This is part 4 of 6 in my series “Gringoizing Brazil: An American’s Guide to Carnival in Rio. Check out the first three posts Before you Leave, What to Expect When you Land, and The Carnival Parade. So you have successfully made it to Carnival. You have donned an extravagent costume. You have danced in the sambadromo. What else is there? Many people are surprised to find out that when they arrive in Rio, there is much more to the event than giant floats and extravagant costumes. Carnival is essentially one really big party. Or rather, a series of really big parties. Each day during carnival there is a schedule of street parties or “blocos” in various neighborhoods throughout town.
Continue Reading > 6 Comments posted: June 30th, 2009
Since I began my site a few months ago, I have been fortunate to speak with numerous other bloggers in my niche. Speaking with them and spending time on their blogs has been extremely valuable when it comes to getting this site on solid ground. If you search through my archives, you will undoubtedly find links to many of their sites, but I wanted to recognize all of those people/posts that have helped inspire me and keep me moving forward. So without further adieu I would like to introduce my very first carnival of blogs! The Art of Non-conformity – The first blog on lifestyle design and travel that I ever found was Chris Guillebeau’s. I remember the first time
Continue Reading > 15 Comments posted: June 29th, 2009
In the comment string of Accountability and a Comfortable life, a reader challenged my statement that “it all boils down to finances” when it comes to my quest to travel and become location independent. I have thought about this a lot over the last couple days and it begs the question: how important is money? Whether it is traveling, starting a business, or life in general, money seems to be the #1 deterrant in our quest to fulfill our goals. The more I have thought about this question, the more I can’t help but feel that we only use money as an excuse to not venture into the unknown. When I tell people about my plans of world travel, I
Continue Reading > 18 Comments posted: June 25th, 2009
Since their August 2008 opening, I have heard nothing but good things about 50plates (a play on “50 states”). This past week I was finally able to head down to the Pearl District to check it out, and was treated to one of the more unique restaurants I have been to in awhile. I do need to preface this with the fact that I did not actually attend happy hour. However, I felt ok making this the H.H.O.T.W. because it has some great food, and the dinner prices are nowhere near the level of most of it’s Pearl counterparts. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the very cool map of the country made entirely out of
Continue Reading > No comments yet. posted: June 24th, 2009
Has your life become too comfortable? It is so easy to get sucked into the daily routine of life, waiting for that yearly raise (which won’t come for many this year), saving up for your two weeks of vacation, and watching TV on the couch most nights of the week. Millions of people live this life, and for millions, it is exactly where they want to be. However, I want something more, and I bet you do too. The hardest part about a comfortable life is that it is so difficult to break out of. I mean, who doesn’t like being comfortable? There is very little that is unknown, and thus very little fear or risk. And that terrifies me
Continue Reading > 10 Comments posted: June 22nd, 2009
A few days ago I was walking to work and I glanced over at where the Willamette River was supposed to be. Instead of being able to look across the river at Mt. Hood, all I saw was a towering structure docked in the water that certainly wasn’t there the day before. Turns out “The World”, one of only residential cruise ships on the planet, decided to make a stop in Portland. For a long time I have thought about how the cruise industry could be a fantastic foray into a Location Independent lifestyle (if you do it correctly). As it turns out, that big boat was what gave me the motivation I needed to write this article. The first
Continue Reading > 4 Comments posted: June 19th, 2009
Alright, it was only a matter of time before I wrote about an old favorite of mine, the Rock Bottom Brewery. Maybe it is just the fact that they are located accross the street from my office, but I have probably been to happy hour here, more than any other bar in Portland. So what makes it so good (aside from its close proximity to me)? Well lets see, for starters they have some fantastic beer. I almost always go for the Sunny Day IPA, but they often have some great seasonals on tap too (the just tapped their Kolsch 55 last Thursday). During happy hour the beer is only $3.50 a pint, which isn’t a bad deal compared to
Continue Reading > No comments yet. posted: June 17th, 2009
The more time you spend traveling, the more you will realize that opportunities to do cool stuff and meet interesting people often come when you least expect it. The day after “Gorgeous Girls, Fast Boat, French Riviera” I found myself enjoying one of the specialty 1 Euro beers on the patio at Villa St. Exupery hostel. As I was trying to figure out what to do the next day, a guy came up to me who spoke very little English. Aside from the word “canyon” I couldn’t really make out what he was saying, however the pictures he provided were all I needed to see. Imagine: natural water slides cascading into crystal clear pools, at the bottom of a 500
Continue Reading > 8 Comments posted: June 16th, 2009
Have you ever wanted to learn how to sail? Experience exotic destinations? Embark on an adventure? We all have at some point or another. Well I would like to tell you about a website that enables these things. Findacrew.net is a website that is designed to match up sailors (you) looking for a boat to work on, and boats looking for crew members. You can sign up for a free account that then allows you to send very basic emails expressing your interest in working aboard the ship. You can’t customize these emails in any way with the free account, however if a captain shows interest in you, they will send a response with information on how to get a
Continue Reading > 4 Comments posted: June 15th, 2009
This is part three of three in a series of guest posts from Ryan Martin. In this post he will discuss the reality of finding work on the island. Follow the links if you haven’t read part 1 or part 2. So far I have been writing about how awesome Hawaii is and how it has pretty much been all fun and games. Now here comes the dark side…or so it was for me. After the honeymoon stage ended for me on Maui, I decided I needed to get a J-O-B. I mean, half the reason I came to Hawaii was to pursue a job in the hospitality/tourism industry. So I set out on a quest to find a way
Continue Reading > 7 Comments posted: June 12th, 2009
