Tag: bucket list

The Trip that Changed my Life Book Project

If you have read my list of 7 Destinations to Visit in Your Lifetime, you know that #5 is to Visit a Place of Poverty and Hardship – that is exactly the idea behind The Trip That Changed my Life book project championed by Hung Thai from comedy travel site Up, Up, and a Bear.

ChangeLifeBookAbout Project Alpha: The Trip that Changed My Life originator Hung Thai has always had an intense love for the travel and the ability it has to transform one’s life, and he started traveling seriously five years ago. In an effort to join forces with those around the globe who share his same joy for traversing the world’s landscapes, he had the idea for The Trip that Changed My Life, nicknamed Project Alpha, in early 2016. With the intention to recruit a dozen or so writers to contribute to a small book supporting two charities Thai is passionate about—Unbound and Save the Children—the charitable project quickly grew to more than 50 collaborators from around the world. Thai, founder of travel blog Up Up and a Bear, which has six regular contributors, is thrilled that global book Project Alpha has been embraced by backpackers, jet-setters and everyone in between of all ages and backgrounds from around the world.

Continue reading “The Trip that Changed my Life Book Project”

Explore Your Own Backyard

For as long as I can remember I have had the Travel Bug, my Dad calls this my “itchy feet” since I could never stand still.  I loved going on road trips and vacation getaways with my family as a child, then exploring on my own as I got older.  I was excited to get my Passport so I could travel to distant lands and experience the World!Explore Your Own Backyard

After two trips outside the United States I realized that my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona was an exotic location for many people.  The locals that I was visiting were just as fascinated by USD currency, desert climate, and the “wild, wild, west” as I was with their home.  Some of my new British friends even made the trek out to Phoenix to see for themselves.  Treating my home as base camp, we explored my neighborhood through tourist eyes.  And I discovered treasure in my own backyard! Continue reading “Explore Your Own Backyard”

7 Destinations to Visit in Your Lifetime

Here is my ultimate travel list of 7 destinations that everyone should visit in their lifetime.Hawaii_silhouette

  1. Connect with family – Visit where your parents were born and raised. Learn how they grew up, listen to childhood stories, and get to know the experiences that shaped your parents lives. Look at the photos from their childhood and visit those locations to see how they have changed.  Ask questions about achievements, struggles, silly stories, and the mundane daily tasks.  Find the storyteller in your family, and just listen.
  2. Research your ancestors and stroll through your homeland, as far back as you can discover. Learn your history and culture.  Try the food.  What is the national activity or sport?  What traditions have carried over into your family?  Watch for all of the faces that look like you.  Find gravestones and landmarks with your family names (maternal and past generations).  Walk through the living history of your ancestors past.
  3. Seek out Adventure! Try something that gets your heart pounding.  Adventure can be found in your backyard, just start somewhere.
  4. Push beyond your comfort zone – Travel alone, visit a big city, stretch your physical limits, go beyond your usual activities. Now is the time to try something new, that scares you, just a little.
  5. Visit Poverty and a place of hardship – Volunteer and contribute to improve an impoverished area or situation. Provide assistance after a natural disaster.  Helping others and seeing how little some people live with will remind you how much you really have, and leave a better appreciation of how good your life is.  Make the world a better place, by starting in your hometown and make this part of your life style.
  6. Take a mini Luxury Vacation – Save up for an opulent getaway and indulge in a wildly extravagant trip. This will teach you the value of saving, waiting, and anticipation.  Reward your discipline and discover the abundance available in exchange for hard work.  Find the activity and location that will motivate you to set higher goals for achievement.  Learn what your definition of “Success” looks like.
  7. Find your Peace – Where is your Happy Place? Different for everybody, and never marked with an X on the map, your place of peace is the journey of discovering who you are.  And for that precious moment, you will know, it is exactly where you are meant to be at the exact moment.  Once you find it, finding your peace is easier each time.