Tag Archives: travel noodle

Oakland, I’m trying to love you

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…but it’s hard.

So far you’ve broken into my car, had a dead body in the bushes, tried to attack me in the dark walking home, and don’t even get me started on the absurd parking tickets for offenses I haven’t even committed! You see Oakland, I’m trying really hard to find your silver lining, but so far you just keep showing me your ugly side.

But in one final attempt to give you a 100 millionth chance to finally show me why you’re not simply the ugly stepchild of San Francisco, I set out with my camera to find your beauty. Here is what I found…

1. You have a hell of a lot of birds. And I hate birds. But, they are very fun to take photos of…especially when they are no longer just people-friendly, they are entitled, or at least they act like it.

Ahem. I'm ready for my close-up now.

2. There is this little section of Lake Merritt that, when not being used as a bathroom, is actually rather charming.

A rather nice looking bathroom if you ask me.

3. You have a giant theatre sign, but I still have yet to be able to find the theatre. (Not to say that I’ve particularly tried to find it though…ya know, when the choices are forgoing entertainment or getting shot in the dark, I tend to be just fine with twiddling my thumbs at home.)

Maybe after I buy my bullet-proof vest I'll actually venture out to the theatre.

4. You have a dock. And no way to get to it. Interesting. (Or did someone just steal that part of the wood?)

Well at least the birds can use it.

5. You have trees with incredibly fascinating trunks. (But then again, that might just be a side effect from exposure to pot-laced air.)

Ok, I admit, these trunks are pretty cool.

6. Assuming no one is getting murdered under it, the gazebo by the lake is a peaceful sight.

...Just be sure to plan a line of defense when you visit.

7. You have a lot of trash scattered around. But at least it has catchy one-liners on it.

Why thank you, I will enjoy my delicious moments! (Especially when they're ice cream.)

8. You have ONE pretty flower. (No, actually in Oakland’s defense, someone has taken the time to plant a lot of beautiful flowers around the lake. ….And fortunately thus far, no one has had the time to steal them.)

Sorry in advance if someone tries to steal you, little flower.

9. And of course no walk through Oakland would be complete without some Occupy Oakland pride.

Is the victory that you're now occupying the trash can?

10. Even if it is a little dangerous at night, I do truly love the Tribune building.

Too bad those neon lights aren't lasers to blind my attackers.

As I’m sure you noticed, I’m currently staying in Oakland. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be here, but for now it’s home away from home. Do I love it? Um…. But in spite of its less-than-lovely features, does it have some truly beautiful characteristics? Absolutely. And because of that, I’ll keep trying, at least for as long as I’m here, to love it.

P.S. New York Times, I’m guessing you’ve never been to Oakland. Because if you had, I doubt it would end up at the number 5 spot on your 2012 destination list. Just sayin’…

I have in fact fallen off the face of the Earth

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About two months ago, I quite unexpectedly was hired to help with a huge (and when I say huge, I’m talking 10,000some people, huge) event. The unfortunate part was that I was hired about a week after Travel Noodle finally got its act together and went live (and yes, I often refer to Travel Noodle as if it is a real life entity that actually has the ability to “get its act together” – lest I be personally blamed for the delay in going live). Two months of 7-days-a-week, 70-80 hour work weeks and I’ve essentially died and gone to a very nasty heaven (which is the place I believe exists for those who make a lump amount of money in a short amount of time, but have to kill themselves to do it). Short end of a long story, for the last few months, my sleep, my eating, my exercise, my blog, my life have fallen victim to the corporate world of work chaos. But my friends, rest assured! Travel Noodle isn’t dead and will return to the action very soon! Until then, say a prayer for me. (Naked rain dances will also suffice.)

Crazy is the new cool. Meet, Plan, Go told me so.

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I’m just an itty bitty, teeny tiny inch past my mid-twenties (Eek! …And I thought I’d be 17 forever. So much for that…) and I live out of a suitcase and I don’t have a permanent address—and a lot of people tell me (even if sometimes it’s only with their eyes) that that makes me a little crazy. And well frankly, they’re right. I am a little crazy. Hell, I’m probably more than a little crazy. But regardless, I’m crazy, and happily so.

A little crazy and proud of it!

I fought for a long time to “reform” myself of my “here, there, and everywhere” lifestyle, always Kung Fu-ing myself (…because that just sounds cooler than saying “beating myself up”) for not settling into the infamous “9 to 5,” salaried job. But long ago (as in 5-some odd years …And yes, that seems like a long time ago to my “spry, youthful-not-nearing-thirty self.” …Did I mention I was in denial about my age?) I sat down with myself and had a little face-to-face pow-wow. All said and done, we (I) walked out the room a little scratched up and teary eyed and definitely a bit scared and uncertain, but the battle was settled. Change of plans. From that point on, I was going to embrace my life out of a suitcase, no more fighting it. (Cue Mel Gibson. “Freedom!”)

(By the way, just for the record, I did not actually scratch myself. Pretty sure that would’ve taken me from crazy status to just plain psychopath.)

…Now this of course could devolve into a long ol’ story about my transition after making the decision to accept my nomadic side and all the good, bad, and ugly that followed, but that’s not the point of this post. The point is…

Apparently I’m not the only crazy person out there!

…And ok, I did actually already know that. I mean really, I just walk down the street (especially in San Francisco) and I end up feeling relatively normal in comparison to my fellow passersby. But among my peers and friends (and their Facebook pages) I feel a bit like a funky monkey. They have houses. I have a car and a sleeping bag. They have a salaried job. I have a MacBook, a blog, and a collection of freelance work projects. They have 2 weeks vacation. I have total travel freedom. (Muhaha!) So yes, I feel like an oddball, but given all that being an oddball includes, I am totally okie dokie artichokie with that…

Sherry Ott, co-founder of Meet, Plan, Go, and Spencer Spellman, a freelance travel writer and blogger, were two of the "crazy" panelists at the Meet, Plan, Go event in San Francisco.

And on Tuesday night, I found a little bit of crazy-people heaven on Earth. Tuesday night was the Meet, Plan, Go nationwide event and I attended the San Francisco portion. The event was packed with fellow travel junkies living (or eager to live) the same way I do. When I told people I ran my life out of a suitcase the response was, “Awesome!” Versus the typical, “You do what?” followed by a look of “bless her heart” (and a $5 bill from time to time. Not that I’m particularly complaining about the free money part…).

Even the panelists (Sarah and Morgan Smith, Kristen Zibell, Spencer Spellman, and Sherry Ott) spent their time up front ranting and raving about the joys of being considered “crazy” by most people’s standards and living and loving the travel life. (I don’t know what it is, but there’s something very comforting about a person with a mic telling you that the way you are is a-ok. …Wow, do I sound the like perfect cult victim or what?!…) And sitting there listening to fellow crazies share their stories, I couldn’t help but grin a bit, realizing that for the first time in a long time I felt right at “home,” surrounded by people who understood and shared my lifestyle.

Of course, regardless of whether or not Meet, Plan, Go ever gave two thumbs up to my kooky lifestyle, I would’ve been/still am crazy, living and treasuring my life out of a suitcase. But I can’t lie–it was a welcomed treat on Tuesday night to meet and hang out with some equally loco-minded travelers and to be reminded that I’m not alone in this wackiness of mine.

So it looks like crazy may be more in style than I thought. And I’ve found my peeps, my crazy, funky monkey, oddball, travel-hungry peeps. Finally!

This is what happens when you buy a URL name that you think is stupid (and you don’t know how to add properly)

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So, it’s taken me about a million and two years (yes, specifically that exact amount of time–according to my math anyways) to actually get this blog going.

For one, it took me about 50,217 years to figure out what in the world (no pun intended) to call this blog. And ironically, all said and done, and compliments of a 3-a.m.-half-asleep decision, I ended up with a name (Travel Noodle) that well, frankly, I now think is stupid and makes me laugh every time I hear it.

Secondly, once I finally decided what to call the site, I could not for the life of me figure out what I wanted the Travel Noodle (*insert chuckle here*) website to be about. I came up with 357,035 ok-this-is-it-for-sure-ideas over the course of what felt like 12,458 months. And finally (thank God!), I concluded that Travel Noodle would be the ongoing saga (yes, I tend to be a bit dramatic sometimes) of my adventures in travel writing—oh yeah, and my quest to complete my questionably-overambitious-but-I-don’t-care life goal of visiting every country in the world (per the 2006 world map).

…Of course, this is all until ok-this-it-for-sure-idea number 357,036 pops up in my head…haha, just kidding…I think…

Thirdly (and the main reason why it took exactly a million and two years, not just a million, to finally make this blog go “live”), I’ve decided that I suffer from the self-diagnosed “Take On the World in One Giant Leap Instead of in Manageable, Realistic Baby Steps” syndrome (abbreviated TOWOGL-MRBS–abbreviation of the abbreviation being TOWOGL). Common symptoms of my disease include: waking up at odd hours with odd ideas on random things I’ve always wanted to see, do, try, etc., levels of indecisiveness that makes even good ol’ Bush cry, a superwoman complex, and ADD moments. So, plagued with TOWOGL, when I first sat down to create this blog, I had the belief (a.k.a. terrible misconception) that I would be able to make a blog that covered every single, wonderful, freakin’ fantastic, can’t-live-without-it travel idea that I’ve ever had. …Fail! That blog idea didn’t happen, couldn’t happen, isn’t going to happen–but unfortunately it took me two years past a million to figure that out.

(and, *exhale* –yeah…sometimes I literally have to remind myself to stop talking and breathe)

So, all the above now being said, I’d like to welcome you to the blog that only took me a million and two years to make happen, Travel Noodle. Buckle in and enjoy the ride as I, with you (or at least with your eyeballs) in the “passenger seat,” take on the challenge (one “boo-yah!” at a time) of writing about travel and how (with pretty much no money at all) I can eventually see every country in the world–or at least die trying.

And while my own comments, thoughts, advice, and occasional ramblings keep me well entertained, I suspect yours might do the job even better, so feel free to leave them anywhere on this blog.

*Deep breath* Okay world, here I come!

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