Archive for March, 2009

How to Travel Alone and Not Feel Lonely

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

A lot of people don’t like traveling alone.  They have fear that they will feel completely alone, so often they stick to comfortable arounds, rather than going out alone and having to meet all new friends. Not only does this limit yourself but being afraid of being lonely keeps your trapped in a place you might not want to be.

Ways to not Feel Lonely When You Are Alone
1. Keep Yourself Open – Anyone is a potential for a new converstation.  All it takes is for you to ask a question, then just transition it into further conversation.  Just the other day I was alone at dinner and had an hour conversation with a random stranger.  Then as I went clubbing alone, I suddenly became friends with two girls.  Potential for new friends is everywhere.

2. Stay in Social Situations  – Go where the people are, and stay there awhile.  Whenever you stay put for awhile, say at a cafe or even just at the beach, the potential for finding a new friend is greater.  If you constantly keep walking it’s going to be harder to strike up a conversation.

3. Don’t Be Afraid – Not everyone is going to be nice.  There are plenty of bad people out there too.  Just move on from them quickly.  Just don’t let one bad experience effect you from forming good ones.

So when people ask me how I can just travel alone, I just tell them, be open, and if you get really lonely call someone from home.

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts Wordpress Plugin

Friday, March 27th, 2009

A new plugin for wordpress lets you exchange traffic with other wordpress blogs.  What happens is, once you are approved, the Related Posts Plugin will list posts related to your blog among those using this plugin.  What also happens is that your blog posts will also be displayed on other blogs. 

So far this Wordpress Plugin coded from Blog Traffic Exchange seems like a great way to bring new traffic to your blog, especially if your blog is fairly new.  I’m considered using this plugin myself, but my only worry is  that it will detract from the related posts I list at the bottom of each post on this blog.  It could also send more users away from this blog then to this blog.

I’ll try the Related Posts Plugion on some other lesser trafficked Wordpress blogs I have and let you know the results.

You can download this wordpress plugin over at http://www.blogtrafficexchange.com/related-websites/

Flying First Class from Atlanta to Hawaii

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

I just landed in Hawaii and booked a hostel in Waikiki out in Honolulu. Lucky enough I ended up flying first class from Atlanta to Hawaii direct, a 9 hour flight. Flying first class I will admit is definately better than flying coach.

So far Hawaii is hot, sunny, and the street names are very confusing. But I made it on the $2 bus ride from the Honolulou airport in Hawaii direct to the island center.

So why go to Hawaii?
I spent a long time debating where to go. So long in fact that I didn’t go anywhere. I sat at home for nearly three months thinking about leaving. But I did so much planning that I never ended up anywhere. Finally one day I just decided I’m going to Hawaii with no plan and no idea what I’m doing there.

What I learned is, 1) Don’t overhtink anything or you’ll end up getting nowhere. 2) Be willing to take risks to reap the rewards. 3) Sometimes you just need to leap without thinking. Do what your heart tells you to.

Just whatever you do, pick a goal and go with it. Just dive in straight head first!

Flying Standby With an Airline

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

I’ll be flying standby today, hopefully, which means that to get on the airline I’m taking carry on only. Normally this wouldn’t be a huge problem for anyone. But since I plan to travel a few months this could be interesting.

To reduce what I needed to bring I just made everything smaller. My pillow is about 1/4 the size of a normal pillow. My towel is a tiny packtowl from msr, the kind thats thin by very absorbent. Even my laptop is a netbook, the new 1000he from asus which is about the size of a large book.

What does flying standby mean?
It means that I can only take flights when they are open. If a flight fills up I have to wait, meaning there are no guarantees. Why travel this way? It is significantly cheaper.