Changing the World

Travel has such a power to inspire and motivate you to be better and to do something bigger with your life. It's really difficult to explain since it's not a tangible feeling. When you travel, it becomes easier to see how big and diverse the world is. For me, it just makes me want to do something more with my life. And visiting places like Australia where there are tons of expatriates on working holiday visas for a year or two at a time really makes me want to live abroad.

I want to change the world. I'm not exactly sure how I can attempt to accomplish that just yet, but I do know that I am not going to do it by living in Utah and sitting in an office all week long. I think traveling as much as I possibly can has given me many ideas and taught me a lot about both myself and my place in this world, although I think I need to eventually take things a step further and take greater action one day soon.

There are many renditions of the quote, "Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher" (Oprah). I believe a lot of people who are driven, the movers and shakers in the world, are travelers and live in bigger cities. I want to be where they are so I can be inspired. I have traveled to find adventure. I have traveled to attend conferences and further my learning and networking experiences. I have traveled to be where history has and will be happening. And because of these things, I have rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest people in the world from successful lawyers and doctors to world renown business owners like Miki Agrawal, founder of Thinx underwear. I am meeting and exchanging ideas and words with these amazing people, and I need to find a way to do something more about it.

It's easy enough to say that I have a wonderful job I enjoy that is enough to support my lifestyle and pay the bills and affords me the work schedule (Fridays off!) and time off to travel a good deal, so why would I want to leave? But I also don't want to get comfortable and complacent in this easy, simple life so that I forget to do more and to be better. Recently, I was able to travel to Phoenix for the National Planning Conference and ended up getting involved in the International Division of the American Planning Association. Being able to participate in the division in the small role of acting secretary has gotten me SO excited about international planning. I mean, the United Nations is hosting Habitat 3 in Quito, Ecuador this fall and is deciding on the New Urban Agenda. My experience and passion for travel has led to this opportunity and has gotten me so excited about things like Habitat 3, things that actually will change the world. And for me, travel is the key to finding people and opportunities to accomplish something more with my life.

Sunrises and Sunsets

Mather Point, Grand Canyon sunrise - April 1, 2016

The sun is indiscriminate. For every moment it is rising for some people, for some place in this world, and it is setting for some people, for some place in this world. It does not care if we see it or not. It does not care where we are or who we are. It does not care if clouds or mountains obstruct it's view. It continues on, consistent, exact, never changing in a lifetime or ten.

The sun does not change. It is indifferent to the lives (or lack thereof) of the people it sustains. The sun is always there, no matter what. If we want to change our relationship to the sun, we have to be the ones to change it. It is our duty to position ourselves, to travel to receive the light. And even then, mother nature is also indiscriminate. She might not cooperate. But the least we can do is decide where we we'll experience the sun. If I want to change my relationship to the sun, I can travel to India, I can visit to the Grand Canyon and be inspired by a new view of it.

A new experience of the same things we've known our entire lives have the most potential to inspire and spark something within us. And what is more consistent in our lives than the sun? Even the air we breathe changes from day to day. But not the sun. You could be fifty yards from a specific place in this world and your view of the sun, the experience you have with it can change in that fifty yards. Isn't that potential exiting? Potential for something constant, consistent, so much the same in our lives to appear different and to feel different to us. That's all it takes to make or break a life, at least for a moment.

2016 Spring Travel Update

I started keeping track of my mileage for the year, and so far I have traveled roughly 47,856 miles! I also calculated that I have spent close to 103 hours on planes and 55 hours in airports this year. I can't wait to update this with my trips to Australia, Puerto Rico, and Brazil in the next several weeks!

By the end of May, I will have visited 5 continents, 5 countries, and 11 states plus 1 territory. I plan on visiting a handful of additional states this summer, and I have trips booked to South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Qatar, Hungary, New Zealand, and Thailand at the end of the year. I also intend to make it to Canada at some point, and it would be nice if I could fit in Cuba and Mexico as well. I didn't think 2016 would live up to my travel experiences last year, but so far 2016 is giving 2015 a run for its money!

Dreaming of Sushi

Timing is such a HUGE part of travel that can make or break your trip. I am currently planning a short getaway to Tokyo for the first time, and I am lucky to have figured out that a lot of the amazing things to do in Japan need to be planned out in advance. After years of solo international travel, I have figured out my preferred plan to unplanned ratio, and I am finding that a lot of the things I want to do have to be planned way in advance.

I knew I wanted to eat good sushi in Japan, but I had no idea that for all the best multi-Michelin starred restaurants in Tokyo, reservations must be made within the first few days of the month before you want to dine there. My trip is in April, and as fate would have it, I was watching an excellent drool-inducing documentary called Jiro Dreams of Sushi on DocClub (a sort of Netflix for documentaries) on March 1st. It got me thinking that I should see if I can get a reservation there or at a similar place. I was getting so excited!

After doing some research, I also learned that you cannot book a reservation as a foreigner. You need a local to do it for you. I didn't have my hotel or hostel booked at that point in time, so recommendations to use the hotel concierge were lost on me. But then I remembered that Chase and Visa are amazing companies to work with if you have products with them, and so I was able to contact the Visa Signature Concierge since I do hold a Visa Signature branded credit card. Actually I have several; any Visa card is a Signature card if you have a credit line of $5,000 or more. This is a very amazing benefit that not a lot of people know about or use. They were extremely professional and easy to work with, and within a few days, I had my reservation to Mizutani, a 2 Star Michelin sushi restaurant.

And yes, it is for a Party of 1. Whoo hoo!

Foods I Crave: Southside Seafood Market, Savannah GA

Every single time I visit Savannah, Georgia, I have to stop at the Southside Seafood Market down the road from the Savannah Mall. It is just one of those places that makes food that you crave for days and days and days!

This is really all it is! It's like the size of a large 2-car garage. So awesome!

At the Southside Seafood Market, you can buy seafood by the pound raw or you can pay a little extra and have them cook it for you. And man, do they always cook it perfectly!

My absolute favorite thing to order is the Fried Lobster Tail Platter. It's $13.99 and comes with 2 juicy lobster tails and your pick of a side. I usually get the corn, but they've got all the typical southern side dishes to choose from, including hush puppies. Man, I'm even drooling just thinking about it!

Boiled lobster tails w/garlic butter and corn on the left, Fried lobster tails w/hush puppies on the right

I went a little crazy this weekend since it has been a while since I've been to Savannah, and I ordered fried Swai (fish) as well, and it was perfectly fried and crispy and lightly salty and juicy and boy oh boy! My friend ordered a pound of shrimp boiled and it was topped with their garlic butter sauce and he got some Mahi Mahi for himself as well. It was a good day! :)

This little hole in the wall shop is not actually a restaurant since there is nowhere for you to eat nearby. If I can control myself long enough to refrain from eating in the car, I prefer to take the food to a nearby park and have a picnic if the seagulls aren't feeling too greedy. This past weekend, I went to Lake Mayer Park a few miles away and it was spectacular. It was a perfect day for a picnic, even in the middle of February!

Lake Mayer Park in Savannah, Georgia

I cannot rave about this place enough! If you are EVER in the Savannah area, you definitely cannot go wrong if you choose to stop here for a delicious meal.

The Fried Swai

I've Got the Itch

My name is Tippe and I am a travelholic.

Hanging out with Ava
on Wednesday

Yes, it's true! It seems that I will only be at "home" in Utah for two - yes, TWO! - of the next TEN weekends! As we speak, I am sitting in an airport on a layover waiting for a flight to Georgia. And last weekend I was visiting Madison/Milwaukee/Chicago. And the weekend before that I was in Paris. Thankfully I was in Utah the weekend before that one, because that was when my very first and very beautiful niece, Ava, was born! Don't worry - I will most definitely teach her my Jedi Travel techniques one day soon!

Took a laptop selfie at CLT airport just now. It's proof!

My travel agenda is mainly dictated by any deals I can find out there, and last year was a difficult year to beat in terms of deals. It is a rare thing for me to not have trips planned, but at the start of 2016, I honestly had ZERO flights booked. And all of a sudden, a barrage of deals hit the blogosphere and now here I am :) So here is a summary of what the next 10 weeks hold in store for me:

• This weekend: Savannah, GA. And Hilton Head Island, SC. Just because London didn't work out.
• Next weekend: New York City! I will be attending the Women's Travel Festival and helping to spread the word about this amazing Facebook group and travel community I'm a part of called Girls Love Travel. And mayyyybeee I'll have my website up by then! I just ordered business cards so that's exciting!
• 3rd weekend: Utah. Yes, I will be home this weekend in March. My parents are flying in to visit Ava and I have to pick them up from the airport. I also hope to watch Aida at the Utah Opera this weekend.
• 4th weekend: Orlando. My parents are also going to visit DisneyWorld and Universal Studios while they're in the mainland and I'll join them for a couple of days.
• 5th weekend. Utah again. I have to take my parents to the airport again when they fly home to Hawaii this weekend.
• 6th weekend. Phoenix. I will be attending the American Planning Association's National Planning Conference in Phoenix for work this week! Yes, occasionally I have to work on the weekends, too. I booked my trip so I get there a day early and I hope to visit Sedona and/or part of the Grand Canyon this weekend as well.
• 7th weekend. Japan! I took advantage of the dirt cheap fares to Tokyo last week. I have no idea what I'll do there yet, but I do know that I will be spending at least one night in a capsule hotel/hostel if only for the experience. I also want to find many Totoro things!
• 8th and 9th weekend. Australia! This is an actual vacation and not just a fun weekend for me. I will be taking 10 days and visiting Sydney and Melbourne. I want to come back to do the Great Barrier Reef when I get SCUBA certified, but for now I don't have enough time to do all three places, sadly. Very sadly. Why is Australia so far away??? 
• 10th weekend. Puerto Rico. Yes, I also took advantage of the $200 flight deal to San Juan from SLC. Should be a good time!

I am going to be SOOOO tired by the time I get back from all these trips in May. But it is SO worth it! And this doesn't include the trip to Rio I have booked for Memorial Day weekend at the end of May. Yeah, I'm a total travel addict! But hey, if you ever want me to come visit you wherever you are, let me know, and you can be sure I'll make it happen :)

Flying from CLE to CLT early this morning. It's definitely winter!

Travel On My Mind

It takes a lot of energy to travel all the time. I was looking at my travel plans for the next few months, and I have left very little time for me to catch up on my sleep on the weekends in the wake of a spree of fare wars and really good airfare deals to places like Puerto Rico and Tokyo. And while I am really enjoying my travel life on my nights and weekends, I really hope it doesn't catch up to me eventually.

This weekend, I took a road trip to help my old roommate move back to Wisconsin and I still have not been able to sleep at a normal hour between trying to work on my website and attempting to socialize here. I feel like everyone gets bitten by the travel bug at some point in their life, but once you realize a way to make it happen with the time, energy, and resources that you have available to you, it is SO hard to stop, even when it might not be completely good for you.  O:)

It's not about how travel is fun or leisurely. Travel is actually quite stressful and it takes work to figure out travel plans and to be on the move from one place to the next. The reward is definitely worth it, but it is not all rainbows and butterflies like a lot of people perceive travel to be. I don't feel like I am constantly on vacation. I feel like the world has become an extension of my home and when I travel, I am constantly learning and experiencing new and important things which help to build both myself and the world around me. Unless you are paying big bucks to have a travel agent and/or tour group plan all the details of a trip out for you, travel will always take work. I think I am just lucky that planning travel is something that I really enjoy and have picked up pretty easily. I am a planner by trade after all! I don't know if any of this makes sense because it is around 3am right now, but I hope someone out there understands my ramblings :)

As far as my travel plans go, while I don't mind returning to places I have visited already, like Rio de Janeiro and Paris this year, I think I need to start using my resources to see new places and new things going forward.  And that is going to take some work for me to figure out some of those new places I can realistically go to with what vacation time I have left and what miles and cash I have available. Which is not a lot now that I have a handful of trips booked for the near future. We will see if I can get creative with this. Hearing about the new flights to Cuba in the news gets me excited for my travel future. I can't wait to figure this out!