It’s pretty clear that running my business blog means I pay little attention to my personal blog. Yet since leaving Vancouver on 2 October I’ve been travelling around the US for various conferences and to stay with overly generous friends and had some fun adventures.

In short I did the border run crossing to get my Permanent Residency from Canada, literally around the flagpole as they call it. Then continued on into the US where my good friend Justin drove me all the way to Seattle so I wouldn’t miss my flight.

I forget that many US airlines charge you extra for baggage, turns out when your life is one suitcase, and a tennis racquet bag plus laptop bag, your luggage is kind of heavy. And it cost me more than my flight!

But I figured it was a small price to pay for hauling my life around in bags that make me look like a travelling Xmas elf.

I headed to LA to stay in the lovely mansion of Rebecca and Scott and hang out with Kernby and Tucker – my two best friends who’ve made me remember why I love dogs so much.

For two weeks I basically kept working on my business, putting big plans into place for some key projects next year, preparing for upcoming conferences and continuing to learn more about the online marketing world.

Then I was off to Las Vegas for close to 3 weeks – don’t worry I didn’t stay on the strip that whole time – that would drive a girl crazy. But I did see a really different side to Vegas including staying out in suburbia thanks to family friend Tina Gent and family, and staying behind the strip in a residential apartment thanks to a friend of a friend and talented poker player Dan.

I also got to attend BlogWorld – yes a conference for bloggers and probably one of the best and most useful events I’ve ever attended that sparked my desire to really make my blog remarkable. I wrote about it in this article: How to become a Problogger in 3 days or less – even the probloggers liked it.

I worked on producing social media bootcamp videos, posts, guest posts, setting up affiliate product recommendations and some other projects in between this conference and Shine – `Discover your true wealth’. A conference put on by the pretty amazing Ali Brown who earns $5 million a year and started out writing e-newsletters.

Luckily I got to interview her before the conference too.

During my time in Vegas I got to play some ultimate Frisbee, see`Peepshow’ for free with Tina and the dragcar races too.

A real highlight was visiting the incredible Hoover Dam plus getting lost in the desert for real. A 6 hour epic ordeal with little water or food, an iPhone as torch light and attempting to read the stars while tripping over rocks.

Luckily we made it out (that 2 hour round hike to some hot springs really was quite the adventure).

Then I was off to San Francisco – a city that also delivers and gets better. I had two solid weeks of amazing sunshine and beautiful days – very rare. My friend Jeff kindly lent me his apartment by the marina – an awesome area by the water to be in with tonnes of great cafes and restaurants.

He was never there so I felt very lucky indeed to be left alone with this great apartment in a neat location. My friend Mo who’s recently moved to SFO kept me entertained with a few nights out and we went to Alcatraz which was so worth it.

I even met a fellow traveller on my first day and his last in the city and we cycled across the Golden Gate bridge, to lovely Sausalito and Tibador and came back on the ferry, just  fantastic day. Even paid $7 to watch a bit of a college football game. So doesn’t compare to rugby!

The whole reason for being there was to speak at Incubate 2.0 conference, part of Global Entrepreneurship week, I got sick however for the first time in two years with some stupid flu that meant I couldn’t even attend let alone get out of bed.

I did however still manage to host my first ever webinar with a husky voice and sore throat and then almost manage to fly out on the wrong day – i.e I read my itinerary wrong and luckily others picking me up from LAX read it right!

Now I’m back in LA, where it’s still sunny and listening to my Vancouver friends regaling me of stories of snow and the worst winter anticipated ever.

I’m just so glad I made the choice to guy and test out living in Buenos Aires. I fly out next Sunday for 6 months and it’s an open invitation to all you to come stay before I leave in May!

And for those of you who wonder why Buenos Aires, here’s my reasons:

1. Heading to a summer and avoiding another Vancouver winter
2. Improve my Spanish which currently sucks in a country that won’t break into English each time I falter
3. To learn to tango
4. Cheaper cost of living and since I can run my biz from anywhere why not
5. Sophistication of Europe combined with the passion of South America

So come join me!

I really can’t believe that my travels are almost an end. I’m writing from a German Wings flight from Split to Cologne, where I’ll board a train to Frankfurt for my departure back to Vancouver tomorrow.

This has been one helluva of a trip. 6 weeks of travelling to Prague, Budapest, Graz, Maribor Lake Balaton, Vienna, Bratislava, Zagreb, Split, the island of Brac and Hvar and then to Dubrovnic.

I have visited four new countries to take my total to 44 now. Only 52 more to go to reach my goal of half the world (according to the OECD). Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia have all provided me with new experiences, cultures and friends.

One thing that has been different for me on this trip was the reliance of the generosity of friends (both existing and new) to put me up in their homes. I am well accustomed to having people coming to stay with me in the various places I’ve lived over the years, I love it and welcome it.

Views over Hvar Old Town

To be on the other side of that though has been truly wonderful, and without a doubt I would not have been able to afford to travel so long had I not stayed with Phi Je and Martina in Graz, Kika in Slovakia, Anna in Vienna, Vjeran in Zagreb, Duje in Split, Luka in Dubrovnik and Marija in Split!

Many of these people had never met me but being an Ultimate Frisbee player affords you a certain rite of passage in this world, which is why I love the community of players as much as the sport. It’s accepted that since you play you must be a decent person, who is open, fun, smart and free-spirited.

I also much prefer staying with locals as it gives you an entirely different view of your trip. I often wonder what tourists who stay in hotels really experience, and what they miss out on.

I also have to reflect on the following lucky moments that helped shape my trip:

• The English lady who overheard the hydrofoil boat from Vienna to Bratislava I had intended to go on was sold out, and then offered me a spare ticket she was looking to sell – I was in the right place at the right time.
• The lovely family from Yugoslavia who live in Australia and have a holiday home (& apartments for rent) on the island of Hvar. They gave Kyla and me a place to stay when we couldn’t find any accommodation. Sleeping on a mattress on their balcony under the stars for free was quite something
• To Luka who I met while wandering back with Kyla via the marina on her final night in Dubrovnik at 1am in the morning. He was finishing up taking boat bookings for the next day and just happened to try to sell me one. Instead he gave me his number which turned into hanging out the next day at the beach, a place to stay at his (when all of Dubrovnik was full – seriously) and riding around on the scooter to see more outside the city walls.
• The buses, trains and planes that have all allowed me time to work on my laptop and create, write, produce and stay on top of my business when everyone else appears to be sleeping, reading, or just doing nothing.
  

  Working from a cafe on Dubrovnik's old town Placa

• To never falling ill or having any serious accidents or injuries (bar a dislocated finger) for the whole trip, all while drinking local water from taps and eating local cuisine.
• The incredible weather – sunshine, heat, and more sunshine that has followed me almost everywhere I have gone, coupled with the exciting stormy moments of lightening and downpours which I love

The last two weeks I have spent in Croatia. I fell in love with Zagreb and the peace and quiet of the city in summer when almost all its inhabitants head to the coast. It helped having History Professor Vjeran explain to me the entire reason Croatia and Croatians are the way they are. In fact within 5 minutes of getting off the train I knew more about this country than any other.

I played Frisbee, biked around, worked, wrote postcards, discovered and enjoyed. From this peace I headed to Croatia’s second largest city, Split which was the complete opposite. Filled with people my first memory was the large ship in the harbor with a huge budget/ low cost logo on its side. The bus station was heaving, the ferries were departing to everywhere. The city was alive with tourists.

Dining out with Kyla seaside on Brac Island

Brac island was fun, especially so hanging out with Kyla who’s travel schedule just happened to co-incide with mine. We actually relaxed on the beach for one day (my first and only full day of doing this), played Frisbee in the water and taught some locals how to throw to their delight. We stayed in a room in someone’s house which always feels odd but is pretty common here.

We have both been really amazed Croatians who speak English, because they speak it so well with all the nuances of the western world. It is apparently because they watch TV and movies in English with subtitles and learn it that way. Especially Duje who had watched the entire series of Seinfeld 9 times over and cracked us up with his comments.

In return I learned to say hello, goodbye and pronounce thank you properly (no mean feat).

I also learned that Croatians generally end up living with their parents for a lot longer, late 20s and into their 30s even. This is largely because renting is expensive and buying a house is near on impossible, although right after the war it was highly encouraged and affordable so you’ll find a huge chunk of the population own a holiday home on the coast.

Old Town Hvar by night

That also made more sense as to why so many young people make out on park benches and other places – because they don’t want to do it at home in front of their parents!

And when they say you should book ahead if you’re heading to the Adriatic Coast they mean it. I have never travelled in any other country – bar maybe some of Thailand in peak season, where everything is booked up. It makes having no fixed schedule or plan less easy to travel with.

I am definitely coming back to Croatia, next time on a yacht with friends, to spend more time on the beautiful island of Hvar which is just charming and lends itself to walking through the maze of tiny alleys, enjoying the classiness of the people, the lavender, the Venetian influence, the lights, the sunsets and the natural port that encourages phenomenal yachts and sailing ships to park so close to the heart of the Old Town.

Dubrovnik is also unique. The old town is entirely surrounded by city walls that act as a fortress to those outside. You can walk around this 2km perimeter and look out over the stunning blue hues of the ocean and the clear waters or back to the sandy coloured buildings with red brick roofs that fill the city space and every nook and cranny.

Dubrovnik Old Town from the City Walls

The streets were filled from morning to night with walking tours and tourist activities, cafes, drinking, museums and music. It was fascinating to spot the difference between the dressed up and stylish Italian women who posed for every photo and whined at their boyfriends who seemed to tune it out, compared to the British who were more relaxed and often looking pink, to the many Australians who were backpacking in groups to the French, Scandinavian and of course Croatian nationalities.

And now I’m heading back to Vancouver, but not for long. It seems this travelling has sparked a desire for more travel in my life.

I will look to visit Toronto and Montreal in late September, be in Las Vegas for two conferences in October and November and in between time possibly stay in LA. Then the major plan is to head to Buenos Aires to live and work for the winter months.

Right now there is a small posse of people I presented this idea to who are up for moving there for a month or so too. I figure if I am to keep moving all the time, the hardest thing is saying goodbye to friends and starting over again. So why not convince them to come along whenever possible ….

PS I really had not connected Dalmatian dogs coming from the Dalmatian Coast before.

Beach Bike Sun = Fun

I’m not entirely sure why I’m so excited about 2010. But I am. It seems I’m not alone. From the people I’ve talked to and the articles, blogs, emails and tweets I’ve read recently, it’s fairly evident that people are very optimistic about this year.

I know that a tough 2009 has made everyone want even more from this new year. There’s a belief that things must change because we’re not prepared to put up with what we went through in 2009.

Outside of that, people who had a great year last year are wanting to naturally build on that and make this year even more successful.

I’d say on reflection 2009 was one of the most challenging I’ve had, but also one of the best. Anything that causes you to learn, to grow, to fail, to get back up and succeed – then repeat often, can only be a wonderful thing. If I weren’t growing I’d be stagnating and what’s the point of being on this earth if that’s your intention?

I’ve started the year off with a bang but in a particularly relaxed manner for me. I’m all about simplicity this year. Focusing on a few key areas and decluttering the rest.

Venice Beach Beauty

It helps that I’ve just come off two of the most chillaxin weeks of holiday in LA where I had a great time and did quite

a lot of nothing – that’s helped me gain some valuable R&R, some space in my mind to reflect, to pontificate and at times to just think of nothing. I know – rare indeed.

In just two weeks I’ve met an amazing man who’s made me believe in romance and falling in love again. I’ve been an LA girl and enjoyed the relaxed living, oceanside lifestyle and copious amounts of sunshine. Now, back in Vancouver, I get to move into my new home tomorrow with Megan and Craig. All this on just the 3rd day of the year!

I did so much work on goal setting back in August last year and have kept updating them that there was no work to do come January 1st.

Not that I ever set goals on such a day, when you know you’re going to be tired from celebrating the night before, especially one that started with a limo ride with 18 people to a Hollywood party. I woke up with a hangover, a huge grin on my face and sore feet from dancing and being stepped on. Pretty perfect really. Brunch on the deck with new friends, Frisbee golf, time with my boy and a flight back to Vancouver were all I was in need of on January 1st.

I’m also not in a rush to achieve mammoth feats in the next few days. I’m on a slow and steady path to achieving my personal goals as well as those for FundRazr and WomanzWorld.

2010 is all about having fun whilst achieving.

I wish all my friends the best year yet. Make it happen.

Brin D'Amor crew

When my alarm went off at 4:30am on Friday 22 May I knew I was about to embark on adventure that would have a profound and lasting impact on my life. Was I right? Absolutely!

10 days in Costa Rica in the province of Guanacaste with 14 entrepreneurs from all over North America, brought together for a Livin’ Large vacation in the magical setting of the private property of Brin D’Amor (translated means `Share the love’).

Thanks to an invite from my good friend and talented CEO, Mike Tan, I somehow managed to join this incredible crew who between them have challenged conventional education, run one or several successful businesses, are published authors, professional speakers, real estate gurus, investment experts and more – and all while in their 20s!

The days were filled with intelligent and stimulating conversation, visionary discussions, mind expanding conversation, lofty ideals, spiritual awakenings, mastermind group discussions, the Pachamama Alliance Symposium and naturally a whole heap of fun.

When we weren’t discussing how to change the world for the better by inviting the leaders of tomorrow to the Brin D’Amor Academy of the future we were undertaking a variety of activities.

What could be better than jumping from the natural waterfalls, practicing yoga poolside with the talented Jessica, riding horses all over the 160+ acres of land, enduring 2 hours of intense heat in a sweat lodge that bonded us all together, surfing in the warm waters at sunset, flying down a waterslide set in the jungle, covering ourselves in thermal mud at a spa and geting caught in a torrential downpour and thunderstorm whilst out on a boat.

Boat trip around peninsula

Key highlights were definitely:

• Mike getting bitten by a Boa snake hiding in our room on the first night and his super calm response, getting shat on by a bird, and having his horse’s bridle come off as it ran off with him atop into the trees!
• Several of us getting stung by wasps when we disturbed their nest by jumping off the waterfall and side of the cliff including a sting to Darren’s eyelid!
• Adil flying off his horse rodeo style as it ran out of control into the pack, coupled with galloping sessions with saddles coming loose and riders hanging on for dear life
• Smashing my shin up on submerged rocks when running into the sea followed by catching managing to catch my first ever wave and standing up
• A hilarious and intense game of Beach ultimate with the boys who couldn’t necessarily throw or catch but were super competitive
• Salsa dancing with Micah and Aaron who enlisted any local lady who could shake her booty and poolside dancing lessons for the boys
• Falling through a yoga platform to add to my war wounds
• Everyone getting great feedback from their rocks during our rock reading….
• The various jungle life that kept us on our feet including monkeys, snakes, lizards, biting fish, wasps, nasty red ants, butterflies, giant moths and huge toads
• The incredible fresh and sumptuous feasts from breakfast through to dinner provided by the awesome caterers

I can’t really do this trip justice here, or just how lucky I feel to have been art of this journey and make connections with these extraordinary souls. All I know is this was a trip of a lifetime and one that shall never be forgotten.

This is the crummy view I get to look out on each day from our ConnectionPoint office in Gastown.
I know, how unlucky am I! Since spring arrived there’s been a new cruise ship to gaze out onto daily, and with that brings lots of tourists and a hive of activity to Gastown. When we started leasing office space down here in December it was like a ghost town. The financial crisis had killed many tech companies or forced them out of the area. The homeless were tucked away in alcoves and alleys trying not to freeze, and the rain and snow added to the bleak picture.

Not so now. Spring has also bought the cherry blossoms which I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing before, not with this much magnitude. Arching over streets and raining blossom petals on the ground, paving everything with pink, it was like one long wedding celebration! I’ve been even more appreciative of how beautiful Vancouver becomes when the good weather arrives as I now have a bicycle. My shiny new Brodie (Canadian made) hybrid is built tough and for 6 weeks has been getting my ass in serious shape and transporting me to places I’d never even visited. I love the freedom of cycling, I forgot how much from when I had my bike in London.
It’s less crazy cycling here and the cycle lanes are pretty decent and take you on quieter streets. So it’s allowed me to see some stunning houses and streets that this city has to offer. Thanks to now attending a total of 8 tryouts for 2 women’s ultimate teams I’ve seen far east to far west and beyond and embarked on 5 plus hours of exercise an evening!

So what are the top 3 things to love about Vancouver:

1. The abundance of outdoor activities that exist right on your doorstep and tempt you to partake in each and every one (like 6 of us ladies trying out windsurfing last weekend and rocking at it – even if the mast hit my head and we into the water constantly and collided too)
2. The wonderful friends and networks - this ultimately has been up to me to initiate but there’s more networking events in this city than in the world combined! Plus people have generously invited me into their lives and activities so I now have a wide variety of friends to do anything and everything with
3. The entrepreneurial nature of the city – probably a little bias here as it’s all I’ve immersed myself in since arriving. Taking the route of growing a start up with my fantastic business partner and boss Daryl who I’m too lucky to have in my life, and becoming more entrepreneurial has opened up a new world for me. Work (a dull name for what we do) is a never ending source of fun, stimulation, steep learning curves, excitement, challenges and the thing that keeps me up late and night and the first thing I wake up to in the morning- but in a totally good way!

It also helps that I recently got accepted for the BC Provincial nominee program – essentially a fast track to permanent residency, a big relief as it means I can stay on and continue to enjoy this city and discover Canada.

And one more thing, networking is the best thing in the world, you just never know who you’ll meet, how they’ll effect you and vice versa and what opportunities that may bring. Such as the opportunity I get to embark on tomorrow morning at 5am as I head to Costa Rica. Yes I’ve somehow managed to get an invite to hang out with up to 10 over achieving young entrepreneurs for 10 days and discuss how to change the world for the better. Their bios were outstanding and I paled in comparison but I do get to teach them Ultimate Frisbee!  They won’t know what hit them – literally…..

I’d never been to Seattle until last Friday. In many respects it was like driving for 3 hours to be in Vancouver!

Just as many carpet/ rug shops, the home of Starbucks and good coffee joints, Pudget Sound on one side and Lake Washington on the other, pot smokers on the street and the same issue of the homeless population.

As the picture on the left shows it’s not a bad looking city… I can’t profess to having taken this shot. In fact I totally forgot my camera ,which for a traveller is a poor sign.

I was picked up early in the morning by Adam, Derek and Mike from TeamPages – who no doubt have google alerts on so hi guys! We’re working on a potential business alignment with them and they kindly invited me to attend Soccer Palooza to get some customer/market insight and get to know them and their business better.

It turned out to be one big bundle of fun from start to finish, we laughed, we joked and we smiled so much our cheeks were sore on Saturday morning. It helps that these guys are as crazy as me and can handle mocking and sheep shagging jokes and give it back just as well!

I spent the morning wandering around the city with my tour guides Derek and Adam, who were lacking in detailed city knowledge and took me on a lovely tour of the non-seafront seaside walkway right by the noisy freeway. I made up creative stories on the history of the famous fish market and we simply walked the streets and took it all in. We met Mike after his business meeting and all had lunch with the lovely Laura aka Apples, fellow Iso team member from my London days and all round great gal.

After a trip to REI – the equivalent of MEC here in Vancouver, I felt like I’d been to some mountain chalet and hung out in a natural park. They’ve tried to emulate the outdoors with a waterfall, mountain bike path and climbing wall to test out all their sporting gear. I somehow escaped without buying anything!

The guys left me in some dodgey part of town armed only with a small cowprint suitcase to defend myself. Whilst they set up their booth for the event on Saturday, I took myself off to a quality cafe and enjoyed the rare pleasure of 3 hours to read my business book, some People magazine goss and write down my rules to live life by (more on that next post).

I spent the evening near the water enjoying a drink in the sun with Laura and friends and then heading off to play my first official Disc golf course. I can tell you that arriving slightly drunk and continuing to drink  cider from a brown paper bag like a bum is not a great recipe for frisbee golf success. That game made me feel that I had to unlearn all that I’ve learned about throwing. Apparently it was one of the more technical courses, but I can’t blame that for hooking every throw, hitting more trees and poles then I care to remember and reaching par only a few times!

The evening was filled with us meeting the guys again to watch some entertaining jazz in a bar filled with an average punter age of 50+. Apparently when us ladies walked in they switched to playing romantic Marvin Gaye jazz numbers (one of my all time favourites) and turned to face us.

We finally decided to call it a night and I was treated to stay with Laura’s at her folks huge house. It stood proudly atop a hill with stunning views over the water and back to Seattle, pretty special to wake up to that.

The soccer event was an intelligence gathering exercise in most respects, and a chance to connect with potential advertisers and grab some free swag. Mike and I noted my first ever sales pitch attempt for FundRazr during a workshop on sponsorship was treated with dead silence and looks to kill from the presenter. Naturally I took that as a positive sign

The trip home was filled with more laughter, silly games, fantastic Thai food and no border crossing stunts.

I loved the impromptu trip and the connections made with my new friends that was way too much fun. Life’s short, laugh often!

MGM in lights

The limo pulled up outside my suite on April 3, my  birthday. I strode out with a small suitcase and more importantly a bottle of Veuve Cliquot in my hand ready to head to Las Vegas and party for 60 hours straight.

It was by far and away the best trip I’ve had in some time. From start to finish we laughed so much, had too much fun and provided each other with an eclectic mix of entertaining stories and moments of hilarity experienced during the weekend. Topping this off was the perfect timing of so many great Flight of the Condors quotes & songs and ‘What what in the butt’ and Spongmonkey references

The MGM Grand was indeed a grand place to stay, each morning we opened the curtains in our hung over state to see the huge gold letters on the side of the green glass of the hotel. Our two queen beds were pushed together so we could all spread out like soldiers in a row each night – or more rather the wee hours of the morning. Great idea Malcolm!

One of the most memorable moments was the dissection of the previous night out whilst we all lay together in bed, this was when the saucy secrets came out, who had done what was revealed, what we’d drunk, who we’d snogged, how badly we’d danced, which VIP line we’d jumped, random conversations we’d had and more importantly who came home at what hour of the morning what happened in between!

Luckily what goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas but key highlights include:

• Friday night venture to Hooters – 1st stop,  for free drinks, where the lady dancing on the bar announced over the mic “Who here wants to f#ck bitches and hoes” to which all the women shouted out `Wohoo’ and we stood there dumbfounded and realised we did not belong there
• Being denied entrance to a lame private party at the Mandalay Bay club so creating an even better party by dancing on the seats of our intimate horseshoe shaped area and throwing back Jaeger bombs. Apparently when we left I was classy with a capital K when I yelled out “Your party f#cken sucks!” and doing ghetto style hand movements to hammer my point home to some shocked people behind the glass
• Sipping a yard long daquiri through giant straws whilst wandering through the amazing Luxor (pyramid shaped) hotel and then posing with the Sphynx and Al getting caught by the guard for getting too initimate with the lion
• Owning the Studio 54 dance floor – on 3 levels and partying til it shut and there was no-one else left! This included Al’s brilliant answer to the man’s question of “Are you on the VIP list?”, “Yes”, “What’s your name?” ” Mr VIP” – too funny and it got Elizabeth and I in!
• Finding a huge bruise on Elizabeth’s mysteriously injured leg  the next day and that I had glass in my foot from when I decided to bounce around shoeless….
• Walking down the strip in the sunshine wearing the tackiest coloured plastic poker visors and checking out the beautiful Bellagio fountain and foyer, getting on the guest list of the best clubs, and being handed cards with naked ladies and being asked “You want whores?”, to which I replied “Why would I want that?”, his simple answer “Titties and vaginas” – of course, how silly of me.
• Seeing the outrageously sexy and boundary pushing Cirque de Soleis show – Zumanity – highly recommended!
• Being on the guest list and partying at Tao – the largest club revenue wise in the world with 6000sqft spread over 4 floors including a rooftop pool. Amazing interior, beautifully designed, and lots of ladies hired to look bored whilst stroking each other…I was the last one of our group out of there, leaving at closing time.
• Spending the final day poolside with the rafting river, yard long alcoholic slushies, spa pool and listening to the pumping sounds of Wet Republic (the outdoor daytime club) that I would definitely visit next time
• Gambling for just 20 minutes over the entire weekend and losing $50 very quickly on Black Jack and Roulette so that we could leave to the airport, where we were actually paged for our flight even though we’d been sitting in ‘Klassy’ Burger King for ages reliving the weekend with stories, laughter and memories that will forever be imprinted in our minds and hearts

Yes all that and more folks, it was truly a memorable way to spend a birthday, with great friends and body worse for wear. So much so I gave up drinking for 3 weeks after it!