At the Starting Line

Ok, here it is, starting now I am officially beginning my quest to get paid to do what I love: eat and travel.

I have always wanted to be a food writer. I really think that would be the perfect career. My first attempt to write a recipe consisted of writing down for my mom the directions for making what I called Polar Bear Cereal.

Polar Bear Cereal
makes one serving
1 cup crushed ice
1 cup fruit juice

Add fruit juice to ice and eat with a spoon.

I thought it was a great idea. I figured I could enter it in one of those contests in the Pillsbury Magazines at the checkout stand. I never did and the thought of what I could have won had I entered it float in and out of my daydreams to this day. But I suppose child hood fame and fortune could have also corrupted me and I think it's better this way. Now that I have matured as a person, writer and eater I can really do something great with my dreams.

I have no career. When people ask me what I do, I like to say, "I travel, I have fun, and I fit work in when I can." Well, I like to think that and I only now have started training myself to say it. I like to think it turns their little idea of life upside-down. Of course I have lots of goals in life to actually get me to the point when I never have to work, when I can just retire at a young age.

The first of those goals would be to pay off the house that my husband and I just bought this Spring 2004. That was a huge step to get ourselves into that much debt again after we had just finished paying off his student loans.

Shortly after buying the house we took a 6 month vacation to hike the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. We saved all our money the winter before to take the trip and also make sure the mortgage was getting paid. I think it took that trip for us to realize how we really want to live our lives. While out there we decided that we really need to retire. When we returned home we would buckle down and pay off the house in 5 years. And when that is done we will be more free to travel. Heck, we could even move to Thailand and live off our rental income. So that is our goal and we're sticking to it, however many doubting looks and sugar-coated supportive smiles we receive from our family and friends.

So for the next five years I'm gonna be working my butt off and pinching those pennies while daydreaming of hiking the PCT, living in Thailand and writing about food. I'll even daydream about travel writing as I'm sure this blog will have lots of posts on our travels as we fill our bellies with Ramen (I still can't believe they can sell the noodles for $.10 a packet).

So as a stepping stone to eventually get paid to eat and write about amazing food and travel I will be posting to my blog. It has the fitting title: Will Travel For Food. Maybe I should have called it Will Write For Food, actually now that I think about it I should have named it Will Write For Free. These are all fitting titles. This blog will have it all: travel, food, writing and of course my trials to get free travel and food in an effort to pay off the house!