Vegas, here I come!

Hey everybody,

It is the eve before I head off to Las Vegas and Canyon country for Christmas and New Year so I thought I'd get a quick blog update completed before heading off.

I've had a good few weeks working at the Crane Trust trying to standardise Whooping Crane data for a new database and establishing some basic business process to introduce in the New Year. There is so much I could do here but time is rushing by so quickly so I'll need to come back to do even half the stuff I'd like to.

The weather has been really cold over here, falling as low as -23C and even colder with the wind chill. We have had about 8 inches of snow this week but by far the worst is the wind, it is sooo cold! When the temperature plummeted last weekend the pipes in my trailer froze and I was without hot water. Luckily Travis the maintenance guy was able to get the water back by running a blow heater under the trailer for a few hours. He has also been a star keeping the drive clear for us with the snow plough. With a 2 1/2 mile drive, we could easily get snowed in. He even shovels the path right up to my trailer, what a sweetie!


I've spent the weekend with Karen, someone who has been working at the trust and studying for her masters. Karen has just graduated and is now looking for a job in conservation. We went out to Omaha yesterday to visit the zoo and take in an IMAX movie on the oceans. I bet you dig the look we are wearing!


Karen has a Hi-Lux Surf, almost identical to the one I used to own. It is so cold that it seems permanently encased in ice, despite us using it regularly over the weekend. On the way to Omaha yesterday we had to stop off after about 20 minutes to chip the ice off the hood because it was coming of in chunks on the interstate and the people behind were dodging ice bombs. Look closely at the front and you can see icicles hanging off the bumper!

Today Karen and I have been really lazy and have been chilling out on the sofa planning what we are going to do over the coming months. Back in the UK I came across a Sloth Rescue Center in Costa Rica and have been thinking about approaching them to see it I can volunteer with them starting in April. Our trip to the zoo yesterday has prompted me to get in touch with them after seeing the sloths there. Check out the picture, don't you think there are just soooo cute?


So what does the next week have in store for me? I fly into Las Vegas tomorrow and head out to the Grand Canyon on Wednesday for Christmas and a couple of days trekking. We then head out to Monument Valley and Arches National Park for more trekking and maybe a Hummer Jeep tour. Next is a stay on a ranch and the chance to try my hand at cattle roping. We complete out journey around canyon lands with a visit to Zion NP and then head back to Las Vegas to party the year out and see in 2009. I can't wait!

I'll post an update on my adventures in the New Year so in the meantime, Merry Christmas everybody and let me wish you all a Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoy the holidays.

Nikkie

Settling into Nebraska

10 days ago I arrived in Nebraska and am slowly settling into life in the slow lane.

I am staying at the Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, where I am volunteering over the next 10 weeks. The trust is quite remote and situated at the end of a 2 ½ mile drive about 16 miles from the nearest big town, Grand Island. I have been provided accommodation and have a 3 bedroom trailer that overlooks fields and is positioned perfectly for the impressive sunrises that occur here. I’ve also been provided with a car, which is a necessity here, so can get out and about to explore the area. The ‘office’ is about 50 metres from my trailer so you can imagine the trouble I have getting into work!

The people here are great and have made me feel really welcome. There are a mix of nationalities, predominately Latin American so there is no excuse for me not to improve my Spanish. I’ve already established a drinking partner, Luis a guy from Mexico so safe to say I have my priorities sorted.

Unfortunately I’ve been sick with another cold, what are the chances of that! Pretty unfair I think, 2 colds in two weeks so let’s just hope I’ve had my quota for the next year. As a result I’ve not been up to much except settling into my trailer and starting to understand how I can help out the trust on the work front. There appears to be a lot that I can help out with that will make a big difference to the way in which they work here which is good news.

I’m certainly getting into the rural life and have been treated to food from the land. Luis has been hunting the past two Sundays and has shot a deer each time so I’ve been treated to venison. Yesterday I helped skin and prepare the deer which took quite a few hours but the hard work was rewarded with barbeque ribs and wine. I don’t think I’ll be needing to buy meat for while and will have to test me venison culinary skills. For those of you surprised about me skinning a deer, I figure that if I’m happy to eat meat then I should be able to appreciate where it comes from. I agree with Luis’ motto, if you shoot it then eat it, so he shot it and I'm helping to eat it. I should have been more careful however because I was a bit careless with the knife and will now have a permanent reminder of my first deer skinning experience!

I hope you like the photos, I hope they give you a feel for the place. The temperature highs are not dissimilar to the UK but the lows are down to about -9C at the moment. The good thing however is that there is rarely a cloud in the sky so we just need to wrap up warm and enjoy the sunshine.

(sunrise from my trailer and sunset up the drive)

Later this week I’m going to experience a typical American holiday, Thanksgiving so am looking forward to more food, drinking and socialising.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Back on track.

I'm feeling much better now and have out and about in Washington admiring the sites. The weather has been cracking, shorts and vesties have been the order of the day which means I've been trying to do outdoor things. It has been great being able to top up on the tan, something that I really wasn't expecting for this time of the year, however my feet are complaining a bit because I have been walking for miles!

My first trip out after being stuck in the hostel for a few days was down to the National Mall, host to all the key sites of Washington and many museums. I didn't do too much, getting oriented really and checking out the Smithsonian Institute. An English guy (James Smithson) left his estate to Washington to found an institute for the 'increase and diffusion of knowledge' so the Smithsonian Institute was established. Now there are 19 museums, 9 research centers and a zoo, all of which are free.

In the evening I went on a walking tour of Georgetown, the trendy side of Washington, which ended up in a bar for a few beers which was good. Friday I headed out into the sunshine and walked up and down the National Mall visiting the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The White House, finishing the day at the National Museum of African Art. They had an exhibit on North African jewellery which was really interesting since most of it was from Morocco, areas and tribes that I've just visited. I covered a fair few miles today!

Saturday was nearly as good weather wise so I thought a trip to the zoo was in order. As zoos go, this one was pretty good, with much time and investment into breeding programs to help endangered species. It was another 10+ miles on the feet and a full day out so I was knackered by the time I got back to the hostel.

Today I've been back down the National Mall visiting more of the sites. Optimistic for another warm day I headed out in shorts and t-shirt but it wasn't quite as warm. I think the weather is finally turning so after making the most of the sun in the morning, I escaped into the National Museum of Air and Space this afternoon. I was freezing by the time I got back to the hostel so I think the shorts will have to be packed up now until I reach Cancun.

I have 4 days left which I intend to fill with more museum visits. I plan to tick off the Natural History Museum, Newseum (news museum), Holocaust museum and Museum of the American Indian. I also still want to see the National Archives, US Capitol and Union Station so I'm definitely going to be busy.

Catch up again once I've settled into Nebraska!

Sick in Washington!

Well it has not been a great start to my trip as I came down with a stinker of a cold on my last day in Morocco and it has settled in good and proper now. They took care of me on the BA flight with honey and lemon and luckily the flight was only about 30 mins late, landing at 3pm. Unfortunately there were delays in getting us to the terminal so I ended up right at the back of the queue at immigration. I had no problems getting through immigration and finally made it to the youth hostel at about 5.30.
After settling into my room (or should I say bed - bottom bunk in a 10 bed mixed dorm) I popped out to get some food to keep me going till morning. The place was buzzing with the election news and many people were lined up in the TV room watching all the action. I however was feeling pretty rough and after a sandwich, a few chapters of my book, a sprinking of olbas oil and a couple of tylanol I packed myself off to bed.
Today I'm still deeply wrapped in the arms of 'Mr Cold' so I am having a quiet day at the youth hostel catching up on my email. It is a real shame I wasn't up to doing anything last night because the talk at breakfast was about the partying that was going on until late on the streets of Washington last night.
I'm going to pop out shortly to stock up on provisions and right this day off. I'm really glad I'm in Washington for a while because it means I don't feel under pressure to get out and about until I'm feeling better.

Catch up again soon when I've actually done something!

The travelling starts!

As Salam alaykum! Greetings from Morocco.
Well finally the talking has stopped and I have started my travels, beginning in Morocco with a reunion trip. 6 years ago I went to Kenya and Tanzania for my 30th birthday and was lucky enough to travel with a great group of people. A number of us have kept in touch and last year we agreed to meet up in Morocco on an Explore trip. 8 of the original group were able to make the trip and we made the numbers up to 12 with friends. It has been great meeting up with everyone again and our adventures started in Casablanca on Friday 17th October.

I am having a lovely time here and even after only a couple of days in the country, we all felt like we had been here a while. We are constantly on the go and visiting so many different places, spending only a night or 2 in each place. We chose to stay in traditional accommodations and have really been enjoying staying in Riad's and Kasbah's. Riad's are old town houses that are located in medinas, the old towns, and are centred around a courtyard. Each room is different and every place is unique, often richly decorated with mosaic and carvings. Kasbah's are fortified dwellings, often housing several families. Many have been converted into hotels and at this moment I'm siting in front of a fire in Kasbah du Toubkal high in the Atlas mountains below the highest mountain in North Africa, Toubkal.

Today I've been on a 6 hour walk up into the mountains and have had a fantastic day. The weather is quite cool up here and there is snow on the tops of the mountains. Autumn is really setting in and the leaves are all turning so the colours are great.

The weather has been mainly sunny but we have also had thunderstorms whilst driving through the High Atlas mountains that then flooded the roads and washed away bridges. We were stuck in a village along with many other vehicles for a while waiting for the flood waters to subside enough for us to cross the river. Standing around with all the locals, watching the brave attempt to drive across the bridge was great fun.

Fez was a great place and I loved walking around the medina. There are around 12000 alleyways in the medina and the only transport accessible to the area is donkey, mule and horse. The sights and smells were great with markets dotted around the medina.
The camel ride into the sahara was good and we climbed up on top of the dunes to watch the sunset.

Next we are off to Essaouira and the beach for a couple of days before our final two days in Marrakech.

I'll post some pictures when I get a chance. Next stop Washington DC!

Lady of Leisure

Last Thursday was my last day at work where I received a lovely leaving present and enjoyed a great evening with friends at a local pub. This means that I’m now officially unemployed and enjoying a life of leisure. This does however mean that I need to get on my bike if I need to go anywhere (as they took back the company car) and have realised that I’m really not very fit. Fortunately only something positive can come out of this.


I’m having fun sorting out my American visa with the embassy as we don’t seem able to agree on what visa I need so I’m not free of the joys of ‘administration’ yet. I’ve been pretty successful in convincing friends and family that they need to buy my belongings and contribute to my travelling fund. All the stuff that I failed to convince people was useful or desirable have taken a trip to the charity shop or the tip so I’m only left with things that people are yet to collect or stuff that I’m going to store. This weekend Jen is coming to take all that she has staked a claim to so come Sunday she takes off with my sofas and most of my garden furniture so I’ve nothing to sit on and more importantly, nothing to sunbathe on!


I’ve booked my international flights and will fly out to America on 4th November. I’m flying into Washington DC where I plan to spend a week sightseeing before travelling to Nebraska and starting work with the trust. My return flight is booked from Santiago in Chile. Before long I will book my airpass for internal flights in The Americas and will book an organised trip through Columbia that I’m interested in and a trip to the Galapagos Islands. I’ve also got a week to take from my timeshare and am considering a week in Cancun in February before going out to Cuba.


As always, there is a still lot to do so I won’t bore you with the details. Needless to say I’ll be busy over the next few weeks so will update you soon on progress!

Soon to be Unemployed!

Since my last posting things have moved on quite a bit on the planning side but there is still a long way to go.


I spoke to my friend, Felipe, in Nebraska to discuss the possibility of going out and doing some volunteer work with the Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust of which he is the Executive Director. Felipe remembered that I have an IT background and we discussed ways in which I could use my experience to help the Trust improve their information storage and organization both at the Trust centre in Nebraska and at a new project site in Cuba. Needless to say I’m really excited about this as I’ve really enjoyed my time with the trust in the past. The Trust centre in Nebraska is in a really beautiful location although I’ll need to be prepared for the cold weather over winter! Some time in Cuba will also help me towards achieving my ambition to speak Spanish fluently (or as near as) by the end of my travels!


Right now my plans are to travel to Nebraska on the 4th or 11th of November and spend a couple of months working with the Trust on organizing their data. Probably around January I’ll head out to Cuba and work out there for a couple of months on the data storage for a new project starting out there. As I don’t understand the scope of the work yet I’ll play it by ear when I’m out there regarding how much time I need to spend on each of the projects. Outside of the volunteer work I plan to visit Central and South America. I’m thinking of a year in The Americas before moving on around the world.


I spoke to work a couple of weeks ago about my plans and they were very supportive of me taking a career break. I’ve decided to finish work at the end of July so I’m hoping for good weather in August before I do my TEFL training in September. Only 7 weeks until I’m officially unemployed!


I’ve decided to try and sell my house instead of renting. The current housing market is not great and there are predictions that the value of houses will fall between 10% and 20% over the next two years. Combine that with the fact that it is unlikely that I will return to the West Midlands it makes sense to sell up now. That means I’m free to relocate anywhere when I’ve finished my travels. Unfortunately it is not the best of times to be selling so I’m hoping for a buyer before September otherwise I’ll have to revert back to renting.


Outside of planning I spent a week on holiday in May up in the highlands of Scotland. I had a good time with lots of fresh air, walking and wildlife watching. My mum and I walked up the Cairn Gorm, the 6th highest mountain in the UK, we fed reindeer by hand and did quite a lot of bird watching.


I spent last weekend in London with my brother and had a good time being a typical tourist visiting all the sites. The highlight for the weekend was seeing the Foo Fighters at Wembley Stadium, a birthday present for my brother. The icing on the cake for him was when Led Zeppelin came on for a couple of numbers.


I’ll post another update soon when things start coming together a bit more.

Next Steps

Generally my news was well received and not too much of a surprise. Dad was a bit side swiped when I first told him and for a change, didn’t have much to say! It didn’t take long for it to sink in and make sense to him though. The biggest concern from everyone is how I will cope with my Crohn’s disease when I’m travelling.


I’ve had some great responses from my friends around the world. My friend Mindi in California is so excited for me and can’t wait to meet up with me on my travels. Jenny and Gary in Australia are also pleased as they have been trying to get me to visit them for years! They have kindly offered their house near Brisbane as a base for me when I get to Australia.


I’ve been in touch with Felipe Chavez-Ramirez Ph.D. from the Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust in Nebraska about the possibility of picking up some work with the trust. I met Felipe whilst on an Earthwatch trip in Cuba where he was running a project to monitor the Cuban Sandhill Crane. It turns out that the trust is always looking for help in organizing the data that they collate so I’m hoping that my database skills can be put to good use. I’m waiting to catch up with Felipe over the phone so we can talk through possible opportunities he has for me.
I’m still sorting out the logistics of taking a career break. Regarding my house, I’ve been in touch with my mortgage company and have received permission to rent so now just need to sort out the garden, get the windows re-glazed and the plumbing checked out.


I’ve been reviewing my finances and making savings wherever possible. As most of my friends and family know I’m very good at spending money but I’m even surprising myself at how restrained I’m being on shopping trips now!


Work is the final logistic to consider and the good news is that my company does support career breaks, up to 6 years in 2 breaks. My employment will terminate and all my benefits cease so in effect it is the same as resigning but the doors are left open for me to re-apply for a job and they see if they can find a position available at the same level as when I left. Unfortunately there is no guarantee of getting a job at the end of it but it is slightly better than just resigning. I haven’t approached work about my career break yet but plan to give them about 3 months notice.


Moving onto the planning for my trip, I’ve been investigating what work I could pick up to supplement my budget. Unfortunately my age is against me for working visas in the US and Australia without sponsorship. I’ve been looking into the possibility of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) so I have been researching the different courses available. Luckily my friend Wendy from the Wolf Trust was able to give me good advice on this as she has studied and taught TEFL. She has advised me to study CELTA as this will give me the most recognized qualification and the best chance of work. The downside is that the course is a 4 week intensive program so I will need to do it after I’ve finished work. I’m therefore thinking about finishing work at the end of August, moving in with my Mum in Lancing and taking a course in Hove that starts on 1st September. I can then rent my house out from September which is a better time of year, take my cats down to Mum’s and make sure they settle in OK and have a couple of weeks off before going to Morocco.


I really need to start firming up on my travel plans now as the later I leave my flight bookings, the more expensive it will be. As it looks like Felipe will have some work for me I’m thinking of spending my first 6-12 months in The Americas. I’ve been busy reading up about Central and South America to decide which countries to visit and when the best time would be. I definitely want to visit Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. If I get the chance I would like to see some sites in Venezuela and Colombia as well. I should be able to pick up some TEFL work in a number of these countries as well.


For now the planning continues.

An idea is born

Months of problems with my Crohn's disease has made life pretty miserable recently. I hit bottom in February and was signed off for a month. Suddenly with a lot of time on my hands I had plenty of opportunity to think about what I'm doing with my life.

I can't complain because I have a good career that has enabled me to endulge in my travelling passion, has supported my frivolous ways and has set me up in a lovely home. My job however is very stressful and I'm sure it is contributing to my health problems. I'm finding that the longer I'm in my job, the less satisfaction I seem to be getting out of it.

When I joined HBOS I decided that I didn't want to remain in the rat race until retirement and made plans to pay off the mortgage early and change my career to something more 'meaningful'. I put a 10 year timeframe on this plan but that seems too far away so it is time for a re-think.

So that was where the thinking stopped and the planning began.

I visited the 'One Life' exhibition in London and spoke to a number of volunteer organisations about gap years and career breaks and picked up loads of brochures to surf through. Back at home I started googling and found loads of sites with great information about taking a career break.

Finances came next so I've been looking into where I can make savings and how I can raise additional funds. A clear out of my loft resulted in a marathon session on eBay selling all my Pocket Dragons and a number of other collectables that have lived in boxes for at least the past 5 years.

Next was research on what to do with my house. I think the best option will be to rent so at least I'll have somewhere to come back to. I think I'll keep the garage though as that will give me somewhere to store my belongings.

All of this planning and the number one thing that could put brakes on the whole idea is what to do with my cats. Spirit and Miska mean everything to me so it is important that they are looked after. Luckily Mum has agreed to take care of them whilst I'm away so the planning ramps up a notch.

Finally it was time to tell friends and family that 'An idea is born'.