Travelgoddess

Since I cant seem to get motivated to properly set up my Travelgoddess.net site, I just have to post this misc and wonderful news here for now. Hurrah!

Hitting the bookshops on October 28, 2006 is the new “Gap Years for Grown Ups” by ultra talented writer/researcher Susan Griffith.

For those of you non-Brits out there (as am I), a Gap Year is the traditional year off a young person takes either before university or between university and other educational programs. As you may guess, the event is usually a year in length and unlike in the US where time off is still, unfortunately, considered being a slacker and making you less desireable to the workplace environment, is considered a necessary part of becoming a global citizen. This type of long traveling idea is common in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and a few other places.

I noticed when I first started traveling abroad again about 5 years ago that there were a great deal of late 20’s-to mid 30’s folks from all over the world having their own belated or second gap year. These folks are part of what inspired me to indulge my own worldy curiosity. I am delighted to see that there is a market for this later life but not retired travel group, more like thrilled to be honest. I just wish that the 80% of Americans who dont have their passport would take just one short Gap month, oh please, would ya? (okokok, getting down from soap box now.)

While flipping through the pages you may notice (um, on pages 79 and 202 specifically) specific mention of yours truly. Susan contacted me years ago after seeing a post on Lonely Planet’s indispensible Thorn Tree discussion board regarding my first overseas hostel job in Italy and now and then has used some of my travel planning (page 79) or travel work (p. 202) info in her books.

Just as in my excitement to be published in Transitions Aboard earlier this year, I am proud to be included with the slicingly helpful and detailed info in Susan’s books. Oh, and thanks Susan for noting this blog in the book. Much appreciated.

In an effort to research Guatemala topics on all levels, I gave in and checked out youtube.com. It’s not quite the myspace.com annoying creature I thought it could be. Although I cant for the life of me figure out why loads of people post videos that are only a few seconds long, I was surprised how many interesting videos about Guatemala, in English, on this site. Here are a few of my favs:

* Political story about Guatemalan student movement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAf6ALk_K10

* Visual tour of daily life around Lake Atitlan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSygSWEyji4

* Volunteer doctors working in Guate; 2 parts

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdJd9YwIr6M

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pluv0kMksn8

* A visit to the famous Chichicastenango market
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AArcTThO9A8

* Maximon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylEOtetGeCw

I have delayed writing about this book for sometime now. This is the "Backlash" Susan Faludi equivalent for Latin American women that I mentioned reading while in Pana back in late May. The reason for the delay? An ... [Continue reading this entry]

  1. In Spanish, so cant really tell ya too much about text content. What I do know is that his Guate photos are amazing and his links (right side of page) are invaluable. (He lives in SF at ... [Continue reading this entry]

(Take a look at our new CONTEST   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>) From "Life in the Damn Tropics" by David Unger:(page 110) "Panajachel had been a sleepy Cakchiquel village and an upscale artist retreat through the sixties. By the early seventies, American hippies had ... [Continue reading this entry]

  (Photo from Amazon.com, film produced by Maya Media :http://www.mayamediacorp.com/) As I sit here eating plantain chips I ponder this movie I saw yesterday. It's set in 1950's Guatemala, 1954 to be exact in Guatemala City. All of the ... [Continue reading this entry]

I guess I am feeling a little better today (this is post #7 for today). No news from the doctor (did I dream that whole appointment) yet,but I am calling on Wed to check in and see if ... [Continue reading this entry]

I wrote a lot about tuk tuk's when I was in Antigua, but I never did show ya any pics, did I? This is one of those things (like to TD and other illnesses I picked up in Guate) ... [Continue reading this entry]

(^^^ Above; painting I bought in a small town around Lake Aititlan) What do you do when you meet someone who doesnt speak your language, you dont speak theirs, you live thousands of miles away from each other geographically ... [Continue reading this entry]

(^^^ Above: Street mirror hanging on lamppost at the newly revamped 4 Grados Norte section of Guate City) I cant say that I have read this book. The writing style doesnt gel with me, a very strong personal reading ... [Continue reading this entry]