International Nomad

Cheering on USA in the World Cup

Did you see this article in the NY Times this past weekend? “Increasingly, Retirees Dump Their Possessions and Hit the Road”

While I’m not a retiree (“pre”-tiree perhaps), the article described my life well in many ways!

“international nomad”

“…downsized to the extreme, choosing a life of travel.”

“While many…..ultimately return home or become expatriates, some live like vagabonds.”

Ha! I’m a vagabond? “a person who wanders from place to place without a home or job” No! As one of my fellow travelers said in the article, “Where I am is home.” And I work online--that's a job, right? So I’ll take nomad: “a person who does not stay long in the same place; a wanderer.” Currently guilty. 

Where have my wanderings taken me since March?

There were about 40 of us there this year for the annual reunion on the Cape--yay for our hosts, the Tietjes!

With friends + Mom in Seville!

First, to the U.S., for highlights such as seeing my 11 year old nephew in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, spending a great week with family at an old Lake Placid camp, and catching up with college friends on the Cape at the Falmouth Road Race.

I spent 3 months in Europe (!!), starting on the Iberian Peninsula for about 5 weeks: touring Portugal & Spain with my mom, catching up with old friends, “interning” with a great vacation rental group in Madrid (if visiting Madrid & need a recommended place to stay, let me know), & trying to relearn how to conjugate  verbs using “vosotros.” :)

Cinque Terre hiking

Can a vagabond go on vacation? If so, I was on vacation in Italy & it was amazing. I did what needed to be done there: held up the Leaning Tower, tasted all the gelati that I could, sipped cappuccino in the mornings, and got sore muscles while hiking and taking in the fabulous Cinque Terre scenery.

My German family picked the right team! :)

In 1978-79, I took a “gap year” (if I can use the modern term!), living with a family and attending high school near Cologne, Germany. That was 35 years ago!! On this trip, I got to spend 2+ fantastic weeks with my extended German family (even stayed in my old room :) plus visit another German family who took me traveling with them during my exchange year. I (unintentionally of course, because what do I know about soccer??!) planned my Germany visit for the start of the World Cup, and so got to watch and cheer along with the future winners!

I have always done a pretty good job of keeping up with people over the years even from a distance, but it’s so much better to be able to visit with them “live.” The time in Europe was great for catching up with so many! Many people I met up with were from my 80s/90s days in New York City, and some I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. A gang of these folks were in Seville, Spain; a couple in Grenoble, France; others in London; and a few of us met up in Rathmullan, Ireland (& how convenient that our Rathmullan hosts recently opened Kinnegar Brewing!). As a bonus, a TNT friend & her husband nicely moved to Oxford just so I could visit them in that beautiful city. :)

It has been a fabulous few months!

1991 NYC Roomies in Donegal

As of last week, I have once again Headed South. I am currently in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye (aka Madonna's “Isla Bonita”), Belize, where I’ll be til mid/late October at least. I am cat sitting (thank you, kitty, for bringing me that *iguana*!!!) and as of next week will be doing some after school tutoring at the local high school. My main goal is to get to know “my” vacation rentals here better and get Vacation-Rentals-Belize.com to have the content that VacationRentalsCartagena.com does! (Note shameless plug for both my sites :) After San Pedro, I’ll travel around Belize a bit and then continue on to the Yucatan. I’ve never actually been to Mexico but it’s about time. 

Biking through London's Olympic Village with Sara

With Deb in Oxford

Stay tuned....!

Still here...!

Ah, it's March, must be time for my annual blogpost. Yes, I have turned into not much of a blogger, eh?! But I'm still here, in the "south" (ie, Latin America)!

As a brief update:

I spent basically all of 2012 & 2013 living in Cartagena, Colombia, where I taught English at the Centro Colombo Americano. It was the first time I'd ever taught & I really enjoyed it; I'm also glad I had taken the one month intense ESL teaching certificate program (CELTA) in San Francisco before I left there--it helped a lot.

At Ciudad Perdida with niece Carolin & friend Luisa!

I was able to travel quite a bit in Colombia, both with friends (some living in Colombia, some who came to visit) and solo. It's a hugely diverse & fascinating country -- I highly recommend it! Just to mention some highlights: traveling with Spanish friends who live in Colombia (& whom I met during my junior year in Madrid 1981-82); when my "German niece" (from the family I lived with in Germany in 1978-79!) came to visit & we did the 5 day Ciudad Perdida hike with friends; and also when my sister & her 11 year old son visited me in Cartagena--my nephew said it was the best week of his life. I love being an aunt! :)

What 11 year old (& 50 something year olds!) wouldn't love a mud volcano?!

Surprisingly, there was so much to see & do in Colombia I didn't venture much outside of that country, beyond trips back "home" (which could mean a few places) for special events. But I did get to Peru for a couple of weeks--Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley are all that they say it is and more--and Ecuador for a month. While in Ecuador last July, I volunteered for two weeks on the coast in the fishing village of Puerto López, helping with a Spanish reading program in elementary schools, an after school kids' club, and teaching English.

When I decided that I was ready to move on from Colombia (after all, my 6 week stay there turned into over 2 years!!), I decided to go back to Puerto López to volunteer again. So here I am for a couple of months! I'll be moving on again soon, but perhaps I'll be back to Ecuador. I haven't yet made it to the Galapagos & that is definitely on my list.

And no, I haven't turned independently wealthy. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to help out with some vacation rental apartments, something I can do totally online. I started doing this with some apartments located in Cartagena's Walled City in 2012, and a few months ago was able to add on renting out vacation condos in Ambergris Caye, Belize. Check out my webpages, always works-in-progress:

www.VacationRentalsCartagena.com

www.Vacation-Rentals-Belize.com

The current plan is to travel more while maintaining the "rental business" thanks to the internet. Know anyone planning to visit Colombia or Belize? Please share my links! :)

Will try to make sure it's not another year before I update things again...meanwhile, I'll catch you on the road! (in Latin America? Europe? the U.S.? Who knows!!) Let the adventure continue.....Hasta pronto!

Teaching an English class on the beach with a fresh tropical juice in Puerto López!

Reading with kids in Puerto López!