I read a travel article today that contained a link to not eating out in ny, a great blog on dining in.
To me (and perhaps any other person of average to below average means), spending less and planning toward travel go hand in hand. While, as of late, I haven't been exactly frugal, I have many years experience on living on less. Something about spending a lot of money has always made me feel sick. I know that spending can be exhilarating to some...who hasn't read an article on shopping addicts at some point? ...but it's taken years (and seeing the pitfalls of overspending in others' lives) for me to feel comfortable with being more conservative with money.
Ever since I was a child, I leaned more toward saving than spending. At the end of each year, I had a wad of cash saved to spend on Christmas presents for my family, while my brother would have barely anything to spend. Since then, he's upgraded his income (and wised up on saving, and even taught me a bit about the stock market).
So back to the point...one of the ways we save money is by eating mostly at home. When people say they can't cook, I get the feeling that what they mean is that they really just consider it too much of a bother. Anyone who cooks dinner every night at home will "know how to cook" in just a few years (or less). And if you're determined enough to eat certain dishes while curbing your dining out habit, you're bound to learn how to make them.
For instance, once craving the Jamaican beef patties my father used to buy after church on Sundays throughout my childhood (but living in New Zealand where said patties were not available), I learned how to make them using a recipe online. Flaky, curried pastry and all! Cooking at home (at least for me) inspires creativity. Of course when you start off, some meals will be a disaster, but I encourage everyone (savers or not) to get more in touch with your food by making it yourself.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
earthquake - christchurch
It's amazing how much your heart can ache for a place. How you realize how much you love it when you hear news of it. This is the case for me and Christchurch, New Zealand.
Hearing about this earthquake has made me sick to my stomach, almost the same feeling I had when I heard about the Haiti earthquake... and knew that my best friend was there in Port-au-Prince.
I looked up images a few minute ago, and the first I found was of a building that used to be two-story, located not far from where we lived in our little shack. The second was of the block next to where I use to work! The whole front face of the second floor is in ruins. Bricks are strewn on the street, but remarkably, even the glass of the first floor is intact.
Once I realized what I was seeing and where it was, my eyes welled up. The nicest Korean couple owns the fruit shop, and I used to go there each morning to pick up vegetables for sandwiches and meals. I'd walk through their cold storage rooms and pick out spring onions, herbs, and cold, wet heads of lettuce. At lunch, I'd buy little bags of candy, fruit, or a magazine.
Christchurch is a place that will always be in my heart because of the year we spent there. I wish the best for everyone in the area.
Hearing about this earthquake has made me sick to my stomach, almost the same feeling I had when I heard about the Haiti earthquake... and knew that my best friend was there in Port-au-Prince.
I looked up images a few minute ago, and the first I found was of a building that used to be two-story, located not far from where we lived in our little shack. The second was of the block next to where I use to work! The whole front face of the second floor is in ruins. Bricks are strewn on the street, but remarkably, even the glass of the first floor is intact.
Once I realized what I was seeing and where it was, my eyes welled up. The nicest Korean couple owns the fruit shop, and I used to go there each morning to pick up vegetables for sandwiches and meals. I'd walk through their cold storage rooms and pick out spring onions, herbs, and cold, wet heads of lettuce. At lunch, I'd buy little bags of candy, fruit, or a magazine.
Christchurch is a place that will always be in my heart because of the year we spent there. I wish the best for everyone in the area.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
eat pray love (film)
Has it already been a week since my first post?
In the past week, I got a job (yay!), took care of my sick nephew (exhausting!) and saw Eat Pray Love. As is always the case, the book is better than the movie. It's impossible to distance myself from what I expect to happen with what actually happens in the film. I could understand how different events needed to be tied into one event for the sake of time constraints, but nonetheless found it annoying.
My sister commented that the one thing that really bothered her about the movie was how put together Julia Robert's was in India. She expected some sweat and no makeup (or at least movie makeup that looked like no make up). She was there to pray! But Hollywood is Hollywood. Everything is packaged neatly. Even Liz's depression was glossed over. (and her mosquito bites looked fake)
What I loved most was traveling through the world for a couple hours. It made me want to go back to Italy, actually stop in Naples this time and eat some pizza! There is a scene in Rome where she's watching a couple making out, and the man's hand is traveling around the woman's exposed midriff....then Liz is served spaghetti, and watching her eat it feels like watching the lovers. Indulgent. Forbidden.
I can't believe it has already been seven years since I first went to Italy to study abroad! The time went by so quickly. I knew so little about the country and think it was one of the first times I realized how little I really know about the world. Many of the (extremely well-known) sites we visited were completely unknown to me then. In a way, that ignorance I had freed me from the burden of self-expectation to hit every historical spot and see every major painting or sculpture and just love Italy for what it is now. Of course, this involved copious amounts of food. However, unlike most people, who gain weight after traveling in countries known for their food, with no restraint I lost ~25 lbs! I didn't even realize I had until one day I pulled down my jeans to go to the bathroom without thinking. No unbuttoning, unzipping. How could that happen? It was the first time I had lived without a car, walking everywhere, including up a steep hill to get to the studio buildings multiple times a day. So even the giant dinners and daily desserts didn't stay with me.
Since then, I've taken walking to be my philosophy for a good life. If you can walk everywhere you need to go, fantastic. If you can get to all the extra places on a bus or train, even better. So even in New Zealand, where it seems most long-term backpackers (we were there for 2 years) buy a car, we didn't. We took the bus, the train, and mostly lived in each town for a long time and walked.
So, even though I gained most of that weight back, I'm still a walker. I think the obstacle now is that we live too close to everything, which requires very little effort, and feels very luxurious.
In the past week, I got a job (yay!), took care of my sick nephew (exhausting!) and saw Eat Pray Love. As is always the case, the book is better than the movie. It's impossible to distance myself from what I expect to happen with what actually happens in the film. I could understand how different events needed to be tied into one event for the sake of time constraints, but nonetheless found it annoying.
My sister commented that the one thing that really bothered her about the movie was how put together Julia Robert's was in India. She expected some sweat and no makeup (or at least movie makeup that looked like no make up). She was there to pray! But Hollywood is Hollywood. Everything is packaged neatly. Even Liz's depression was glossed over. (and her mosquito bites looked fake)
What I loved most was traveling through the world for a couple hours. It made me want to go back to Italy, actually stop in Naples this time and eat some pizza! There is a scene in Rome where she's watching a couple making out, and the man's hand is traveling around the woman's exposed midriff....then Liz is served spaghetti, and watching her eat it feels like watching the lovers. Indulgent. Forbidden.
I can't believe it has already been seven years since I first went to Italy to study abroad! The time went by so quickly. I knew so little about the country and think it was one of the first times I realized how little I really know about the world. Many of the (extremely well-known) sites we visited were completely unknown to me then. In a way, that ignorance I had freed me from the burden of self-expectation to hit every historical spot and see every major painting or sculpture and just love Italy for what it is now. Of course, this involved copious amounts of food. However, unlike most people, who gain weight after traveling in countries known for their food, with no restraint I lost ~25 lbs! I didn't even realize I had until one day I pulled down my jeans to go to the bathroom without thinking. No unbuttoning, unzipping. How could that happen? It was the first time I had lived without a car, walking everywhere, including up a steep hill to get to the studio buildings multiple times a day. So even the giant dinners and daily desserts didn't stay with me.
Since then, I've taken walking to be my philosophy for a good life. If you can walk everywhere you need to go, fantastic. If you can get to all the extra places on a bus or train, even better. So even in New Zealand, where it seems most long-term backpackers (we were there for 2 years) buy a car, we didn't. We took the bus, the train, and mostly lived in each town for a long time and walked.
So, even though I gained most of that weight back, I'm still a walker. I think the obstacle now is that we live too close to everything, which requires very little effort, and feels very luxurious.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
thanks
I am starting this travel blog thanks to encouragement from two friends, Raphaela and Allison.
Both of these wonderful women are about to embark on an exiting new journey of their own in the near future.
Bon voyage!
Both of these wonderful women are about to embark on an exiting new journey of their own in the near future.
Bon voyage!
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