Archive for the ‘Pontifications’ category

How To Be A Traveling Freelance Writer

February 23rd, 2012

Many people have asked me whether it’s difficult to work and travel all the time like I do, and my answer is always the same: You just have to discipline yourself and work wherever you are! After having this conversation yet again yesterday, I decided to make it easier for everyone to visualize the process, by chronicling a typical morning for me.

WAKE UP! … at 11 a.m. (after nodding off sometime around 6 in the morning, having dropped Tylenol PM in desperation around 4:30. Circadian biorhythms that do not coincide with the time zone where one is — which, today, is Buenos Aires — are among the drawbacks of constant movement).

Teeth/ face/ hair/ contacts.

Change from sleeping lululemon yoga pants into … waking lululemon yoga pants (bought at the source: Vancouver!).

(Today I’m gonna be SO PRODUCTIVE!)

Check Facebook. Giggle. Frown. “Like” things. Make pithy comments. Check Wonkette, check HuffPo. Cluck disapprovingly at story about National Enquirer running a cover photo of Whitney Houston in her coffin, while simultaneously clicking all the various links I need to click in order to view said photo. (She looked great.) Read my horoscope. (Today I’m gonna KILL IT!)

Go downstairs, chat with friend in whose house I am currently crashing (a fabulous, internationally acclaimed artist), who is busy sewing bits of paper together. We discuss current events. We discuss our day ahead. (Both of us: Gonna PRODUCE! Great stuff! All day!)

I head out. Go directly to cafe suggested by friend. Discover too late that it is less of a cafe, and more of a fabulous artisan chocalatier with a very limited menu. (Danger!) Realize I should leave immediately because really good chocolate is one of my Kryptonites; however, decide that I am obligated to stay because: a) I don’t want to disappoint my friend and b) they already saw me walk in and I can’t just leave because that would be rude and c) I will be so busy KILLING IT today with all my productivity that I won’t have the time nor the mental energy to peruse the vast glass counter filled with truffles and bonbons and all sorts of delectable hand-crafted chocolate treats and delights in hundreds of shapes and sizes and flavors and varieties.

Look around for a work space. The place looks like a Victorian romance novel threw up all over it: shades of pink and cream, prim marble-topped tables and crystal waterfall light fixtures and lampshades smothered in silk roses, elaborate spinning tabletop carousels, and fussy quilted reproduction Louis XIV chairs and settees and ottomans — upholstered either in Pepto pink velvet or pink-and-white toile. Beribboned carousel ponies and flowered teacups are painted on the windows. Along the front window are four barber’s chairs with violent pink-and-white stripes lined up along a long counter, and it is here where I sit and pull out my iPad and prepare for my day ahead … which? Is gonna be fabulous. And productive.

Examine limited menu. Order eggs Benedict and coffee.

Check Facey again. Update my status.

Time to KILL IT. Open “Notes” to see my to-do list. The “Note” on top is not my to-do list for today, however, but a list of books I’ve been interested in reading. Oooh! Remember I have no unread books on my iPad. This is bad, terrible in fact, for someone who travels a lot, even though I’m stationary at the moment, but HEY I will be traveling again in a few days, and I will require books!

Spend four minutes on iBooks downloading two books (categories: Spirituality and Horror), then spent the next 26 minutes browsing the online bookstore.

My breakfast arrives sometime in this time span. Either there has been a gross breakdown in translation (possible), or Argentines interpret eggs Benedict as a single fried egg on top of sweet French toast alongside four wet arugula leaves (also possible). Coffee is good though.

Time to kill it! Open document from client. Realize I need a more advanced spreadsheet-editing app than the one I have on my Pad, if I want to complete my work as efficiently as possible. Which of course I do, as I am productivity machine.

Search online through several iPad forums to research the best app for what I need. (I have to be diligent about this! I can’t just pick any one! My productivity is on the line here!) Learn that what I want is Quickoffice and that it is $10. A bargain! Click link in forum which takes me to Quickoffice web site. The site says the app is now $15. Still reasonable! Click download link and am taken to App Store where it is now $20. WTF. Click Buy. With this new technology I can WORK AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT.

While app is downloading, check Facey. Note who “liked” my status. Note who has posted since I updated my status but did not “like” it.

Quickoffice app has downloaded. Still checking Facey. Read a couple of news articles. Read the comments below the articles. Roll eyes at moron commenters while mentally composing the indignant responses I would post if my comments weren’t visible to my friends on Facey.

Sneak a glance behind me, at chocolate counter. Look back down at Pad. Look at counter. Look at Pad. Look at counter. Pad. Counter.

I need distractions! Go to YouTube. Watch old ESPN commercial with Drew Brees. Giggle. Love New Orleans. Watch the NYC Soul Train Flash Mob tribute to Don Cornelius. Smile! Love New York.

Decide I want a flash mob doing the Electric Slide and a Soul Train line at MY funeral. Ponder whether I should write my wishes down and have them notarized and delivered to next of kin, otherwise I might have a basic garden-variety funeral with lots of crying and solemnity, which would be unacceptable. Ponder death, meaning of life, importance of ritual. Look over at chocolate counter again.

I need distractions! Go back to Facey. Someone has posted the new Gorillaz track featuring James Murphy and Andre3000. Go to SoundCloud. Do I want the SoundCloud iPad app? Well, yeah! Download.

Look at chocolate counter again. Notice that, as per Argentine custom, no server has acknowledged or approached me in the past hour to remove my dishes or find out if I want more coffee, which I do. Become annoyed. Drum fingers. Look at chocolate counter. Ooh, are those …? No. No!

I need distractions. Check on progress of SoundCloud download. Done! Listen to new Gorillaz song. So good. Post it on Facey.

Decide the waitress has forgotten me entirely and that I must therefore approach the counter. Instead of ordering another coffee as planned, find myself ordering box of assorted truffles. Danger! In panic, blurt out that I would like to pay my check and leave. Fork over an inordinate amount of pesos for a bad breakfast, good coffee, and what I am assuming are great chocolates. Snatch little gilt box from saleswoman after admitting they are not a gift — yes lady, you heard me correctly, they’re for ME — and scurry from cafe/chocolatier.

Decide everything went to hell today due to my initial bad decision to work in the wrong type of cafe, and that I must now go out in this beautiful day, with the sun shining and birds chirping frantically, to find the correct type of cafe for my work output and well-being, one with healthy salads and bubbly water and no distractions. It is only 2:30 p.m.! Plenty of time to be productive today.

Ode to an Ex-Stranger

April 1st, 2011

When traveling alone, it makes sense to keep up one’s guard — to avoid interacting as freely with strangers as one might do when one is with companions, or in familiar surroundings. This is especially true for a woman traveling solo. Best to evade situations that can bring unwelcome attention or uninvited company.

But meeting people is such a significant element of travel. A person who becomes too guarded can miss out on valuable connections with others — connections that not only enrich the place where you are visiting, but can change your perception, add to your knowledge, leave a lasting impact on your character.

Getting to know the locals, of course, fosters a better understanding of where you are visiting. Equally valuable are fellow travelers who find themselves in the same place and time as you. Through universal human experiences — love, loss, death, humility, gratitude, hopefulness — we find common ground with others, even those who may have had very different backgrounds and life stories than ours. This can nurture the beginning of a good friendship, maybe a great one.

Some places seem to attract people worth knowing. I think Zipolite is one of them. Its locals are warm and open, its beach is magical, and interesting people seem to converge here as a result. When combined, these are great catalysts for making it safe to drop one’s guard; for making it okay, or better, to let oneself become disarmed by a stranger with a disarming smile.

It’s easy to get caught up in the scenery while traveling, and far more difficult to take that leap and make a good friend. But, oh, it’s absolutely worth it.

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BOOKED.

February 16th, 2011

After a long and difficult winter …

¡ME GUSTAAAAAA!

One way. Two weeks from now. :)

Mubarak: Y U No Leave?

February 10th, 2011

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced he has handed his powers over to his vice president but he refused to step down outright or leave the country, retaining his title of president and ensuring regime control over the reform process. Stunned protesters in central Cairo who demand his ouster waved their shoes in contempt and shouted, “Leave, leave, leave.”

— The Associated Press



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Happy Chinese New Year!

February 3rd, 2011

According to the Chinese lunisolar calendar, 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit.

Damn. I was really hoping 2011 would be

Maybe next year.

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Christmas Around the World!

December 24th, 2010

Love the photos in this cool video of Christmas images from around the world. (Not too happy with the transitions and Kenny G-esque music BUT HEY.)

Bon Nadal!  Vrolijk Kerstfeest!  Joyeux Noël!  ¡Feliz Navidad!  Buon Natale!  Merii Kurisumasu!  Frohe Weihnachten!  Mele Kalikimaka!  God Jul!  Mừng Chúa Giáng Sinh! Kala Xristougenna!  Maligayang Pasko!  Feliz Natal!  Sretan Božić!  Heri la Krismasi!  สุขสันต์วันคริสตร์มาส!  Merry Christmas!

My Stephen Colbert Photoshop Challenge entry

December 17th, 2010

One of my favorite people-I-don’t-know-in-real-life, Stephen Colbert, has issued a challenge to remaster his portrait and thus turn it into ART.

Here is my entry, “The Joy of Painting Stephen.”

A merging of two great men.

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I must give props where they are due: to my friends Robyn and Vicki who, in the past, have used this setting for fabulous creative endeavors of their own, and my friend Rich, who is obsessed with Bob Ross.

So Many Strange Places I’d Like To Be

November 2nd, 2010

It’s my first foray back into travel blogging after an extended absence due to some personal shiz, and I hope you’ll indulge me in a bit of navel gazing, Internets, before we return to our regular routine of pictures and commentary about random places.

Lately I’ve been contemplating the nature of my nomadic lifestyle and the psychology of the rootless existence I’ve been living these past few years. When my Dad died last month, I needed to be around family and stay for a while in the area where I grew up — a touchstone of sorts after losing a major anchor in my life. For as long as I can remember, I’d wanted to see the world, and for most of my adulthood this desire took a backseat to other priorities. When circumstances liberated me from those priorities (not to mention most of my material possessions) I had the opportunity to travel, and I took it. That was four and a half years ago, and since then I have not had the desire nor the inclination to settle back down somewhere. I’ve been adhering to the philosophy that I should follow my gut instincts no matter how bizarre they might seem to myself or others, and my gut has been telling me to keep moving.

Today I flew from Vancouver to San Francisco. As the plane passed over spectacular mountain peaks and valleys, a song popped into my head that sometimes does when I travel. It’s a song I first heard many, many (many many many) years ago, sung by Ernie on Sesame Street, and I loved it then and still do. But for some reason, today, just thinking about it made me teary. Okay, more than teary. Here’s the video with the lyrics:

I’d Like To Visit The Moon

Well I’d like to visit the moon,
on a rocketship high in the air.
Yes, I’d like to visit the moon,
but I don’t think I’d like to live there.
Though I’d like to look down at the earth from above,
I would miss all the places and people I love
So although I might like it for one afternoon,
I don’t want to live on the moon.

I’d like to travel under the sea,
I could meet all the fish everywhere
Yes, I’d travel under the sea,
But I don’t think I’d like to live there.
I might stay for a day there if I had my wish
But there’s not much to do when your friends are all fish,
and an oyster and clam aren’t real family.
I don’t want to live in the sea.

I’d like to visit the jungle, hear the lions roar,
go back in time and meet a dinosaur
There’s so many strange places I’d like to be,
but none of them permanently.

So if I should visit the moon,
I would dance on a moonbeam and then
I will make a wish on a star
and I’ll wish I was home once again.

Though I’d like to look down at the earth from above,
I would miss all the places and people I love
So although I may go,
I’ll be coming home soon
Cause I don’t want to live on the moon.
No, I don’t want to live on the moon.

I have no idea how I should interpret this seemingly out-of-nowhere, weird emotional reaction to this song, but I know I should pay attention.
All will be revealed.

“There’s so many strange places I’d like to be, but none of them permanently …”

A Traveler’s Farewell

September 16th, 2010

I haven’t posted anything here for more than a month, due to a really jarring loss in my family and in my life: that of my father, Jules Loh.

For those of you who don’t know him, this Associated Press obituary will tell you quite a bit about Dad and his remarkable life. It’s a lovely article that focuses on my dad’s influence in his field of journalism. I am privileged to have had his lifelong influence as a father.

Growing up, I thought Dad had the coolest job in the world, traveling nonstop and writing colorful prose about what he found. It didn’t occur to me to dislike his frequent absences from home, because he always came back with interesting stories, artifacts and influences from the places he’d seen and the people he’d met. And even though he’d hint about long, decidedly non-glamorous hours spent in airports, on planes, driving rental cars and staying in hotels  — that down side of constant travel didn’t seem all that bad to me, and I guess it never has.

Dad said you could often figure out everything you needed to know about a person or place simply by noticing the details. His favorite example of this was a sign he saw once in a North Dakota hotel lobby: DON’T GUT YOUR DEER IN THE BATHTUB.

My resulting over-attention to detail has probably made me too observant for my own good at times, but when faced with strangers in a strange land, it has never failed me.

That’s just one of the countless things he’s taught me, and it has helped me so much in my life. I’m going to miss him always.

So Long, U.S.A.

June 15th, 2010

… for now, anyway. I leave tomorrow for a quick hop to London and then Uganda. I’ve been living the mantra “be here now” which is why I’m this unprepared for my trip … too much basking in California sun and not enough indoor preparation. But. It’ll get done, it always does.

I’m not even thinking too far ahead to Uganda … I have a couple of days in London to look forward to. I’ve been wanting to go to London since I was three years old and my dad read me the stories of A.A. Milne … the original Winnie-the-Pooh, not Disney-the-Pooh but the real deal with clever rhymes and stories. “They’re changing guard at Buckingham Palace/ Christopher Robin went down with Alice … ”

That’s tomorrow. Now I’ve gotta pack. I’m about 3/4 of the way there, and took a break to test this WordPress app for my new iPad. I’m going to be leaving the laptop at home and will be Pad-dependent for five weeks (ew, that sounds like a horrible hygiene issue), let’s see how this works.

London, I can’t wait till we meet.