Author: Jessie Beck

SEO and content strategist with a passion for travel, bikes, and food.

What are The Positives and Negatives of Doing Peace Corps?

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date September 25, 2017
No Comments on What are The Positives and Negatives of Doing Peace Corps?

Peace Corps Madagascar — Photo Credit: Sally Bull

Hi Jessie!

Last spring, I decided I had enough of the job so I sought out my local Peace Corps recruiter. He told me the first year in the Peace Corps is really, really hard but then the second year he didn’t want to leave. Fast forward to now – I decided to move to Madrid for the year, get my TEFL certification to teach English, and learn Spanish. I basically did this to add to my resume for the Peace Corps and because I had always wanted to learn Spanish. Anyway, I wanted to email you to see if you could just give me all the positives and negatives or anything else that is interesting. Thank you!

– Madrid Teacher

Like the recruiter said, the first year is pretty hard — but moreso if you’ve never lived abroad and don’t know what to expect. With regards to the first year of Peace Corps, here are a few of the negatives:

Feeling isolated — it can definitely be lonely if you’re the only foreigner for miles.
Language barriers can add to the sense of isolation, and create a feeling of incompetency (why can’t I figure out how to buy a bottle of juice!?!?)
FOMO — especially when it comes to dating, going out, and other “normal” 20-some activities.
Lots of downtime = potential for boredom. Not everyone knows how to deal with this.
Sometimes the restrictions placed on you by Peace Corps can be a burden — you often don’t have the flexibility to choose where you want to live (in terms of town and house), just pick up and take a trip whenever, drive a car / motorcycle, etc.

Of course, there’s plenty of positives too:

Your PCV friends and bonds with your host community
Getting to intimately know a new country / culture
Learning how to be a self-sufficient bad-ass who can start a fire, recommend a cure for dysentery, bake english muffins without an oven, and hand-wash all your laundry
The newness and excitement of it all

You may notice I didn’t say much about the work itself. This is because you don’t really make much of an impact in your first year of service. Instead, you’re learning how to your a job, cultural nuances, and what sorts of projects are most effective. Don’t stress if your work doesn’t feel like “work”. I think that’s what gets a lot of people down — this inaccurate expectation that they’ll swoop in and “change the world“.

That said, it’s great that you’re teaching in Spain beforehand. I also taught abroad before joining Peace Corps. They probably would’ve accepted me anyway, but it was good to have that foundation. I felt like it made me a better volunteer — especially since my CELTA training was far better than the ESL teacher training Peace Corps Madagascar did.

In short, it made me a better volunteer even if it didn’t necessarily make me more qualified as a volunteer. In the end, that’s more important anyway. In my opinion, I think too many people join straight out of college and may not be as effective than if they had gotten a year or two of experience elsewhere first.

Tags Peace Corps

The Nomadic Life Travel Writing Tips

Letter from the Editor: After a Long Hiatus, Beatnomad Officially Ends

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date September 13, 2017

When I first left Madagascar, I knew Beatnomad would face an identity crisis. I’d relied on Madagascar and my knowledge of the country to build Beatnomad’s brand, so without it, I both lost my biggest source of content inspiration and felt like the new destinations I was learning about had no place here.

“What happens to a location-focused travel blog when you leave said location?” I wondered. I wasn’t growing the expertise I had built success off of and, meanwhile, was building expertise in other areas. I had moved to San Francisco, became a content marketing / SEO pro, and got really, really, really into cycling.

Ultimately, it was clear that I had to evolve or move on.

After several years of procrastinating on the decision (while working full time to build out the travel blog for Go Overseas and feeling too tired to come home to my personal blogging), I finally decided to cut the cord and move on.

However, I won’t be giving up blogging completely — just shifting focus to my new blog Eat Bike Travel, a blog that documents food and bike adventures in the Bay Area and beyond (like, what’s it like to see the Tour de France in person? Or what are some good restaurants to bike to in the San Francisco Bay Area?). I’m hoping that, by centering the blog on interests rather than destinations, it will be more flexible and have better longevity.

You can also, of course, always find me doling out my best packing advice on the Tortuga blog, Packsmith — a travel backpack company that I’ve regularly written articles for over the past 3 years and for whom I’m grateful for keeping my blogging chops alive.

As humans, we constantly evolve and grow our identities. We shift interests as time passes. Ultimately, blogs are a reflection of that. So onwards to new frontiers (both literally and figuratively). I’ll see you elsewhere in the blogosphere.

Note: I will not be deleting Beatnomad and will continue to maintain the site, even if I am not actively contributing content to it. Please feel free to access old content for as long as you’d like!

The Nomadic Life The United States Travel

How Lyft Inspired My Most Creative Date Night in San Francisco

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date December 28, 2015
No Comments on How Lyft Inspired My Most Creative Date Night in San Francisco

Like many San Franciscans, I don’t own a car. I bike, walk, and take public transportation or Lyft almost everywhere. Typically, this means I end up staying within a mile radius of my house (the Mission, Castro, and Noe Valley) even though I know the city has so much more to offer.

So one night, after a flurry of referrals that landed me 13 Lyft ride credits that were all expiring within a month, Jon and I decided to pop our Mission date bubble and venture out to all the areas of San Francisco that we never go out in.

When Friday night rolled around, we knew all the things to do here, so left our Mission home for the ultimate San Francisco date night, powered by a series of Lyft rides.

Stop One: Drinks and Appetizers at Two Sisters Bar and Books in Hayes Valley

Our first stop was in neighboring Hayes Valley at Two Sisters Bar and Books for a couple of cocktails and an appetizer to start off the night.

Though on the pricier side, they do have a solid happy hour deal and a cozy, bookish vibe that the bibliophile in me couldn’t resist. The bar was started, as the name suggests, by two sisters who were inspired by “an incredible bookstore in Krakow; a quintessential coffee-house in Vienna; [and] a neighborhood bar in Paris.” Once we entered, it all made sense.

Unfortunately, we arrived a little too late for happy hour (whoops!) and at 7 on a Friday, all of the seats were already taken by a hip-yet-artsy crowd. Still, the ambiance was as promised, so we settled in to a corner in the back, ordered up a couple of cocktails, pickles, and chicken wings.

The low lighting and patterned wallpaper felt romantic and the cocktails were delicious. Like many of the neighboring bars and restaurants in Hayes, it had a decidedly European (and non-Mission) feel to it.

“Man, the bartenders here are just so… nice,” Jon said as he put down his empty glass and I took out my phone to call our second ride of the night.

Stop Two: Dinner at Shanghai Dumpling King in Outer Richmond

If you like Chinese food, San Francisco has a lot of great and authentic options, several of which are in the Richmond. It’s a far trek for Mission-dwelers who are happy to have the cultishly famous Mission Chinese as their go to, but worth it if you’re craving one thing in particular: soup dumplings. I’d never had one before (ever!) so, in the spirit of trying new things, we headed to Shanghai Dumpling King for our main course.

Ironically, we caught a ride with an SFU college student who lived in the area and was saving money to teach English in Shanghai after the semester ended. Jon chatted about the semester he spent studying there. Call it a sign if you want, I’ll let it be a “mood builder”.

After a conversation filled, twenty minute drive, we arrived at Shanghai Dumpling King and joined the line of dumpling fans to get a table.

“It’s a 15 minute wait,” the server told us — an unusually short wait time for a popular San Francisco dinner spot. Even better, the line moved fast and efficiently, and before we were even seated the server asked us for our order. Jon took charge and ordered in Chinese.

“What did you get?” I asked.

“Soup dumplings… and something else. I have no idea what I ordered, but the guy recommended them so I just said yes.” He said.

We’d figure out later that he had ordered a classic Shanghai style pork dumpling (more than fine by me!) The food came fast. I giggled as Jon taught me how to properly pick up a soup dumpling, bite off the top, and pour sauce into it. Within 10 minutes, we’d hungrily gobbled down a dozen and a half dumplings and were ready to move on to stop three before it closed.

Stop Three: After Dinner Drinks at Cliff House at Ocean Beach

Which brings us to a San Francisco classic: drinks at the Cliff House, a former amusement park, now restaurant and bar, that overlooks the Pacific Ocean on — you guessed it — a cliff. We normally pass it on long bike rides but since it’s so far away never considered it as a potential spot to grab a drink at.

Unlike our first two stops of the night, we didn’t go there for the food and drinks per say, but rather its reputation for being a San Francisco landmark and its view of the Pacific. Even with the sun long ago set, we could see the dark waves crashing onto the shore below our window side table.

Full of dumplings, we sat and sipped a glass of Merlot while a jazz band set up stage. Jon began looking up the history of the Cliff House online.

“It’s the same guy who owned Sutro Baths,” Jon said. I tried to imagine how it must have looked and felt to be here back in its original form.

Not long after, the band began playing old 20s classics, further solidifying the old-timey atmosphere of the place. I felt a world away from home.

We felt even more remote when, after finishing our Merlots, we realized we were so far away from other people that it would take a full 10 minutes for our driver to arrive. It was time to start heading back in the direction of the Mission.

Stop Four: A Scenic View (sort of) at Twin Peaks

However, we didn’t exactly choose a less remote part of town. Before rounding off our impromptu culinary tour of San Francisco with dessert, we wanted to try and catch a glimpse of the city at night.

“Where ya headed?” our driver asked.

“Twin Peaks,” we said and got in.

Quickly, we had abandoned the flat expanse of the ocean for a steep ascent up to the second tallest hill in San Francisco (quite a title in this city). Neither of us had been there at night before and had high hopes of looking out over a glistening, nighttime, cityscape.

However, as we got to the top a heavy fog kept our driver from seeing too far in front of him and us from seeing what would have otherwise been a beautiful view of the city (damn you, Karl!) Nevertheless, we had made it so we dutifully stepped out, shivered for a minute while staring into haze of lights we could see before getting back in the car.

“Where to now?” Our driver asked.

“Foreign Cinema, in the Mission.” We said.

Stop Five: Dessert at Foreign Cinema in Mission

Of course, however stuck in our little neighborhood we may get, there’s still so much to explore just around our house, so many places we’ve yet to try that are right around the corner.

For me at least, one of these places was Foreign Cinema, a bar / restaurant known for the giant movie screen backdrop that plays old and foreign films while diners eat and chat.

We ordered our final round of drinks and a cheese plate for dessert.

“The food here isn’t that good,” Jon said. (To be fair, Foreign Cinema’s ratings are good, I’ve still never eaten anything there, and Jon has unusually high standards — so, if you’re a Foreign Cinema fan… or employee… I apologize.)

“Well, I guess you can’t mess up a cheese plate, right?” I said.

Food quality aside, I liked the space. Tables are set up in a backyard garden to the backdrop of its large movie screen. Heat lamps keep the outdoor patio warm on cool San Francisco nights while strings of lights give the space a truly warm and welcoming air. It was a refreshing place to end the night.

Stop Six: Home.

Feeling tired, tipsy, and a little lazy, we called our final Lyft to take us the final mile home… and sleep.

It’s now been a few months since our little adventure, and it’s still one of my favorite memories of San Francisco so far. This is mainly because it was one of the few times I dedicated to trying to see as much of it as possible in a short amount of time. I was exploring my city as I would any other new city in the world.

Travel doesn’t always have to take us to some faraway, exotic place. Sometimes, it just means driving a few miles down the road to a new bar, or restaurant, or lookout point. As long as you’re open to discovering it, there’s so much to explore in your city. And if you don’t already have it, sign up for Lyft now, grab a couple of free rides, and let me know how you used them to see something or somewhere new!

Photo credits: Christian Arballo

Travel Writing Tips

How to Be a Successful Freelance Writer

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date June 9, 2015
Sticky post

After publishing a post earlier this year with tips for aspiring travel bloggers, I was inspired by some of the larger changes going on at Upwork (formally Odesk / Elance) to share my personal experiences and general best practices for becoming a successful freelance writer — travel sphere and otherwise.

Currently, I freelance write part-time for 2 publications and it’s a fantastic side job. It has flexible hours and I enjoy the creativity of the work. I’m also a full time editor and work with a team of 10 freelance writers. I’m involved in both sides, and can honestly say that simply freelancing is simple, but getting enough klout and skill to become successful… well, that’s a different matter.

What worked for me may not work for you, but maybe it will. Read on for one editor / freelance writer’s tips on how to not just be a freelance writer, but be a successful freelancer.

Choose an Expertise

Successful writers need not only to have strong written communication skills, but also a strong expertise or area of knowledge. What can you talk about with authority? What do you have a vast knowledge of? Dig deep and work on it.

That’s step one. Once you’ve had some success there, diversify. Branch out to another expertise — it gives you a broader pool of clients and keeps you from getting tired of writing the same thing over and over.

For me, I began establishing myself as an expert in Madagascar and Peace Corps via this blog. Though I certainly didn’t know everything about either topic, and had to supplement my knowledge with research, the topics were specific enough that I started to establish myself as someone others could approach if they needed content on either topic.

In the beginning, having an expertise helped focus my searches for freelance work, and it helped me stand out. I wasn’t just a writer, I was a writer with valuable knowledge.

I’ve now branched out and expanded — I also write content for ESL learners, about packing, volunteering abroad, teaching ESL, travel within other parts of Africa, food while traveling, and blogging.

Get Good at Researching

Content that’s written from a person’s own genuine experience almost always ends up being stronger, but there will be times when you don’t know it all, or recognize a gap that could make your piece more useful or better written.

So get good at researching and filling those gaps. Find people to interview if the information isn’t readily available. At the end of the day, most people want to hire freelance writers for their ability to convey new information (yes, some want stories, but most just want a good researcher and communicator). Know where to find that information.

Build a Portfolio

Go Overseas, the blog I edit full-time for, isn’t a particularly big publication. For our columnists, we’re not demanding New York Times levels of experience and enjoy bringing on writers who may only be a little ways into their writing careers.

Even so, I would never hire a writer who has no online presence (online specifically because we’re a digital publication — print is impressive, but it doesn’t demonstrate to me that you know how to write for the web).

And honestly, I don’t care if you got paid for that work or not. It could be that you’ve consistently maintained a personal study abroad blog for the last year. It could be that you’ve done a few guest posts and interviews. Point is, I want to be able to quickly see examples of your work, see that you’ve been working on developing your craft, and that readers are engaging with it.

Your portfolio is key for both establishing yourself as a professional writer and for making it easier for editors to decide whether or not to hire you.

It also, sometimes, makes you easier to stumble on. Again, as an editor, I sometimes look for people to reach out to for specific pieces. As a writer, I’ve been approached by someone who found a blog post here and asked if I could write a piece on that topic. In short, your portfolio is powerful.

Establish Yourself on Social Media

Again, if I’m hiring a writer for Go Overseas, I won’t consider anyone who doesn’t have a solid social media presence, they must know that buying likes on Instagram will get me more fans. This is largely in part because we require our writers to market their work, but regardless of if an editor wants this or not, having a strong social media presence:

Demonstrates authority in the field
Shows your ability to engage with an audience
Helps make connections with other influencers, potential clients, and interviewees

When I see on Twitter that someone applying to write about study abroad is in international education, that tells me that they’re a relevant person to hire. If I see that they’re mostly Tweeting about acting and connecting with folks in that field, it makes me question whether they have the required knowledge or not.

On another note, I’ve gotten paid work and made great connections using social media. It’s an incredibly powerful tool — and not one to scoff at if your goal is professional development.

Tips for social media

List your published work on LinkedIn so you can quickly hand an editor / potential client your resume and portfolio all at once
Join Facebook groups relevant to your field of expertise. For me, the Travel Bloggers network has been hugely helpful for professional development tips and even some paid work.
With Twitter, don’t just post your own stuff. Use it as an opportunity to reach out to other writers, editors, and experts in your field that you may not otherwise have a connection with.
Engage! Don’t be passive, be active. You’re there to make connections, right?

Make Connections Online and Offline

Go to networking events in your industry. Schedule coffee dates. Go to conferences (and not just writing conferences). Make connections with people in your industry offline as well as online.

Often, these offline interactions are the best way to find out about unadvertised work, or stumble on helpful tips about resources, sources, or a hot new topic that you could be the first to cover.

Maintain Your Connections

Once you find a client, get the green light from an editor on an assignment, or are successfully brought on as a columnist, work on maintaining that connection.

Be responsive and professional with your emails. Once the article is published, share it (even if you’re not required to) and tag the publisher in it. Smaller publishers especially will notice and appreciate your reliability and commitment to your work, and will be more likely to continue working with you in the future.

Even once the project is finished, connect with them on social media, LinkedIn, and stay engaged. It makes them more likely to re-hire you or recommend you to someone else looking for a freelance writer.

Balance Paid and Unpaid Work

Especially at first, you’ll have to work on personal branding, portfolio building, establishing your expertise, and connection building.

Sometimes, this means taking on unpaid work. And honestly, don’t underwrite the value in unpaid work. It can be hugely valuable in helping some of your freelance goals if you’re smart about it. Just make sure to keep a good balance, to not accept every unpaid opportunity that crosses your inbox (only the ones that are quality).

Important questions to consider:

Who is asking you to write a guest post? Are they a large company that you could potentially work with in other ways later? Or is it a smaller blogger with a small reach?
What are your goals? Getting your name out there? Links? Portfolio building? If you’re trying to market yourself, think about interviews. If you’re building a portfolio, offer a more topical post that demonstrates that you know your topic.
How much time are you spending on each?

Note: When I say “unpaid work”, I’m also talking about all the extra non-writing aspects of freelance writing (invoicing, pitching, responding to emails, etc.). Make sure you take into consideration all of these factors to make sure everything is worth your time and you’re getting enough ROI for your efforts.

Keep Records of Everything

On that note… keep records of all that work too. As a freelancer, you don’t often have help from other team members or company employees. You are the accountant-lawyer-marketer-and-HR person on top of being a writer.

To help yourself, take records of everything. Literally, everything. For each assignment I do, I have a spreadsheet with:

Publisher
Article title
URL (since all of my work is web-based)
Payment amount
Payment date
Payment platform (PayPal, direct deposit, etc.)
Screenshot of the live work (since some publishers may take it down eventually)
Amount of time it took for me to write it

This last one is especially important, because it helps me figure out which publications are worth continuing to work for or not. For example, if I’m getting paid $60 for a post that takes me 2 hours of writing and research — that’s not bad. But if it takes me 6 hours, maybe I’d want to rethink working with them or try to negotiate up my rates.

It’s also helpful to record how much time you spend on other parts of freelancing — like responding to emails, client calls, or submitting invoices. Some clients ask for edits, some don’t. It’s important to take into consideration when I’m setting aside time to work on a project.

Useful Tools and Resources

It’s only in the past year or two where I’ve really tried to increase my professional expertise as a freelance writer and not just as someone in the travel industry or a travel blogger. Some of the resources and tools I’ve found useful for this:

Upwork — and I’m not just saying this because they asked me to write this post. I’ve been on Upwork long before it was Upwork (and still Elance). Because the bid-and-accept system is a little competitive, I don’t use it as my only source for new clients, but it’s a great supplement. It’s how I recently found and started writing for FluentU, began gaining experience writing press releases for various companies, and some other random work.
Freelancer at Contently — I love reading this blog for freelancer writers and editors. They do a fantastic job of answering relevant questions and sharing personal experiences to help professional freelancers figure out this at times tricky field.
Moz — Especially as a digital content marketer, SEO knowledge is key. Don’t shy away from it, learn it. Moz will help you.

Most of the other resources I utilize are specific to the travel industry (TBEX, a travel blogger conference, Travel Massive, a travel industry meetup, and a Travel Bloggers Facebook group), but these are some of my most important resources.

Whatever you’re choosing to be an expert in, find your TBEX / Travel Massive / Travel Bloggers equivalent. For example, if you’re writing about parenting, do a quick Google search for “parenting blogger groups” or “parenting blogger conference”.

Good Luck Out There!

As I mentioned earlier, what worked for me may not work for you — especially if you’re attempting to break into the print world (a hugely foreign beast to me) — but hopefully you’re able to pick up at least one new word of wisdom to get you from freelance writer to successful freelance writer.

Tags Freelance Writer, Freelancer, Travel writing

Travel Writing Tips

What’s Your Advice for Becoming a Travel Writer?

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date February 26, 2015
1 Comment on What’s Your Advice for Becoming a Travel Writer?

I never thought I’d actually be writing this post. For one, so many people are already talking about how to make it as a travel blogger, even running whole courses or consulting agencies on it. I always thought “what do I have to contribute to the conversation?”

Secondly, I still very much felt like a blogging newb until just recently. But after editing for Go Overseas and picking up assignments for more (and better!) publications over the past year, I’ve actually had people start asking me the “how do I become a travel writer / blogger like you?” question.

It means a lot to me that my (modest) audience is interested inwhat I have to say (seriously guys, huge warm-fuzzy back to y’all!). However, I more or less give the same advice each time, and so without further ado, I present to you Jessie Beck’s advice on making it as a travel writer:

Firstly, Set Up a Blog

Your blog is your portfolio, your space to experiment, and — maybe sad to say — a place where rejected stories can get published. Seriously, I’ve thought many times “well, if the editor doesn’t like this piece, I can always publish it on my blog.” For example, Drinking Coffee with Tomoca was an article that I pitched, and then had rejected, by another blog.

Even if you’re not making any money off your blog (which you can do through native advertising, Amazon Associates, CPC campaigns, e-books, and other creative strategies), it’s a great way to showcase your work, build an audience, and get noticed for certain topics. It doesn’t happen often, but I have been offered work a couple of times by people who stumbled on my blog, and (more often) used it as leverage to get other gigs.

When you’re first starting, set up goals. Aim to publish once a month, once every two weeks, or once a week if you’re super ambitious. Remember though, quality is more important than quantity, and it’s 100% OK if you don’t publish super often, so long as you’re consistent and your audience knows what to expect (look at how often I’m posting! Not too often…)

Have a Niche

Set a “niche” or expertise for yourself that sets you apart from the rest. Travel writer / blogger is too broad. Solo travel blogger, or adventure travel blogger, is better.

This doesn’t mean you can’t step outside your niche or even have multiple niches, but it’s helpful to “get known” for something. It also makes repurposing material easier.

Approach it As a Profession

Read everything you can not just a out travel writing, but freelancing, editing, and writing in general. Successful travel writers are professional and know how to navigate editorial space. To start, I’d suggest subscribing to Contently’s The Freelancer — it’s a great professional development resource for writers, editors, and content strategiests alike.

Build Connections with Other Bloggers, Writers, and Editors

Get on social media. Comment, like, and re-tweet things from people you admire. Join relevant Facebook or LinkedIn groups.

Look into real life networking, like conferences (TBEX and Wonder Social Exchange are two big ones for travel bloggers) or meet up groups. For anyone in the travel industry, Travel Massive is a fantastic, and regular, industry networking event that has chapters around the world.

Read and Write Frequently

The best way to become a better writer is to write a lot. Read a lot. Your blog is the perfect space to play around with that (and track your evolution!)

If You’re Blogging…

If you’re trying to get into print, well, I don’t have much advice for you. I’ve never had my work published anywhere outside the digital sphere. However, if your main goal is to blog or to get published on online magazines, websites, blogs, etc. then there are a few other skills you should develop:

SEO (search engine optimization) — Editors love SEO savvy writers. It’s not always a requirement, but it’s such a helpful skill, especially if you started your own blog (like in my first tip). Moz is my favorite resource for all things SEO. Search Engine Optimization pros typically keep their suppliers a secret and good SEO. This makes it impossible to get a reference from an expert for a supplier that is good, since nothing is gained by them, and potentially lose – if they help.
Web writing skills — Writing for web differs than writing for print, or writing in an academic setting (which may your main and most prolific type of writing thus far in life). Nothing drives me more crazy as an editor than receiving submissions with terrible anchor texts (never, ever, ever, EVER, user “click here”), no headers to make them scannable, and looonnnnngggggg ass paragraphs. Hampshire College’s web writing style guidelines give newbie web writers a good overview of the basics.
Photography — Again, not always necessary, but incredibly helpful. From time to time, I’ll encounter a publication who will only accept my pitch if I have unique accompanying photos to provide them. Sometimes, you can get away with submitting creative commons photos, but not always.

Get on UpWork

So, technically the two platforms merged, so it doesn’t matter much which one you sign up for. However, both of them offer freelancers (writers and bloggers) opportunities to connect with publications who need content.

Overall, they’re not as good as the assignments you’d get by actually building a relationship with a publication or editor, but sometimes a rare gem will pop up. In 2014, I took on four clients via Elance (now UpWork), but only one of them (a blog for ESL learners) turned into a regular thing. Not the best, but better than nothing.

Jessie, What’s Your Story?

Obviously, you can read my whole story and see everywhere (well, almost everywhere) that I’ve been published on The Nomadic Beat’s about page. But just in case you’re too lazy to click over, my story in a nutshell:

2011: I got into travel blogging before departing Peace Corps. Part out of boredom while working at temp jobs that didn’t really expect much of me, but let me sit in front of a computer all day “just surfing the web”. I felt like I had to do SOMETHING other than check Facebook, and started The Nomadic Beat (then Beat Nomad) Around that time, I also got paid for my first article ever with Go Overseas, and that really built my confidence.

2012: The Nomadic Beat got featured on WordPress for Going Coastal in Mahajunga, Madagascar and my following blew up overnight. I got published on several more small – medium sized blogs.

2013: Became a regular columnist at Go Overseas, joined Elance, and expanded both my portfolio and revenue from freelancing.

2014: Came on as Go Overseas’ Editor in Chief, and met another milestone: doubling my ask price per article. The Nomadic Beat began ranking for several key articles (like Traveling Solo in Tokyo) and my traffic increased significantly with Google’s Panda update in October 2014.

Looking back, I made a lot of mistakes, wrote some ultra dorky e-mails and pitches, but ultimately learned from them and just kept at it. Being in Peace Corps helped tons, since I was able to write for free / a small pittance and not worry about making ends meet while building my network and portfolio. Ultimately, it takes time, professionalism, and dedication. Best of luck to you all!

Tags blogging, Travel writing

Peace Corps The Nomadic Life The United States

A Year of Returning Home from the Peace Corps

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date January 27, 2015
Sticky post

Since returning home from the Peace Corps in December 2013, I had just barely wrapped my head around all the new iPhone apps and food choices at my disposal by the time 2014 rolled in.

I’ve also been absent from The Nomadic Beat. So with the first month of 2015 almost to a close, here’s a recap on one year spent re-integrating after returning home from the Peace Corps.

What did that process look like exactly? What was re-integrating into American life and culture like? Read on.

Omg Food, Food, Food!

Somewhere around July, I posted on Facebook “I will never be over burritos.” It was one of my most liked and commented-on posts of the year. “How can you ever get over burritos?” One friend replied. TRUE point, friend. TRUE POINT.

Also, that was July — almost half a year after I returned. Yes, I spent most of my initial days indulging in nostalgic cravings for raspberries, asparagus, burritos, good cheese and beer. And yes, it has tapered a bit, but are burritos old and non-exciting yet? Nope — not a bit.

Toilets are Awesome

I will never take a flush toilet for granted again. Never, ever, ever. That, and running water.

Even though I live in a small studio apartment with a mini fridge and a double hot plate, I know what I could be living in instead (a pink dollhouse with no water and a pit latrine, that’s what!). So I love my place. I appreciate it for those everyday luxuries (yes, luxuries) most of us take for granted.

Trying to Understand Where My Old and New Self Met

California Style I was gone for almost two and a half years in my early to mid-20s; an age when most people try to define their identities as adults. Not teenagers, not college students, but adults.

I didn’t miss out on this development, but it happened abroad. This is pretty significant for two reasons:

First, I felt more aware of it. When I initially returned, I gravitated towards old habits, but they didn’t feel right. I’d go to the same clothing stores I frequented before, and suddenly feel too “old” for them. I’d go to old favorite bars, coffee shops, and restaurants and feel out of place.

I’d look at a menu and quickly identify my usual, but not feel up to it. I was constantly thinking “well, Old Jessie would have had the caprese sandwich, but New Jessie wants a burger with avocado.”

Returning from living abroad forced me to experience all these changes in tastes and lifestyle preferences all at once, rather than gradually. That made me more aware.

Secondly, this meant that I had to reconcile this Old-Jessie-New-Jessie identity crisis. At times, it meant some awkward moments (and outfits), but overall it’s been a fun experience in new discovery.

Annoying Everyone Around Me with “This One Time in Peace Corps” Stories

I know, I know, I know. I talk about Peace Corps and Madagascar waaay too much. I’m probably annoying my friends, co-workers, and boyfriend with all my “this one time in Madagascar…” stories.

I don’t mean to talk about it so much, and I’m not trying to one up anyone when asked “so, what did you do for New Years last year?” It kind of just comes out, like word vomit.

An RPCV friend of mine, Karina, put our side of this well. “For us, it’s just our most recent two years of our lives. Our friends might be talking about this great party they went to last summer, and we are too — they just happened to take place in another country.”

So please be understanding, friends. I don’t want to treat the last two and a half years of my life like it’s either an empty, untalked about void, or an obnoxious conversation piece.

Remembering How to Be a “Real Adult”

It’s weird, but there are some basic life skills I feel like I just simply forgot after two and half years of not having to use them.

For example, it took me a moment to remember how scheduling a dentist appointment and using insurance worked again (since Peace Corps takes care of all of this for us). Banking, renting cars, navigating public transportation — all of this I had to dig back into my mind for.

I’m being totally honest when I say, this time last year, I would have been thrown off by the question “what’s your group number, miss?” if I had attempted to file an insurance claim. W$#!G%# — my what?

Feeling Behind on Life

Pretty quickly after getting back from Peace Corps, in February 2014, I started a new job in Berkeley, California. I was 25 at the time and, quite frankly, just stoked to have more than $200 / month coming in to my bank account.

Then, I met other 24 – 26 year olds in the San Francisco Bay area. They had been working for prestigious companies for years, making great salaries and benefits, and — sometimes — living fairly expensive lifestyles.

Okay, okay, okay — I am at the epicenter of the tech boom, but that’s not an excuse to write off this sentiment. Other volunteers felt behind because they didn’t have so much as a boyfriend, when all their friends were getting married. We didn’t have cars, babies, and our two years of Peace Corps isn’t always looked at as real experience by all employers (psh, their loss!)

Back to the point: my accomplishments as a PCV were pushed in the back of my mind, and I suddenly felt behind in life — especially career wise.

I know it’s not true, but it’s hard not to feel this way. Throughout the year, I’ve had to actively remind myself of what’s truly valuable in life (experiences and happiness, not possessions and titles), that I love my job, and why the fuck should we feel so urgent about getting a job directly after college?

Getting Used to All this New Technology

Technology changes rapidly, so it was the most noticeable difference in American culture circa 2011 versus American culture circa 2014. Otherwise, it was just new trends (which we had been closely watching via Pinterest anyway…)

I came back into a world that predominantly used smartphones. Tons of cafes and shops started using iPads for checking out customers (I’d never seen that!). Online dating had become more socially acceptable and casual, and so, so, so many things had become digitized.

Apps like Uber, Lyft, and Tinder had not been created, but soared in popularity since I left. For about two weeks I had no idea what my friends were talking about when they said “I’m going to call an Uber” or “they met on Tinder.” I still remember leaning over and whispering to a fellow Madagascar RPCV and asking “pssst, what’s Tinder??” Thank goodness for friends, right?

Here’s to 2015!

Reintegration is different for everyone, and I tend to feel less nostalgic for my Peace Corps experience than some of my friends (it was great, but I love my life now too!).

Regardless, for everyone who has spent this past year reintegrating into American life after Peace Corps, I’m sure it’s been a year of reverse culture shock, identity crises, and burrito binging. To all of you, here’s to entering 2015 feeling more at ease in our every day lives than this time last year!

Now, who wants to work off those burrito binges with me? Ugh.

Tags Peace Corps, Peace Corps, Reintegration

The Nomadic Life Travel Writing Tips

10 Writing Tips from High School I Still Use

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date April 14, 2014
8 Comments on 10 Writing Tips from High School I Still Use
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Girl writing in a cafe — Photo credit: Andrew Stawarz

As I mentioned in a recent post, “From Travel Writer to Editor Extraordinaire” I’ve moved up (or laterally, depending on your perspective) from writing to editing. Every week, I read dozens of pieces by dozens of different authors — each with their own style, voice, and expertise, and each with varying experience in writing. With almost all of the articles passing through my inbox, they have imperfections. Obviously, that’s not a problem, and I fully expect it. After all, that’s the whole point of an editor, right?

However, no matter how much they make me laugh or impress me with some well thought out advice, I can’t wholly love a piece that includes sentences like: “One should really travel to Ireland in the spring. It is very green and picturesque.” When I read stuff like that, I’ll imagine all the red marks my high school English teacher would scrawl over it. This particular teacher challenged us and all of his students to write better by with his own set of writing rules. Though I found following them obnoxious at times, even 16-year-old me had to admit those rules helped strengthen my writing. So, readers — and especially those of you who write, for Go Overseas or otherwise — pay attention to these 10 incredibly useful writing tips from my high school teacher. I still use them to this day, and if used right, they’ll make your writing stronger as well.

1. Don’t use the verb “to be”

This writing rule gave myself and my classmates the most trouble. I mean, have you ever tried to write an essay without the verb “to be”? Try it sometime and you’ll see it always seems to sneak in there without anyone noticing, and even when you do find yourself typing out that sneaky little “was”, you’ll then spend a good minute or two thinking of an apt replacement. However annoyed we initially felt about this rule, after he returned a few essays littered with red circles around every little “were” “been” “are” and “am” and asked us to rewrite the piece without them, we saw our writing grow significantly stronger. We replaced those wimpy, non-specific to-be derivatives with better, more specific verbs and as a bonus, just about eliminated the passive voice from our writing.

Of course, I will now use the verb “to be” when writing, but I try my best to avoid it when I can. Overall, it forces us to be more specific (oh look, there’s that sneaky little “be” now…) and less vague about the who-did-what details in our stories.

2. Leave “that” and “which” out of your writing

I like using “that” and “which” every once in awhile for flow, but this particular English teacher had a point. Most of the time when you insert “that” or “which” into a sentence, you don’t actually need it there. Think about the title of this blog post. I could have written “10 writing tips from high school that I still use” but I didn’t. The title works fine without it. So, use these little words, but use them sparingly. Especially when you’re editing an overly wordy sentence (that) one of these two words snuck into, cut them out.

3. Words like “very” and “really” are weak

I hate the word very. I hate the word really, but just a little less. Why? They’re weak.

Think about it, what sounds better? And what captures the true emotion of what you want to describe better? “He was very angry” or “He was furious”?

Exactly. If any of my writers ever inserts the word “very” into their piece, I will highlight it, delete it, and sigh a sigh of relief. So make my life easier and your writing stronger — throw those little words into the storage room of your mental vocabulary and only ever use it if you’re talking to a child or teaching ESL.

4. Speak with authority

Again, sentences like “South Africa is probably the best destination to view the ‘Big Five'” sound weak. If you’re writing about a topic, your audience will assume that you either have experience with this topic, or have done your research — thereby making you an expert. So write like an expert! Leave that “probably” out and say with total certainty: South Africa IS the best destination to view the ‘Big Five’ — dammit!

If you don’t feel confident you just wrote a 100% true statement, then you should question whether you want to say it at all. In that scenario, it’s likely that you didn’t research it well enough (so go back and double check your facts), or it doesn’t add anything to your piece.

5. Avoid using the pronoun “one” if you’re speaking casually

If you’re writing in French, go ahead, use “on” as much as you’d like, but in English, saying “One’s academics will benefit greatly from spending a semester abroad” sounds weird in the travel writing / online context. It sounds weird because you would never phrase this particular thought this way when speaking to a friend. In casual contexts, leave pronounces like “one” for the poets and academics, and write how you would speak. It will make your voice sound more natural, and less forced.

6. Don’t use “a lot”

Again, the word “a lot” is boring, weak, and often accompanies vague statements. Saying “Paris has a lot of museums” won’t capture my attention. However, if I want to portray that same idea, but by taking “a lot” out, I’ll have to get creative and come up with a more engaging and specific way of phrasing the same idea. For example, “With all the museums Paris has to offer, you will never see it all,” still lets the reader know Paris has “a lot of museums” but it relates it to the context (things to do in Paris) and just sounds more intelligent.

7. Kill your babies

Okay, my high school teacher didn’t give me this rule — Steven King did, in his book “On Writing“. It’s a brilliant book every writer should read, by the way.

Essentially, he says “kill your babies,” in reference to all of those wonderfully witty and fantastically written sentences that, in the end, sound great but don’t add anything to your piece. You know the ones: the sly remark or inside joke most people won’t understand; the detail about how beautiful the weather was in Venice in a story about a culinary discovery; those facts that stand out strongly in your memory when you recount a story, but your audience doesn’t actually need to know. So, take Mr.King’s advice and kill them. Cry a little, move them to a “dead babies” doc, whatever, but whatever you do, take them out.

8. Get to the point quickly

For example, if I ask you, the ever talented and dedicated writer, to give me a piece on “The 10 Best Volunteer Abroad Destinations for Summer 2014”, you’re wasting our audience’s time by giving me an introduction paragraph like the following:

Volunteering abroad is a wonderful and life-changing opportunity every person should experience. In addition to helping out communities in need, volunteers get to experience a new culture and learn about themselves…

So far, you haven’t mentioned anything about summer 2014 or what makes a great volunteer abroad destination. Considering how short the average person’s attention span has become, you may have already lost them. If not, you’re misleading them. And in any case, it’s terribly generic and not useful to our precious cohort of readers who return to our site and read multiple articles on volunteering abroad. Instead, I’d prefer:

Congratulations — you’ve looked at your calendar, scheduled some time off, and decided to take the plunge and volunteer abroad this summer 2014. Still don’t know where though? No worries, we’ve got a list of 10 great volunteer abroad destinations best explored in the summertime.

Now our readers know exactly what they’re about to read.

9. Your conclusion may work better as an introduction

I wrote several essays in college where I had a hard time figuring out what point I wanted to make, and how to express it. Often, after writing a so-so introduction, and then spending time thinking through my argument by writing the body, I would write a bangin’ conclusion that got right to the point and succinctly said what I had initially struggled to express in my introduction. So I swapped them. I’ve done this a couple of times when editing as well — it’s as though in the writing process we’re still trying to gather our thoughts together when we write our introduction, but when we slam out a conclusion, we know exactly what we’re talking about. If you see that happening, don’t shy away from scratching that original introduction and moving your conclusion up to the beginning of your piece.

For this reason, this particular English teacher suggested we even consider writing the introduction in the last part of the writing process.

10. Please, no cliches

Come on, you’re more creative than that. Just. Don’t. Use. Them.

*Phew* okay, that piece ended up longer than I expected — but if you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me. Now, get out there, start typing, and for the love of good writing, resist those terrible, terrible urges to ruin your piece by ignoring these simple writing tips from my high school teacher (and Steven King.)

Tags Travel writing, Writing Tips

Teaching Abroad The Nomadic Life

Are Foregin ESL Teachers Taking Away Jobs from Locals?

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date April 8, 2014
11 Comments on Are Foregin ESL Teachers Taking Away Jobs from Locals?
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A little while ago, I did some fascinating research for an article about how to volunteer responsibly abroad. Among the things I listed were transparency, integration of community members, background checks on anyone working with children, and of course: responsible volunteer programs will not place volunteers in a local community at the expense of taking jobs away from locals.

Take construction projects, for example. In most developing countries, cheap, manual labor isn’t difficult to find, so why would they need you, the inexperienced Westerner to build a house? There are reasons — with Habitat for Humanity, the presence of a few extra helping hands isn’t necessarily the biggest impact on the community, but rather the monetary donations that these volunteers make to help locals afford supplies. They also employ locals for their projects and create, rather than take away jobs.

So then, what about teaching abroad?

Do we take away jobs from locals by teaching abroad?

Ethically speaking, you as a foreigner should only be taking a job that no one else in the country can do. In some places, that’s the case for ESL teachers since foreign ESL teachers are part of a rare cohort who can speak English in a fluent and natural manner.

That was my experience in Madagascar — so few people spoke English (including some of the English teachers I worked with) that having it as my native tongue put me in hot demand. Schools requested me to compensate for lack of qualified teachers; qualified teachers that they weren’t going to be getting any time soon. In this scenario, the answer was no.

But then look at Central and South America. There’s already a big enough flow of people between Latin America and the U.S. that this first qualifier, being able to speak English, isn’t as rare. I’d almost argue that a Salvadoran returning to El Salvador from the U.S. with perfect English language skills, and looking to teach English, is more valuable than a foreign hire because they are more likely to stay longer and treat it as a permanent job, not just one that allows them to travel for a little while. Though, are they the ones getting the jobs? And why or why not?

And then, there’s the booming Asia market. In China and South Korea, foreign teachers, especially attractive, white, foreign teachers, frequently win out in a job interview against a local. Even if the local speaks perfect English and has teaching experience (with ESL or otherwise) and the foreigner doesn’t, there are still schools that would prefer to take the foreign teacher. It’s blatantly race based. “They just look like they’d speak better English,” a friend said, quoting her South Korean cousin.

“They just look like they’d speak better English,” a friend said, quoting her South Korean cousin.

(Note: While this is a common problem, it is by no means true to every school in China and South Korea. There are some established and reputable schools that would never make a hiring decision based on race alone, but focus rather on what’s important: skills, professionalism, and experience.)

Maybe they do speak better English, but then that begs the question:

Is a native speaking teacher even better for students in the first place?

In some ways, having a native speaking teacher is great because they are more likely to use the language the way it really is used, pronunciation is flawless, and we often use real films, magazine articles, and such in the classroom instead of textbooks. In short, the exposure to English outside the ESL learner bubble is expanded.

However, all of these perks lose their value when you’re faced with a non-native speaking teacher who has experience, and a native-speaking wannabe teacher with no experience. Experience, even that minimal TEFL / CELTA certificate, is what gets you good at teaching the language. Because, lets be real, just because you speak English doesn’t mean you can teach it. I’ve seen several fluent but inexperienced to-be teachers flail and fail in the classroom.

Thoughts?

Unfortunately, data on these questions has been hard to track down, and I mostly wanted to write this piece to put the questions out there, see if anyone has answers, and rewrite this piece with more authority and information. So, if your head was bursting with commentary while reading the above, please share that inner commentary below.

Tags ESL, Ethics, Teach abroad

The Nomadic Life

From Travel Writer to Editor Extraordinaire

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date March 24, 2014
8 Comments on From Travel Writer to Editor Extraordinaire
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Dear Readers,

You may have noticed The Nomadic Beat looking a little empty recently. At least, I would be very flattered if you followed me enough to notice a thing like that. Thing is…

Life’s been keeping me pretty damn busy as of late.

After returning to the U.S. from Tokyo, I hunkered down at my parents’ house, launched my resume into the world, got a job, and moved out to Berkeley, California.

Since then, every day has been an adventure (especially in California) and I’m not lacking for content — I’ve got plenty of untold stories up my sleeve. I place the blame more on being the new Teach and Content Director at Go Overseas — a website which you may have noticed (again, I would be flattered if you did) that I have been writing for as a contributing editor for the past year.

So yup, you’ve read that right! I’ve moved up in the editorial world from writing the blog posts and articles that wanderlust wet dreams are made of, to orchestrating the whole operation. I am now the self proclaimed Queen of Content for Go Overseas, sourcing articles, managing our team of amazing writers, editing, coding, finding photos, and publishing all of our hard work on the Go Overseas blog for the public to read, love, and (ideally) share away!

I also manage all things teach for our Teach Abroad section, but that’s a huge project less easy to succinctly describe. Just know that big changes are stirring.

I love my new job, even if it means I’m doing more reading and editing than writing.

Even so, what I do makes it really hard to come home and stare at a computer screen again. It’s even harder to come home, turn on that computer, and motivate myself to muddle through HTML codes, photo edits, and web formatting. I’ve been able to maintain some rambling version of a journal (usually written an hour before going to bed and soon after drinking a glass or two of wine… so therefore: rambling), but my writing doesn’t seem to make it much further than these weird, nonsensical, attempts to document my life for future me to read.

Point is, I haven’t been keeping up with The Nomadic Beat but I have been gathering ideas for how to make this space better, and more importantly, exploring the San Francisco Bay area and gathering stories and photos to share here.

So please don’t think I’ve abandoned you, loyal followers! It may be a few weeks until I post again, hopefully with a bangin’ piece about the bay area, a past adventure, or something more general about living live to a nomadic beat, but in the meantime, you can find me on the Go Overseas blog, pulling the puppet strings and sending out great content about meaningful travel each and every day!

Ciao for now!

Jessie

Tags Travel writing

Peace Corps The Nomadic Life

You Won’t Save The World as a Peace Corps Volunteer

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date February 26, 2014
6 Comments on You Won’t Save The World as a Peace Corps Volunteer
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Before I begin: As an RPCV who loved her service, I’d like to wish you all a happy Peace Corps week.

But now, *ahem* for the real reason you came here: that catchy title that I used to lure you in here.

You won’t save the world as a Peace Corps Volunteer

So, you want to join the Peace Corps? I’m sure you’ve got tons of questions. I’m sure you also have these grand, romanticized ideas of what it means to be in the Peace Corps. You’re probably conjuring up images of you surrounded by cute little African/Asian/Latin American children that you’re helping teach English/Math/How to brush their teeth (yes, that’s a real Peace Corps task). However, most volunteers don’t have that idyllic experience. Some do. Some luck out, and the rest of us are listening to their Peace Corps stories and thinking “F you and your f-ing flush toilet. Do you know what I have to go through to pee every morning?” For me, I had to dodge flying homemade soccer balls and walk through 200 screaming middle school students to get to my pit latrine — sometimes embarrassingly carrying my toilet paper, sometimes stuffing it down my bra to be more discreet. Worst of all though, I had to put on pants. Uhg.

Even now, after returning to the U.S. the disillusion continues. My friends and family still coo “it seems like you had such a great time in Peace Corps!” Well, I did have some great times in Peace Corps. I also had the most embarrassing moment of my life (which I swear, I will only divulge to other RPCVs and whoever I end up married to — since, apparently, you have to reveal all dirty secrets to someone before they can rightfully commit the rest of their life to you, uhhhg). I felt boredom on a whole different level (think, sweeping your house five times in one day). I watched A LOT of TV — I am now more caught up on pop culture than I ever will be again in my life. I also developed a deep and serious skepticism about any interaction with men. Those things weren’t so fun (well, the TV part was…)

They also don’t fit into this incorrect image of “saving the developing world” that many people associate with Peace Corps. Well, you’re not going to save the world, but here are a few things you will do:

First, you’ll ask a lot of dumb questions

No amount of reading and talking to RPCVs will truly prepare you for what’s in store with the Peace Corps. You’ll ask a lot of dumb questions on your group’s Facebook page (please guys, save face and Google questions about luggage allowances.) You’ll ask even more dumb questions during your training and for several months afterwards. That’s OK. We all do it. We all forget about it. You live, you learn, and eventually you become that PCV looking at a new group about to arrive in country and think — as my friend Jackie puts it — “ohh buddy…”

Then, you’ll either develop realistic expectations, give up, or be miserable

As a Peace Corps volunteer I think it’s incredibly important to have real expectations about your service. You’re there for two years, and it seems like a long time, but in the grand scheme of development, it isn’t. Those volunteers who fail to understand this — preferably before departure — end up being the most disillusioned and (though there are no case studies to prove this) more likely to give up, or ET, as we say. Ambition is great, and I know of some motivated and ambitious volunteers who accomplished a lot during their service but for most of us, our impact will be much smaller. Honestly, if you enter Peace Corps expecting to make smaller changes and have a good experience, you’ll do better emotionally, mentally, and professionally. Lower your expectations about what you will accomplish, now.

You’ll break up with your girlfriend/boyfriend from back home

I don’t know why we didn’t figure this out in study abroad, but long distance in general, and Peace Corps especially is a great way to kill a relationship. I have more optimism for couples who do Peace Corps at the same time but in different countries (you can relate better to each other and grow in more similar ways) but otherwise, that relationship is eventually going to shrivel up and die at some point of your two years of service. Well, 90% of the time (just in case you were about to race to the comments section to contradict me…)

You’ll become a PR campaign for America

Sometimes, I wondered if my presence in my community was nothing more than a great PR move on behalf of the U.S. government. In Madagascar there was no doubt that Peace Corps volunteers had created this awesome and respected view of Americans (versus the less respected and slightly scorned image they had of the French). This will be part of your impact. You will change the way people think about Americans, and not always for the better. I heard a lot of shit talking about Americans in Ethiopia, sometimes directly pointed at Peace Corps volunteers. It’s a shame, but the point remains the same: our individual actions as Peace Corps volunteers influence the overall impression of Americans in the developing world.

And your body will betray you.

You’ll drunkenly (or not drunkenly) vomit in an embassy worker’s garden. You’ll poop your pants. You’ll have problems managing your weight. Diarrhea will be a normal occurrence. You’ll get really good at telling when you or someone else has giardia/worms/malaria and be able to name exactly what medicine they need. Or if you’re really unfortunate, you’ll get some medieval illness you haven’t thought about since 8th grade history class (bubonic plague, scarlet fever, etc.). But I don’t want to scare you; most likely you’ll just poop your pants and that’ll be the worst of it. Of course, after you recover, you’ll talk about it with all your Peace Corps friends, have a good laugh, and carry on. Shit happens. Literally.

—

Anyways, if it seems like I’m being overly snarky and portraying Peace Corps as a terrible experience — that’s not my intention. I loved Peace Corps and I will almost always encourage anyone who is interested in joining to start their application and do it. But I have found that in these conversations I’ve been having recently, there are a lot of constants in my reality as a PCV that non PCVs/RPCVs are surprised to hear about (the TV watching, for example). So, just trying to tell it like it is. The end.

See a related post I wrote on Go Overseas: 10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Joining Peace Corps.

Tags Peace Corps, Should I Join Peace Corps, Volunteer Abroad

The Nomadic Life Travel

If Travel Destinations Were Lovers…

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date February 14, 2014
3 Comments on If Travel Destinations Were Lovers…
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This is a post I’ve been contemplating for a few months. It’s still not perfect, so comments and critiques are greatly welcome.

Have you ever tried thinking of the places you’ve traveled to the way you would think of an ex-lover?

I spent an afternoon thinking of it once, and decided that if places were men, Seattle would be the one I fell head over heels for; the one with whom it was love at first sight. Madagascar would be an arranged marriage — an analogy that I think most Peace Corps volunteers can relate to with their country of assignment. Much like an arranged marriage, we have little decision in who/where we get paired up with, but like any marriage, struggle through the bad and revel in the good to make it work. I’d be interested to hear what others come up with.

Besides it simply being fun to think of your favorite travel destinations in the same nostalgic way you’d conjure up a great memory of a friend or lover who has (sadly or not so sadly) disappeared into the vast vault of our pasts, there are similarities in the way we have relationships with places and with people.

Considering how many pieces have been written about “a love affair with Paris/Italy/Bali, etc.” this notion isn’t too radical or new. I’m not the first to think of it, and unfortunately I can’t provide you with this great quote on the topic that I dug out of a book once. Maybe when I find that scrap of paper I scribbled it down on, I’ll insert it here, but in the meantime, I’ll try to summarize and expand on that great author’s point:

The relationships we have with places mirrors those we have with humans. We love them, we connect with them, we fight with them. They push us to grow and experience things outside of our comfort zones. Places, like people, have personalities — often because of the people inhabiting them — and either that personality strikes something within you and begs you to create a deeper connection, or leaves little lasting impression, like a stranger on the train.

I’m sure all of us who have traveled have that one place where, when mentioned, we can’t control our smiles. I’m sure all of us have that place that makes us overly excited when the conversation turns to “the best coffee shops in Seattle” or whatever your equivalent may be. And like lovers and friends, each individual place has a different effect on us, brings out a different part of our personalities, and inspires us each in its own unique way. On the other hand, there are those places that are like a bad friendship, where you felt your soul being sucked out of your skin and slowly shrivel up. For me those places are the “bus depots” of the world (the strongest of which is an actual bus depot in Antananarivo, Madagascar, with whom I had a strong, hateful relationship with, like an unhealthy relationship you can’t end because you’re too dependent on each other…)

Anywho, I’m posting this today, after a too long hiatus, because (and I kind of loathe to acknowledge it) it’s Valentine’s Day. I’m a Valentine’s Day hater, the concept is contrived and cheesy romantic gestures make me vomit a little, but hater or not, today’s a very relevant day for this post. It’s a relevant day for us to think not just of the people we love/have loved, but the places too.

So let me ask you all: If places were lovers, where would be your biggest love? Which place was your greatest romance?

Tags Love, Travel

The Nomadic Life Travel

10 Destinations Worthy of A Traveler’s Bucket List

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date January 24, 2014
16 Comments on 10 Destinations Worthy of A Traveler’s Bucket List
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Daydreaming about travel is almost as fun as traveling for real. Seriously, there have been scientific studies on the topic. It’s also the driving force behind some wonderful blog posts and articles in the travel blogosphere. NY Times has a beautifully done article titled 52 Places to Go in 2014; Afar Magazine gives its readers travel inspiration regularly, but they too have compiled their own (shorter) “Where to Go in 2014” list. Other sites target their lists to more specific types of travelers, like Go Overseas’ Best Places to Learn Spanish and Matador Network’s new book featuring 101 Places to Get F*cked Up Before You Die.

This list, however, is my bucket list. It’s where I would go if money, political conflict, and time were no issue. I didn’t choose these destinations for being up and coming destinations to travel to in 2014, or because they are great places to teach abroad. I chose them because, for each their own reason, these are the destinations that give me travel inspiration. I hope they inspire you as well!

1. Beirut, Lebanon

Currently, there is a travel advisory against all travel to certain areas of Beirut — but that doesn’t change the fact that Beirut has been high on my travel bucket list since I was a teenager, eating chicken shawarma for lunch every other day while my peers lined up for Taco Bell. While Lebanese food alone (hummus, ftayer, baba ghanoush, makdous, shawarma, baklava…) is reason enough to travel to Lebanon, Beirut also has a reputation for fantastic nightlife and plenty of cafes to munch mezze and smoke water pipes in by its beautiful seafront. Someday, Beirut… someday…

2. Patagonia, Argentina/Chile

Patagonia is an awe-inspiring region full of natural wonders and opportunity for adventure. The massive region of Patagonia (from the word patagones) sits in both Chile and Argentina, and stretches down to Tierre del Fuego — the end of South America and launching point to Antarctica. Its natural features are as diverse as the area is large. It includes jutting mountains, glaciers leftover from the last ice age, and a vast, foreboding desert (believed to be the seventh largest in the world). For outdoor enthusiasts, rock climbers, hikers, horse-back riders, and anyone looking for adventure with one of the world’s most scenic backdrops, Patagonia is (supposedly) a must.

3. Oaxaca, Mexico

Why visit Oaxaca, Mexico? Well, for the culture and cheese-drenched food, of course. For a long time, I overlooked Mexico as a travel destination, while hypocritically chasing taco trucks and drinking horchata, until someone brought up Oaxaca. Travel in Oaxaca, apparently, is different than a jaunt in one of its beachy, spring-break loving neighbors. While there is no shortage of beach in this southwestern Mexican state, the diversity, colonial architecture, lively Dia de los Muertos celebrations, and cuisine are what really make it worth visiting for more intrepidly-minded travelers.

4. Waitomo, New Zealand

Time and time again, New Zealand pops up on all sorts of “must-see” destination lists. It’s safe, beautiful, and offers attractions that appeal to a variety of travel personalities. 10-year old me, however, had no idea or concern about these factors. All I knew about New Zealand was: glow worms; caves full of glow worms. Fifteen years later, being surrounded on all sides by glittery glow worms still sounds awesome. On New Zealand’s north island, in Waitomo, visitors can do just that.

5. Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul is just one of those places that lives in the hearts of all travelers deeply affected with wanderlust. It’s visually appealing, with windy markets full of colorful goods just begging you to get lost in. The food is fresh and fantastic. It’s cheap. And it’s just different enough from the West to hold the allure of “otherness”. Maybe it’s beginning to be a bit more beaten-path, but who cares?

6. Portugal

From Porto to Lisbon and every small town in between, there are so many reasons to visit Portugal, and so many reasons why this little Western European country is far too underrated as a travel destination. It’s cheap (more importantly, the wine and port are cheap), photogenic, easy to get around, and has an endlessly scenic, craggy coastline and sunny beaches. Also, El Camino de Santiago has a route that passes through. Seriously, I’m this close to throwing my hiking shoes and a wine key into my backpack and hoping on a plane to Lisbon now.

7. Cuba

Cuba has long held fascination for travelers because of its caught-in-another-era personality. But Cuba’s opening up — slowly but surely — and it looks like it is soon in for a change. Catching a glimpse of Cuba before it lifts the embargo and embraces a modern transformation is the main motivation to visit Cuba now, but of course not the only reason. There’s also the rum, the cigars, the hot weather, the people, and music. Seriously, Cuba has produced some talented musicians (I loved Leo Brower’s music enough to tattoo “Una Dia di Noviembre” on my right arm) and thanks to them, some beautiful songs.

8. Zion National Park, Utah

Though Zion is Utah’s oldest and most popular park, it doesn’t get as much talk time as bigger names like Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon. Too bad, because it’s probably just as gorgeous and impressive as either of those. Among much else, the park is known for its massive pink, cream, and red sandstone cliffs, a unique combination of wildlife and geology, and of course numerous hiking trails, rock climbing opportunities, and even some spelunking. But mostly, it’s a sunrise on top of one of those sun-colored cliffs that I’m after.

9. Kyoto, Japan

Beirut, Oaxaca, Istanbul, and now, Kyoto? There’s definitely a travel to eat trend going on with this list and during a recent trip to Tokyo, Kyoto got on my bucket list for being the culinary capitol of Japan. Tokyo already had me sold on Japanese food, so lets see if a trip to Kyoto will leave my friends rolling their eyes and muttering “would you shut up about Obanzai Ryori already?” Of course, food isn’t the only reason to visit Kyoto. It was Japan’s capitol for over 1,000 years and now boasts a unique meld of the modern and hip, nestled next to an impressive amount of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and a still working geisha district.

10. Seychelles

Every wanderlust list has to include at least one cliche, lounge by the beach in a “tropical paradise” sort of destination. Seychelles is this list’s cliche palm-trees-and-sun destination. But with so many other places in the world to go if you want to sit under a palm tree on the beach, why Seychelles? Well, this cluster of 115 islands off the coast of Africa may be growing more and more accessible to travelers, but it’s still off the beaten path enough to lack the crowds more well known beach destinations attract. The costliness of visiting Seychelles probably helps with this, but like I said before, these are the destinations I would go to if money was no object, right?

What are your bucket list travel destinations?

Tags Beirut, Cuba, Istanbul, Kyoto, Oaxaca, Patagonia, Portugal, Seychelles, Travel, Waitomo, Zion National Park

Japan The Nomadic Life Travel

Traveling Solo in Tokyo

On a whim, I traveled solo to Tokyo this past December on the last leg of a three month trip. With no price difference on American Airlines to have a two hour layover or a five day layover in Tokyo on a flight from Hanoi to Washington DC, I just had to take advantage of this essentially free flight. Long stopovers such as this are a great travel hacker tool, and although a stop in Japan would be pricer than schlepping around Southeast Asia, ultimately, it was still a thrifty way to see one last place.

If Japan is Anything Like Japan Airlines, then I’m Already in Love…

My impressions of Japan start at the airport. First of all, because of a super-spacey mental lapse on my part, of which I’m still kicking myself in the butt for, I showed up a day late for my flight (don’t judge). I realized this about 10 minutes away from the airport in Hanoi and promptly started to inwardly panic, faced with the dreaded scene of how an African (and most likely, Vietnamese) airline would handle this: counter attendant scolds me, then ushers over someone else to consult my predicament in a language I don’t understand.

The attendant, somehow sensing my anxiety, smiled again and said “it’s going to be OK”

Second person walks away and comes back with two other people to consult. The four of them keep discussing. Meanwhile, the line behind me is getting angry and finally they send me to some dark corner of the airport to settle the matter, where again, the counter attendant needs to consult everyone in the vicinity before deciding my fate, which is ultimately: buy a new ticket for tomorrow’s flight.

Fortunately, this was Japan Airlines. No one consulted anyone else, an emergency plan for idiots like me apparently part of the protocol. They just smiled and asked very apologetically if I wouldn’t mind paying a $100 flight change fee.

“Perfect!” I exclaimed. The attendant, somehow sensing my anxiety, smiled again and said “it’s going to be OK”. I hadn’t even left the airport yet, and I was already in love with Japan.

Getting Lost in Asakusa

Fast forward to Tokyo. The city was just waking up. Businessmen with sleek suitcases sipped espresso at the airport train station while I waited. Once on the train, neatly stylish women in long skirts and boots, or young girls in school uniforms filled the seats as we sped towards Tokyo. Everyone seemed preoccupied, texting, listening to music, reading, or jotting down notes in small notebooks. Even with all the movement, it felt so peaceful.

The train let me off in Asakusa, a neighborhood outside the center of Tokyo most well known for it’s attraction, the Buddhist temple Sensō-ji, and narrow maze of shopping streets.

Armed with confusing directions from the hostel and an address that Google Maps didn’t understand (Japanese addresses are organized “district-block-building” and look like “10-5-8”) I got terribly lost and wound up walking in circles for awhile before finally getting it right. But getting lost on foot is just the point of visiting Asakusa.

Each small street presents the potential for new discovery, and if they do eventually lead you to Sensō-ji, you’ll be rewarded with a magnificent old temple surrounded by gardens (and tourists…)

Still not tired of visiting Japanese temples — which are distinctly different from their Southeast neighbors — I later sped off to Kamakura for a day trip and enjoyed seeing even larger, less crowded temples.

Things to Do in Tokyo: A City Full of Distractions

It’s near impossible to be bored in Tokyo. Whatever your interests are, there’s something for you. Personally, I have no patience for museums, but prefer to spend city travel in bars, restaurants, parks, and sometimes shops. I also didn’t seek out any of the cliche-ishly crazy aspects of Tokyo, but still found great things to do (solo!). My personal favorites:

Seeing Tokyo from above — The new Tokyo Skytree offers visitors a great view of the Tokyo skyline, but you have to pay. For a free option, try the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (photo above taken from the top!)
Sipping on a Japanese craft beer — I had no idea craft beer was gaining enough popularity in Japan that there were multiple bars specializing in it. Time Out Tokyo has a great list of craft beer bars. I sampled Craft Beer Market and Harajuku Taproom. Craft Beer Market won out for price, while Harajuku Taproom had a better location and ambiance.
Eating Japanese food — I won’t pretend like I always knew what I was eating (one Tokyoite I met took me on a dinner where is sole goal was to order the “strangest food on the menu”) but I can confidently say, Tokyo is full of great food, and manta ray jerky is delicious.

Exploring the city, one station at a time — Each area in Tokyo has it’s own feel. In fact, many visitors to Tokyo explain it as a huge mass of micro-cities. Harajuku is quirky, Asakusa is quaint. Get on the train and explore.
Staying out all night — Since the trains close pretty early, you may have to. But that’s OK, Tokyo has a low crime rate and there’s enough nightlife (Karaoke, anyone?) to keep the fun going until dawn.
Browsing the latest trends — Tokyo is full of shopping. Sibuya 109, though well trodden, features a lot of Japanese designers and give visitors a great taste of what’s hip in Japan.
Buddhist temples and parks — As a whole, Tokyo is a sprawling concrete jungle, but pockets of green and calm are blissfully easy to come by. There are Asakusa’s Senso-ji and Harajuku’s Yoyogi, just to name two, but take to the streets and explore.
Tokyo neighborhoods — Each neighborhood within Tokyo has it’s own distinct personality and feel. This microcosm of unique places are one of the many reasons that makes Tokyo a fantastic city to explore endlessly.
The Ghibli Museum — I adore Spirited Away and basically anything Miyazaki directs. Expectedly, Tokyo has a museum dedicated to Miyazaki films where kids are encouraged to get lost and explore. Buy tickets well in advance, though, since they can sell out days — even weeks — in advanced. [Photo below]

Why Tokyo Rocks for Solo Travel

My favorite quote about Tokyo is from Matthew Amster-Burton in his food-centric, Toyko travelogue Pretty Good Number One (a must read for anyone about to travel to Tokyo):

Tokyo is the opposite of the DMV. It is the least annoying place I have ever been.

Ditto. Even the parts about Tokyo that I first believed would be chaotic and overwhelming, like cramming onto a rush-hour train at Shinjuku, were still efficient and not obnoxious at all to navigate. More amazing still was how quiet the station and trains were, even with a mass of hundreds of people shuffling to and from trains.

What this also means though, is Tokyo is a fantastic place for the solo traveler. In fact, I made a list of all the reasons why Tokyo is a great destination for solo travelers — even women traveling solo.

Being alone isn’t weird
And even if it was weird, no one would tell you that you’re being weird
The Tokyo Train System is the most user-friendly public transportation in the world. Buy a Suica or Pasmo card at the airport. You’ll be refunded for your deposit when you return it later.
There are unlimited sights and attractions to see — you’ll never be bored or able see it all
Friendly and polite locals — seriously. This is the total opposite of the DMV.
Tokyo is the safest city in the world. So safe, some budget travelers sleep outside in the summer months to save money.
For places to sleep, there are a variety of hostel and Couchsurfing options. I stayed at Khaosan World, in part because they had a sale, but also because of its ambiance and non-party hostel vibe. I loved it enough that I’d stay and pay full price if I ever go back — especially since the bunks are comfy, spacious, and allow you a good amount of privacy for a shared room.
Lots of couchsurfing and expat meetups, if you care to meet someone outside your hostel.

In sum: Tokyo is easy to fall in love with, and undoubtedly one of the best destinations for solo travelers — if not the best.

Have you traveled alone in Tokyo? What are your tips?

Tags Japan, solo travel, Tokyo

Adventure Travel Asia Laos The Nomadic Life Travel

Thakhek, Laos: The Bermuda Triangle of Rock Climbers

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date January 10, 2014
4 Comments on Thakhek, Laos: The Bermuda Triangle of Rock Climbers
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Month three of a round the world journey

In November of this year, Liz and I landed in Hanoi to embark on our third month of travel, and we were tired. We had hit a wall, and wanted nothing more than to be somewhere warm, forget about bus schedules and border crossings and stay in the same place for a week. Of course, whiling away the hours with beer on the beach isn’t really our style, and in any case, a cyclone was hurriedly rushing toward the coast of Vietnam at that time, so we decided to hop a train and a bus over to Thakhek, Laos.

Why Thakhek?

Because of the rock climbing.

Of all the places to visit in Laos, Thakhek isn’t as popular as Luang Prabang or Van Vieng — but that’s part of its charm. Thakhek town has a lazy, river-side vibe, and most often draws visitors for the border crossing between Laos and Thailand, “the loop” — a circuit you can travel by motorbike visiting nearby caves — and trekking. Of course, with these caves come mountains, and with these mountains, rock face. Fortunately for us, a German couple had tapped the climbing potential of the area outside of Thakhek several years ago and not only bolted dozens and dozens of routes (and were still bolting more when we showed up at their door) but had built a hostel for visiting climbers: Green Climber’s Home.

Green Climbers Home

For us, Green Climber’s Home was like a dream hostel. A bed in their dorm or a rented tent was affordable. The food was also cheap and featured a ton of fresh, healthy options (we were mildly obsessed with the green salads and mango smoothies). Almost all of the routes were within a five minute walk of where we slept, and the hostel had any and all climbing accessories like climbing harnesses available to rent if you didn’t bring it with you. Best of all, our fellow guests were there to climb, talk climbing, and climb some more. Maybe I’m a bit biased, but I’ve always felt that climbers are some of the most down to earth, friendly people around, so to stay in a hostel full of them just meant extra good vibes. Not to mention, the clever bar games that came out after a few beers: who can coil a rope the fastest; bouldering around benches/tables; or attempting to pick a small box off the floor with our mouths as a tipsy test of flexibility.

It’s probably no surprise then that almost everyone we met there was staying or already had stayed longer than they planned. Even we tacked on an extra three days (minimal compared to a few other personalities who had already logged a month at the place). Basically, it was one of those places you could easily forget about time and stay forever at. It was like a Bermuda Triangle of rock climbers who had disappeared from the rest of the world — especially since no wifi meant deconnecting.

In short, Green Climber’s Home was exactly where we wanted to be to wade out our travel fatigue.

A story of resilience

At the time we visited, Green Climber’s Home was under some construction. About a year back, a fire that started during some Saint Slyvester celebrations destroyed most of the hostel. However, once word got out to the climbing community, donations came pouring back in to make restoring the place possible. Good thing too, because not only is it a great place for climbers, but a business that cares about giving back to the community and being sustainable. Happily, I noticed on their website that they have finally completed all the restoration since we visited.

Why Thakhek rocks for rock climbers

Besides this little community of vagabond-rock climbers, one of the reasons why Thakhek rocks as a rock climbing destination is the variety of easy to advanced climbs. There’s something for everyone: 5.7 – 5.9 grade climbs to get comfortable leading on; multi-pitch routes; and some seriously challenging I only managed to watch others ascend. Like most rock climbing in Southeast Asia, it’s also warm and humid for most of the day, but there’s enough routes in the shade to keep climbers out of the sun.

Tips on climbing in Thakhek

I won’t waste too much time with the how-to aspect of climbing in Thakhek — The Green Climber’s Home website already has thorough details, bus schedules, and maps in both English and German. But some quick tips to know:

No gear? No experience? That’s no excuse. Gear rentals and classes are available.
Bring tape — the rock is seriously sharp
A 60m rope is fine, 70m is better, and 80m is necessary for few climbs. Rentals aren’t too expensive though, so I’d recommend bringing a 60/70m, whatever you have, and renting the 80m if you happen to need it.
You can purchase a guidebook with topo maps of all the climbs at Green Climber’s Home. It includes other parts of Laos.
Green Climber’s Home and all of the routes are located 16km out of town. A tuk-tuk should cost about 100,000 kip ($12USD). Limited bikes and motorbikes are available for rent at the hostel.
There isn’t a whole lot around Green Climber’s Home other than climbing. Even if you’re there just to bag some new routes, pop by Thakhek on a rest day for some fresh fried fish and a Beer Lao Dark by the riverside!

Tags Laos, Rock climbing, Thakhek

Adventure Travel Africa Ethiopia The Nomadic Life

On the Roof of Africa: Trekking in Simien Mountains, Ethiopia

Post author By Jessie Beck
Post date January 2, 2014
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Four Days of Walking

For the four days Liz and I trekked through the Simien Mountains, the smell of wild thyme followed us. The wind was full of strong gusts of the scent that reminded me of old, unidentifiable memories, as we hiked from one beautiful vista to the next, among wild baboons, birds, and ibex. It seemed like we were forever pausing at a cliff side to stare out on blue-green rolling mountains from the roof of Africa. At one point, I noticed that the horizon was never straight, always slanted, which could explain why it also always felt as though we were trudging uphill. It felt that way because it was that way.

Because of the season, and the rains that came every day, the park was filled with a dozen shades of green, from the dark army green of lichen hanging from low, umbrella-like trees, to the bright yellow-green of terraced barley fields, and the pale yellow-green of tufts of wild grass in between. Bursts of yellow, purple, and a muted pink from wildflowers filled the gap and I could never seem to take a photo good enough to record just how beautiful this mixture of color looked.

With the colors, the rain also brought mud and clouds. We trekked through muck, hopped across streams, and sometimes found the trail had turned in to a river. On our final day of the trek, we hiked 400 meters to the top of a peak through cold rain and hail, only so we could eat cabbage sandwiches in a cloud and stare at more cloud. From the top of a second peak, we waited for half an hour, chatting, eating cookies, with a pair of chain-smoking French tourists, watching the clouds move over the valley, waiting for them to part just well enough for us to see and understand just how high up we were.

On our first full day, we took refuge from the rain in a rounded hut, while an elderly woman with a worn, yellow scarf, slowly roasted coffee for a coffee ceremony. Our guide, who we all thought to be shifty and easily offended, sat in the corner and sipped his coffee, while our scout, who we all gathered to be well liked and jovial (even though he only spoke about 10 words of English), sat at the center making jokes in Amharic and making the old woman and her daughter laugh. The rest of us, excluded because of our linguistic shortcomings, fell into conversation amongst ourselves.

Coming down from the mountains to our campsite on the second day, a group of rag-tag children came sprinting up the mountain with little woven boxes in hand that they wanted to sell us. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, but we were tired, so we paused to play and joke with them. They tried to teach us how to use a whip to herd donkeys, and we tested their English. One of the girls began mocking the Canadian girl’s laugh, which sent all of us, especially our elderly scout, into riotous laughter.

That night, like every night, we descended into our campsite feeling wet, cold, and tired, but eager to eat whatever it was our cook had whipped up. Usually, she made an Ethiopian interpretation of what Western food was, but we didn’t know how to say that we’d rather just have injera and shiro.

On our final day, Liz and the other American raced up a nearby peak, while the Canadian girl and I wrote in our journals on a cliff by our campsite, watching a bird that always sounded like he was burping dive in and out of the sky. Like that we stayed until nearly dusk, waiting for our car to pick us up. When we asked our guide “what will we do if our driver doesn’t show up?” — being North Americans who need a contingency plan — he shrugged and gave us a vague “we’ll do something” response. Serendipitously, our car showed up just as I was trying to process what “something” would mean, and we drove back to Gondar at 5 mph in a thick mask of fog.

How to travel to the Simien Mountains

Anyone who travels to the Simiens needs to hire a scout at minimum. Some people recommend having a guide, since scouts don’t usually speak English, but I would have been fine without ours! They’re cheap, only a few dollars a day, though it’s polite to tip at the end as well.

Cooks are optional, but affordable and nice to have someone else make your food after a long day of hiking. Also, if you hire donkeys to carry your bags, a cook will make sure they get to the next campsite. Hiring a donkey to carry your bag is also optional, but nice.

All of this can be arranged in Gondar or at the park office in Debark. Starting and ending in Debark is a good way to save a little money, and convenient if you are heading north to Axum after the trek (going back to Gondar is about an hour or two of backtracking).

In the end, we spent about $220 each for everything (food, transportation to/from Gondar, guide, cook, scout, permits, donkeys, and lodging) for 4 days and 3 nights of trekking.

Photos

{1} Vista on the roof of Africa
{2} Flowers along the trail
{3} Waiting for the clouds to part from a summit
{4} Traditional house in the Simiens
{5} Getting ready to go at Campsite #2
{6} Baboons by a waterfall
{7} The road in/out
{8} Scouts and guides talking around a campfire while a local girl visits

Tags Ethiopia, Simien Mountains, Travel

Tell Yer Friends:

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Stop One: Drinks and Appetizers at Two Sisters Bar and Books in Hayes Valley

Stop Two: Dinner at Shanghai Dumpling King in Outer Richmond

Stop Three: After Dinner Drinks at Cliff House at Ocean Beach

Stop Four: A Scenic View (sort of) at Twin Peaks

Stop Five: Dessert at Foreign Cinema in Mission

Stop Six: Home.

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Choose an Expertise

Get Good at Researching

Build a Portfolio

Establish Yourself on Social Media

Tips for social media

Make Connections Online and Offline

Maintain Your Connections

Balance Paid and Unpaid Work

Important questions to consider:

Keep Records of Everything

Useful Tools and Resources

Good Luck Out There!

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Firstly, Set Up a Blog

Have a Niche

Approach it As a Profession

Build Connections with Other Bloggers, Writers, and Editors

Read and Write Frequently

If You’re Blogging…

Get on UpWork

Jessie, What’s Your Story?

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Omg Food, Food, Food!

Toilets are Awesome

Trying to Understand Where My Old and New Self Met

Annoying Everyone Around Me with “This One Time in Peace Corps” Stories

Remembering How to Be a “Real Adult”

Feeling Behind on Life

Getting Used to All this New Technology

Here’s to 2015!

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1. Don’t use the verb “to be”

2. Leave “that” and “which” out of your writing

3. Words like “very” and “really” are weak

4. Speak with authority

5. Avoid using the pronoun “one” if you’re speaking casually

6. Don’t use “a lot”

7. Kill your babies

8. Get to the point quickly

9. Your conclusion may work better as an introduction

10. Please, no cliches

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Do we take away jobs from locals by teaching abroad?

Is a native speaking teacher even better for students in the first place?

Thoughts?

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Dear Readers,

Jessie

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You won’t save the world as a Peace Corps Volunteer

First, you’ll ask a lot of dumb questions

Then, you’ll either develop realistic expectations, give up, or be miserable

You’ll break up with your girlfriend/boyfriend from back home

You’ll become a PR campaign for America

And your body will betray you.

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Have you ever tried thinking of the places you’ve traveled to the way you would think of an ex-lover?

So let me ask you all: If places were lovers, where would be your biggest love? Which place was your greatest romance?

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1. Beirut, Lebanon