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  • Travel Blogger Jennifer in Australia

    2/16/201012:55:46 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

    Australia

    Australia Day, Middle Harbor, Sydney

    Good ‘ay all you Cultural Embracers!

    I hope February has treated you well so far. Normally, my blogs hold some sort of recently stumbled upon life lesson, travel advice or semi-meaningful message, but this particular blog is a product of my excitement over my upcoming trips and recent activities and thus probably will not be quite as evocative : ). Everything has been superb in the land down under- February is going to be an epic month.

    I had a successful move two weeks ago into an apartment with four of my friends just ten minutes from my old place on Coogee beach. And although I definitely do miss my twenty something building mates and waking up and walking straight onto the sand, I could not be happier with the new flat. Aside from the perk of living with four of my good friends, my rent is much cheaper ($115 per week from $180 pw), my name is not on the six month lease which means as long as I find a replacement I can move on string free, and I am in a beautiful area with easy access to the rest of the city as well as excellent running and bike paths through some of the most beautiful parks in Sydney. I would almost feel like I have moved out of backpacker territory and into permanent residency if it was not for our makeshift furniture- but blow up air mattresses, hand-me-down couch and table given by a random neighbor which we have surrounded with recovered mismatched table chairs, and the lack of normal kitchen appliances together emit quite the squatting vibe. Our place is a little random, but it is pretty perfect and my own person symbol of independence. For the first time in my life every dime of my rent, along with my living expenses and travel savings, etc., is coming out of my own paychecked pocket. It's a superb feeling.

    Another splendid February event is my trip to Tasmania coming up in a little over a week. Two friends and I are flying over for about a week to camp on one of the top ten rated beaches in the world, Wine Glass Bay, and hit other famous spots like St. Helens, Bay of Fires and Cradle Mountain. Should be an amazing excursion, and an interesting one as we are renting a car and I am apparently the volunteered driver (probably not the best decision, hmm). But this trip is pretty monumental for me particularly. When I was five or six I asked Santa for a globe (do not judge me), and that Christmas morning as I was spinning it under my finger, playing "where I am going to live when I grow up" (you know what I'm talking about), I discovered Tasmania. It was so mysterious to me and I can remember wondering who in the world got to visit such a far away place. So, I suppose I am fulfilling a childhood ambition- I am getting to explore a destination I never thought I would have the opportunity to visit. Really cool.

    With Tasmania set on the horizon and being in a better financial situation where I can start to save a bit more, I am definitely planning my next adventures more aggressively. A few weeks ago I booked my New Zealand travels and am currently drooling over all of the Kiwi awesomeness. Glacier hikes, sky diving over crystal clear waters surrounded by lush mountain ranges, white water rafting, trekking to the first point on the globe to see the sun per day- I do not think I have ever loved researching as much as I have lately in planning all of my travels. So with NZ planned for April (in order to miss the extreme cold that hits shortly after then and not sacrifice pure enjoyment in water activities) I am pushing my trip up the Aus east coast (to Cairns, the Whitsunday and Magnetic Islands which I declared were coming up in February and March on Cultural Embraces work and travel Australia Facebook group wall http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=416345310612&ref=ts) back to May. Fortunately for me, even though May is the beginningish of winter for Aus, the northern east coast essentially only encounters two seasons: rainy season (which is slightly rainy, scorching hot with lots of jellyfish) and not rainy season (which usually brings temperatures around 78 degrees F and no jellyfish), perfect! And because I will be spending a bit more time up the coast than I will in New Zealand I have more time to plan and save for it.

    Life is good, and between making small beach and mountain escapes up and down the coastline with friends a weekly habit, cheaper rent, and remembering I am swapping posh evenings out for saving for a day of Whitsunday sailing, bungee jumping in New Zealand or kayak rentals in Tasmania, keeping a nice balance between play and traveling, and work and saving (key word) is easier than ever. All smiles in the world of an Australian work and traveler. And I can't wait to share my Tasmania adventures with you!

    Please feel free to email me at Jcampbell@culturalembrace.com if you have any questions or want specifics on the adventures of a Work and Traveler in Australia.

    Live fully,
    Jennifer C Campbell




  • Love Really Makes the World Go Round

    2/12/201011:58:40 AM Link 1 comment | Add comment

    This month the Owner of Cultural Embrace, Emlyn Lee, was featured in Rare -a local Austin Texas Magazine. Read Emlyn's interview below, and the story behind the lady who daily inspires Cultural Embrace!

    As the founder of Cultural Embrace, an organization aimed at sorting out the intricacies involved in traveling abroad, Emlyn Lee knows that love comes in many flavors. Her dedications toward spreading awareness and acceptance of other cultures proves that there is no limit to the compassion of the human heart.

    Lee began Cultural Embrace in January of 2002, shortly after the tragic events of 9/11. In spite of many Americans' anxieties in the wake of such terrorism, she chose to help people overcome their newfound trepidations about crossing America's borders by promoting tolerance through foreign excursions and interactions with other societies.

    Now, almost a decade later, Cultural Embrace continues to nourish people's desire to explore the world around them. The organization helps travelers make all of the arrangements necessary to visit a foreign country, from finding a host family to getting a passport. Whether organizing work placements, English teaching positions, internships, vacations, or volunteer opportunities, Lee's brainchild fosters a comfortable safe environment free from the sink-or-swim mentality that often leaves travelers frantically flipping through an Italian-English dictionary in a crowded piazza.

    Instead of worrying about being in a strange land and having to journey from hostel to hostel, Cultural Embrace participants can focus on truly experiencing all that a country has to offer, from the food to the people. And, in doing so, they create a more personal experience as well.

    "When you are able to stop and breathe and take tha tplunge to go abroad- to go to the unknown- and take that risk of being outside your comfort zone, that's loving yourself," explains Lee. "That's being so comfortable and so secure of who you are, even when you're unsecure of what you're doing when you are abroad. It's saying hey, I want to do something different for my life and make a difference in somebody else's."

    Lee knows first hand what it means to touch another's life. She traveled extensively before starting Cultural Embrace, trying everything from teaching English in China to working on a riverboat. She also explored the finer side of the world travel via a position at a luxury tour company. But even in the face of wealth and leisure, she managed to zero in on the essence of the human spirit and bring joy to those in need. She recalls her time in Kenya, in particular, as a poignant reminder of why she places such high importance on traveling and experiencing different cultures.

    "One day I brought a suitcase full of clothes, vitamins, medicines, and school supplies, and ended up going to some orphanages with one of the [company] drivers," she says. "From that point on, I would actually take groups and ask the drivers to stop at these places if we could- at orphanages, villages, or schools- and it really became a highligh of these itineraries. I just realizd that, as amazing as these sights were that we would see, what is most impactful and really meaningful is that interaction with people."

    The interaction is so meaningful, in fact, that Lee is in the process of bringing a new element to Cultural Embrace- adopting villages. Locations in Kenya and Guatemala are at the top of her adoption list, and the endeavor is one of her primary goals for 2010. It is just one of the many ways that Lee strives to tear down the walls separating us and build bridges in their place.

    "When you're able to embrace other people's culture and diversity and say, okay, that person's different from me, but I'm going to embrace it, and love it, and grow from it- that's exactly how we have a more peaceful world, a more educated world, and just a better world," she says.

    In the world of Cultural Embrace, love is not just an emotion. it is seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time, praising a Vietnamese student as he learns to conjugate verbs, and providing vitamins for a pregnant woman in a third-world country. It is, in the words of Lee, "expanding your eyes, your mind, and your heart," and learning to "discover the similarities and share the differences."

    So no matter where you travel or who you meet while there, one thing will always hold true- love really does make the world go round.

    Story Written By: Amy Wald, featured in the February 2010 issue of Rare magazine. Photo By Cory Ryan.

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