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A Life Less Ordinary

Category: A to Z Blogging Challenge (page 1 of 3)

IWSG Writing Update – April 2017

April 5, 2017 / / 37 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) encourages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement or anything really about their writing.  Since August 2016, the IWSG offers a particular question as a writing prompt for their members. Answering it is optional. This month that question is “Have you taken advantage of the annual A to Z Challenge in terms of marketing, networking, publicity for your book? What were the results?”

Talking about a current topic… The A to Z Blogging Challenge takes place every April. Last year, I did participate for the first time and succeeded in the challenge. I even picked a theme: “Thoughts on Being a Nomad”. You can read those posts here. After a month of writing and posting every day, the A-Z Challenge finished with a reflection post. I might have mentioned that I started work on a memoir, but I did not promote anything.

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A – Z Blogging Challenge Reflections

May 13, 2016 / / 22 Comments

A-to-Z Reflection [2016]

Yes, I know, you probably have had enough of the whole A-Z thing after being exposed to it almost every day of April. Yet, a conclusion is a good way to find closure, even when blogging daily and following a theme.

Why did I participate?

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Z is for Zzzzonked out

April 30, 2016 / / 26 Comments
Day 26 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

Today is the last day of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge! We are finishing with a very appropriate zzzzzz…

Our bed on Irie, in which we slept for eight years

Our bed on Irie, in which we slept for eight years

When a nomad gets tired, she finds a bed for the night. More than likely, the long-term traveler does not have the funds to splurge on a hotel room, B&B or resort, so she looks into her guidebook – or refers to recommendations from peers – and picks a hostel, guesthouse or backpackers place to get some rest. Or, she cuddles up next to her partner, in her own bed; a bed that is part of her sailboat or camper in which she is exploring the world. There is nothing as convenient, cozy and familiar as having your home with you when you roam about. Continue reading

Y is for Yearning

April 29, 2016 / / 28 Comments
Day 25 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

Yearning to be in the tropics again - yoga under the palm trees in Kuna Yala, Panama

Yearning to be in the tropics again (yoga under the palm trees in Kuna Yala)

Everyone has an addiction (or two, or three), a yearning for something. An attraction that rarely, if ever, fades. As a nomad, mine is travel. One look at a world map or globe and my eyes are fixed, my heart beats faster and my thoughts wander to all the places I would like to visit and experience. I think “There is so much to see in this world!” and I immediately wish to pack my bags and jump on a plane. Every. Single. Time. Continue reading

X is for Xenophilia

April 28, 2016 / / 26 Comments
Day 24 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

X… the most difficult letter of the alphabet. If my A-Z Blogging theme would have been “amazing places I visited as a nomad”, a couple of favorites come to mind, like Xcalak and Xpu-Ha in the Yucatan province of Mexico. That would have been too easy, though… Maybe next year?

Carnaval in Grenada, Caribbean
Taqueria in Mexico
Village in Kuna Yala, Panama
Market, Guatemala
Local transportation in Kuna Yala

Instead, I am talking about a new (to me) word: xenophilia. It means being attracted to foreign cultures, places, people… a positive syndrome to have when you are a world traveler. Continue reading

W is for Writing

April 27, 2016 / / 27 Comments
Day 23 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

My two hobbies (they are more like full-time occupations) are traveling and writing. And, since my topic for this A-Z Blogging Challenge covers the first one, the least I can do in regards to the second one is write a blog about it.

Writing this blog in our "new house" in Heath, MA

Writing this blog post in our “new house” in Heath, MA

Although I have never gotten far with my writing “ambitions” (they weren’t ambitions until I recently moved ashore to focus on them a bit more), I have always enjoyed the act of writing. Continue reading

V is for Variety

April 26, 2016 / / 18 Comments
Day 22 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

One of the biggest attractions to living as a nomad is the endless variety it offers. All the possible means to get around, any level of accommodation imaginable and many spots on our globe are yours to explore. When the world is your oyster, literally, you never run out of options to entertain yourself as a traveler. Is there anything more exciting?

Playing with dolphins in Moorea

Playing with dolphins in Moorea

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U is for Unique

April 25, 2016 / / 24 Comments
Day 21 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

The nomad lifestyle is not only adventurous and an embodiment of freedom, it is unique as well. In the United States, where usually only two weeks of vacation time is granted, people are not used to traveling far or frequent. Most Americans don’t have a passport (and, as I learned recently, millions don’t even have any form of ID!). So, while few people travel abroad, even fewer do this long-term. I can’t blame them, the US is huge and there are a lot of amazing places to visit. They are missing out, however.

The early days of Mark and I...

The early days of Mark and I… above the Grand Canyon

In Europe, the travel bug (and vacation time) is a bit more prominent and some graduates celebrate earning their degree with a year of backpacking. Continue reading

T is for Time

April 23, 2016 / / 22 Comments
Day 20 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

There is one thing every long-term traveler has: time. It is the commodity – together with memories – that makes us rich, in a non-monetary way. What people on shore, living their super busy lives, grasp for in vain, always wishing they had more, nomads have plenty of. Time is at your fingertips when you travel indefinitely. But, keep in mind that much of what you want to achieve will require a big chunk of that seemingly imperishable time!

Time... it always goes fast, except at the dentist.

Time… it always goes fast, except at the dentist.

Since our sailing adventure is the one freshest in my mind, I am thinking back about what having time meant to us those eight years. Time allowed us to … Continue reading

S is for Sailboat

April 22, 2016 / / 41 Comments
Day 19 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

Readers of my blog during the A-Z Challenge have probably noticed by now (as friends, family and loyal readers of Roaming About have long known :-)) that my husband, Mark, and I were living on our own sailboat Irie not too long ago. The summary can be read elsewhere on this blog and the entire eight years of our cruising life is documented on my other (sailing) blog It’s Irie, but, this is the gist of it…

Anchored in pretty Moorea, French Polynesia

Anchored in pretty Moorea, French Polynesia

A sailboat is the perfect way to travel to remote places (like tropical islands in the middle of the ocean), inaccessible – or exorbitantly expensive to visit – with other transportation methods. Continue reading

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