Tag Archives: life

Our Crazy Round-The-World Itinerary

Thirty places and 148,390 miles – those are the numbers for the new travel itinerary I planned with the help of the members in The Goal List Community.

Okay… it’s not a real trip. But it’s fun to see anyway.

In August, I posted a game in the community (we’re on Facebook, you should join!), asking members to come up with names of places that started with the letter that the previous location ended with. For example, Alabama -> Anchorage -> Eiffel Tower…

Over the next few days, members replied with locations around the world. As promised, I put them all on a map (I used a site called Tripline, which I hadn’t heard of before but I’ll definitely look into it more in the future).

Here’s the full map, which you can click to go to the interactive one. Use the arrows below the map to see each of the stops one by one (if you can’t see the picture, click here to go to the map).

I know this kind of thing isn’t really how most of us will plan a trip, but it’s a fun game to play while you’re waiting for the next (real) trip to happen.

Although… some people choose vacation destinations by throwing darts at maps, or by spinning a globe and randomly stopping it. Would you use something like this game to plan your itinerary?

I can also see it working as a group icebreaker, or maybe in a hostel when you’re making friends (no wifi needed: grab a real map of the local area, limit the locations to places on whatever map you have access to, and draw the lines between locations by hand).

And when you do have wifi, check out The Goal List Community, a free Facebook group for those who love bucket listing, travel, and goal achievement, and want to support and be supported in their goals and adventures.

Shoutout to Tina, Carla, Salim, Lara, Aditi, Ashley, and Sara for helping create this itinerary!

Tarantulas feel like puppies: I face my spider fear at the Woodland Park Zoo

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Puppies!! (cue the “awww….”) Aren’t you glad I chose these puppies instead of a picture of a tarantula?

We’re standing in the “Authorized Personnel Only” room in Bug World at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, surrounded by hundreds of bugs in containers big and small, waiting to see if I’ll freak out.

I’m a little afraid of spiders. Not to the point where I’m terrified to be in the same room as them (I used to be!), but I definitely get nervous when there’s one close by. I think about how creepy they feel, and how gross it is to walk into a web, and that escalates to being sure that I’ll get bitten.

It’s irrational. But that’s what fear does. It takes the smallest possibility of reality and turns it into a horrible scene from a bad sci-fi or fantasy monster movie, where the spiders are three times bigger than a car and attack people as food.

So, because of this media-induced fear, during the 31 Days of Everyday Adventure challenge, when it comes time to do the activity that says, “Make plans to do the thing you’re afraid of,” I think of spiders.

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“Life’s too short to sit around worrying about it” – Interview with Eric and Stacey of Tonight’s Better Together

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Photo provided by and used with permission from Eric and Stacey Berglind, Tonight’s Better Together

Today’s interview is with Eric and Stacey Berglind, a married couple who blog at Tonight’s Better Together. Motivated by their desire to keep their own romance alive, they share creative ideas for date nights for “anyone that’s fed up with same old dinner and movies or corny, uninventive Pinterest [date night] lists.” They also give readers glimpses into their marriage and life as West Coasters who moved to the East Coast. In this interview, Eric and Stacey share some fun facts about themselves and the best advice they’ve ever received.

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Names and blog:
Eric and Stacey Berglind at Tonight’s Better Together

Fun fact about you:
Eric: I’m a certified scuba diver
Stacey: I was Miss Borrego Springs, beauty pageant queen for a small town

Funner fact:
Eric: I’ve broken nine bones thus far in my life
Stacey: I was nudged by a bull shark in thigh deep water in North Carolina and lived to tell the tale

Funnest fact:
Eric: If it is furry I have to resist the urge to hug it (animals only)
Stacey: I’m allergic to bees because I’ve been stung by scorpions too many times

What do you think has been essential to your success as a blogger?
Both: Identifying the right form of social media and developing a consistent posting schedule has been crucial to our continued growth.

What was something that surprised you about blogging?
The willingness of the blogging community to reach out to each other. We have built friendships with people from all walks of life through blogging.

If you had to describe your blog in 6 words or less, what would you say?
Date ideas that don’t suck!

Who or what inspires you?
Our own relationship inspires us to develop new content for our audience.

What is your all-time favorite bucket list item (of yours or someone else’s)?
Eric: Going snowboarding with a helicopter
Stacey: Go swimming with a whale shark

If you aren’t doing anything related to blogging, what are you doing in your free time?
Both: Working full-time and trying to be outdoors as much as possible with our furry mutt.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Life’s too short to sit around worrying about it.

Readers: Join me in thanking Eric and Stacey for sharing their time, stories, and advice with us! If you want to learn more about them, check out their blog Tonight’s Better Together, with all the links to the usual social media sites.

Want more interviews like this? Leave a comment and let me know who you would like to see featured. Be sure to sign up to stay updated on all the latest posts. Also, get on the Insiders list, a monthly email with a summary of blog posts, cool surprises and printables throughout the year, invites to insider-only online events, and chances to be featured in the blog.