Planning, Preperation and Getting THAT feeling again!

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Well...Well...Well,

It's been a while since I posted anything and wanted to just update those who are following me on things...

I was in Santo Domingo working for a company in the U.S., But I was contacted by my old supervisor via facebook ( lol ) that the position I had been laid off from in 2009 was re opening ( This was in July of this year ) so I was very very low on money from the amazing time I was away traveling and decided to go back to Houston and get my old job back, at least for 6 months or so and save back up, get my TEFL and then hopefully leave for good as I cannot stand what this country has become and plus I absolutely LOVE traveling seeing all the history and culture that the world has to offer!

I arrived back in the U.S. In the middle of July expecting my job to be open and I could come in and apply and start in a week or 2....wellllllll that didn't actually work out not to mention I had no where to live and came back with $9 exactly in my pocket...... This would begin my 2 months of Homelessness, sleeping in draininage ditches, park benches getting eaten alive by mosquitos etc etc. My old boss had informed me that there was some sort of "political" thing going on with HR and Real estate divisions and pushed my app to the bottom of the pile, He did however get a hold of a cleaning contractor that worked for us at the property and I was to come on with them for a month to a month and a half while the internal squabble got worked out.

I was working for $10 per hour from 6am-2:30pm at a GE facility cleaning, painting,sweeping the parking lots in 110 degree straight sun all day every day since Texas hadn't had a drop of rain in months. Now anyone who knows anything about living in the U.S. knows that $10 an hour will not get you much, I was able to afford every other weekend to shower, and some sort of comfort in a hotel room...This went on for 2 months or o until I got the call I was waiting for that I would be hired on with my old company, but as a contract employee, meaning I get paid every friday and to top it all off I was now making $22.50 per hour!! WOOHOO!! After a couple of weeks of nice paychecks I was able to start affording monthly stays at the Hotel which I am currently doing, why? Simple...I do not want to incur any unnecessary bills as I will be leaving in a few months again and I pay the same amount per month at the hotel as I would if I had an apartment with all the bills, maybe less. I walk 3 miles per day back and forth to work and loving it. I am just really excited where my life is and where it is going. I cannot wait to get on that plane to Jamaica ( the start, I need the beach lol ) and leave all this stress behind.

As with my last time out, I really hope to gain some followers along the way, I also have to do a better job of writing and including info that readers and other travelers want to know, which I will do a better job of!

Until this clock hits "0:00" I will be busting my balls to save all while dreaming of getting back on the road!!

Safe travels everyone!! and thanks for checking out my blog!!

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Comments

[daveolivertravels]

So how much planning do you do for your trip and how long will the next one be? I am doing 14 months, just in South America with no real hard plans. The only thing I really want to do is Carnival in Rio, otherwise I am open. Hell, except for 2 1/2 weeks in Venezuela I have been in Colombia since June 14th, and will be here til early/mid Nov. I will have done a total of about 12 weeks volunteering in Ibagué working with disadvantaged kids. http://www.letsgovolunteer.info/ Anyways I would recommend this guy's blog, but at the very least read the 2 links below. http://www.expat-chronicles.com/2009/11/10-things-to-eat-in-bogota/ http://www.expat-chronicles.com/2011/09/colombia%E2%80%99s-culinary-hall-of-shame/ Good luck and happy travels dave http://www.mytb.org/daveolivertravels

[El Eterno Caminante]

Hey Dave
Hey dave! whats up man? Yea I LOVED Colombia when I was there!! the food, people and atmosphere were awesome! well I am back in the states now working and saving, I'm also getting my TEFL to teach english this time as I plan to leave the states for good tired of the crap here and I love traveling, I plan to do the rest of south america ( down the amazon from Colombia to peru, Chile, bolivia and Argentina) not really Brazil I dont wanna pay their visa fees, then would like to hit southeast asia and stay a while while I work. just the plans for the next year or so I'm like you no difinative dates just places I want to see and look forward to getting back on the road. I'll be looking to head out around february or so, if you're still around lets get a beer man! Greg