Welcome back! I may have lost a few followers after my last blog entry. Probably, I'll lose a few after ever post. In the end it will be my mom and Erin reading this post. And maybe not my mom if she doesn't figure out how to subscribe to this blog.
I'm feeling really focused today and I think I will be less inclined to allow my thoughts to completely derail this time. After all, it is one of the most important questions I must answer, "So what exactly are you going to do?"
And seriously, I'm almost there! But first, let me tell you what I am NOT going to do.
I am not going to be working 60 hours a week like some of y'all have to do.
I am not going to set an alarm.
I am not going to be checking my phone every 3 min. In fact, we will NOT even HAVE PHONES!!! So seriously, get all of your texts in to me now, because later you cannot.
I am not going to commute to work.
I am going to pay $1800 a month in rent.
I am not going to be wearing a coat in July.
There are probably other fun things that I enjoy doing that I won't be able to do, but those said items are the things I won't miss doing.
I must give credit here to Chris Guillebeau, author of "The One-Year, Self-Directed, Alternative Graduate School Experience." The list that follows is part of a suggested list that can be found in his book. If you are considering additional formal education consider doing these things instead (or in addition). Most of this list can be completed in 1 year and at a cost of less than $10,000. Significantly less than a year of graduate school for many people.
1. Subscribe to The Economist and read every issue religiously. Cost: $100 + 2 hour/week
2. Memorize the name of every country, world capital, and current president or prime minister. Cost $0 + some of your time.
3. Buy a round-the-world plane ticket to travel to several major world regions, including somewhere in Africa and somewhere in Asia. Cost: $4000 or so + 4-8 weeks (or 2 years).
4. Read the basic texts of the major world religions: the Torah, the New Testament, the Koran, the teachings of Buddha. Visit a church, a mosque, a synagogue, and a temple. Cost: $0-50 + 50 hours
5. Subscribe to a language-learning podcast and listen to each 20-min episode five times a week for the entire year. Attend a local language club once a week to practice. Cost: $0 + 90 hours
6. Acquire at least three new skills during your year. Suggestions: photography, skydiving, computer programming, martial arts, flying trapeze. Cost: Variable but probably less than three credits of tuition at a university.
7. Read at least 30 non-fiction books and 20 classic novels. Cost: $0-750 (library-purchase) + lots of hours
8. Set your homepage to a wikipedia random. Every time you open your browser, you'll see a different, random page and learn something new. Read it. Cost: $0 + 4 min
So here's where I'm at with that.
1. I have never read The Economist, but my friend Joel does. He is brilliant and I trust him so I might give it a go. Online subscription is no problem. I have however read "Freakonomics" (same-same, right?) and I might listen to that podcast on the regular too.
2. My boyfriend won the spelling be in junior high, now it's my chance to win the world capital geography bee. I'm game to try. And I hate to be one of those ignorant Americans that literally cannot name the leader of any other nation but their own. We're so dumb sometimes!
3. Ticket around the world? Consider it done!! This is a 5-6 continent world tour, my friends!
4. Been there, done some of that, gonna keep doing it. I'm hoping to participate in a short stay in an ashram as well. I was much more invested in exploring my spirituality when I was 15 than I am now but I'm looking forward to revisiting it.
5. Brandt and I both plan on being completely fluent in Spanish after our first year in Central and South America, and plan to learn bits and pieces of language all over the world. Total immersion is the best way to learn!
6. Number six is the best! I will be surfing, diving, hiking, doing yoga, and rafting every day!! Every single day! I'm hoping to be in as good of shape as I have ever been! Don't forget zip-lining, kitesurfing, kayaking, cooking, and farming (planning on WWOOFing in Australia).
7. My friend Lacey spent a year working in Vietnam and traveling around SE Asia and she said she read more books in that one year, than she had in the past 15! I LOVE reading, and with a kindle, this should be an easy and enjoyable endeavor.
8. I'm a maybe on this last one. We are hoping to power-down, unplug, disconnect, limit screen time, whatever else you want to call it. I'm hoping to do most of my learning the old fashion way.
Other things I'll be doing: volunteering on a farm/in a school/at a clinic, teaching English, blogging, planning where my friends will meet me, learning about animals, getting good sleep, trying new foods, boating down the Amazon, learning to play guitar, salsa dancing, and maybe I'll even eat a bug.
What would you do if you were traveling for 2 years? I wanna know, because I wanna do it too!!
No comments:
Post a Comment