work – Page 3 – Jessica Lippe

I strongly believe that, even when you’re not on the go, you should still be open for adventures. Take an example from what happened to me in the past 24 hours.

I could have chosen to spend a wild weekend at Wilderness Trails for the third time, but I decided that, since I had both Saturday and Sunday off for the first time in a loooooooong time, I would honor that by taking a real weekend. Besides, I had to work until 7:30 pm on Friday. So on Friday, I headed off to Job #1, but was excused an hour early.

When I got home, I checked my phone and realized that Job #2 had been trying to contact me. They were in desperate need for someone to work the overnight shift. Since I hadn’t worked there for awhile, and I actually like that job, I decided to spend ten hours of my free time working there.

I’m allowed to sleep on the overnight shift if I get all my work done, but only in two hour increments. After three two-hour naps and a one-hour rest, it was finally Saturday morning. When the next staff member came to relieve me, instead of going home to my own bed, I headed back to the site of Job #1. But I wasn’t working. There was something much better going on.

I had heard the long-time employees rave about the Employee Warehouse Sale. I wasn’t even sure if it would be worthwhile, but after hearing about it enough, I decided to at least check it out. Boy, was I glad I went! Being a foodie, and being frugal, I’m always up for a good deal on gourmet food. In the warehouse, there were all kinds of Harry & David foods at dirt cheap prices. My first discovery was something my mom had requested, so I called her up and said “Tins of Moose Munch are $1. How many do you want?” When she asked for ten and gave me a few other ideas for what to buy, I knew I would have to make a couple trips. Too bad I had to park my car so far away!

One hour and two trips running back and forth from my car and with only twenty dollars less in my wallet, I ended up with an overflowing trunk full of the following:

-Ten tins of Moose Munch

-Three Blocks of Cheddar

-Three Pear Trivets

-Two Organic Gift Boxes

-Two Kosher Gift Towers

-A Double Box of Honeybells

Ironically, the only thing I was missing was a partridge in a pear tree… although I think I got enough pears to fill a tree!

After getting some help unloading and putting away all the perishables, the cardboard boxes are still overtaking the kitchen table. I foresee a bonfire coming up! Immediately following a lunch consisting entirely of the bargains I picked up, I took a nap. I was exhausted!

Today wasn’t a typical day, but it was an adventure. And I’ll have plenty of fruit and candies to take along on all my upcoming adventures!

Coming Up: Surprisingly, I’m continuing to work at Job #1, at least until Valentine’s Day, and next week I’ll be taking a class to learn a new position for it. I’m glad that’s on weekdays, because next weekend will be busy! Job #2 is having an exciting fundraising banquet, and I’m planning some fun local adventures for Job #3. Until then. I’ll continue all my freelance and recreational writing, which I like to refer to as Job #4!

#ThrowbackThursday, jobs, resources, writing

#TBT: In The News

January 29, 2015January 28, 2015 Jessica Lippe

One fun perk about traveling is that it makes news. I mean, I don’t expect a reporter to follow me around whenever I travel (although for celebrities, this does seem to make for good reality TV), but every now and then, on a day when the world is pretty much at peace, whether near or far, travel can make headlines.

I was first featured in the newspaper as a preschooler. I was visiting the now-defunct Jacksonville Children’s Museum, which was a four-year-old’s paradise housed in a historic prison. I was using the plastic food in the play kitchen to create fine dining, when someone with a camera started to set up her equipment. I ran off, afraid I would be in the way of her picture, but then she came over to my mom and asked if she could take a picture of me! So my first published photo was me tasting a pretend dish to head an article about the museum. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a record of that article, but I was able to find the next news snippet I was in:

My preschool class was going on a field trip. Sure, it was just to the public library that was two blocks away from the school, but even though we were in walking distance, it was made quite the adventure on a rainy day. My ex-scout parents passed on the “Be Prepared” motto and had sent me to class with an umbrella. It only made sense to share my umbrella with my walking buddy. On the way there, I glanced back and noticed that someone behind me was holding a camera, as if they had just taken a picture. I didn’t know I was featured in the paper until a few days later when my neighbor came over and showed us his clipping!

When I got older, Girl Scout events were a good source of getting into the newspaper. Sometimes it was completely accidentally, like this time I was off to the right in the background of the photo:

But seriously, all those service projects were good for slow news days. Once, when my troop went on a trip to the coast to participate in the annual beach clean-up, one of our chaperones ran into a news channel reporter, and they agreed to do a segment of us for the evening news! Other times, our helping the community helped the paper get a story, like when the Central Point Sun was released, we helped fill their very first issue!

As I got older, I was still mentioned in the newspaper for things like being on the honor roll, but being in the paper wasn’t nearly as desirable as it was before. Maybe it was because people stopped reading the newspaper, or perhaps I just didn’t like the way I looked, but regardless, there were several years when no more but my name and GPA were published. But in my late teens, when I started professionally writing, I started seeing my face in print again. But this time, instead of being in an outdated newspaper, I was in magazines. Many of my articles didn’t include my own pictures, but there were some, like the one below, that featured several pics!

In the past five or six years, I have had my picture featured with my written work several times. But there’s always the goal to make it as the cover feature. This past summer, when I served as the guest editor for Camp Business, I was told that my photo would be featured. When I received the issue, this is what I saw:

No, I’m not that girl. (C’mon, I would NEVER do a swimsuit shoot!)

Remember on Monsters Inc how Mike Wazowski was so amazed when he made it on a magazine cover, even though his face was covered by a barcode? This past summer, I had a Mike Wazowski moment. I finally make a cover debut… my name and photo is literally right underneath the shipping label!

jobs, saving money

4 Ways to Survive a Desk Job When You Want to See the World

December 10, 2014December 10, 2014 Jessica Lippe

It’s only a seasonal job, I have to constantly remind myself. It will only last a few more weeks!

Last month, I began a job at a Harry and David Call Center. I knew going in that I wouldn’t exactly like the job, but my other three jobs combined don’t make as much as my one job at Harry and David does, so I certainly needed a more steady job, even if it was only for a couple months. The two weeks of training were actually kind of fun. It was more like an adventure, because it was the opportunity to explore the company: explore the physical location that is one of the prides of my hometown, and also explore the internal matters of how this business runs, in an effort to be able to transfer some of what I learned into my own business. But after training ended, I was stuck in the call center.

Eight hours a day of nothing but sitting in a chair, reading a script into a headset, and typing whatever I hear.

Clearly not me. I would lose all my incentive pay if I tried to take a picture of myself in the uber-secure call center, so this is what you get.

This is not the ideal job for any traveler-at-heart. And some days, I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it until my layoff date. But here are a few things that I keep in mind about this job, and they’re things you too can ponder when you find yourself in a job you weren’t meant for:

I won’t be working this job forever! If you don’t count freelance writing (which I’ve worked on for six years), I’ve never kept a job much longer than two years, and some of those jobs I actually enjoyed. And I know that this particular job is even more short-term. I don’t know my exact layoff date yet, but it won’t be later than January. Near the end of my life, when I look back on this job, it will take only a few seconds to reflect on its entirety (even though now it seems like each shift is forever)! Instead, I’ll more clearly remember all the amazing adventures I took before and after this brief period of work.

It’s money in the bank. Life isn’t about money, but I will admit that it’s the biggest motivator for me working this job. My hourly wage is pretty decent, and I earn bonus incentive money too. Of course, right now a good percentage of my earnings are going towards Christmas. (Although I will say I won’t have nearly as big of a budget for Christmas this year as I have had in the past, thanks to the fact that I don’t have to fly anywhere this year!) But most of my leftover money is being stocked up in my savings account, ready to be used for all my 2015 travel plans!

There are other perks too. Every job has perks other than a paycheck. I’ve had jobs that provide food and jobs that provide employee discount. This job happens to provide both. I can typically score some fresh fruit (usually pears, of course!) during my breaks, and in training we were even required to sample a variety of treats! I get a 45% discount in Harry and David stores and 30% off on shipped orders, plus there are discount to other stores and services as well as a discount on mailing services. Harry and David even started a charity where their employees can go to a building twice a month and fill a grocery bag with “imperfect” food and other goods. Best off all, if I work until my layoff date, all of these services are available to me until next November! Because I’ve saved money on things like food, gifts, and even an oil change due this job, it means that more of my paycheck is going toward travel.

I challenge myself to learn new things every day. And if possible, I try to learn something that will still apply to my life after this job is in the past. Sometimes it means reading health articles during my break time. Sometimes I try to think about why a particular sales tactic I used was effective or ineffective. And sometimes it’s just an appreciation for things, like how much small business owners have to do to compete with established big names like this one, or how so many of the overnight shift people seem to be so happy while I dread the fact that I don’t get home until after midnight. Learning through experience is one of the main things that fuels my travels. With a little effort, this can be brought into the workplace,too!

interview, resources

I Guess I’m a “Talented and Energetic Visionary” Now

December 6, 2014July 19, 2019 Jessica Lippe

With my work with G4C Magazine, I have done quite a few interviews over the course of time with authors, actresses, and activists. And of course, I’ve been interviewed too… you know, for jobs like everyone else does! But I recently had my first “real” interview. This one wasn’t for a job, it was to be published on Sisters United in Verse!

"Sisters United In Verse, Women, Christian, Girl, Online Fellowship"

I never heard of this ministry before, but they contacted me when they found out about Girlz 4 Christ. I think they did a wonderful job asking good questions that made me think! They even designed the image above, which I really like! That picture was from three years ago, when I was obsessed with pineapples, chopped off my hair for EMT training, and decided it was a wild enough style that I should dye it red, too! So maybe that wasn’t the best picture of me, but of course the part I really like is the cover collage that surrounds it.

The interviewer used words I never would have used to describe myself. Talented and energetic visionary? Really? I sure hope I can live up to that! One word that wasn’t used to describe me was an adventurist. Although this interview didn’t cover any of my travel experience, it did show more of my personal, internal journey. Read the whole interview here!

holiday, saving money, travel tips, Winter

Holiday Travel: Is It Worth It?

November 21, 2014June 20, 2015 Jessica Lippe

Seeing my first Great Lake (Erie) Thanksgiving weekend 2013.

With Thanksgiving just around a few days away, people across the country are making travel plans, whether they are for next week or next month. Of course it’s justifiable: people want to see their families during winter holidays, and this may be only time of year that some people can take off from school and work. With millions of people planning trips, should the true traveler go along with the masses?

Thanksgiving is typically a low-key holiday for me. Most Thanksgivings growing up were simply spent at home with just immediate family. There were a few times we made the trip to California to spend the weekend with relatives, and once we even took a frigid Thanksgiving camping trip to Yosemite National Park, but I’m pretty sure every single Thanksgiving was spent in either California or Oregon. This coming Thanksgiving will actually be the first Thanksgiving in four years that I will spend the day with people that I’m related to. The past three years in Nebraska and Ohio, I have been blessed to be connected with a different coworker each year that invites me to be an honorary family member for the occasion. This has even provided me with opportunities to see new places. Two years ago, I discovered the area around little West Point, Nebraska. Last year was the complete opposite of the small-town holiday as I explored metropolitan Cleveland.

Riding the California Zephyr somewhere along the Colorado Rockies.

Although I don’t care much about what I do for Thanksgiving (as long as I celebrate it!), I have always gone out of my way to spend Christmas with my family. When I first moved out of Oregon, I wasn’t sure if I would keep this tradition, but I was able to take an affordable train trip from Omaha to Sacramento, and then from there to Klamath Falls where my family picked me up on Christmas Eve morning. In the following years it ended up being more reasonable to fly, but even then it proved to be an adventure, such as last year when the fog delayed me for three days so I had to go to Eugene to catch a red-eye flight!

One of the light displays at the Shore Acres Holiday Lights. The sequence shows the sea lion jumping into the water with a splash!

Even back when I didn’t have to travel to see my family, we would occasionally take a trip around Christmastime. If we didn’t go to Southern California for Christmas, we would always spend Christmas at home, but sometimes we would go on a little trip before or after the 25th. In fact, the first time we went to Mexico was when my family took a cruise the week before Christmas! Another fun destination was camping at the Oregon coast to walk around the intricate Shore Acres Holiday Lights as we sipped hot cider. In fact any trip to the coast was a warmer way to celebrate the Christmas season. When I visited two years ago, my family made an overnight trip to Brookings and went through a bit of California on the way there.

Standing among Redwoods in Northern California, Christmas 2012.

So yes, I love Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and all the special occasions of winter. Of course, I also love to travel. And as you can see, I’ve done my share of holiday travel… but is it worth it? Let’s weigh the pros and cons:

Pros:

-Students are guaranteed at least a few days off.

-In many industries, it is easier to get this time of year off than any other time. Well, this doesn’t apply if you work in retail, but I was sometimes able to get a day or two off in December when I was a store associate!

-Traveling to see family or do something meaningful makes the holiday even more memorable.

-Sledding, snow shoeing, skiing, and other activities that can only be done during winter weather make for a great excuse to hit the snow caps.

-For those who want to avoid the cold, traveling south can make the winter more pleasant.

-There are some special events limited only to this time of year, such as light displays, living nativities, and old-fashioned Christmas parties.

Cons:

-Prices jump on everything travel related! It’s not much of a stretch to think of the price of flights, gasoline, or hotels as doubling. Even budget travel resources, such as trains and hostels, have a tendency to rise for certain holidays.

-Many destinations get incredibly crowded. And you thought Black Friday shopping lines were bad!

-If this season eats away too much at your travel budget, this could prevent you from going on trips at other times of year when the weather is better, crowds are smaller, and prices are lower.

-Even in areas with more pleasant weather, you are more likely to be able to do more in the summer months at the same destination.

Although I could come up with more pros than cons for holiday travel, I think each of these cons are pretty negative. So what’s the verdict? Well, if I need to travel in order to properly celebrate a holiday, then by all means I will travel! But I’m not going to go out of my way to book a trip to Bermuda, or take off for an extended snow trip in the Rockies.

Because so many people are unwilling to work as Christmas comes closer, I think this is a perfect time to pick up some extra work. (And then use that extra cash on a later trip!) Several years ago when I worked part-time in retail, as soon as my school went on break I ended up with practically a full-time schedule in order to keep up with the extended shopping hours and cover for my coworkers who could not make it to work. Right now, I just finished my training for my seasonal job at the Harry and David call center, where pretty soon I could be picking up 70 hours per week if I wanted to! (Plus, I get free and heavily-discounted gourmet food and gifts, which- let’s be honest- that’s why I’m really there!) Naturally, jobs like these involve dealing with people who find the holidays to be more stressful than they should be, but when I think of dealing with each cranky customer as putting money in my travel fund, it puts everything in perspective.

Since I don’t have to travel for Christmas this year since I’m already living by my family, I appreciate the fact that the money I could be spending for just a few days of Christmas break can now be used to fund a couple weeks on a future trip. But even though I won’t be going on any extended trips to exotic locations until 2015, I do plan to take several smaller trips over the remaining weeks of the year. Just from writing this post right now, I think I may have convinced myself to make a trip out to the Pacific coast! With my connections and employee perks at Harry and David, I have the opportunity to go on their popular tour where you can see some of the world’s largest popcorn poppers and acres of pear trees. And although Christmas break is a popular travel time, travel business isn’t so great in the weeks before and after, so I may take advantage of discounted travel prices during this time.

In fact, I’m getting ready to go on a trip this very weekend! I’ll be leaving in just a few hours, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it when I get back!

destinations, travel tips

Happy Half Birthday to Me!

November 10, 2014 Jessica Lippe

Today I am exactly 282 months old, or 23.5 years. No, I’m not one of those self-centered people who try to make up as many occasions as possibly to celebrate my existence, but I’ve always used this day as a time of reflection. I’ve only had 6 months of experience being 23 years old, yet in just 6 months I will have a new age to experience! So let’s take a look at what has happened since my birthday, and then plan what to do with the rest of the year!

Going on a bike ride around Columbus, Ohio happened to bring me to the World's Largest Gavel! — Going on a bike ride around Columbus, Ohio happened to bring me to the World’s Largest Gavel!

My 23rd year started on May 10th, 2014. I wanted to celebrate my birthday by taking a trip, because my favorite birthdays have been while I was traveling. I celebrated my 8th, 13th, 18th, and 22nd birthday in Disney World. No, my parents didn’t take me to Disney World just to celebrate my annual milestone; my birthday just happens to be the best time of year to go! But there was no way I would be able to get to Disney World this year, so I looked more locally. At the time, I lived about an hour away from Columbus, but I had never actually spend much time there. So I decided to book a weekend at The Wayfaring Buckeye (reviewing this hostel helped me rediscover my travel writing passion), throw my bicycle in the back of my Explorer, and head toward the city. I may have spent my birthday alone, but it didn’t even matter because I got to go to a topiary garden, a humongous bookshop, a record-breaking gavel, a fun science museum, two street fairs, and Buffalo Wild Wings, accessing all this on just two wheels! I even went to the Capitol Building and art museum the next day, and of course I set aside some time to call my family and just kick back.

At the science museum, I got to ride a self-balancing unicycle that was two stories high!

I had been working at a retreat center as an outdoor school instructor. Sadly, the school year was just about ending, which meant the job was transitioning. I had the opportunity to help build a new website, and unfortunately I was also given the task of being a lifeguard. Since my summer work was looking somewhat bleak, I started making plans for my days off to “escape” in the world of travel, which also included filling up the remaining weekends in May with even more travel!

Harding Memorial Tomb — Me at the Harding Memorial.

The next weekend I had to go to Marion, Ohio, which I had never been to before. I looked up things I could do while in that town, and was surprised to discover that President Warren G. Harding had lived there, and now he and his wife were buried there! I decided my first stop in Marion would be to visit the cemetery he was buried in. The Harding Memorial looked like something that should only be found in a place like Washington, D.C. But since it was in Central Ohio, it had the bonus of not being crowded with tourists! After finding a geocache near the cemetery, I eventually made it to the event that brought me to Marion in the first place. Secret Keeper Girl had invited me to cover their event so I could feature it in Girlz 4 Christ Magazine. Since it was a mother-daughter event for tween girls, it was a little awkward for me to go by myself. I’m neither a tween nor a mother! But it actually was a great program with some fun games, a message that everyone could take to heart, and a pre-show concert from Copperlily.

Copperlily performing on the Secret Keeper Girl tour.

The next week was Memorial Day weekend, and coincidentally, that was the only weekend where I didn’t have any plans. But my work was having a camp out that staff could attend for free, so I turned the back of my Explorer into a bed (while somehow also fitting my bicycle back there) and enjoyed a few nights away from home.

My typical camp set-up included my car (with all my clothes and bedding in the back), my bicycle, and hopefully a provided table to read and eat at!

Because I had so much fun camping in my car that weekend, the next weekend involved car camping as well! I was invited to a review stay at Turkey Hollow Campground near Millersburg, Ohio AKA Amish Country. I spent two nights there picnicking, sleeping where I could see the stars, walking some paths, and using the camp paddle boat on the pond. During the day, I experienced as much of the Amish life I could in Holmes County by feeding the exotic animals at The Farm at Walnut Creek, touring the schoolhouse, barn, and cyclorama at the Behalt museum, and of course enjoying the authentic shops and foods!

Zebras were one of the several animals I got to pet and feed at The Farm at Walnut Creek. Another highlight was when a giraffe tried to eat my hair!

My weekend trip to Holmes County ended on June 1st, and sadly that was the first and last trip of June. I remember spending that month working, going to church, and reading. But that also gave me more time to plan a trip to Niagara Falls, which I had wanted to do for a long time! Since Niagara Falls isn’t too far away from Ohio, it would be cheap trip to get there, and I decided to make it even cheaper by taking the Greyhound bus for the first time. Since I had never taken the bus before, I wasn’t sure if the bus station had a parking lot. I decided to drive up to Mansfield to see for myself in early July. And of course, I decided to make a trip out of it!

Doing time in one of the nearly 1000 cells.

After discovering that there was no parking at all and I would have to arrange for someone to drop me off, I headed over to the Mansfield Reformatory. The outside looks like a castle, and the inside looks like an abandoned prison, which is what it actually is. It has also been a set for a couple of movies and is supposedly a haunted locale. I also spent this day trip visiting a natural park and a natural food store.

Cave of the Winds Trip on the US side of Niagara Falls

The next weekend I headed off to Niagara Falls! I thought this would be my one big trip of the year (fortunately that was proven wrong!) and I enjoyed a weekend of hiking, eating, sightseeing, and visiting Canada for the first time! This trip also really helped me make a name as a travel writer. Starting the eve of my 23rd birthday, I had been comped a couple nights at accommodations for being a writer and reviewer. But this entire 9-day trip only required me to pay for one night of lodging, plus I got a few other perks! But of course, the best part was finally seeing the Niagara Falls in person.

Enjoying the view from the Canada side of Niagara Falls

A few weeks after returning to my normal life, I got the opportunity to switch my role from tourist to tour guide! My sister had just come back from living in Mexico, and she wanted to explore Ohio before settling back in Oregon. I showed her a few of my favorite places, like Amish Country, President Harding’s tomb, and President Hayes’ birthplace, and she even encouraged me to try out a few new things, like the Columbus Zoo. The few days she spent in Ohio were memorable, not only because they were jam-packed with fun, but also because I decided that I also needed to move back to Oregon after being gone for three years. After all, the main reason I liked working in Ohio was just because of all the trips I could take on my days off!

025 — Walking through a cute little park next to one of the several cheese factories in Holmes County.

After spending a couple weeks trying to pack what I could and sell what I couldn’t, I finally left Ohio. It was actually miraculous to see everything that occurred in those few short weeks, such as the way my car was sold, the connection to donate my beautiful bed, and the numerous gift exchanges that occurred. I then embarked on my second-ever Greyhound trip, this time for eight days. Although I tried to line up travel writing jobs along the way, it was a holiday weekend and I had a pretty tight schedule, so I couldn’t get anything comped. Yet still, I only ended up paying for one night of lodging (thanks to relatives, former workplaces, overnight bus trips, and one night in a bus station followed by convincing the hostel to let me check in early for free). Besides driving and sightseeing through ten states, I made overnight stops in Chicago, Omaha/Fremont, and Denver. So much happened on this part-moving-expedition, part-road-trip, that you’ll just have to read all five blogs I wrote about it (here, here, here, here, and here) to see what I did!

I don't play favorites when it comes to travel, but a definite highlight was stepping out on the Willis Tower Skydeck's transparent ledge on the 103rd floor! — I don’t play favorites when it comes to travel, but a definite highlight was stepping out on the Willis Tower Skydeck’s transparent ledge on the 103rd floor!

I have spent all my time since then within Oregon boundaries. I got a few nanny and babysitting jobs right off the bat, but while I continued to search for a more regular job, I took a few Oregonian excursions. This included going to the Bigfoot Trap, spending the night in Ashland, and touring the Oregon Vortex, among a few other day trips.

Due to the height change in the Oregon Vortex, my mom and I could finally see eye to eye!

As I mentioned, in addition to my writing work, I started to in-home childcare since moving to Oregon, which now includes a regular part-time nanny gig. A few weeks ago, I was also hired at Harry and David World headquarters to help with the Christmas rush. Not too long after that, I was also hired as a housemother at the Magdalene Home, which is an organization that provides housing and resources to teen mothers and their children. Over the past week, I have been training for this position, and I’m really looking forward to it! My training ended today, just in time for my new training at Harry and David to start tomorrow! I’m actually surprised that working four different jobs is going this smoothly. In fact, the only downside is this means I have early starts every day for a couple of weeks, which will then probably switch to a crazy combination of late nights and early mornings.

So there you have it: just about everything I’ve done over the past six months! So what do the next six months have in store? Obviously there’s work, with the goal to save up enough money so I can enjoy a backpacking trip to Europe, and possibly other destinations! I will also be going forth as one of the few remaining editors of Christian girl magazines, since most of our competition has gone out of business. In response to this, there are plans to expand and improve Girlz 4 Christ, and I am planning to apply for it to become an official non-profit organization! So far I’m not aware of any trips coming up in the next six months, but I’m sure they will happen in early 2015, and I’m ready to take advantage of any opportunities made available to me! Other than that, I don’t really know what will happen for the rest of my 23rd year, but I’m excited to find out. I’ll give you an update on this six months from now- hopefully while celebrating a 24th birthday excursion!

#ThrowbackThursday, Bucket List

Travel I Can Cross Off My Bucket List

November 6, 2014July 19, 2019 Jessica Lippe

Yesterday, I posted my current Travel Bucket List. However, while I’m looking forward to hopefully accomplishing all those things in the future, I think it’s important to also look back on previous accomplishments. While I don’t plan every single trip around my goals, once I have a trip planned, I try to take advantage of any opportunities available to apply that trip to working towards a goal. I often accomplish several goals in one trip, which is why you’ll see that I have often done several goals at the same time. Here are some things that are no longer on my bucket list, because I actually did them!

1. Go to Chicago. (September 2014)

2. Eat pizza in Chicago. (September 2014)

3. Go up the Willis Tower and stand on the Skydeck. (September 2014- Okay, I’m done with the Chicago goals!)

On the Willis Tower Skydeck...before eating pizza...in Chicago. — On the Willis Tower Skydeck…before eating pizza…in Chicago.

4. Live away from the Pacific states. (August 2011)

5. Visit Amish Country. (October 2013 in Holmes County, plus two other trips within the following year)

6. Go to the Creation Museum. (March 2014)

Hanging out in the ark room of the Creation Musuem

7. Vacation in Hawaii. (April 2001, Oahu)

8. Go to Walt Disney World. (May 1999, plus three more times, all in May during my birthday!)

9. Bike around a major city. (May 2014, Columbus)

10. Be in two places at once a la A Walk to Remember. (March 2013, Nebraska/Iowa, also internationally in July 2014 at New York/Ontario)

11. Visit a different country. (December 2005, Mexico; July 2007 in Peru was the first time I stayed the night inside the country)

12. Visit a different continent. (July 2007 and August 2009, Peru, South America)

Playing with kids at the Posada de Amor orphanage in Cieneguilla, Peru

13. Visit Canada. (July 2014, Niagara Falls)

14. Go on a mission trip. (July 2007, Posada de Amor in Peru, plus several other trips after)

15. Go to Seattle. (March 2004 was my first trip)

16. Go to Nashville. (September/October 2012)

In front of the Tennessee Capitol Building in Nashville

17. Go to Niagara Falls. (July 2014)

18. Take an overnight train trip. (December 2011, from Nebraska to Oregon)

19. Go on a cruise. (December 2005, California and Baja)

20. Support overseas orphans. (Not including Latin American mission trips, I’ve sponsored Nelly in Zambia since 2013.)

Nelly, the teenager I sponsor through Every Orphan’s Hope

21. Fly first class. (January 2013, from Denver to Omaha)

22. See Mount Rushmore. (August 2011)

23. Be in the nation’s Capitol. (June 2007 in Washington DC, also in Peru’s capitol of Lima in July 2007 and August 2009)

24. Go to New York, New York. (June 2007)

TIESS3 209 — On a class trip to the East Coast

25. See historic Philadelphia. (June 2007)

26. Travel out-of-state without my parents. (March 2003 to Washington, and many, many, many trips since!)

27. Travel by myself. (This one’s ambiguous: in 2001 I flew by myself but was picked up by family at my destination, in August 2011 I moved to Nebraska for an internship, in September 2012 I went to Tennessee for two weeks but one week was spent with a friend, in August 2013 I took a solo road trip to get to Ohio for my new job… if none of the previous count to you has having traveled by myself, then I definitely took several trips over the past year that would certainly count!)

In the airport at the beginning of my move to Nebraska

28. Drive more than an hour. (First time was February 2013 from Twin City area in Minnesota to somewhere in Iowa)

29. Drive the entire way on a road trip. (First time was August 2013 from Fremont, NE to Marengo, OH)

30. See a Great Lake. (First saw Lake Erie November 2013, within the next several months also saw Ontario and Michigan)

Walking alongside Lake Michigan in Chicago

31. See the Atlantic Ocean. (June 2007)

32. Go to Colorado, but not just inside an airport. (October 2011, Estes Park, visited twice later on)

33. Buy a car (August 2012, bought a y2k red Ford Explorer, sadly sold August 2014)

My SUV Dora (named so because she was an Explorer)

34. Go to Yellowstone National Park to watch Old Faithful, see large wild animals, and stand on the Continental Divide. (July-ish 2002?)

35. Take a tethered balloon ride. (July 2010)

36. Sleep (inside a car) in a Walmart parking lot. (September 2013)

37. See Multnomah Falls. (September 2014)

38. Go on an extended whitewater rafting trip. (May 2011, Rogue River)

39. Take a trip with only carry-on luggage. (September/October 2011, Tennessee, and nearly every trip ever since!)

40. Ride the Greyhound. (July 2014, and again in August/September 2014)

41. Go waterskiing/wakeboarding. (July 2004 was my first waterski attempt, July 2006 proved more successful and was also my wakeboard introduction)

42. Sleep all night in a hammock. (July 2012, at the top of a 60-foot tower overlooking the Platte River)

43. Stay in a hostel. (September 2012, Music City Hostel in Nashville; hostels are now my favorite accommodation!)

44. Attend a Christian music festival. (September 2011, Lifelight South Dakota)

Among over 10,000 fans at a Lifelight concert

45. See The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. (June 2007)

46. Visit the three main countries that make up North America. (Started at birth in the U.S., ended in Canada July 2014)

47. Hike from base to summit of a mountain. (The tallest so far was Harney Peak in South Dakota August 2011, but was preceded by Mount Humbug and both Table Rocks in Oregon)

This building is at the very top of Harney's Peak and it was a strenuous four-mile journey to get there — This building is at the very top of Harney’s Peak and it was a strenuous four-mile journey to get there

48. Ride a roller coaster that goes upside-down. (May 2003, Disney’s Rock n Roller Coaster, and of course with visits to more “adventurous” theme parks like Six Flags Marine World, Knott’s Berry Farm, and Adventureland, I’ve been on dozens more)

49. Be invited to a movie screening before it comes to theaters. (July 2011 for Courageous; I’ve also gone to Grace Unplugged, Moms’ Night Out, and When the Game Stands Tall)

50. Become a travel writer (started professionally writing November 2008!)

So there you have it: my top 50 travel accomplishments! I’m looking forward to adding more to this list!

saving money, writing

Taking a Travel Break

November 3, 2014November 4, 2014 Jessica Lippe

Many people like to travel as a way to take a break from their routine schedule. Me? I pick up a routine as a break from travel!

Ever since crossing the Oregon border on a Greyhound bus nearly two months ago, I have not stepped outside the Beaver State. That unusual cross-country move, while fun, was tiresome, and I guess I experienced a bit of travel burnout because of it. That doesn’t mean I stopped traveling per se. In fact, if you’ve been reading this blog, you know that I’ve been to lots of places, such as The Bigfoot Trap, Ashland, and just a few days ago The Oregon Vortex, to name a few. But I haven’t been going international or breezing through a dozen states, and oftentimes I come back home at the end of a travel day instead of spending the night somewhere! I’ll never completely stop traveling, but the past few weeks have been a slower, more local pace.

I haven’t spent much time in Southern Oregon in the last few years, so I’ve practically been living like a foreigner as I explore this little corner of the country. Just today, I went to the DMV so I could replace my Ohio driver’s license with an Oregon one. I also voted as a resident of this state and county. (Yay Oregon, for their mail-in-only voting system!) I guess these sorts of things officially make me a local, but it feels surreal. Perhaps now that I can no longer claim to be a traveler in this state, I’ll be motivated to travel elsewhere. But I think I need a travel break, at least for just a little bit longer.

Most people slow their travel down in the fall and winter months. In the past I may have slowed down a little during this time, but I’ve never stopped. I’ve always taken a trip with a roommate or coworker during Thanksgiving weekend, and taken a train or plane across the country to visit my parents for Christmas. But now that I’m back in the town I grew up in, I’ll likely spend these holidays right here.

So what am I doing when I don’t travel?

I’ve picked up four jobs. Four! Of course, one of those jobs is writing, and I’ll still be taking enough weekend and day trips to have something to write about. I also nanny part-time, and I use this opportunity to explore the local area with the kids. Tomorrow, I start a job at as an on-call housemother at a home for teen mothers. And next week, I’ll start training for my seasonal job at Harry and David’s headquarters. I’m hoping to use the next couple of months as an opportunity to make connections (and also money!), so that when my H&D job ends, I can take even more trips while still working around my nannying and housemothering schedule. Maybe this break will allow me to research and network enough so I can travel full-time!

Here’s the tricky part: I’m not going to be traveling much (if at all) this month, but I also signed this website up for NaBloPoMo. This challenge is an offshoot of NaNoWriMo, but instead of writing a novel in one month, participants in National Blog Post Month commit to posting every day of November. While I may not have much fresh content from new trips, I hope I can provide a post every day on packing ideas, product reviews, throwback stories, and more travel advice. I don’t know if I’ll make it, but I believe this travel break will inspire even more travel!

What travel-themed subjects should I write about during my travel break?

Tag: work

Adventures that Happen When You Don’t Travel