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Archive for June, 2007

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The countdown begins — Oh, and I now have Cher Hair

Sunday, June 24th, 2007

I lied in my earlier post. Or, rather, I was grossly mistaken.

Being a retentive planner, you don’t get bored when you have nothing left to plan — you get utterly freaked out.

Granted, I’ve accomplished a lot, but I still feel like there’s so much left to do. I wish I’d been born with that gene that allows you to say “I’m leaving for a round the world trip tomorrow and haven’t thought about what I’m going to bring yet.” OK, they probably end up with sore stinky feet and are cold at night and don’t have packs of oral rehydration salts “just in case” like me, but in the end, they may be the happier for it.

[read on]

‘Cause I’m just a girl, little ‘ol me
Don’t let me out of your sight

Monday, June 18th, 2007

The Travel Blog: A new form of Chick-Lit.

This post is dedicated to anyone who has ever had to fight the “women-shouldn’t-travel-alone” battle. I’ve created this entry compiling info on women who are traveling solo out there right now, or have traveled solo in the past. And these are just a small segment of those who happen to blog! If it’s not listed here and you have another solo-gal blog, please add the link to the comments section.

I hope anyone reading this post will recognize, accept, and embrace the fact that while traveling poses dangers to both men and women on the road, suggesting that somone not travel alone because they are a woman is a true belittlement. As long as one is willing to accept the risks of the road, they should do so regardless of gender.

[read on]

Don’cha wish your backpack was packed like mine?

Monday, June 11th, 2007

One of the negatives of being a retentive planner is that eventually, you finish planning. Then you get bored.

Right now, there’s nothing left to buy (dangerous, b/c then I might start buying what I don’t need). There’s nothing left to figure out how to pack. There’s nothing else to do but obsessively re-read guidebooks and travel websites.

In the absence of anything better to write I’ll answer the burning question of what am I bringing with me. Well, that’s the backpacker’s “half full” perspective. The friends/family/normal people “half empty” perspective is – what aren’t I bringing with me? Or, more usually, “you’re only bringing how many [of whatever]???”

[read on]

No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks

Saturday, June 9th, 2007

I began this blog the night before my first class of my final quarter of my MBA program. Today I had the final class of my final quarter of my MBA program. My last take-home exam is done, ready to be handed in on Monday. Graduation is Friday.

After 3 years; 20 classes; 40+ tests, midterms, and finals; dozens of cases, conference calls, and presentations; late-night bar visits the number of which I am unable to count; and 1 somewhat bizarre trip to Australia, I am a free woman.

Actually I am a woman with a whole lotta student loans about to come due, but I’m free in spirit.

Today I got a pedicure, I went shopping, I ate dinner and read a newspaper (not a case, not a binder section, not an article, but a newspaper!!), I went shopping, I schmoozed around a bookstore for an hour, and I went shopping. That, my friends, is what free people do.

All I can say is: Bring on Africa… before the real world of jobs, responsibility, and debt take me back in the fall.