Yesterday I also got to thinking about the future, which I tend to do a lot. What can I say, I'm restless? Anyway, I was mentally running some scenarios and crunching some numbers, trying to figure out if any of my hair-brained ideas will materialize without some act of God to intervene. At some point I came to realize a few things:
1) If I want to be my own boss one day I really need to take some initiative and get the creative juices flowing.
2) My primary interests in life are probably closely linked to those of my generation, and there might just be a market out there for a certain kind of information disemination.
3) Right now I don't have a creative hobby. Having one might lead to a greater sense of fulfillment and being a more well-rounded person.
4) If I want to love what I do, I should actually do what I love even if it's only on my own time.
5) The internet is a place of endless possibility.
So I decided to embark on a little project: I'd like to design a website. Initially I'd like the site to be about alternative travel- meaning all types of alternatives. Basically, I'd like to serve all people who aren't into the Jamaican beach resort vacation package thing OR a young male backpacker who can roam the world anonymously without consequence OR those with an endless budget who can just hop on a plane and then roam around Europe checking into a series of overpriced hotels.
Everyone else falls into a series of semi-overlapping categories, and while shoestring travelers are well-served by Let's Go and Lonely Planet and mature travelers are served by the amazing Rick Steves, there's a host of other aspects that simply aren't addressed. One great example is LGBT travel or female solo travel. When I was preparing for my trip to Morocco I found almost zero information about traveling solo as a woman in Morocco. The result was a very challenging experience. When Leigh and I visited Italy we were surprised that we were sometimes treated rudely by the locals because we don't decorate ourselves as typical Italian women do (extremely feminine clothing, hair and jewelry). Leigh also got a lot of stares probably because she's very tall for a woman. We loved Italy, but would have liked to have been warned about this. Recently Leigh and I have discussed one day traveling to Egypt. Current events aside, Egypt is reported on Wikitravel to not be an inviting place for LGBT travelers. Wouldn't it be great if there was a resource helping travelers to visit these countries armed with the best possible information? Also, last year I had a website where I did some writing, but it was always so rushed that it turned into journal entries instead of anything really escapist that others could learn from. This is Emily's attempt at travel writing Take 2.
The other topic I love to "geek out" on is international business and law, or really anything to do with international careers and living an international lifestyle. As much as Americans (and American universities) try to ignore it, the truth is that the world is going global and we're not keeping up. There's tons of information out there about international careers, but it's very scattered. Eventually I'd like to expand my site to incorporate useful information to building an international career, living abroad, etc to help those in my generation and younger to find their way if they choose to pursue this kind of life.
So I put it to you, dear reader(s):
- Am I crazy?
- Is this a good idea?
- A waste of time?
- What would you most like to see on an "alternative" travel website?
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