The Beginning. This is it. I’m in Mexico City. The good thing about having this huge looming adventure and little plan for what I’m going to do is that it forces me to focus on the present. I can’t possibly foresee the future, and so am totally open to whatever happens. Like, for instance, arriving at the bus station at 5 am to find out that the bus is cancelled due to snowstorms in New Mexico. Thankfully I was with my amazing friend Mattie, so I was able to go back to her house and reevaluate the situation.

Wait…my bus from Phoenix, Arizona to El Paso, Texas is cancelled due to snow. En serio? So I started examining my options and found out that American Airlines had dropped the prices of their flights, and it was the same price to get to Mexico City in a fraction of the time. Not that price was a huge influence in my decision. For me, the snowstorm was a pretty clear message from the Universe not to ride the bus.

So I emailed Miguel, the Couchsurfing host I was going to be staying with, and asked if I could come a day early. At the same time Marie, his present Couchsurfer, was asking if she could stay an extra night. Marie is a really cool French woman who has been living in Mexico for 15 years (with 4 years in Colorado somewhere in the middle). She invited me to go with her to Mercado de Sonora to look for herbs. She helped me get my bus and metro cards, and showed me some of the interesting historical places in town. Mexico City is at 8,000’ elevation, so I was pooped after a couple of hours of walking around the city.

During our morning together I found out that Marie has also lived in Cameroon, where she worked at a hospital and volunteered at a leper colony for children, and drove a Jeep solo across the Sahara desert for 3 months. This is the kind of traveler that really inspires me and makes me feel like I can push myself so much further. After all, she did all this before there were cell phones, internet, Couchsurfing, and a million other things that make traveling so easy today.

Later that night Miguel took me to the Coyoacán borough of Mexico City, the town where Frida Kahlo was from, and a pulquería where I had my first pulque. It’s a fermented drink made from the agave cactus, and the taste reminded me of a quote from The Lion King- slimy, yet satisfying. J Interestingly, pulque was a sacred drink of the Aztecs.

Miguel and his two roommates (who he met through Couchsurfing!), Miguel dos and Andrea from Colombia, are really cool and already have some fun activities planned (salsa dancing!). I think I will even go see some Mexican wrestling this weekend.

Who’s excited? This girl!

Originally submitted at UncommonGoods

It's time to start living the life you've imagined. – Henry James Where do you want to go? What do you want to become? Dream with your eyes wide open and a pen in hand with this inspiring journal full of over 100 quotations about seizing your dreams and seizing the day. Take note of your f…

Magical

Pros: Blank pages, Very sturdy, Lots of pages, Great Quotes, Perfect size

Best Uses: Journaling, Doodling, Dreaming

Describe Yourself: Value Oriented

Primary use: Personal

Was this a gift?: Yes

My sister gave this to me, and it was my most favorite journal ever. Early on I wrote lots of dreams in it, and I’m glad to say that I have already accomplished many of them
I love this journal so much, that I am now buying another one, the Courage journal, for a big adventure.
Happy dreaming!

(legalese)

In the 2 years I have doubled my credit card debt. Ok, so last year was filled with traveling the US, becoming a NOLS instructor, and movie to 2 different cities. For a while I was working for free as an intern, and for a while I was working practically for free at a new restaurant. But the winds have changed again, and Mary f-ing Poppins is feeling that tug to take off. Credit cards be damned (Don’t worry, I’m not shirking my responsibility. I have a my payments covered, for a few months at least.)

I was trying to resist the urge for a while, making excuses like oh, I have 6 months left on my lease, I should save up money first, and I’ve created a good network here. Blah, blah, blah. Leases can be broken (and it has), not that much money is really needed to travel, and I create good networks wherever I go. That’s one of the benefits of being a positive, kind, outgoing person.

No, I was just being chicken shit. And I finally called myself out on it. Well, really my roommate Laura called me out, although for something entirely different. There was an art project I had in mind for about 6 months. One day I was sitting around the apartment with nothing to do, and I said that I wanted to go buy paints, but for this and that reason it wasn’t a good idea. She just looked at me and said, “Oh, so you’re making excuses for yourself.”

I just thought, damn, I am making excuses. All to keep myself from going to the hardware store a mile down the road. So I immediately got up, went to the store, found a bunch of paints on clearance, and spent the afternoon painting (which I haven’t done in a while). I started to think about all the other areas of my life that were suffering from procrastination, and why.

I can’t always immediately figure out WHY I’m procrastinating about something, but if I ask myself “Are you making excuses?”, I know the answer. And if the answer is yes, I’ve decided to force myself into action, and figure out the why later.

And so, in December I am beginning a journey through Latin and South America. I will be working/volunteering, couchsurfing, exploring, and any other activity that comes across my path. And of course  I will be writing and creating videos. You will be able to join my journey on my website, WanderingWonderland. Also, please like the Facebook page, so that you can receive updates.

Since I believe that thoughts become things, and what you dwell on multiplies, I have decided to make a list of the people I love.

I really love, love, LOVE…

1) People who are happy and optimistic.
2) People who are patient and understanding.
3) People who say “hello”, “please”, and “thank you”
4) People who pay attention to what is going on around them (aware of their surroundings)
5) People who can read directions.
6) People who can figure things out for themselves.
7) People who have the ability to problem solve. (much too rare in our society)
8) People who are flexible and open-minded.
9) People who are appreciative.
10) People who are thoughtful.
11) People who do not waste (water, food, other natural resources).
12) People who do not leave a mess.
13) People who are considerate of others.
14) People who can laugh at themselves, and life in general.
15) And of course, people who tip properly.
In case you feel unsure about this, here’s a primer:
15% – The service was less than stellar. You got your food/drink/silverware, but maybe you had to ask for one or all of them a couple times.
18% – Good service, nothing special. You got everything you needed to enjoy your meal.
20% – Really good service. Server anticipated your needs and was very pleasant.
25%+ – Excellent service. You know it when you get it.

Too pricey for you? No worries, I understand. Order takeout.

Maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe Shell can drill for oil in the National Arctic Wildlife Refuge (ha, the irony) without causing any damage? The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) seems to think so. They approved Shell’s drilling plan without requiring an Environmental Impact Statement. Apparently after getting “extensive input from stakeholders, and previous National Environmental Policy Act analyses, BOEMRE found no evidence that the proposed action would significantly affect the quality of the human environment.”

What exactly does that mean- “human environment”? Are the stakeholders they refer to the Inupiat or Gwich’in people who live on the edge of the Beaufort Sea and rely on hunting and fishing for their livelihood? Do they know about what happened in the Gulf? Have they spoken to the people near Billings, Montana who were recently evacuated because of oil spilt into Yellowstone River from a burst ExxonMobil pipeline?

But these incidents are rare, right? I mean, oil spills don’t happen that often. Fortunately, some folks have started a list of oil spills over at Wikipedia. It’s incomplete, but gives a good idea of the size of the problem.

I won’t let Americans get away with just shaking their fingers at Big Oil, though. If we didn’t consume so much, Big Oil wouldn’t have the power that is does. Plus, THE VAST MAJORITY OF PETROLEUM IN THE OCEAN IS A RESULT OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES. It comes from runoff from cars leaking oil, polluted rivers, boats and jet skis, and airplanes. We are long overdue to start taking responsibility for our impact, especially when it comes to the water supply. I fear that people are getting too used to being able to just throw out their broken down and worn out junk. However, there will never be an Ocean 2.0.

On the other hand, I have been having a BLAST riding around my e-JOE electric bike! Watch my videos. And as more free solar powered charging stations like this one pop up in response to the use of electric cars, we’ll all be able to have clean-running transportation.

In the meantime, support the people who are fighting for environmental justice over at Earthjustice.org, but the earth really does need a good lawyer.

I recently met a 70-yr-old woman with a 17-yr-old heart. Literally! Linda is the recipient of a heart transplant. She is an incredible, vibrant person filled with energy and love. We met through Laughter Yoga.

Laughter Yoga is a unique concept combining laughing exercises, child-like playfulness, and pranayama breathing. I was drawn to Laughter Yoga for it’s ability to exercise “right-brain, creative thinking,” as discussed in Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. It also harnesses and amplifies the incredible healing properties of laughter, both mental and physical.

Linda attributes laughter to helping her through congestive heart failure, surgery, and recovery. She is driven to spreading laughter yoga, both as a way of healing the world and as a way to pay forward the amazing gift she received from her donor. Linda has a dream of having a huge laughter group of over 100 people. I am trying to help make her dream a reality.

Linda and I share the same birthday, July 7th. Next Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 7:11pm we will perform a Laughter Flash Mob on Frazee beach in Carlsbad. We will gather near lifeguard stand #38, laugh the notes to “Happy Birthday”, then smile, giggle, and laugh for 7 minutes. If you would like to continue laughing afterwards, there will be Laughter Leaders (like myself) to guide you through a laughter meditation.

When: 7-7-11 @ 7:11pm (come early to make sure you can park, or take the Coaster or bus 101)

Where: Frazee beach in Carlsbad at HWY 101 and Pine Ave

Why: Celebrate life, create world peace, Have Fun!

Please send this to all your friends and help make Linda’s dream a reality!

I found this website with great directions for sprouting just about anything. Next I’m going to try sprouting barley that I’ve had for a while. The problem was that I bought the barley for a soup recipe only to realize that I don’t really like barley. But maybe I’ll like sprouted barley? It’s super easy, and doesn’t require any special materials (even thought people like to make special materials to sell you), but if you need extra guidance go to SproutPeople.org