Countless hours spent reading guide books and finding exciting locations on Atlas Obscura, hours of late night conversations with friends, and what do I have so show for it?
A plane ticket to and from London.
A Pinterest inspiration board.
Two festivals on opposite side of the continent, I intend to meet friends at.
A few circles on the map.

THAT’S IT!

I try to remind myself of what I tell anyone preparing for a trip, it’s a balancing act. Finding the place somewhere between the compulsion to plan every train trip and hostel stay and showing up with nothing but time and a return ticket is a difficult thing.

I still have 21 days and a lot can happen in 21 days.  So, for now, I will breath and keep dreaming, reading, and planning.

Cha Cha might try to help.

After learning that RyanAir has even smaller carry-on requirements than every other airline EVER, I quit packing for the day and turned to WordPress which was equally aggravating. Jenneviere to the rescue!!! Wine + WordPress and I have a working blog again!

Think about Where you are Going
Ok so you have a small bag that you can only fit so much stuff in, what do you put in it? Start by thinking about where you are going. If you are headed to Thailand for beaches you will need a different set of things than Europe to visit family.
Some questions to ask yourself:
What’s the weather like?
How many layers will I need? Layers are a quick way of cutting down of the number of items you back. A base layer and a light sweater save you from having to bring two or three levels of outerwear
What type of activities will I be doing?
If you are not specifically planning on going out dancing you don’t need that extra pair of heels!
What piece make me feel like me?
If you always wear black combat boots don’t give them up in favor of “travel shoes.”

Gather all Your Stuff
Put everything you want to bring, think you will need, have been told that you will need in one place – I find that the bed is a great place. Look at it all! There’s a lot of it!
1. Unpack it. Take it out of containers, boxes, and packaging.
2. Cut it in half! No Really! Take out a knife and cut that massive bar of soap into something that would be seen in a hotel. Put shampoo and conditioner into 3oz container. Ladies pack only the make-up you always use, that amazing red lip stick and black eyeliner goes a long way.
3. Try to fit it into the bag. It doesn’t fit right?
4. Take it all out. Make the tough decisions and half the amount of stuff.
Repeat step 3 and 4 until it all fits and remember to have room for keepsakes from your trip.

Things to Remember
A one week trip to Seattle will have the same amount of stuff involved as a 3 months trip to Asia, just different stuff
Just because you are traveling doesn’t give you the right to wear tan zip-off pants, sandals and socks… unless you do that at home – NOTE: you should not do this at home!

It seems people are afraid of packing light, afraid that will mean they won’t have something they need or they will have to give up something important to them like hair care. Some people think packing light will make them look like one of “those backpackers” with dirty clothes, unwashed hair and overall poor hygiene – let me promise you that’s not what packing light is about. I would never knowingly send people into the world to dress as a hobo.

Lets start with off simple: what do I mean by packing light and why would you want to pack like?

What is packing light?
Everyone will have a different. For me, packing light means not having to check a bag for flights, feeling comfortable carrying my bags while getting lost in an unfamiliar city, and not having my body ache after a day of waiting in train stations, running for trains, storing my bags and finding a hotel. What that boils down to is one carry one bag under 25 lbs (with any luck under 20 lbs) and a purse.

Carry-On Restriction
Passengers on most major irlines are allowed one carry-on bag (45″ in total diameter example: 22″x14″x9″), and one personal bag (35″ in total diameter) such as a purse, brief case or small bag. With in this you are allowed liquids that fall under the 3-1-1 rule: 1 quart container, one per passenger, filled with all the liquids in 3.4oz (100ml) max containers.

Why Pack Light?
No Luggage Fees! More and more airlines are tagging on $20+ in luggage fess for each item you check increasing the price of that amazing fare you found
Ease of Movement Moving from city to city on trains, planes, and buses becomes increasingly complicated with each additional lbs and bag you bring
Decreased Wear & Tear on Your Body Not everyone was build wrong like I was but no matter how well put together you are, dragging a heavy suite cases behind you putts your body out of balance, and running to catch a train with 30+ lbs on your back is never good.

Packing light isn’t as hard as it sounds, it doesn’t mean depriving yourself of what you really want to bring or not looking like yourself while away from home. To help you pack light my next couple of post will give you tips on how to accomplish your goal.

A Midwinter Night’s Dream
Fashion, Dancing, Drinks and Friends. Sounds like a good time to me.

Saturday, December 5, 2009 / 7 -12 a.m.
Autobody Fine Art | 1517 Park Street, Alameda, CA 94501
$25 per person (includes 1 drink and catered food)

I’m going to dig out something vintage to wear – although probably not period – and join Annetta for cocktails.

via ExplOratorium Facebook Page

In an effort to be a better local, I’ve decided to start going to some of the amazing night time events at the local museums. As a kid the ExplOratorium was my favorite museum, a hands on science experience where there was no one to tell me not to touch. Now I’m excited to go to their adults only ExplOratorium After Dark. This month Dr. Megavolt, one of my favorite crazies from Burning Man, will be preforming.

The info:
When: Thursday November 5th 6pm-10pm
Where: ExplOratorium 3601 Lyon Street, San Francisco
How Much: $14 or $25 for a Year long membership (12 events)

Up-Date with Pictures (Nov 5th 2009)
Best $25 I’ve spent in while. Sarah, who’s never been to Burning Man, came with us and seeing her face when that Tesla Coil lit up and hit the face cage of Dr. Megavolt was priceless. We will be going back next month for Fire and Ice.
Enjoy some pictures.

Motard cutting ice by pressure

My To-Do-List:
Check Craigslist.
Check Career Builder
Check Monster
Follow anyone talking about jobs on Twitter.
Learn something useful everyday.
Apply for something that looks interesting

I have been following this to-do-list everyday for at least 30 days, so far it has yielded me lots of outgoing resumes, and one incoming email!

Four days ago, despite all odds, I received an email that said my resume was being considered and I should answer further questions to continue to be considered for the job. I can only imagine the poor HR woman who sent out this email, buried under thousands of resumes for one part time position, wishing for some sign from God that would tell her who to pick. I’m sure, as if in a cartoon, a light bulb turned on over her head when she had two hundred resumes that she liked, “I will ask them the first 6 questions I would ask in an interview and weed out half to three-quarter of them in the process.”

To that end there was an email in my inbox. The standard interview questions; your strengths, weaknesses, where do you see yourself in 3/5 years? When talking to friends about this new hoop in the application process, I got some of the funniest answers to the latter questions.

In 3 to 5 years I expect to be running the place, have put you out of a job, and be hiring a new young whipper snappers to take this position. Some how I didn’t think that would go over well.

In 3 to 5 years I will be doing the same job that I am applying for now. I have no intention of moving up in the world or learning something new Safe, no-threatening but not exactly the image I have of myself or my life… nor anything that anyone should tell an HR manager.

My personal favorite answer came, of course, from Annetta who always gives me books like “The 4 Hour Workweek”, In 3 to 5 years I hope to have figured out how to take my computer to a foreign country and work out of a cafe or to have married a sufficiently rich man so that I don’t have to work and can travel the world at will” Some how I didn’t think that would give the right impression – although… it does have a note of truth to it.

All questions answered, I have returned to my list and applied for yet another jobs that looks interesting. Wish me luck and the same to you fellow job seekers.

source Laughing Squid

Normally I’m not overly excited about Burning Man related movies, documentaries or plays, I find that imagination falls short of realities and other peoples vision of the event are miles away from the event I go to – Death Guild Thunderdome isn’t the norm experience.

Knowing full well that this rock opera will embrace the sex, drugs and trance music side of Burning Man that I never experience I am still so excited to go, laugh, and enjoy the show.

Tickets to the last two shows (Monday the 19th and Tuesday the 20th) are still for sale, get them quick!

Scoutt and I have been staying with our friends Zander, Gwen and their 3 month old baby, Decima, for the last few days in a beautiful house outside of Bishop, Ca. The weather has been cold but sunny and despite all odds – baby feeding, work calling, and computers pinging – we escaped the house in two 4×4 vehicles headed to the Sherwin Plato to climb the Dreamers.

The book lied when it said we needed 4×4 and ground clearance, the road was easy and after a few wrong turns we parked and walked in to the Dreamers.

Beautiful rock, surrounded by trees and mountains, I could not have asked for a more epic setting. Passing the baby from one person to the next we climbed problem after problem… or at least Zander and Gwen did. I mostly started problem after problem. Two hand holds, one foot, step up, shake for a sec, try to move one hand and fall… it got tiring after a while and I took to carrying the baby around taking pictures of the experienced climbers while Scoutt spotted.

Exhausted and baby crying, we packed up all our gear, hiked back to the cars and drove to the Crawly Hot Springs . Crawly or Wild Willy’s Hot Spring is one of my favorites, a long boardwalk goes through the marsh to a 6 or 8 person tub in the clay with view of the valley. For an hour or so we had the place all to ourselves, the perfect end to a great day.