King Vultures, an ESL Reading Lesson, and Australia's Gold Coast

Got a good quote, travel photo, or some news you think is a great fit for this bog? Send it along. I'd love to showcase your writing, art, photo's and forward thinking ideas.


Enjoy.

Quote of the Day

ESL Lesson: Reading
(Have your upper-level students try to read, and unscramble the text below. Should be fun, and consume quite a bit of time.)

Travel Photos
Astor Place (NYC, NY)

I'm a big fan of things in motion. The tile work is by the Mosaic Man, Jim Power.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: PHOTO of the DAY: KING VULTURE Photograph by Jorge A. Bohorquez

The king vulture is found in Central and South America (Mexico to Argentina). It's diet ranges from cattle to fish, and normally wins the battle for food because of it's size.

TRAVEL NEWS

How I Started Surfing The Middle East

Jesse Aizenstat is a man living his adventure on a board! Amazing! He's got an insider tip for those that want to visit both Israel and Lebanon during the same trip.

The Perils Of Staying Connected While Abroad

Good article by Doug Mack on what it feels like for anyone while in a new city trying to share the experience with those back home.


Does anyone unplug completely? Or have any good solutions to the distractions that take you away from where you are? Love to hear about your experience in the comments section. 

Hillary Rodham Clinton Sets New Travel Record

Looking for a job in politics and travel? Hillary Clinton seems to have your dream job. I appreciate her stepping out and attempting to strengthen international relations. She doesn't only visit safe places, and dares to be brave.

Aurora, Colorado (USA) is in the news today for a shooting that happened at a movie theater during The Dark Night Rises, injuring 70, and killing 12. To pin on a map; Aurora, Colorado is a suburb of Denver, about 20min. and 9 miles away. It has a population of a little over 325,000. People from Aurora that you may know: Tim Allen (actor, Home Improvement), Zachary Ty Brown (actor, Home Improvement), Freddy Glick (football player, Houston Oilers), T.J. Cunningham (football player, Seattle Seahawks), John Kerry (2006 Presidential Candidate).

TRIP IDEAS 

What Makes Australia’s Gold Coast Golden?

Brilliant article by Annie Fitzsimmons on what to do when at the Gold Coast. Her recommendations are followed by short insights into why they make the journey well worth it. (Photo from the aricle. Photograph by Warren Keelan, )

What To Do With Two Weeks In England

If you've got the time and wanted to explore the beauties of England, VIATOR (travel with an insider)  is a good reference point. It takes you from London to Brighton to Bristol to Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare's from.

The New York Finger Lakes: Mother Nature's Handprint (PHOTOS)

Great write up on the New York Fingerlakes, by Dwight Brown. The first time I went skydiving was in this region, and it was followed by a wine tasting road trip near by!

Morning Coffee

Communal corporate kitchens are a perfect place to experiment with a plethora of fruits, juices, foods, and coffees. Daily, I'm met by Morpheus asking me if I want the Brazilian or the Indonesian brew. It changes every morning. Not so much because I can taste a difference, because I can't on account of my shitty sniffer, but because during my downtime I enjoy Wikipediaing where my granules have been grown and plucked from. This provides new material for my fantasies away from the office.


The confines of this cubical on the 64th floor of 5th Avenue may provide the set for my body to explore the inner workings of a 2.3billion dollar financial institution, but my mind is where it finds adventure- traveling. A cafe in Prague, an espresso bar in Rome, and the park benches in Paris are where I do most of my work Monday through Friday, 9-6.


Today will be a day sitting in front of the computer, drinking coffee, and making pointless doctors appointments for myself, because I can finally afford them. In addition to that I'll be pushing paperwork through a system that I figured out during my first three months of temping, and can now effortlessly maintain. However, as of late things have been changing- and quite quickly. The 2008-09 Financial Crisis has not been kind to my company. A few of my analysts have been let go, and now I'm stuck assisting a douche-bag that has no interpersonal skills. He's the type of guy that when his wife calls I have to get up from my desk, and whisper the news so no one else in the office is aware who's on the other line. It makes sense. It's corporate, I get it. I don't fault the guy. I just think it's rediculous since his desk is right across from mine, it's an open office, and all day long we hear, "John, it's your wife." "I'll take it." Or, "Peter, it's your wife." "Take a message. I'm on my way out."


I won't be here forever. In fact I have a feeling I may be next to go. There's a fear associated with this. I really enjoy not having to live paycheck to paycheck. Before this gig I was a struggling artist, auditioning, and striving to become the next Brad Pitt. Now, I've come to love being able to send money home to mom, buy myself new clothes, and enjoy all the restaurants New York has to offer. I also found a studio in Lefferts Garden, Brooklyn that I've been doctoring my credit score for. I'm just about ready to put down the down payment. But, if things continue the way they are here, there won't be anyone left for me to assist, and I'll be placing my belongings into one of those infamous brown boxes that label me as the guy who just got the boot. 


What would I do? Where would I go?  I'm sure to get a severance package. My yearly bonus is do too. That excites me. But, I can't really buy the studio, if I don't have a job to pay the bills. Would I return to finance?


Will I return to finance, if I'm let go.


It would be easy to. I'll have an amazing reference from here, and the lifestyle it provides is luxurious. Compared to what I come from (poor white-trash from Waco, TX) the life is luxurious. It's not great. It's not challenging, and the times that it is (when the pressure is really on) is when I feel the most fulfilled. But, those moments are few and far between. Kind of like the actual time off I have to travel.


What the hell is a person supposed to do in a week?
It's not feasible to take two at a time, cause you really need to save a week around Christmas and New Years to visit the family and old friends. So, like the cubical, I have to fit a trip abroad into seven days, minus two for travel, which reduces the vacation down to five. 


I went to Prague and Vienna during my last trip. I didn't have near enough time to learn the culture, or language, or to guzzle all the different Czech beers that I wanted to.

In the event they do send me packing, maybe I'll go back. I've been looking into certificate programs to teach English abroad so that I can travel the world, and become the international man that I want to be. Though, I question rather that's really feasible at my age. I should have life figured out by now. I have to start the American Dream and stop fantasizing about trekking across cobblestone, and devouring fresh carp in Croatia at some point, don't I?


It makes much more sense to stay and continue along the financial path I'm currently living. If the company bounces back I will definitely be doing that. The studio I want is a few blocks away from Prospect Park, newly renovated, and a perfect investment property.


I can resign my dreams of traveling, and concrete myself in a life that makes sense. That makes so much more sense than gallivanting around Europe with a backpack and new friends, looking for work teaching English.


Could you imagine; hedge fund to hippie. Ha! It sounds ridiculous, and yet I do, I imagine it daily.