A question I’ve been getting a lot lately is, how do I spend my time? In today’s post, I’ll share how I’ve been keeping myself busy, as well as some reflections after almost 2 months of living in Seoul. Continue Reading →
Well hello!
Unfortunately I’ve become the half of LAC that posts about once a month now. I can’t help it though, I’m busy supporting our family in a foreign country! I’ve been trudging through the jungles of the South Korean public elementary school system for 2 months now. Crazy that it’s already been 2 full months!
My latest post is actually on Jason’s Unanchor blog where I include a comprehensive list of items to pack for a long-term trip. If you or someone you know is preparing to leave for one of those soon, and you or that person happens to be a female who cares about hygiene, point them towards my post at Unanchor!
Random Thought of the Day: Every day I grow increasingly more suspicious of the “Korean Diet Illusion”. I call it the “Korean Diet Illusion” because it is quite mind boggling how much food Koreans can eat and not gain any weight. Please explain to me how the hundreds of fried chicken and beer joints are packed with people stuffing plates of fried chicken into their skinny bodies? How is there a doughnut cafe on every corner with tons of skinny people inside partaking in cream-filled deliciousness? Do Koreans secretly get their own menu with calorie-less items??!! Do I coincidentally happen to catch them eating their one and only meal of the day??!!
If you take a look at Jim’s biography, you’ll quickly wonder if he even has time to sleep. He’s a founder (Triporati), partner at a venture capital firm (CMEA), investor, advisor, and is involved with a few philanthropic organizations to top it off. In fact, Jim’s first company actually handed out flyers that said “sleep is for sissies.”
In today’s interview Jim discusses his first company, Preview Travel. Preview began in 1985 (not a typo), went public in 1997 and ended up merging with Travelocity to create the 3rd largest site on the Internet at the time (only behind Amazon and Ebay). We also discuss the many changes that Preview went through before eventually being one of the first companies to sell travel online through a small partner called America Online.
We also discuss his latest travel startup, Triporati.com. Triporati is helping people discover what travel destinations to choose based on their interests. It’s been called the “vacation genome project”. This wasn’t just an idea he thought about one day and started building the next. His team spent 9 months thinking through the idea and bouncing it off of dozens and dozens of people. They went to potential distribution partners, customers and industry experts and asked them, “why is this the dumbest thing you have ever heard?”.
In South Korea, I have many names; GET, NET, NES, “wun-uh-min”, teacher, Sharon teacher, etc. I feel like there are hoards of different names for what I do here, which is teach English at an elementary school. GET means Guest English Teacher, NET means Native English Teacher, NES means Native English Speaker, and wun uh min means something along the same lines in Korean. I have been a GET for three full weeks now and I would like to enlighten you about my experiences so far, some of which are great and others which are… kind of obnoxious. Continue Reading →
Upon arriving in Seoul a few weeks ago, the first question I asked Sharon was, “how is our apartment?” Her response, “small – I almost cried when I first saw it”. I knew from her response that we were going to be on our own finding a new apartment in a country where we didn’t speak the language. This was a process I wasn’t looking forward to. Continue Reading →
This has been a post I’ve had on my “list of posts” for a long time. Well, I finally got around to doing it. Over on the new Unanchor.com Blog, I’ve put together a list of the over 75 different items I brought on our year-long trip, all with pictures and links. If you’ve ever wondered what we traveled with or are looking for packing advice, check out the new post: http://blog.unanchor.com/2011/03/what-to-pack-for-a-long-term-or-rtw-trip-male-edition/
My year in Korea as an English teacher started off wonderfully. I flew Singapore Airlines on a direct flight from SFO to ICN (Incheon International Airport). Although I was alone, I weaseled my way into my own row where I could blissfully stretch out my legs and lie down whenever I wanted. They served free wine the entire trip, and although I didn’t drink any for fear of making me sleep , I thoroughly appreciated the opportunity to drink unlimited booze for 13 hours. They served decent food and their movie and television show selection was amazing. I watched the following movies: It’s Kind of a Funny Story (starring Zach Galifianakis, which I highly recommend), Due Date (also starring Mr. Galifianakis and a Robert Downey Jr), Let Me In (a remake of a great Swedish movie that wasn’t as good as the first), and another movie that I completely forgot. Sorry. Continue Reading →
Hello from Seoul, South Korea (again)! Sharon and I have officially settled in and are happy to be back. More on that in a future post.
In today’s post I have an exciting announcement regarding Unanchor and I’d also like to give an update on the latest progress of the business.
Today’s interview is with Jason Browne, a cycling traveler that Sharon and I originally met in China. I’m very excited to bring you today’s interview, for two reasons:
We reall
y lucked out.
I’m sitting on our personal balcony facing a picture-perfect ocean view of our own little bay. Not only is the weather amazing, but the sand is soft, the water is warm (but not too warm to the point where it’s no longer refreshing), the beach is not in the least crowded, and I’m sitting next to my new husband.
This is our honeymoon, and although it’s almost as if we’re still traveling, there’s something highly romantic and new about this week. The house that we rented is perfect; it is newly renovated with Italian marble-looking floors (I don’t really know what Italian marble looks like, but I assume it is probably like this) and balcony, new kitchen appliances, and all of the beach amenities we could ask for. Continue Reading →
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Jason Demant & Sharon Duckworth left their Silicon Valley jobs in 2009 to pursue a Life After Cubes. This site chronicles their travels and entrepreneurial aspirations. Read More...
Our other site: Unanchor.com - Find the perfect travel itinerary or write and sell your own! |
