Gypsy Wednesday – How To Be Awesome!

Welcome to Gypsy Wednesday!  Every Wednesday, I strive to highlight all the juicy morsels related to travel and beyond.

The secret to a successful blog is niche writing.  What’s my niche exactly?  Something about working remotely from anywhere and being a solo woman traveler.  I should be keywording myself to over 30,000 followers on Twitter, but my antiquated ideas of fair treatment and objectivity prevail.  Man, I would fail as a modern day journalist.  When Joshua Hitchcock approached me with a guest post, his story directly relates to that lingering question: is lifestyle redesign elitist?

While Joshua’s choices are not mine, aren’t they just as valid?  Anybody with a blog named How To Be Awesome is aces in my book.  And couldn’t we all use a dose of awesomeness in our lives?

Let the awesome begin!

I travel a lot.  In the past 12 months I have been on four international journeys – no small feat considering that I live in New Zealand.  In fact, in the past 12 months I spent 31 days out of the country, visiting 9 countries across three continents.  All while working a conventional 60 hour work week. For me, pursuing my career and traveling is a lifestyle choice.  Nomadic Chick presents an alternative lifestyle choice – freeing yourself from the ‘rat race’ and heading out and exploring the world.  Whatever you choose, my message is simple – do not just travel for the sake of travel, get out there and experience the world!

It All Started With An Email

“My parents are out of town for Easter weekend, want to come round and party?”  Just another standard email you receive before a long weekend right?  Sure, if you both are in New Zealand and her parents are in Hong Kong.  Up until this point I had not traveled much, save for half a dozen trips across the Tasman to Australia which, in all reality, is like Canadians ‘traveling’ to the United States.  Not one to turn down opportunities as wonderful as this I had my flights booked and leave sorted 24 hours later.  What started with a simple email from a friend turned into a trip of a lifetime as myself and three friends explored the sights and sounds of Hong Kong.  We haggled at the famous Ladies markets, took the tram up Victoria Peak, watched the laser light show from a club on the 24 floor of a Kowloon Skyscraper, saw the Big Buddha statute, and danced the night away in Hong Kong’s nightclubs.  It was travel as it should be – exciting, joyful, and life-changing.  I returned home with a sense of the possibility that existed in this world, and a new-found appreciation of my life back in New Zealand.  In short, I was hooked. And like any good addict, I needed my next fix.

6 Cities, 5 countries, 18 Days

I started planning my next trip on the 16 hour journey home, I knew exactly where I wanted to go, it was simply a case of putting it all together.  For as long as I can remember I have wanted to go to Europe.  I did not want to simply see Europe, I wanted to experience it.  I had limited time available and an ambitious list of places to visit. Flying Easy Jet I was able to visit Rome, Athens, Paris, Milan, Prague and London.  In that order.  Yes it was ambitious, but the places I visited were on my list of most desired destinations and, not knowing when I was going to return, I wanted to ensure that I experienced them while I had the chance.  It was a complete whirlwind.  It make the most of each day I was up and exploring from 6am.  When you add in the nights out in Rome, Athens, Paris and London there were some very long days involved!  There were no quiet days – each and every day was a new experience and the pure intensity of the experience only inspired me to start thinking and planning on a higher level.

Travel and footie = fun times

FIFA Football World Cup: South Africa

I returned to New Zealand a week before we qualified for the World Cup.  It was a massive day in the history of New Zealand sport and presented an opportunity to visit one of the most intriguing nations in the world and experience the biggest sporting event of them all.  How could you possibly pass up an opportunity like this!  Of all the travel I have done so far, this is the one I am most excited about.  By all accounts, South Africa is a beautiful, if troubled country and I am going to be there for 16 days.  In that time I will see New Zealand’s three matches, experience the atmosphere of a nation ‘invaded’ by legions of foreign fans, see the ‘big five’ in Kruger National Park, and travel across the border to Mozambique and experience a different part of Africa.  Everyone who hears about my plans are insanely jealous – a clear sign that I have planned an awesome journey.

My Lifestyle Choice

I am passionate about my career, and I am fortunate enough to have a job that I love.  I can empathise with those of you who do not like your job – I was you 12 months ago.  I was in a job that I despised, and travel was my release.  After that first trip to Hong Kong, the experience of travel itself became the reason.  I knew that a change needed to be made and a few months later I found a job that I was passionate about.  Traveling allowed me to look deep within myself and figure out what I want in this life and what is important to me.  It gave me the space to clear my mind and return to where it all began.  At the same time, I knew that each new country visited, each foreign experience had, each random conversation in a Roman piazza, had broadened my horizons just that little bit further.  I would return home a different person, more in tune with the world and all it had to offer.  Like any good addict, I was not going to give this up without a fight!

Taking Travel to the Next Level

I do not believe in travel for travels sake.  Each of my trips has had a set purpose and, while the experiences are often left to be decided on the whim of each day, I approach travel with the same determination and passion that I approach my work with.  Do not go to Europe and backpack simply because that is what people expect you to do.  Go to Europe to experience the history and culture that is the continent.  Go to Athens to walk the very streets that Socrates walked, to sit in the theatre in which Aristophanes and Euripides performed their masterpieces and to see the very stadium used for the ancient Olympic games.  Go to Rome to marvel at the centuries of stolen wealth amassed by the Vatican, to walk through the Colosseum where ancient gladiators fought and to experience the pure, unadulterated, beauty that exists in the multitude of Churches scattered throughout the city.  If there is a sport you love, then start planning your trip to the World Cup, or whatever is the premier event.  Or, if you are feeling really adventurous, the follow the example of a group of Auckland lawyers and go out an buy your first motorcycle and start planning you ride from Beijing to London.

Travel is an adventure, and a life-changing experience.  Take yours to the next level and start really exploring the world.  My next trip includes three days in Mozambique – people look at me like I am insane when I mention that I am headed there.  Often they will ask me whether I am apprehensive of going there – I’m not.  I strive on challenges such as these, on experiencing life like the vast majority of people in the western world never will.  That is taking your travel to the next level – that is the H2BA way!

About the Author

Joshua Hitchcock is a lawyer, traveler, thinker, and author of How To Be Awesome.  H2BA is about taking your life to the next level and provides thoughts, ideas, and tools for creating and living an awesome life. And he’s invested in his own domain – you can link to the site at www.jcphitchcock.com.

Photos: Lock479, dfmoses, and omnia mutantur under Creative Commons.

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Tagged as: Bloggers, Stories, Travel, Travel Inspiration