Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Coming in 2007...

As years go, 2007 is shaping up to be a big one for me personally and professionally.

Personally

* I’m getting married. Does it get any bigger than that? Mark your calendars for 09/08/07 (It’s like a countdown, but a countdown to what. Blast off? Hugs? The Bomb? Self-Destruct? My doing the coffee grinder in the middle of a circle of adoring wedding goers chanting, “Go Kelsey, it’s your wedding. Go Kelsey, it’s your wedding.”?)

* Annie, my wife-to-be, and I are looking at houses to buy. Yeah, so I’m growing up, but that doesn’t mean the travel writing gig goes.

Professionally

* It’s not completely official, but Bootsnall.com has selected me as one of their Rogue Travelers of 2007. Why? Because I’m going on a global quest to answer the question “Where am I wearing?”. They’ll be hosting and promoting a blog about my travels to Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, and other places in between.

* I hope to be an extra in a Bangladeshi movie. Honestly, how many blonde hair blue eye extras do they have? ZERO, that’s how many. Enter ME.

* My first contribution to Radio airs this week on the World Vision Report. I’ll let you know when it’s available online. With suggestions from the helpful staff of the program, I’ve decided to bring back audio recordings of interviews and sounds from my upcoming trip. I’m in the process of playing with software and equipment. I’ll be posting pre-trip audio stories in the near future.

* I’ve got loads of story pitching to do before I leave. Radio, magazines, newspapers. If you’re an editor, expect to hear from me in the near future.

* A book is in the works. I feel naughty.

* The Travelin’ Light column is currently on sabbatical. I’d much rather be writing my 800 word tales than reading books on globalization, but time dictates that I take a break from the column. I expect it’ll pop up somewhere before the year is over.

* I’ll continue to work 30 hrs a week with the family business, Timmerman Truss, until I get fired or land too many writing assignments to keep up.

In the past I’ve chalked up covering the expense of my trips to a sort of grad school – an investment in my future. But now after six years of traveling and writing, school is over. I’ve got my PhD in whatever it is that I do and it’s high time I start making PhD $$.

At first I traveled for traveling’s sake. To experience the freedom of the open road and all that jazz. I was a bum. It was pure. It was beautiful. And then, the writing bug bit me and now travel plays second fiddle to writing. I can no longer bum. If I’m not working on a story, or what could become a story, I’ve got to move on to one or I’ll go nuts.

Damned writing anyhow. It had to go a screw with the bum gig. Annie is probably a little to blame for this too.

Only two days into 2007 and it’s looking like quite an adventure. I expect it will be worth writing about.

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