go.

I began to realize why such concepts are, plain and simple, soul-destroying. They are soul-destroying because they only seek to satisfy ones ego, ones self, ones own selfish wants and needs.

Sure, they come packaged in nice covers with great philosophies, and everyone admires a go-getter who gets what they go after, and they can put nice fancy plaques on their walls and cruise around in big posh cars, but that does not make for inner happiness. No, it only makes for a really self-centered person who cannot stand for anything to go against their will. Their will calls and they have to answer it, come what may.

This “my will first” philosophy can take people down, the way it almost did my friend. The way it could for all of us when life throws us a curve and suddenly we have to deal with things we would rather never have to deal with.

I began to realize that I had to stop trying to control my own life. I looked to my faith, and the peace of the great saints, and I remembered the story I had once read of the pauper king, who would put any Norman Vincent Peale adherent to shame:

Once there was a great king who wanted to know the secret to happiness. He prayed long and hard, and then one day God told him, “go to the doors of the nearest cathedral and I will send you someone to instruct you in the secret of happiness.” So he went, and seeing no one there but a poor pauper, dressed in rags and holding out a tin cup, he decided to leave when he heard the pauper call out to him, “beautiful day, is it not?”

“How can you say it is a beautiful day?” asked the king, as he turned to the almost shameful man before him. “It is cloudy, and may rain soon. And besides, how can you look so happy when you are as poor, filthy and homeless as you are?”

The pauper simply smiled and said, “ah, but I have everything I could ever want.”

The king frowned in confusion. Was the pauper making a jest of him? “What do you mean, you have everything you could ever want? I am a  great king and have more than anyone in my realm, and I do not have all that I want. So how could you, a pauper, have all that you want?”

“I have all that I want because I always want what I have. If it rains, I bless God and say, ‘I bless you God for the rain, if it is what you want, then it is what I want to.’ If it is cold, I say the same. If people make fun of me and laugh, I smile at God and want that to. No matter what happens, I unite myself to the will of God as if it were my own will. Yes, I can honestly tell you that I have never had a bad day in my life, for God always sends me what I want because I always want what He wants. I am truly a great king in my own world, for I have everything and want for nothing.”

The king went home in amazement. A homeless man was more of a king than he was, for he wanted not his own desires, but instead united his will to God and made all that God sent him his will as well.

He had found the secret to happiness. Not in lists and ambitions –  plans, goals and desires – but in simple acceptance of all that life handed to him.

In letting go within, he found his serendipity and true happiness.

So I could have written some really sweet story about one of the many moments I have had that were filled with serendipity, but ultimately for me I have realized that this term is something very deep.

For me, serendipity is a concept that defines who a person is, how they look at the world, and how they live their life. Becoming a nomad is just an exterior way of leading me to that interior state, that state of letting go of everything within and letting myself be guided.

Do people have to become nomads to reach this state of permanent serendipity? No, but for me on a quest to find it, it sure does help.

Tonight after I went for my run, I ended up swinging on a swing set in a local park as the sun went down. All the kids were frolicking and laughing, and the adults were sitting on the sidelines.

I was the only 35-year-old blissfully swinging away in the sunset, listening to my iPod, relishing the cool breezes against my skin, looking at my car in the parking lot, and peacefully thinking of the freedom of letting go within that this external life represents to me.

I am not just letting go of home and belongings while hitting the open road, but I am trying to find a way to let go within. To let go of all of my big ego-centered plans for my life, all of my ideas about myself and who I am, all the clutter that takes up too much space in my brain, and just let God guide me where He will.

I had a moment of serendipity this evening as I relished that thought, the only adult swinging on a swing set amidst a park full of hopeful children.

But that is ok because I know I am still a child at heart and my Father is guiding me.

We are all still children at heart, and when we try to guide ourselves in this big playground called life, we just loose our serendipity and make a big finger-painted, crayola mess out of everything.

Letting go of self…that is finding serendipity, being a true nomad, a pilgrim at heart…or, a pauper king.

So, the only question that remains is – does that make me a pauper queen?

Thanks to www.technomadia.com for a good idea that helped me understand a little more of why I am living this life.

Ok, so I splurged…

Normally I would never take that much, but I figured since this is not Europe I am heading to, I have no one else I have to share space with, and I do have a trunk, I might as well take a few extras (*ahem* – aren’t I smart?).

So we have:

• The big suitcase in the back center, loaded down with really unnecessary stuff… like an air purifier for example. (Because it makes white noise to block out noisy hotel guests. Got to block out the drunks at 3 am and the teenage pool crowd! Cannot live without doing that, nope, not at all!)  *Eek!* It is really heavy! What was I thinking?
• The tiny black suitcase in the back on the right has all of my clothing. Ok, I can see that…being a clothed nomad might be a good idea!
• The tiny black suitcase in the back on the left is my nomadic office.
• The three pink boxes are my BIG splurge. I have a massive library, so I thought I would take a “few” books in two boxes (really, that is just a few for me….) and then in the third some movies on DVD in case I want to, well, watch a movie…and how did that go? Read on:
• The black gigantic purse on the left in the front ended up having all of my movies crammed into it when the third pink box would not fit in my trunk (and to think I have experience traveling!).
• The small black suitcase in the front on the right is all of my girlie-girl things – you know, shampoo, conditioner, hairdryer, etc. Hey, even nomads like to look pretty from time to time!
• And last but not least, the  p i n k  Vera Bradley bag is a bunch of canned food I did not finish, and holy water bottles of course (got to purify those hotel rooms!).

The next morning I tried to cram all of that into my trunk (along with my friend’s brilliant idea that I also take a cooler and stock up with lots of water bottles) and suffice it to say, I did not get very far.

I ended up back at the storage unit, unloading more things before I headed off on my adventure. (Travel tip: never load anything into your back seat if you will be leaving it in your car. Thieves look for that sort of thing. Keep everything in your trunk or leave it behind.)

And so my adventure began with a mini-misadventure, and then I was on my way!

All alone, with just me, my car, and whatever I can fit comfortably into my trunk, I will be watching the stars slowly peek out on my very first night as a true nomad. On traffic-lit interstates, glowing cities, or quietly twinkling towns – I have no idea where I will be. But I do know I will officially be the Catholic-nomad-girl once and for all. No more talking; the reality will be on.

This will all be behind me; the last year, the dreams found and lost, the intense suffering…everything will be far away, in another state, another part of the country, another place.

I will be gone.

So with that in mind, I just wanted to take the time to say a big “thank you” to everyone who has liked any of my posts, followed my blog, or came back and hid anonymously in the corners. (Sort of like me! Yes, I am even anonymously nomadic in my internet surfing. Go figure…)

Just a heartfelt “thank you” to all who have left behind a like, followed my blog, or anonymously returned.

You may not realize it, but however small it may seem, you were a form of support in a very dark time.

I know that I have not been out there getting to know everyone in the blogging world as well as I should, and so far much of the time this blog has been the random typing of a broken girl just trying to make sense of her world, but every time someone clicked the like button or followed along, it was like a small voice saying “it is ok. I get what you are saying.” Even if no one else heard me before, someone heard me now.

So for that I say a big heartfelt “thank you.”

I do hope that as my adventure gets underway, I will have a lot of beautiful nomadic discoveries to share.

I will also try to make an effort to get to know everyone in the blogging world more, but after working 8-9 long hours a day on the computer, I often only have time to post, pray, eat, and sleep.

If I stayed on the computer much longer, I think I would become the radioactive Catholic nomad…

But I will do my best and so I just wanted to take this time to let everyone know just how thankful I am for your presence here.

Pax Domini Sit Semper Vobiscum!

ar·bi·trage

I have sold on eBay on and off for a long time now.  I don’t consider myself an expert but I have learned quite a bit over the past 9 years. One of the things I have heard about over and over again, while researching what I should sell on eBay, is arbitrage.

As the definition above suggests….arbitrage is the simultaneous buying of one item at a low price and then turning around and selling that same item somewhere else for a profit.

I have been very interested in trying this out for awhile now and I have decided that now might just be a good time to try it.  There are several ways that you can use this technique and I will list them below…..but basically ANYWHERE you can find a bargain on something that others want….you can have the perfect opportunity for arbitrage.

If you Google eBay arbitrage you will find a slew of articles on how to find bargains on eBay itself and then turn around and sell them back on eBay for a profit.

One way to do this is to look for misprinted key words in the title of listings.  If someone has listed an item with a misspelled key word it will not show up when a buyer puts that key word into the search box.  If it doesn’t show up it can’t be bought.  This can be an opportunity for you to swoop in and pick it up for a song.  A really great website that can help you with this technique is called Fat Fingers http://fatfingers.com/ .  With this site you can enter the name of what you are looking for and it will bring up the actual listings in eBay that are misspelled.

Another way to find items to buy and sell for a profit is to look for auctions that are ending in the middle of the night or the wee hours of the morning.  What a lot of sellers on eBay don’t think about when they are listing their items is when their auctions will end.  They will get on their computers late at night and start listing items that will end at the same time in 3, 7 or 10 days.  The numbers of sellers listing at night far outweigh the number of buyers buying at those hours.

You can also look for auctions of items, that you know would sell for a great profit on eBay, that are not getting any bids because of something wrong with their listing.  Either they took a horrible picture, or they didn’t take enough pictures to really show it off well enough, or maybe they could have done something to the item such as clean it up a little.  If you know you can do a better job at listing this item and getting it sold for a profit it might just be worth the risk.

One last way of finding bargains for arbitrage is looking for items that are selling as a lot (a “lot” is when several items are sold all together in a bunch) but would sell for much more money if they were broken up and sold individually.  One great example of this is from one of my favorite eBay/Amazon gurus Skip McGrath.  I get his email newsletter bimonthly and I keep everyone of them to reread over and over again.  If you are interested in subscribing to the newsletter here is the link http://skipmcgrath.com/newsletters/  In his email newsletters Skip will sometimes have a “Niche of the Month” article.  One of these articles was about selling Starbucks mugs.  He spoke about how you could find a lot of Starbucks mugs for a bargain, break them up and then resell them individually for a profit.  Here is the link to that article if you want to read it for yourself.  http://skipmcgrath.com/newsletters/current.shtml#four

There are other ways, besides finding deals on eBay, to use the arbitrage technique.  You can find bargains everywhere you go!

Yesterday I was at Big Lots and found Nutristystem food items on sale 3 for a $1 or .33 cents each.  I happen to know that nutrition and weight loss products are big sellers on eBay so I looked it up…..those same Nutrisystem food items were selling for $1-2/piece on eBay!!

How about your local pharmacy, CVS or Walgreens?  I read a story one time (it might have been in Skip’s newsletter again I can’t remember) about a guy who was at his local Walgreens and found that a big name men’s razors were on sale for $7.  Now everyone who shaves knows how ridiculously expensive razors can be.  He quickly looked it up on Amazon to see how much they were selling for…..$30 bucks each!!!  You can bet he snatched those up!

It doesn’t have to be big ticket items and it doesn’t have to be electronics or expensive toys.  The littlest thing can bring you big profits!  While I was doing research for the Nutrisystem items I decided to look into beauty products, since they carry a lot of that at Big Lots, and I stumbled upon hair dye.  What I found there surprised me and I will be making another trip to Big Lots soon.

Use your imagination.  What do you buy that is horrifically expensive that you would buy up in a heartbeat at a cheaper price on eBay??  Chances are someone else is looking for that same item.

Or how about those fun outlet stores???  There are a lot of women out there who are making a killing buying designer clothing and accessories at outlet stores and reselling on eBay.  This too is considered arbitrage.

What about you crazy extreme coupon people out there???  And Seasonal Sales…..the list can go on and on and on.

These are just a few ideas to get you started on your way to arbitraging your little heart out.  Keep your eyes open and the next time you see something that you just know is a killer deal……look it up on eBay and see how well it is selling…..you might just have a great arbitrage item!

I will be a nomad!

A real, true, honest-to-goodness, completely homeless (eek!) nomad.

Of the Catholic kind.

And what else does every good Catholic nomad need but…great Catholic nomad gear!

The Nomadic Office

Yep, that is my office above. My drag-and-drop, modern world, completely portable, nomadic office.

Lets see, first we have the office bag. I spent a whole day looking everywhere for one, and finally decided on a casual black bag made by Targus. I got it at Staples for just under $100, and it is great because it has wheels and the long handle can easily fold inside to carry like a normal suitcase up and down stairs. It is casual enough to drag around parks with somewhat expensive equipment inside and not look like you have any moola up for stealing. (Not as if I had any anyways, but thats another story.)

The computer is by Sony and I have had that for a few years. I prefer MAC (which I am working on now) but for work, MAC got the cold shoulder. (Don’t worry, I still love you baby!)

Then we have all the other random gear:

• a battery operated fan in case I get hot outside (sometimes I work outside)
• a can of disinfecting wipes by Seventh Generation to disinfect any public tables I sit at (good for me and the environment)
• a towel to put over same table (just more comfy that way)
• external mouse and keyboard (carpel tunnel, watch out! I am one step ahead of you)
• three computer batteries
• computer charger (just in case)
• my itty-bitty little hot spot by AT&T (the internet makes it all possible!)
• sunglasses for, well, the sun…(I also carry sunscreen which I forgot to add in the pic)
• a pink super-soft, non-abrasive cloth to clean the laptop screen
• a mini ipod and headphones to drown out obnoxious people in parks
• a couple white garbage bags in case it really, really, really rains hard. They make a good instant protection for the electrical stuff. (I also carry an umbrulla, not pictured.)
• a cell phone (not included because I used it to take this picture!)

Oh, and on top of my laptop bag? That is a mantilla – just in case I find some amazingly sacred place and want to drop by for Mass!

Ok, so I do not actually carry my mantilla in my office bag. And the Mary statue sitting on the top, that was just for photographic decoration. But every Catholic nomad needs some kind of reminder that they are not just nomading around for the heck of it – this whole insane adventure has a purpose after all!

So there you have it, the Catholic nomad ensemble that makes being a Catholic-nomad-girl entirely possible. As for sane? Well, the verdict is still out on that…

I am currently looking for more temp work outside of Omaha since this assignment is only for this week.  Maybe Des Moine, IA or Kansas City, MO.  This is the nice thing about temp work…..I’m not tied to one area and since these areas are only a few hours away it is easy for me to look while I’m in Omaha and then drive there IF I get an assignment.

Today I want to talk to you about two really great places to get ideas (outside of the box ideas) on how to make money.

1.  I have mentioned this site more than once before but it is such a great site that I think it bears repeating…… The Rat Race Rebellion is a site that searches for work from home jobs and researches them to make sure they are legit.  If you go to their site make sure you sign up for their email alerts.  I get an email from them every day with interesting work opportunities.  And you might just be surprised at what kinds of jobs are on the site……I’m not necessarily talking about low level jobs here.  You will find everything from mystery shopping to openings for engineers.

www.ratracerebellion.com

2.  Another site that I love to troll is actually a YouTube site.  The guy who makes these videos is called KingHuman so if you go to the main page and put his name into the search box you will come to his YouTube “home page” and will be able to see all of his videos.  Now I have to warn you he can be a little on the obnoxious side but I think he has some really great out of the box ideas!

He makes more than just videos on how to make money so you will have to sift through his videos to find the ones specific to making money.  When I came across him on YouTube I spent an entire week watching each and every one of his “making money” videos (I think they went back to 2008) and I was just amazed at the stuff he came up with.  Just like the Rat Race Rebellion he gives a very wide range of things to do….. it isn’t just online computer type stuff.

One of my very favorite videos from KingHuman I wish I could pull off myself because it just sounded like a lot of fun but I think I’m really a little too old to pull it off!  His idea consisted of buying a bunch of flashing, light up items, such as rings, from a wholesale distributor and then selling them at a bar/rave/party/festival etc.  He wasn’t talking about setting up as a vendor or having a stall or anything like that…..he was just talking about walking into a bar wearing the stuff and when people asked where he got it he said “oh I have some here in my bag….you want one??”.  I just love that idea….it sounds like fun.  I thought maybe my kids would have fun with that…..but they aren’t quite as adventurous as me!!

The other thing you should know about these videos is that they are not 100% “tell me how to do it” type videos.  He is real big on telling you to do your due diligence and figure it out.  Basically this is a way to get ideas…..things you might not ever have heard of before……expand your mind……maybe you can take one of his ideas and put your own spin on it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/KingHuman?feature=watch

Sorry about my absence. I have started a new blog, that is taking up a bit of my time. I will be sure to cross post from time to time, and have some special blogs just for you.

My new blog is a Travel Blog, and I have started it in many ways as a form of therapy. Giving up acting professionally has been very hard on me, and this new blog will document my journey to a new dream.I really hope you will enjoy reading the new blog, as much as I have enjoyed writing it!

This is the story of “I Dream In Travel.”

It is an incredibly difficult thing to walk away from a lifelong dream. I should know. I’ve done it.

No matter how much you think it through, no matter how many valid reasons you can come up with for closing that door and turning away….nothing can prepare you for the absolute pain you will feel. It is an emptiness, and suddenly there is a hole where your dreams once lived.

Making the decision to abandon a lifelong aspiration of crawling to the tops of the Hollywood elite was not easy.  I began acting at the tender age of five. It was my first and longest lasting love affair. I moved out to Los Angeles following college and set myself on the path to stardom. But that path is long and lonely, and sometimes even eating becomes a challenge.

Five years later, I have an amazing fiancé I cannot live without, and new smaller dreams that seemed to get in the way of the larger one I had always sought.  I am no longer content living in relative destitution, but I also don’t feel that my small dreams of getting married, owning a home and starting a family would be enough to sustain this dreamer’s thirst.

So, I bore a new dream. A larger dream, though maybe not so large as the first one.  I want to see the world. All of it. Not just the one small corner of it that I have carved out for myself and my family….but the whole wide entirety of the Earth.

I am not satisfied in a typical work setting, but finding a job that I can do anywhere, while making enough money to support these grandiose dreams of travel, is sure to prove difficult. This is my journey. My path to a new dream.

I need to find that perfect do anywhere job, build a savings account, and make a plan. I will try new web based jobs and freelance work, and talk about the scams that are out there as well. I may fail, but I am sure going to try. Oh, and I’ll be getting married as well. I am going to blog the entire experience of my new existence. I hope you will come on this journey with me as I find my way along the path to becoming a digital nomad.

Since I am low on funds I have made up a list of FREE things to do in Omaha that I will be exploring FIRST.  Then I will move on to the CHEAP things to do

The other day I went and visited The Boys Town Museum and the Boys Town Chapel.  Living in Omaha you hear about Boys Town all the time….but for me it was just a matter of seeing the signs all over the place for advertising….I never really knew the significance of the place.  I wasn’t around when the movie came out in 1938.  The museum was a lot nicer than I really expected it to be and the Chapel was gorgeous.  You can easily do the museum in 30 to 45 minutes (depending on how detailed you are on reading every single word).  This would be a great place to bring slightly older children (I had a 7 year old with me and she was mildly interested but bored quickly)….small children will not be real interested.  There is a bus that you can climb into and explore which was really fun for the 7 year old but the rest of it was only mildly interesting to her.

If you have small children there are several splashparks around.  This is a great alternative to crowded public pools.  My friend and I found one in Millard on Seldin Drive and spent a few hours there with his daughter.  I wish these had been around when my children were small.  The smallest child could play without too much danger….certainly no drowning.  There was plenty of grass and open spaces for families to spread out blankets and have picnics and that is just what we did.  There is also a regular playground and porta potties!

Today I am going to go explore the Mormon Trail Center…..yet another thing I never explored when I lived here…..and it’s FREE!!  Saturday I am going to go to the Joslyn Art Museum to see the Egyptian Exhibition.  Saturday mornings from 10 to noon the Joslyn is open to the general public for FREE.

Below I have listed some other free things to do in Omaha…..I will be exploring them over the next few weeks.

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts

Heartland of America Park

Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge

Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail Visitor Center

Lewis & Clark Landing

Gerald R. Ford Birth Site & Gardens

Jazz on the Green

Playing with Fire Concert Series

Shakespeare on the Green

 But how will you make a living????

While it’s true that it is cheaper to not pay rent or mortgage, utilities, property taxes etc. etc. by living in a van or an RV most likely you will still have expenses such as car insurance, food and gas.

So if you are not lucky enough to have a nest egg saved up or some type of income coming in such as a retirement fund or social security…..or even if you do have an income coming in but it’s not enough to cover your expenses…..What do you do?

As I mentioned, way back when I started this blog, I came across the vandwelling lifestyle while I was doing research for a book I am writing.  While doing this research I have come across so many different ways of making money…..things I would have never, ever thought of on my own….things I never knew even existed….things I know others don’t know exist (I know because when I talk about them to others the looks on their faces is one of incredulity).  So I would like to share these ideas with you my readers.

Before we dive in let me please just point out a few things that I think would be obvious…..but I have learned in my life not to assume…..

• Not everything I list will work for you……not everything I list will work for me even.
• I am making no guarantees….I have found these ideas through research….I have not tested all of them….some I will get to, some I may not.
• Although it is sooo tempting (even to me – though I consider myself pretty cynical) I really, really try hard to stay away from get rich scams….but again I make no guarantees……please do your own due diligence.
• Some of these ideas may seem WAY out there……be considerate….don’t slam me…..you have no idea what some people are willing to do or what some people are comfortable with….just because you are not comfortable with it does not make it unacceptable…..I find that I am willing to do a lot more than most of my friends……but I have always been a little different

So without further ado……..

Temp Agencies 

I thought I would start out with something that I know all about……temp agencies.

Temporary agencies, or employment agencies, are companies that act as the middle man between companies looking for employees to either fill a gap or to fill permanent positions and employees looking for work.  I started out doing temp work when I was 19 and fresh out of high school.  I’m now 43 and have worked for temp agencies many, many times over the years.

When I first started out doing temp work things were a little different than it is now.  Back in the day I would sign up with an agency (or two), maybe have a little interview with the agency, fill out some paperwork with the agency and then they would call me with assignments that lasted anywhere from 1 week to 3 months.  Once the assignment was completed they called me with the next assignment.  When they called me with assignments they would give me the specifics and then ask me if I was interested…..I would say yes or no and off I would go.

These days things are different.  Now most assignments are what they call temp to perm…..which basically means that the company gets to “try” you out before they decide if they want to “keep” you in a  permanent position.  You also get to decide if you like the position or not before you accept the position.  It seems rare that they have any actual temporary positions (where you might fill in while some one is on vacation or maternity leave) any more.

Now instead of the agencies calling you with the information and you deciding if you want the assignment or not…..you get a call asking if you would be interested in a particular assignment….if you are interested your resume gets sent to the company with a few other resumes and IF they like you then you get called in for an interview.

The third most recent thing that has changed has been the way that you are considered for positions.  Used to be you had to call in every week to let the agency know that you were available for assignments and they would call you when something came up.  This is still being done in some offices that I have encountered but now more and more I’m being told to go to their website and look for open positions and then apply.

The result of these changes has made it more difficult in my book to get true TEMPORARY work……but not impossible.  If you are looking for a permanent position it is a good way to go….I have obtained several really, really good positions through a temp agency and a lot of big companies and government agencies exclusively hire employees through temp agencies….so it is a really good way to get your foot in the door.  But if you are on the road and all you truly want to do is Temporary Assignments it can be a little challenging.

The first thing that I want to point out is don’t wait until you have $20 bucks left in your pocket and don’t plan on doing temporary work if all you have is 2 to 3 weeks to spend in one place.  Finding temp work takes a little bit of time.

Another important thing I want to point out is…….don’t think you can only do this if you have experience working in an office……NOT TRUE!!!  You might have slimmer pickings but there are a lot of assignments that temp agencies take on that have nothing to do with office work.  Recently I talked to a recruiter in a temp agency who told me they received assignments all the time for events where they needed someone to sit at the registration tables and sign people in.  If you are able to handle more physical assignments there are employment agencies who do nothing but assignments for house cleaning, assembly lines, farm work, construction work etc. etc.

If you are going to be staying in one area for a little bit of time and you are interested in trying the temp work route here is the process that I suggest….

(Note:  This process really does not differ any from looking for a permanent opening so if you happen to be reading this and are interested in looking for permanent work you can still follow this process)

1.  Once you arrive in town make a list of the temp agencies in the area – you can Google “temp agencies, the town you’re in” or “employment agencies, the town you’re in” to come up with a list of agencies.  Some of the bigger name agencies are Robert Half, Manpower, Kelly Services and Office Team. There will also be quite a few local agencies as well that you can check into.

2.  Go to their websites and see if you can set up your profile on their website.  I would do this BEFORE you call…..you will save yourself some time because they are going to tell you to do that before they even talk to you.

3.  If you are able to search for open positions and apply on their website do so…..do this BEFORE you call them because they are going to ask if you have done this before they will even talk to you.  Plus, once you start applying for positions you are in their radar.  I applied for a few positions the other day that I wasn’t really sure were even still available and within one day they were calling me asking me what I was looking for and what my situation was.  Before I had applied for the positions online I couldn’t get anyone on the phone to talk to me.

4.  Once you have filled in your profile (if they have that option, some companies don’t) and applied for any openings that they have, give them a call and let them know that you are interested in temp assignments, that you have registered online and you would like to know if there is anything further that you need to do.  Some companies are going to tell you to keep applying for positions available on their website and someone will call you if you meet their needs.  Some companies are going to want you to come in and interview and maybe take some qualifying tests (ie:  for the type of work I look for I usually have to take a typing test and tests for MS Word and MS Excel).

5.  Check the websites daily for new positions and apply religiously.  This keeps you in their radar……sort of like how you used to have to physically call in once a week to let them know you still existed.  The thing is…..even if they don’t want you for that position they are going to see your qualifications and think of other available positions coming up that you would qualify for.  The other day I had a recruiter call me on a position that I applied for ….. it wasn’t the right fit for my situation but I told him what my situation was and he sent my name onto another recruiter who did have a position that fit my situation…..a recruiter that had an opening that wasn’t even listed online yet and they were the ones who actually called and gave me an assignment.

6.  When I first started traveling I worried about whether or not the agencies would have a problem with my traveling from city to city working or if I would have trouble explaining to them what I wanted to do, if they would have an issue with me having a temporary address in town and a permanent address states away.  I have found so far that they really don’t care and have been very understanding and helpful.  On this trip I have told them that I am visiting friends and family so maybe they have been more understanding because of that.  At one place I told them I was visiting friends but I also told them I was full time RV’ing (I didn’t tell them that I actually have a van with pretensions of being an RV) and they just thought that was the most awesome thing ever.  I’m sure that temp agencies will vary from city to city and from town to town but so far I have not found the censure that I thought I would find.

I have a theory. I’ve been realising lately that certain books and authors have had a much bigger effect on my life than I appreciate. I’m not sure I would have tried an iota of the things I’ve been doing in the last few years if it weren’t for their influence. So while Murakami has not influenced me to do any one thing I can put my finger on, he did help me fall in love with the Japanese, and his work is always an education. (Future posts in this series dedicated to individual Authors will be more literally cause-and-effect).

As Abi King of insidethetravellab.com pointed out in her talks at TBUMBR, words can be very powerful. They’re a one-to-one conversation between author and reader, where you can transport them into another time or place, and they’ve been known to start wars and revolutions.

I feel like Every book I read widens my perspective, adding another persons’ opinion to my thinking, allowing me to explore more of the world as they see (or write) it. In fact, over time, my thinking has been adjusted drastically by the powerful and educated voices I have been drawn to – in novels, newspapers, journals. And in the last few years I’ve found it harder and harder to talk to the people around me, about the things I really care about.

This is not me.

Why? Well, my theory is that we live in different worlds. You wouldn’t expect to have a lot in common with somebody from a different walk of life, and in effect, that’s what we are. The people in my ex day-to-day world have a different set of goals, worries, and motivations, to me. Every time I pick up a book that interests me, the divide between us increases, because we don’t share the same set of assumptions or (apologies) limitations. For a while we had our daily activities in common, but even those I had started rejecting a couple of years before quitting them altogether.

A lot of the people I am thinking of do read as well, but evidently we don’t read the same things. Maybe the phenomenons of auto-hypnosis, positive thinking, and self-confidence are at play. Two people can see the same thing and understand different truths, each biased by their own beliefs. Trivial case in point, my interpretation of a BBC ‘Politics’ advert versus the opinion of the thread author, who actually wrote to the BBC to complain. So, I think it is mainly what I’ve been reading that’s made the difference, but maybe how I’ve been reading it has contributed as well.

Reading Murakami for instance, is being thrown into a chaotic lesson in history, music, mythology, philosophy, human emotion, and Japanese culture. He leads me on delicately sculpted tours of his psyche, and impresses me with stunning vistas of learning. In contrast, the latest Patricia Cornwell or a bit of J.K. Rowling, are ‘pleasant’, or ‘entertaining’. If anyone mentions twilight, I will find out where you live.

Somebody I was recommending a book to once said “oh wait, is that fiction? I only read things that are real”, with a look of distaste. I see what you’re trying to do there – you’re implying that you are too cultured to bother with pointless fantasy stories, that should be either in the childrens section, or the bin. The fact that only the day before they had happily waffled on for an hour, about TV shows and films they saw at the cinema (including sci-fi), was lost on them. The power of metaphor my dear, the power of metaphor.

But in the last couple of years, after deciding to walk the walk – of talk I had previously only talked – it’s been amazing to meet people with opinions and ideas I can really relate to again. Now, everywhere I go, I find people engaged in similar journeys, with similar doubts about the follies of mankind, and people willing to debate ‘death and taxes‘.

Death doesn’t have to be boring. Nor does life for that matter.

I was originally introduced to Murakami in the small English-reading section of a Japanese book shop. I made a grab for ‘Kafka on the Shore’ purely because of my love for Franz Kafka’s novels. A read of the author bio and a synopsis or two, led to me buying ‘Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’ (described as the most Kafka-esque). If I wasn’t travelling, I would have bought several of Murakami’s books there and then, but as the latter novel is considerably slimmer, it won out. (I do own a Kindle but have resisted using it, so far!)

Kafka Memorial Statue, Prague

So here I present a few text bites that I found aesthetic from the latest book I finished reading, ‘Kafka on the Shore’. I tried to keep these short without losing their meaning, but I could happily copy out whole chapters of the book that also kept me smiling or captive throughout. No spoilers included.

From Chapter 19;

        “I’ve experienced all kinds of discrimination,” Oshima says. “Only people who’ve been discriminated against can really know how much it hurts. Each person feels the pain in his own way, each has his own scars. So I think I’m as concerned about fairness and justice as anybody. But what disgusts me even more are people who have no imagination. The kind T.S. Eliot calls ‘hollow men’. People who fill up that lack of imagination  with heartless bits of straw, not even aware of what they’re doing. Callous people who throw a lot of empty words at you, trying to force you to do what you don’t want to. Like that lovely pair we just met.” He sighs and twirls the long, slender pencil in his hand. “Gays, lesbians, straights, feminists, fascist pigs, communists, Hare Krishnas – none of these bother me. I don’t care what banner they raise. But what I can’t stand are hollow people. When I’m with them I can’t bear it, and end up saying things I shouldn’t. … Do you know why that’s a weak point of mine?”

       “‘Cause if you take every single person who lacks imagination seriously, there’s no end to it, ” I say.

From Chapter 24;

“You’re a really healthy person, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Nakata is. I can’t read, but I’ve never had a single cavity and don’t need glasses. I never have to go to the doctor, either. My shoulders never get stiff, and I take a good dump every morning.”
“Isn’t that something,” the maid said, impressed. “By the way, what’s on your schedule for today?”
“We’re headed West,” Nakata declared.
“West,” she mused. “That must mean you’re going towards Takamatsu.”
“I’m not so bright and don’t know geography.”
“Anyway, Gramps, why don’t we go over to Takamatsu?” Hoshino chimed in. “We can work out what’s next after we get there.”
“All right. Let’s go to Takamatsu, then. We’ll work out what’s next after we get there.”
“Sort of a unique style of travelling, I must say,” the maid commented.
“You got that right,” Hoshino said.       [So did I. PP]

From Chapter 32;
This one is just a phrase I liked the sound of – a bit like the famous phrase ‘cellar door‘. Yes, I got that from Donnie Darko, I’m not well read on American literature much. Obviously this turn of phrase may not have been intended by Murakami when he wrote the book in Japanese, but he does worked closely with his English translators, so maybe it is intended.

Nakata set off down the hall, plastic bag with washbag inside in hand, to the communal sinks. …

… Finished, he took his plastic bag with washbag inside back to the room.

And from the last chapter;

Time weighs down on you like an old, ambiguous dream. You keep on moving, trying to slip through it. But even if you go to the ends of the earth, you won’t be able to escape it. Still, you have to go there – to the edge of the world. There’s something you can’t do unless you get there.

More eloquent than what Bowie said.

Always iconic

Gaga got nothin on this

Picking up Kafka’s complete novels again, I also found a beautiful metallic bookmark in it from South Korea that I had been using. A tourist info place in Gyeongju was selling them and I bought several different ones as gifts.

It just says Korea – no North or South.

Murakami often criticises or applauds authors, philosophers, and musicians in his work, which gives an intriguing glimpse into his own influences. So as Kafka influenced Murakami, Murakami and Kafka now influence me – and millions of others, but there’s nothing better than a delusion of grandeur!!  

PP.

I’ve been in Omaha for about a week now and I’m glad to be here…..but my mettle is being tested and those are the cold hard facts!!

Things have reached a place where I finally have to put up or shut up as they say.  For the past 5 months I have been living off of a very large tax refund, a few gifts, selling my belongings, a yardsale and a few small assignments through Today’s Gal Friday.  But now my training wheels are slowly being removed and it’s time to see if I can ride my big girl bike J  It can be done is what I have said and now I have to prove it!

For now I am spending the week with a very good friend and that has just been lovely….I love staying in my van but nothing beats having someone wait on you, feed you, entertain you…… and a hot tub!!

But after this week I will be on my own with very little moolah left.  Even though my goal is to become completely self sufficient with my online endeavors…..I’m not quite there yet.  So I am having to sift through my ever growing list of ways to make money for alternatives at this point.

The past few days I have spent making the rounds of the temp agencies looking for temporary office work.  This is what I would prefer to do because I know it inside and out…..it is what I’ve done for 25 years….but if nothing comes of it I will move on to plan C!!

I thought that in light of my current situation this would be a good time to start posting some information on ways to make money on the road.  Since this is the #1 question asked by most people when I explain my plans as well as the #1 question asked by most people considering this lifestyle I thought it would be appropriate.  So starting Monday I will introduce Making Money Mondays….I hope you will stop by and check it out….maybe get some ideas for yourself!!

Not much to report today.  I got a very early start and was on the road by 7 a.m…..I’m not usually up before 8:30.  I stayed at the Walmart in Waynesboro, VA….I couldn’t believe how quiet it was….I never even put my earplugs in!  It was a 24 hour Walmart but I barely saw any cars.

The fog on the mountains was insane this morning…..soooo pretty but a little scary.  Thankfully it didn’t affect my driving.  By about 10:30 a.m. I had to pull over and take a break.  My leg is feeling ok but a couple of times while I was walking I had really bad “twinges”.  So I pulled over to a rest stop and put my leg up for 2 hours and took a nap.

The mountains were incredibly gorgeous but it was very hard to keep my cruise control on and quite a few times I had to practically stand on my brakes going downhill.  Needless to say this was REALLY worrying me since my right leg is the leg I injured.  So now I’m out of the mountains and very, very grateful.  I probably won’t be so grateful when I get sick and tired of looking at cornfields eventually but for now……GRATEFUL!!

I’ve seen lots of things that I would love to stop and explore but it’s not that kind of trip this time unfortunately.  I’m anxious to get to Omaha.  My plan is to sign up with the temp agencies at the end of this week.  While I’m in Omaha (and hopefully working a couple temp assignments) I plan on taking a lot of side trips that I was never able to do while I lived in Omaha.  And just maybe I will do a couple of articles about how awesome Omaha is so that I can set everyone straight about Omaha LOL!!

Now I am in Morehead, KY at the library getting everything charged up.  I was looking forward to getting a couple hours of work done but it is so freaking hot in here I can’t even think straight.  I think as soon as I’m charged up I’m just gonna get back on the road.

I would love to tell you that I am on my way to Omaha…..but who knows what tomorrow will bring??  My plans have changed a minimum of 4 times in the past week.  I have finally left ….. I am on the road…..and I am headed to Omaha……let’s just keep our fingers crossed that things don’t change mid trip!!

Omaha At Dusk

The new plan is to head to Omaha where I have a lot of friends and relatives and hang out there for 5-6 weeks.  While I’m there I’m going to look for some temp work to help get the coffers filled up some.  I’m still working on Today’s Gal Friday and another project but things are not going as quickly as I would like sooooo…….hi ho, hi ho it’s off to work I go!!

I left this afternoon but didn’t get real far.  I took the splint off my leg and it’s doing pretty good but I don’t want to push it.  So I got kind of a late start and then had several stops to make on the way.

Right now I am in Waynesboro, VA.  I am sitting outside the Buffalo Wild Wings using their internet and it is pouring rain.  That probably doesn’t sound so great but I am just loving it!  I’m comfy cozy and the sound of the rain on the roof is so relaxing.  I really do just love being in this van.

It was still daylight when I got to Waynesboro and the fog around the top of the mountains was really cool….I kept trying to find someplace where I could get a picture but no such luck.  Then just as I was looking for the exit (of course) I ran into a bank of fog and could not see 2 feet in front of me…..it was really crazy…..I was getting a little nervous I wasn’t sure what to do if I couldn’t see but right before I panicked I saw the exit and the fog lifted enough for me to get to the Walmart.

Not my picture but very similar to what I saw in Waynesboro, VA

I used my lunchbox stove to cook some pot pies while I was driving here and they turned out perfect…..the only problem I had was that they were too salty so probably won’t do that again.  But the stove worked out perfect!  It won’t work so great in every situation but if I’m driving for a few hours it’s so easy to just pop something in there and let it cook while I’m driving!  I love it!!

Pot Pies For Dinner

Happy Mother’s Day!!

So I’ve been off of my leg for 3 days now……AND I have been bored to absolute tears!!!  I have watched movies, read books, worked online, watched Youtube, played on Facebook, read my email ad nauseum, read and replied to yahoo group forums, surfed TV…….I cannot take it anymore!!!

Tomorrow come hell or high water I am outta here!!!

I’m going to take the splint off and hope like hell that my leg feels better.  And then yes….I’m going to at least wear my tennis shoes and try not to exercise it too much….try to be gentle with it!

TRY

Today is Mother’s Day….not sure my kids have any concept of that or not?  Curious to see if I hear from them or not.  It’s funny because I always reminded them of Father’s Day for my X but I don’t think the same courtesy was ever returned.  And funnier still is that I get Happy Mother’s Day texts and FB comments from people who really don’t owe me a Happy Mother’s Day…..but it’s nice just the same.  My mom is off on her vandwelling adventure….so we said our Happy Mother’s Day’s to each other before she left.  It’s a pretty low key Mother’s Day this year.

I had planned on taking a video of my van for the blog this week but of course with the bum leg I haven’t been able to do that……so stay tuned, as soon as I’m able I’m going to do that.