Last week I received an email that made me smile.
Hi, Katie. I just wanted to tell you that your blog is awesome, and
because of that, when I was given a blog “award” today and asked to
pass it on, you were one of the first people I thought of.
I hope you don’t mind the shout out to your blog here:
http://mylifeslist.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/blog-award/
Feel free to pass it on, or not. I just wanted you to know you’re one
of my favorite travel bloggers. 🙂
When I started this blog, I really didn’t know what to expect. I wanted a way to share my travel experiences with others, not just my friends and family. I also saw it as an outlet for my creative side that had been a bit repressed for the last 20+ years. And I hoped that maybe someone out there would find it inspiring or encouraging or helpful in some way.
So while it has been fun to see my traffic grow over the months and know that more people are stumbling across this site, what really means the most is feedback like the email above. It makes it all worth it.
The “award” that was passed on to me has two terms – that I share 7 things about myself with my readers and that I pass the award on to other bloggers. So here goes:
7 Things About Me (that you may not already know)
1. I hate parallel parking. I failed my driver’s test on the first try because I couldn’t parallel park.
2. I’m still not sure what I want to be when I grow up. At various points in my life, I have wanted to be an interior decorator, an architect, a fashion designer, a journalist, an international corporate attorney, an immigration attorney, a legal recruiter, a career counselor, and a travel agent. (note that these do not include the two careers I actually have pursued…)
3. I am intellectually lazy. Really, I am. A partner I once worked for when I was a lawyer even told me this in my annual review and I couldn’t disagree. I love to explore, I love to learn, I can overanalyze some things to death (like why didn’t that guy from the bar ever call?), and I can have strong opinions about certain topics. But sometimes, I just really don’t like to think. That probably has a lot to do with why I’m not a lawyer anymore.
4. I am a reality TV show junkie. It started with MTV’s The Real World (yes, my friends and I tried to find the cast when they filmed in Chicago). And of course Road Rules and The Real World/Road Rules Challenges. Then came the Amazing Race, America’s Next Top Model, Biggest Loser, Big Brother…the list goes on. My latest guilty pleasure? My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding on TLC. Please don’t hold this against me.
5. I am a romantic at heart and I can’t help but believe that everything happens for a reason. To that end, I love the lyrics to Haven’t Met You Yet by Michael Buble:
“I guess it’s half timing and the other half’s luck.
Wherever you are, whenever it’s right, you’ll come out of nowhere and into my life.”
6. I love to read. When I was a kid, I would check out the maximum number of books allowed from the library and finish them all in a couple days. I stopped reading for pleasure while I was in college and law school (likely because I had so much other reading to do!), but as soon as I had taken the bar exam, I started reading again and now I rarely leave home without a book tucked into my purse.
7. The only thing I love more than travel may be sports. I spend most fall Saturdays watching college football and most Sundays with the NFL. My favorite time of year is March Madness, when I run a survivor pool and take off work for the first two days of the tournament to watch all the first-round games. I’ve been to all four Grand Slam tennis tournaments and have been known to wake up at 2:00 a.m. to watch a big match at the Australian Open. I watch the Olympics in real time online instead of waiting for the tape delayed replay.
- At the US Open in 2008
Blogs That I Am Loving Right Now
In addition to those listed under What I’m Reading, I’ve recently discovered the following blogs that really inspire me:
Paige Worthy – Paige writes with great insight about love, relationships and life.
The Fearful Adventurer – Torre writes about facing fears and following dreams. I just found her blog through Twitter, but I am totally hooked.
Uncornered Market – Daniel and Audrey have been traveling around the world for over 4 years and have been to a lot of places that are on my must-see list, including the ‘Stans in Central Asia and Mt. Kiliminjaro (which they recently climbed and wrote a super-inspirational post about the experience and lessons learned)
