I haven’t updated in a while because I am currently working with someone to construct a new website. The new website will be up shortly.

As many of you know, I usually write articles about hostels, tips for saving money, and interviews involving young travelers.  However, another important part of my freelance writing career is encouraging young Americans to vote.  Tomorrow is Election Day and many of us are lucky to have the chance to vote.  We are even luckier because many of us are able to walk to our polling stations and vote within our own districts.

What about those who are studying abroad, serving in the military, or just temporarily working outside of the United States?  They still have an opportunity to vote in American elections.  I posted a few articles in the past for the Oversea Vote Foundation.  I don’t know if I have an impact or not, but I hope Americans living abroad know their votes do count.  They do not have to feel as though they are silence because they are not in the United States.

So, go out there on Election Day and vote.  Vote for whoever you think will take care of America.  If you plan on traveling overseas next year, don’t forget to register and send in your absentee ballot.

In case you are curious about how the Overseas Vote Foundation is helping Americans vote around the world, here’s an article I wrote recently for the Examiner:  Overseas Vote Foundation: It’s not too late to vote

A couple of weeks ago, I joined a few friends and we drove to Charlotte, North Carolina to check out the 17th Annual Carolina Renaissance Festival.  This was my very first renaissance festival and I must admit it was quite entertaining.  I especially enjoyed the comedy shows they had available (Tortuga Twins, anyone)?

The first thing I did was walk around and searched for a renaissance costume.  At first, I did not find any that caught my eye, but my best friend was determined to help me fulfill my dream of dressing up at the renaissance festival.  So, after a run-in with a Storm Trooper wearing a kilt, we ended up at this store called Jiva which has…belly dancing outfits!  I used to take belly dance lessons in college, so I walked into the store to try on a few outfits.

I’m an average sized lady, but the very fit belly dancer who was managing the store was very polite about my curves and even helped me wrap my outfit in a few ways to strategically hide my less-than-toned mid-section.  She even said, “If you ever decide to show off your mid-section, here’s a sheet that explains the different ways of wearing the outfit.  Best of all, the dancer said, “If the suit ever comes untied, come back here and we will gladly tie it for you.  We like to take care of our own.”

Overall, the festival was very entertaining.  I even went to a joust where the team we were rooting for was a knight from Persia.  I wore my belly dancing outfit and told my best friend that my “husband” better win the joust.  Alas, he did not and I left him at the joust.

I wrote an article about the 17 Annual Carolina Renaissance Festival on Striped Pot:  http://stripedpot.com/2010/10/30/17-annual-carolina-renaissance-festival/

I spent my last day in Toronto as both a Toronto International Film Festival observer and as a tourist.  I wanted to absorb as much of Toronto as possible before heading back home to the coal mines and cow pies of the southern U.S.  I started the day with a quick text from a friend who wanted me to view his friend’s film entitled “A Night for Dying Tigers”.  So, I slipped on something presentable, slapped on some make-up, and within 5 minutes I was out the door and off to the theaters for my first festival film.

In case you haven’t seen “A Night for Dying Tigers”, it’s a very dark comedy about a dysfunctional family.  When I say dysfunctional, I mean they make “Malcolm in the Middle” and “Married with Children” look like the classic 1950s television families.  I am not a movie critic, so I won’t go into my review of the film.  However, it was after my friend and I parted ways at the theater when things became relatively interesting.

I explored Dundas Square a bit before I decided to hop on the subway and visit the Royal Ontario Museum.  I’ve been to the ROM before, but I wanted to get some photos for an upcoming project about Toronto.  As I was leaving the ROM, I was looking for the nearest station for the CN Tower.  Instead, I noticed that I was extremely close to the Yorkville district.

The Yorkville District is a really posh portion of Toronto where the very wealthy go for shopping–or people like you and me go for window shopping, LOL.  What drew me to this district was my last memory of a movie theater in Yorkville.  It was a snowy December night and I was spending some time with a close friend while we were waiting for “Seven Pounds” to start.  We had just finished a riveting discussion about politics when I looked out the window.  The soft white snow contrasted with the bright lights of the Yorkville District.  There were people running around trying to finish their last-minute shopping.  There were moving lights from cars and stationary lights from signs and streetlights.  The city was so beautiful and I did not want to return home to the muddy Christmas that awaited me in the southern U.S.  I wanted the snow, the lights, and the intelligent conversation with a good friend.

So, as a sucker for nostalgia, I went to the Yorkville District to see what was going on.  It turns out there were reporters filming all around the streets.  Trucks driving by with large signs advertising movies.  And, as I was walking back I saw a herd of screaming teenage girls on a street corner.  I asked a couple of them what was going on and they replied, “It’s the kids from Degrassi!”  I had a choice: walk away and head toward the CN Tower or join the chaos.

What can I say?  Sometimes you just have to go with the chaos.  After visiting Yorkville I hopped on a subway car to Union Station to see the CN Tower.  While I was there, I met a guy from BBC World.  I talked to him for a few minutes and gave him my business card.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my press badge, so chances are he probably thinks I faked the whole “I am covering TIFF for the Examiner” line.  However, it was still nice knowing that BBC World was covering the story as well.

I spent my last night in Toronto hanging out with my hostel buddies from all over the world.  One of them from Canada managed to get his picture taken with a famous wrestler and a former NHL hockey player.  Another gentleman from France took some nice close-up shots of Ben Affleck ordering a hotdog or sausage.  We talked about everything from how the guy in our hostel really was a Guinness World Record holder to why they were airing “United 93″ in Canada on September 11th.  I even introduced one mate from England to the song “Chavs on the Moon”.  It’s quite hilarious.

Next time, I may try to focus more on TIFF and less on trying to cover a million different angles at once.  I have written one article about TIFF and I’m still waiting on some more information from a couple of connections so I can finish my series.  I planned a couple of interviews, but they may have to wait until the end of the film festival.  In the meantime, I’m off to help spread the word about overseas voting and hostels.

ARTICLE:  Young travelers and the Toronto International Film Festival

For those of you who have not attended the Toronto International Film Festival, it is definitely worth the experience.  My TIFF experience first started out with an invite to the pre-festival film party.  It was sponsored by Hamilton watches and there were quite a few people from within the film industry as well as some people–such as myself–who were invited to the party due to how awesome they are.  Or, maybe it’s because I knew a few people on the inside.

I did not know the importance of this party until the night before when my friend told me that it was the official pre-festival party for the Toronto International Film Festival.  As I stepped out of the taxi, I saw the CP-24 cameraman filming a beautiful reporter standing near the doorway.  I was probably within the background for part of the broadcast, but I was more concerned about the party and who I would talk to while I was there.

I was on the list, so they told me to start upstairs.  I didn’t know that the top floor was the VIP area, but I guess that just means I don’t recognize my own worth sometimes, LOL.  So, I went upstairs and I started talking to random people.  Many of them were actually within the film industry: producers, directors, actors, photographers, film acquisitions and distribution, etc.  One was even allegedly involved with TIFF.  Unfortunately, I never heard from the guy who promised he would help me get a press badge, but c’est la vie.

I went downstairs after a while and spent some time hanging out with people on the lower floor.  Many of them turned out to be friends who were invited by the Drake Hotel staff.  I ran into a couple of intellectual property lawyers–who seem to disprove the theory of lawyers being blood-sucking leeches–and we hung out in line for the VIP area (which I was just there earlier).  After a long conversation in line with those people, I went back downstairs to see if I could find some more people to hang out with and maybe talk to the friend who got me into the party.  I reunited with a great friend I hadn’t seen in two years, but around 2 p.m. I decided to head home and write some more.

I got to see the friend who invited me to the party only briefly.  It was a bit disappointing, but with 550 people at the party I’m surprised I even got to see him at all.  So, as I hopped into a taxi on my way back to the hostel, I reflected on my night as a special guest to one of the top parties at the festival.  I must say, it was a very exciting experience.  And, as I noticed the color-changing CN Tower across from my hostel, I realized how hard it might be to readjust back to the rural town of Hillbilly land U.S.A.

I am currently in Toronto for day one of my Toronto adventures.  Tuesday plans on being a very busy day, but I have a friend who may be able to help me with some of the video shots.  The Toronto International Film Festival is going to be massive this year.  In fact, I must admit I underestimated the importance of TIFF on the film industry until I landed in Toronto.  However, this promises to be a massive festival and a massive trip.

I do plan on posting a few articles about Toronto and even some videos about TIFF events.   As for now, I’m going to bed so I can get up in time to start shooting some amazing scenes.  So, keep watching this blog for more updates about the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Throughout my freelance writing career, I have worked with quite a few companies in promoting the benefits of youth and budget travel.  While I feel honored working with these companies, I also enjoy writing for organizations promoting important causes such as the Overseas Vote Foundation.  I originally started writing articles for this organization last year when I wrote a three-part article series about Youth Vote Overseas.

This time, I wrote an article about the actual Overseas Vote Foundation.  This foundation recently congratulated the Department of Defense on their hard work of enacting the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act of 2009.  This act was created in order to close the loopholes of the 1989 Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).  One important provision within this act is the deadline for states and territories to deliver blank ballots to Americans living abroad 45 days before the election.

It is very important for Americans, especially young Americans like myself, to vote in this election.  This election could determine the outcome of the 2012 Election as well as determining the veto or passage of important bills.  The future of the economy, health care, and well-being of our nation could be impacted by this election.  Therefore, it is important to get the word out and encourage more Americans to vote.

The changes to the article have not been published yet.  However, when they are published I will post the link to my Examiner article.

Due to the Examiner updates, I have not written many articles on their website.  Some of my fellow travel writers dislike the changes that Examiner has made to the website and I must admit I do not disagree with their grievances.  In fact, I miss my advance editor publishing tool most of all.  However, one writer has decided to take action and create a new professional website for travel writers.

Striped Pot is an online travel magazine that was launched only a few days ago.  For now, many of the travel writers are volunteers who are helping to build a website for travel writers who want their voices to be heard.  I joined this group yesterday and my profile should be activated soon.  While I will not be getting paid to write on this website, I will be working with quite a few talented travel writers who want to inform others about this amazing planet we call Earth.

Visit this website and enjoy the articles written by talented travel writers:  http://stripedpot.com/

Do me a favor before you decide to travel anywhere internationally.  In fact, do this before you start booking for your trip.  Please, go to your bank and let them know that you will be traveling to a certain location and therefore will be booking items for the trip including hostel/hotel rooms, tickets, etc.  In fact, I definitely recommend this before you end up stuck in a foreign country without money.

I was attempting to book my accommodations when I discovered my card was blocked.  It turns out my bank has activated a good way of protecting customers from identity theft and they thought my purchase was suspicious.  So, I had to go to the bank the next day and ask them to unblock my card.  I also alerted them of the fact that I was going to travel in a couple of weeks so they could make sure my card would not be blocked.  After all, who wants to go to the ATM after a 6 hour flight only to discover they cannot withdraw any money?

So, make sure if you do travel that you alert your bank.  You do not want to wait until you’re sleeping in the airport because your card would not work at the ATM.

In case you’re wondering, yes I have started an exercise regimen.  My graduate courses start back in less than a week and I’ve been really busy working at my day job while planning for a trip.  I won’t tell you where yet, but it should be quite exciting.

I’ve been writing for Examiner for over a year and recently the website has been going through a set of updates to make the site even better.  However, my fellow travel writers and I have become a bit disenchanted by the updates.  I am no longer able to use the advance editor, so that means I am missing the following items:

• No longer preview articles before publishing them.
• No longer see what pictures look like before they are published.
• No longer publish more than one picture per article.

And I’m sure I’m missing more items that I haven’t tested yet.  However, this may be a blessing in disguise.  I am thinking about possibly building up my personal website for something more than just random ramblings of an aimless writer.  Come on, you know it’s true.  I see you nodding.

So, I am thinking about writing about travel tips, travel advice, personal experiences, and more on this site.  I don’t know where it will lead, but many of my fellow writers are also thinking about doing the same.  Some have been doing it.  It might only last until Examiner fixes the glitches.  It might last longer.  Right now, I’m just experimenting.  However, I am also planning on doing something even more exciting in the future.  I will be taking a trip soon and you will be updated on the twist behind this trip.

Until next time!