June 26, 2011 | 11:57 am

Meeting the Locals: Connecting on the Road and at Home (video)

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

One of the most unexpected surprises of budget travel has been the connection with people. One of my favorite parts of our trips happens not only when we meet locals along the way, but also other travelers back home afterward.

Traveling the “five-star” way (having lived on board a cruise ship for seven years) I had certainly met many travelers. For nearly all of my six-month contracts, I quickly made friends with staff from different countries and enjoyed the dorm-like aspects of shipboard life. I occasionally made friends with passengers but that was somewhat challenging and frowned upon by our employer.

When I left the Seven Seas, I thought my travel days were behind me but after meeting George traveling began again, in full swing but a different style of budget - no longer was I Julie MaCoy Assistant Cruise Director but rather XX-anonymous of the unplanned budget scene.

Video: Our Guide: Keke

Recently in Taiwan, we met amazing people who really went out of their way to help us. We also met groups of students on field trips (video) in Tainan and Keke in Bundai, the port city for Penghou Islands, also known as the Hawaii of Taiwan.

Read more: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/meeting-the-locals-connecting-on-the/#ixzz1QPF8C5LM

Author’s Note: We are leaving for six weeks in Samoa and Tonga and will not be online for most of the summer! Check our website for more details: http://www.wesaidgotravel.com/.  We will bring you stories and photos of the South Pacific this Fall. Lisa and George

June 19, 2011 | 5:05 pm

Tainan, Taiwan: Can I help you? (video)

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

“Can I help you?” is a great thing to hear while traveling. At home, I rarely hear anyone offer to help. Over the last two years on my two-mile walk home to and from school, I have called 911 several times after a traffic accident. I am trained as a first responder from working on cruise ships, at camps and at schools. It would not occur to me not to call but each time a by-stander or someone in the accident is so thankful that I called and helped at the scene. It shocks me that someone would not call or step up but most people don’t.

I do notice while we are in a foreign country how much I appreciate someone offering his or her assistance. In Taiwan, any time we looked lost even for a moment a kind person offered to help us. From the moment we exited the Metro in Taipei, a woman appeared and walked us to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial. She turned out to have family in Orange County only an hour from our home.

While walking in Tainan when we could not find Chikan Towers (which was literally one more block to our left, but I felt very lost and frustrated), a man in the noodle shop said in English, “Can I help you?”; I was so happy; I felt like someone threw me a life ring and I was no longer drowning and alone. I had been navigating our day in Tainan and just could not figure out where the next place was although I knew we were so close.

The nice noodle man helped us order noodle soup with no meat and even offered us a nearly 50 percent discount on our meal since there was no shrimp. Taiwan has been an amazing destination for the great sites and clean streets but also for the friendly people who have wanted to speak English with us and just get to know us, not to sell us anything.

Video: Tasty Tainan

Read more: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/tainan-taiwan-can-i-help-you/#ixzz1PlYtCAxw

0 Comments — Leave your comment

June 17, 2011 | 1:40 pm

Travel Happy Hour: June 21 Join us!

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

In the New York Times regular segment, Practical Traveler, Susan Stellin wrote on October 12, 2010 Making the Dream Trip a Reality about Meet Plan Go’s “hosted events in 13 cities, where they answered questions about their (career break) experiences from 1,500 aspiring travelers (in some locations, hundreds more were on a waiting list).”

If you would like to participate in a similar session, this year the events will take place in 17 cities on October 18, 2011. Early bird tickets are available until June 8. Don’t miss out!

Leaving your job, putting down your briefcase, and picking up your backpack is “a dream anyone with a passport fantasizes about once in a while: ditching everything to travel the world for a year, or at least long enough to forget about office life.” If you are ready to learn more by meeting some career break veterans, or perhaps ready to plan a trip, regardless of length, you should get ready to go to our first event in Los Angeles.

Please join us on June 21, 2011 at the WEST Lounge of the Hotel Angeleno. Gather with us to share stories, toast to future travel plans and inspire others to take to the road, especially the paths less visited.

Lisa and George, creators of We Said Go Travel and hosts of the LA Chapter of Meet Plan Go, look forward to meeting you for happy hour drinks and to hear about your journeys past and future. They will speak briefly about Meet Plan Go, upcoming events, how to get involved and their own great travels!
RSVP

Meet Plan Go: Do you long to escape your cubicle and strike out to discover the world on your own terms? If so, it’s time to take action. Looking for inspiration and ‘how-to’ advice regarding career break planning and travel? At Meet, Plan, Go! we are leading the career break movement in North America; encouraging and teaching others how to travel the world and have it be beneficial to your career. We envision a world where the term ‘career break’ is a part of your overall career strategy.

We have a dream to get more and more people talking about AND taking traveling career breaks. We aren’t picky – we don’t care how long they are, or where you go. But go you must. Go out and see the world, open up your mind, shake up your perceptions, and get the best education out there…the world’s cultures.

Lisa and George Rajna spent eleven months wandering Southeast Asia from Indonesia to Mongolia where they fell in love, got engaged, and now as a married couple are writing a book about their journey.

0 Comments — Leave your comment

June 5, 2011 | 11:14 am

Taipei to Kenting: Flying on the High Speed Train (Video)

Posted by Lisa Niver Rajna

Going to Taiwan felt different to me. I did not really converse with George about it. I did not waiver. I just decided and organized the tickets with frequent flyer miles. Sometimes I do not know what I want or honestly I do not want to share my preferences but this time I just did it and it felt liberating.

I do like being in a partnership and compromise is required, but sometimes it feels great to say no or to make my own decision.

Video: Taipei to Kenting

Read more: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/taipei-to-kenting-flying-on-the#ixzz1OQHF9eti

0 Comments — Leave your comment