Meet Sherry…This is Now…
Photo: Working on the blog…a common site!
For pictures of me traveling…if you can stomach it…click here!
15 months…wow…I’m surprised myself. All of you out there (specifically my brother and sister), who bet that I would never make it past a month…hand over your money.
I was looking at my original ‘This is me’ post I did in July 2006 and I was taken aback. First of all, I looked a lot thinner, younger – and very blonde…but looks aren’t everything. The important thing is how you feel. Fifteen months have gone by and I feel like a completely different person. I honestly have no idea what I used to do at work any longer. A month ago, I actually got out my resume and looked at it wondering what all of it even meant. I really, really tried to remember specifics about my old job – what software we used, what vendors I worked with, what projects I worked on for 3 years – and I could come up with nothing but faint memories of bad florescent lighting and eating at my desk. All of the specific memories have moved into the deep depths of my brain waiting to flash before my eyes at the time of my death. Instead – my brain is now filled with pictures…pictures of the world, of dramatic landscapes, kids, families, big smiles, and desperate poverty. It is filled with knowledge…knowledge of the world, cultures, and joy.
I looked back at my original post and saw how I talked about needing a break and wanting to find my creative side. I think I successfully found creativity….in this blog. I still am amazed how much I came to love writing and photography. Or maybe I loved the writing because it was my way of communicating with friends and family – people who I missed, but never seemed to get homesick for. Thanks to the internet, I was able to stay in touch and never feel completely alone. Plus, I started developing this sense of duty as I traveled…I felt a responsibility to show people the world – the people who don’t have passports or don’t have the time off, or don’t have the means to travel. I felt like it was my contribution to educating people about cultures and essentially global peace in some very small way. I still come back to the popular saying “Why can’t we all just get along?”
As I wind down this segment of my journey, my head is overflowing with ideas on what to do next. I hope to revisit this post in a year and once again be amazed at where life has taken me. My guess is – I will need my passport.
Photo Montage…a bit scarey at times, but always, always fun.
November 27th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Hey. I read you posts. The before and after, happy for you. I’m an Aquarius too. I feel the same sometimes. I’m just 21 years old and I study to finish my college, work, save money and travel. Oh well. Happy journey to you. Someday I’ll be traveling the world too. Just wanted to holler at you because I feel we’re the same in some ways. =)
December 1st, 2007 at 8:39 am
Ok you have to go back and caption those photos at once! We need to know the destinations. Particularly the glacier and the machine guns…interesting combo…
December 1st, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Thanks for the comments! Erica - if you roll your mouse over the photos it tells you the titles of the photo. However - the rambo pose was in Cambodia at a firing range…one of my highlights of my travels! The glacier was in New Zealand - another one of my favorite stops!
Sherry
March 4th, 2008 at 11:34 am
How did you do it? Travel the world? How much did it all cost you?
March 5th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Hi Anna! I travelled for 16 months, doing a combination of budget travel, and rather nice travel. I took Italian lessons for a month, cooking lessons, sailing lessons, and various other activities. I had a nice balance of budget backpacking and more expensive travel. I ended up spending about $70,000 - that includes all of the tours, airare, insurance - pretty much everything. I had saved for many years for this trip - plus - I’m single and no kids - so I really didn’t have any other financial committments! You can do it for much, much less - however I did it the way I wanted to - a mixture. I hope you keep reading - I hope to get back on the road again in a few month…this time making a bit of money along the way!!
Sherry
March 31st, 2008 at 11:11 pm
sherry– forget the blonde ‘pre’ photos– you look so much happier and alive in the ‘post’ photos! pvj
April 4th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Enjoyed meeting you and your friend at Speak Easy in Ozark AR. Got fourth place in the pool tourniment. Al got second place. Fourth pays the same as last. ZIP…! O Well, had a lot of fun. Hope you get to see enough of Arkansas to realize hoe much of the world there is to see right here. Arkansas is like a melting pot. Once you have seen enough you can’t hardly go anywhere without beeing reminded that Arkansas has a place like this. Exception, there is no place that will remind you of N Y City, L A, Dallis Ect Ect Ect. Remimber “it is a crate life if you don’t weaken” so do what makes you strong. THE BEGANNING
Ozark AR
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Sherry - You Rock.
Great website. Hope the travels and you are doing well,
Ming
June 25th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Sherry,
I was looking for some insights about the drive from Amarillo, TX to Santa Fe, NM and ended up on your website : ) What a great blog!!!
My husband and I will be traveling with two kids to the mountains in NM in August and we were wondering what the road looks like. Anything I should know about that journey - gas stations? Food? Bathroom breaks?
I am a city girl, too ; ) We are all from Europe (Bulgaria) and have travelled allot. We moved home in Texas two years ago and intend to travel around.
Love your spirit, loved the pictures and the comments!
June 26th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Hi Mari!
I answered this on the blog too - but thought I would send something to your email too. I’m glad you enjoye my site - thanks for the comment!
The drive from Amarillo to Santa Fe was great! We actually took the interstate to hwy 104 at Tucumcari. We stopped there to see the Rt. 66 stuff, and then took 104 towards Las Vegas, NM. It was really a cool drive - very, very few cars - and rather desolate - but in a cool southwestern sort of way. I don’t recall there being any bathrooms on that road - nor any towns for that matter. But it was only about a 2 hour drive or so - so it wasn’t bad. You climb up into the the higher elevation and have a lovely view of the desert land behind you.
It was a short drive for us and after spending the night in Santa Fe, we took the interstate to Flagstaff - so that was a long drive - but we loved the Petrified Forest on the way to Flagstaff!
Let me know if you have any more questions - I’m happy to help!
Sherry