Working Toward My Escape

I am currently in the process of looking for the cheapest method of getting myself to Chile.  I have decided that I will be moving there (if all goes according to plan) as early as this July.

 

 (with any luck this will be my plane)

Of course I have been to Chile before.... that is how I got to make the flight to Easter Island to see these guys.

 

Right now it appears that the best (most fun and cheap combo) is for me to fly from Washington DC to Lima Peru, Where my friend Bob will be for the next 2 months and staying with him for a while and ultimately renting and apartment in Vina Del Mar, Chile starting in August.

Where am I getting the money for this trip you might ask?  OK so I still haven't got that ironed out yet, but I am working on it.  I have taken up 4 jobs or so that have been going on for over a month now and with another month or so to go I figure I will at least have a start.  I am also certified to teach English as a Foreign language so maybe that will pan out down there.  If not the plan is live cheap and try to make ends meet.  Wish me luck.

I fell into a Red Ring of Death

Click here to access the BLOG

After 4 or 5 years of faithful service my Xbox finally flashed me the infamous Red Ring of Death... this is odd because my brother's unit and one of my friends system just crashed in the last month (conspiracy theories to follow)

Apparently you can send it back to XBOX and they will pay to fix it, but with my urge to leave the country in a hurry I have sought out a short term fix with the "Towel Trick". This involves wrapping the Xbox in 3 towels, setting it upside down, and turning it on for 25 minutes. This overheats the system and somehow gives the user about a week of gameplay before the process has to be repeated.
Surprisingly the first attempt to do this actually worked and it allowed for me to play FIFA 10 for another week. I will probably send it back to Xbox right before I leave the country so it is finished by the time I return (if I return that is).

It should also be noted that with the lack of time spent on the XBOX it should be easy to notice that my blogging increases steadily in the near future.

My summer

OK, so I realize it is still a little early to actually talk about my summer thus far, but the weather jumped from a foot of snow to hot conditions. Granted, the last week of straight rain and humidity has not been the greatest but to me it is only summer and winter which is sad because I like the cooler air of the spring and fall.


I really haven't documented as much as I should have, but here is a quick summary of what I have been doing (excluding the work aspect of the whole thing).

I have been trying to spend some time outdoors

I did spend some time in my vacation house...


and relaxed in my backyard...


I have been hanging out with some friends...


and focusing my efforts on getting back in shape.... (just note the arm workout and balance training)


So far this summer is a flying by, but not like the last couple I have enjoyed in South America and Europe respectively. I have been working, which "work" is still my least favorite four-letter-word, but I hope to have enough funds pooled here shortly to head back out again on the travel. Wish me luck.

Adsense takeover

I have finally decided to put a few ads on my site. I realize that with the small amount of traffic that I generate this will not actually pay me anything, but I figure if a few clicks on the ads here and there actually net my 15 cents over the next three years or so I will consider it a great sucess.

So if you aren't feeling to busy feel free to click on a few ads to hopefully get me up and traveling again. With any luck I could be back on the travel as early as July of this year.

Joining the Workforce - Update

So I have officially joined the workforce and I am already seeking my escape. I have just wrapped up my acting gig (OK so I realize that pretending to be sick so that medical students can practice is not really a big hollywood deal, but I can always just take the moral highroad and say that I am helping prepare the doctors of the future... that is if I really cared about appearances). Two weeks of pretending to be a character known as Jon Sickly (I know, the joke is hysterical) has now passed and I will be focusing on the US Census, my job at GNC, and my new-found passion for mowing grass.

As for my escape, I have been submitting applications to teach English abroad once again. Hopefully I can put away enough money to help back out traveling again even if I do have to work while doing it this time.

Why work?

So I am entering the workforce again after my 2 year vacation... this sucks. I am not sure any other words can fully encapsulate it better than that. Of course, as I do with all things in life, I am not just getting one job but technically 4. I know what you are thinking (He is crazy) but I figure that if I work 4 jobs I can get back to my vacationing 4 times faster.


The jobs are as follows.... I am doing lawn work (mowing 3 lawns, mulching, painting doors, weed eating, trimming hedges), Working at the local GNC, Working for the US Census as a census taker, and picking up some hours acting (as a patient for the medical school so they can practice). I have been mowing for a few weeks now but the others all start in the next week. Speaking of which, I am due to start at GNC in 10 minutes and I am not ready.... hope they don't mind it if I am late for my first day. Gotta run....

Possibility of more content

I have realized that my blog here has gone greatly untouched this weekend but breaking my laptop, sketchy internet connection, and general laziness added up to fewer and fewer posts. I wish that I was still on the travel in many ways although I do have to admit to enjoying my time near home. The section of time from the time I returned to from England to what is now April has been spent relaxing and doing some minimal amounts of work. That said here is what I am looking into now...

I realize that I am going to have to actually stash a few more dollars into my bank account to actually afford the vagabond lifestyle that I have grown to love so I am currently mowing grass and doing yard-work to make a few extra bucks. Along with the yard-work I hope to be working for the US Census during the months of May and June. I am sure it will be odd to be back to work (granted I did work for 2 weeks this past winter at a pizza place.... not fun).

Other than that I am planning my escape from the country again. I doubt I ever mentioned this in the past because it was in the works but I had a job lined up for February of this year to Teach English in South Korea, but that fell through at the very last second so now I am looking for more work abroad. I have started dropping applications to South America and spending some time boning up on my Spanish repertoire.

Hopefully I can try and post some of my adventures around here to regain my knack for blogging and get on the road to somewhere with "international" flavor by July.

That said, wish me luck and thanks for reading.


Jonny Walker

VIdeo of Snowshoe Total

So here is the compilation video from the 30+ minutes I got this season.... just remember that all the best stuff is never captured on tape.

Riding with some folks

Sunset at Snowshoe

I shot this clip the other day and condensed 5+ minutes of video down to about 35 secs. The clouds were actually in the valley so the view from the apartment was great.