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The First Fork in the Road to Finding a Passionate Life

29/5/2012

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Probably the most important personal lesson I have learned while traveling is that in life it is possible to do anything. I truly believe, whether naïvely or not, that it is possible choose any path in life and achieve considerable success at it. Personally, that could mean founding an international adventure travel company, getting a geology degree and working for an (honest) diamond mining company in the Congo jungle, becoming a nomad on the Mongolian steppe, getting hired as an Al Jazeera war-zone correspondent, buying a piece of land in the Canadian mountains and living out a peaceful, natural life with my future family, working as a business consultant to help NGOs function better, or a crisis doctor for MSF; even becoming a politician or a Wall Street banker. Not that I find the latter two appealing, but the point is that I know it is possible if I commit myself. 
Probably the most important personal lesson I have learned while traveling is that in life it is possible to do anything. I truly believe, whether naïvely or not, that it is possible choose any path in life and achieve considerable success at it. Personally, that could mean founding an international adventure travel company, getting a geology degree and working for an (honest) diamond mining company in the Congo jungle, becoming a nomad on the Mongolian steppe, getting hired as an Al Jazeera war-zone correspondent, buying a piece of land in the Canadian mountains and living out a peaceful, natural life with my future family, working as a business consultant to help NGOs function better, or a crisis doctor for MSF; even becoming a politician or a Wall Street banker. Not that I find the latter two appealing, but the point is that I know it is possible if I commit myself. 

Yes this might sound over-optimistic, and some people would tell me that optimism dies in the real world if one sets their goals too high. But that is beside the point. Aim for the stars and you might just land on the moon. If you have targeted something and want it with complete conviction, then nothing could be more satisfying than striving for that goal. Yes the steps forward might be slow and heavy, but they will come. And yes maybe there could be some huge or immovable roadblocks, but it is about the satisfaction and magic that happens when going after what you believe in. I have met enough successful and amazing people with highly unconventional and sometimes barely believable stories about how they reached their goals to know that anything is possible. 
For me, the first fork in the road along the path to finding a career and lifestyle to be passionate about is a decision between playing a significant role in mainstream society – i.e. fighting for social justice and making a positive contribution to the well-being of the planet; or focusing on a more peaceful, self-centered, happy to be alive existence. (A third option – working any random job, well-paid or not, simply to be part of society and make money – is not an option I consider personally relevant.)

These questions go to the core of my underlying uncertainty about the meaning of life. Is it giving back to the world and trying to leave it in a better state than you found it, or is it being a good individual and giving back positively to the energy of the universe? (This terminology is my quantum physics pantheistic interpretation of God coming into play, but you get the point.) Is it enough to be happy and at peace with one’s self? 
I have met many intelligent and inspirational people who have followed each of these two branches. Working in the Canadian Rockies as a tour guide, for example, I met old cowboys who have spent their entire lives riding horses through one of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth. They are perfectly fulfilled in life, have a never-ending basket of interesting experiences, specialized knowledge, and insights into life, are never bored – there are always new challenges to face and new mountain paths to ride – and give off the aura of genuine happiness. On the other hand one doesn’t have to look far to find example upon example of ambitious people doing amazing things and contributing to the betterment of society an advancement of human knowledge, and also seeming happy and fulfilled in the process (I wont even list an example because virtually every speaker on TED.com fits the category). 
    
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Cowboys in the Canadian Rockies - we were getting PAID to do this!

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Train Your Brain

17/5/2012

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I recently enjoyed Josh Foer's book - Moonwalking with Einstein - and was happy to find him headlining the list of talks that TED sends out to subscribers every week. The layout of the talk is sort of a fast paced mini version of his book, and if you find this topic remotely interesting I recommend checking out the full version. Looking back to my pre-Foer knowledge of memory training, I am shocked and slightly bashful to say that despite years of formal and informal education, it was nonexistent. That is neither the knowledge of memory training techniques nor the knowledge of the possibilities that they create. As Josh points out, the majority of the general population thinks that people who memorize thousands of digits of pi and decks of cards within minutes are savants or 'different' in some other way, so it was interesting to learn that there are very simple, easily understood techniques to complete these feats. 

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BBC Human Planet

25/4/2012

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We have celebrated the land and the seas with Planet Earth and Blue Planet; now its about time that we turn an eye to the fascinating cultures that share space on our rock in the sky. These cultures are disappearing at the same rate that the wonderful and rare animals are, so it is great that BBC decided to record them too.  
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The above links to an audio slideshow made by a photographer who accompanied the filmmakers/  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12618167. Below is the BBC trailer.
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World Press Photo of the Year

23/2/2012

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Sometimes a picture really does speak a thousand words. Taken by Samuel Aranda in a mosque-cum-hospital in Yemen, during the Arab Spring.  http://www.worldpressphoto.org/
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Solo Female Hitchhikers

8/2/2012

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Women shouldn't be afraid to hitchhike. Read my advice on staying safe. 

Hitchhiking can be an incredible experience for women, solo or not. Of course there are tons of horror stories out there, especially if you come from the Americas and have heard of the multitude of psycho prostitute killers that seem to roam the streets. But in reality the experience of hitching as a woman has many benefits, not least of which is that people are always willing to go out of their way to help you and keep you safe. Plus, if you are in more conservative parts of the world, as a woman you will have access to parts of the culture completely off limits to men. Of course there is the security issue, but it doesn't have to be as big of a factor as many people point out. In two and a half years I have still never been in a truly bad situation. Try reading my advice article and contact me if you have any questions or need encouragement :)
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SOPA? Another another attempt to slip one past the masses?

18/1/2012

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The following is a comment I wrote to the TED Talk by Clay Shirky where he outlines the meaning and danger of the SOPA and PIPA acts that the US congress is currently contemplating. It seems unfortunate to me that, even in a community filled with brilliant people such as TED, the majority of the discussion was focused on whether or not piracy of copyrighted material was a problem. Yes it is a related issue, but of small importance when considering the real implications SOPA could have.

*Sign the petition here*


"What Monsanto did to agriculture, SOPA could do to the internet. Arguing about whether or not media piracy is a problem misses the point by a mile, because SOPA wont stop it and will likely not even have a big effect on it. US users will still be able to access copyrighted-media sharing sites (based in other countries) simply by knowing their IP address. 

The two things that WILL happen are: 1) US-based sites that facilitate interaction between US citizens will be targeted. Places where we share our ideas (and may occasionally reference/use copyrighted material) will become scapegoats and could get shut down or become highly censored. And 2) Countries around the world, particularly dictatorships, will follow the US model and use it as an excuse to censor their citizens and prevent uprisings. How much would we known of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and now Syria without their free, unfiltered access to social media?

Saying SOPA is an anti-piracy initiative trying to protect our media industry is just another government attempt to slip a ridiculously harmful law into the books while we look the other way because the actors/writers/artists etc that we look up to are supportive. Lets not fall for it!"
Another video that lays SOPA out clearly, from the website Fight for the Future
Follow Up: The SOPA vote has been postponed (for now). See here.  Score one for the people! But keep vigilant, they are bound to try again.
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Choosing a New Language

9/9/2011

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Lately I have been trying to decide what language to learn next.  I started on Russian a few months ago and was enjoying it, but it got put far back on the back-burner in light of recent events. Now that I am thinking of recommencing, the debate between Russian, Arabic and Chinese -Mandarin has started up again too. The criteria for deciding aren't surprising: something useful and practical. Useful in the sense that it can be widely used (particularly while traveling), and practical in the sense that it will be possible to become conversation-competent on my own.




Here is an interesting article on what author Anatoly Karlin calls the "10 Most Useful Languages". There are a few good links to other sites, particularly the one on "Why Chinese is So Damn Hard". I would say I am re-convinced to stick to Русский.  It is widely spoken in the Central Asian countries I am heading to, and in relation to the other two choices? Well,  Arabic seems way too hard without an Arabic teacher or cultural submersion and there is way too much memorization in the Chinese languages, although conversation might be feasible if literacy is not the focus.

On a related note, for anyone also interested in language learning. I HIGHLY recommend Pimsleur. It is an audio based program and can be listened to anywhere - while driving to work, walking your dog, running on a treadmill - and is a highly effective method that does a great job at both vocabulary retention and recollection. I have tried other programs out there, but Pimsleur always takes the cake. 

Pick a language and start learning! Удачи!


Photo Cred: Salvatore Vuono/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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    Hitchhiking leaves a lot of time to think.


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    Books
    Reading:
    War & Peace - Leo Tolstoy

    Read:
    A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Housani
    Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali
    The Great Game - On Secret Service in High Asia - Peter Hopkirk
    Afghanistan - Martin Ewans
    The In-Between World of Vikram Lall - MG Vassanji
    Codependant No More
    Ghost Wars - Steve Coll
    Metamorphasis - Kafka
    Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx
    A Time to Betray: The Astonishing Double Life of a CIA Agent Inside the Revolutionary Guards of Iran - Reza Khalili
    My Year Inside Radical Islam - A Memoir - Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
    The Last Living Slut - Roxana Shirazi
    Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire - Judith Herrin 
    Moonwalking with Einstein - Josh Foer
    Wisdom - ed. Andrew Zuckerman
    Ghost Train to the Eastern Star - Paul Thoreau
    No-Nonsense Guide to World History - Chris Brazier
    Arctic Dreams - Barry Lopez
    On The Road - Jack Kerouac
    Collapse - Jared Diamond
    The Songlines - Bruce Chatwin 
    You Majored in What? - Katharine Brooks
     Monsoon – Robert. D. Kaplan
    When We Were Gods: A Novel of Cleopatra – Colin Falconer 
    The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid  
    How to be Idle – Tom Hodgkinson
     My Name is Red – Orhan Pramuk
     The Zanzibar Chest – Aidan Hartley
     Guns, Germs and Steel – Jared Diamond  Burnt Out Case – Graham Green
     Around the World in 80 Days – Jules Verne
     Call of the Wild – Jack London
    Siddharta – Herman Hesse
    Reading Lolita in Tehran – Nafisi
    The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
     The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
    A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
    1984 – George Orwell
    Origin of Species – Charles Darwin
    Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
    The Joys of Motherhood – Buchi Emecheta  Un Lezard au Congo – Gil Courtemanche
    Toads for Supper – Chukwuemeke Ike
    Alice inWonderland
     The Problem of Pain – Lewis
     The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain 
    Three Cups of Tea – Greg Mortenson 
    The Graves Are Not Yet Full – Bill Berkely
    Animal Farm – George Orwell
    Kim – Rudyard Kipling
    Mortality for Beautiful Girls – 
    The Pelican Brief – John Grisham
    Ambiguous Adventures – Cheikh Hamidou Kane
    The Liberation Movement in the East – Lenin
    The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
    Everything is Illuminated – Jonathon Safran Foer
    Mother Tongue – Bill Bryson
    No Easy Walk to Freedom – Nelson Mandela
    Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
    A Man of the People – Chinua Achebe
    Blood River – Tim Butcher
    Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
    The African Child – Camara Laye
    The Last Child - John Hart
    Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
    The Ends of the Earth – Robert D. Kaplan
    Travels With Charley – John Steinbeck
    Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
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