The view from my hotel room. I found this building particularly interesting.

Last second trip to Chicago? Oh yeah, that's how I roll.

My friend DJ happened to be in Chicago this past weekend. I did not realize this until the last minute, and she had no idea how close to Chicago I was so she hadn't thought about letting me know. What ensued after this realization of proximity was frantic planning and last minute hotel and transportation booking so I could spend Monday sightseeing with her and her family.

In total my trip lasted 28 hours from the moment I set foot out my door to the moment I walked through it again.

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LeakyCon Portland is less than two months away! All the details are finalized for those of us travelling within the country. I think our Kiwi friends are still finalizing some of their plans.

Can I just say how excited I am to visit Portland? I've only heard good things about it and it's geek culture. I'm hoping I'm not deflated when I get there! We'll be there from June 24 - 30, with the 28-30 being full of convention activities, including a 5K run/walk to start the convention out. They are encouraging everyone to come in costume, so it should be extremely fun!

We are working on what we want to see and do while there, and we know we want to see the Japanese Gardens and check out Ground Kontrol. Portland is such an interesting place it would be nice to have a couple of weeks to check everything out. I have a feeling it will be a place I'll have to revisit when I get a chance.

We've acquired several giveaway items for the Doctor Who / Supernatural meetup we are running at the convention. Things seem to be coming together well for all of that!  I'm excited to be a part of the convention this year, instead of just an attendee.  After 2 years attending I do consider it a home away from home, and I'm so happy to be a part of helping other people feel that way!

Well, with all that said, it's time to get back to work! So much going on with so little time to do it all in. Have a happy Wednesday!

It's that time of year when I seem to overwhelm myself with ideas and projects.  It always seems like the Spring and the Fall bring out energy and creativity for me. So, the lack of updates have been the fault of doing other things and neglecting this project. I need to schedule my time better, disperse it between the other stuff and this.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I've started eating healthier and exercising more too. Ordering the Bromptons made me realize that it would probably be nearly impossible for me to ride it just down the street and back, little lone go on actual bike trails and such. Then you add in the fact that LeakyCon announced their Fittie 5K walk/run to start off the convention this year. The stars just seem to be aligning for me to get into shape.

Speaking of Cons and projects: Project ConGeek is my latest undertaking. With the help of a small special forces unit of geeky ladies, we are working on articles, interviews, and news related to fandom centered conventions. Currently, a Tumblr is running (http://congeek.tumblr.com) and there is a Twitter account (http://twitter.com/ConGeek). The domain name www.ConGeek.net has also been purchased, and a full site should be live next month. This is something I've had in my head for a while now, and thanks to a very good friend of mine wanting to host a meetup at this years LeakyCon, I thought it would be a good time to dive in headfirst. So I'm helping plan a meetup, I've also applied for an assistant helpdesk position at LeakyCon, and I have enlisted folks to help get going on content creation. The gears are all in motion and it is definitely one of the bigger projects I've started and I'm very excited about it!

As for the travelling, I've pushed back my month of departure until October, so that the weather is starting to get a bit warmer in New Zealand when I land. Since Spring and Fall are the seasons that really energize me, I thought it might be better to land in the Spring than in the middle of winter. I've also done some rethinking of the length of time I will be there, as next year LeakyCon is going to be in Orlando, FL again.. and it turns out that quite the crew of people I know are wanting to go to this one.. and, while world travel is no doubt going to be amazing, I'm too in love with the people in my life to pass up such a great chance to make stellar memories! That will most likely be in July 2014. So if I leave in October that is 11ish months between leaving and needing to be in Florida for the convention. We'll see what happens!

In 8 weeks I will be the proud owner of a brand new Brompton M6R with a cobalt blue body and white accents. I have been looking at compact folding bikes on and off for a few months now, and after test riding a Brompton at my local bike shop I was smitten. I am literally bouncing with excitement now that it's been ordered!

The question is, was this just a impulse buy? Did I get so caught up in it's cute little wheels and the extremely enthusiastic salesman that I spent way more than I should have? To be honest, I'm not sure. I know I have a lot of reasons why I decided I wanted one, and a lot of them go right along with my plans to travel, but that doesn't mean this wasn't still an expensive impulse buy.

To go along with this new purchase I have been thinking about restructuring my year abroad in New Zealand. Originally, I was planning on spending somewhere between $9,000 and $12,000 on a Campervan or beat up RV to drive around the country. Now I'm leaning toward buying a cheap car (possibly a station wagon for sleeping in) and getting some camping gear and sleeping in a tent. I estimate I can save at least $5000 by doing it this way, not to mention the savings on gas/diesel when switching from a van to a car. This transition is actually where the Brompton comes in.

I had contemplated buying a full sized bike when I got to New Zealand and trying to stow it in the van. Now that I'm leaning toward a car, a folding bike is the only practical solution unless I can find a vehicle with a bike rack already installed. The Brompton has the smallest folded dimensions of all the folding bikes, and the company has been around for 35 years. While they are a bit pricey
(mine came in at just over $1,600), the fact that my local bike shop has started carrying them recently tells me that they are of good quality for the cost. I've also heard stories of people getting away with plane side checking them as well, which I intend to test if mine comes in before my trip to Portland. Not having to check a bag for flying is a huge bonus for me as I'm trying to pack ultra lite. How neat would it be to just walk out of the airport, unfold my bike, hop on and ride to my hotel?

To be completely honest with you, I have very little bike riding experience. The last real ride I went on was in 2009 in Calgary, AB when my friend David thought it would be a great idea to ride to the Zoo and back. Needless to say, I almost died, and I had to push my bike the majority of the way back! The thing is though, I felt absolutely amazing for the next couple of days. I've been wanting that feeling back, but having two flights of stairs and an apartment has also kept me from buying a full size bike. With a folder it will be much easier to haul it up stairs and store it!

So, maybe it was a bit of an expensive impulse buy, but I had many good excuses for getting it. Here's hoping everything works out like I hope it will, and that the United Airlines doesn't mind me wheeling it through the security checkpoint!

The colors I chose for my Brompton!

As of today, LeakyCon is only 100 days away! The house is booked, the tickets are bought, the travel is arranged, all that's left is knuckle whitening anticipation and last minute packing!

This month I'm participating in  BootsnAll's  "Plan Your RTW Trip in 30 Days", which means I'm receiving an email every day in February that will give me another step to take in my planning. Yesterday our homework was to create a budget for our trip, which involved a nifty spreadsheet! From this I deduced how much money I was budgeting last year and how much I am budgeting this year which has been very eye opening!

Below you can see how my finances break down and what I'm currently saving toward my goals of being debt free (almost there!) and hoarding like a dragon for travel.  One of the biggest things I did to really cut costs was to move in an additional room mate causing all household bills to be split three ways instead of two. Also, my car loan will be paid off at the end of this month which will be a huge relief! I'm also very proud of the fact that this will be done two years earlier then my loan repayment schedule, saving me money in the long run.

Thanks BootsnAll for the spreadsheet!

A new year generally means reevaluating my budget and how I treat my savings accounts. This year is only different because I have much bigger goals that I'm focusing on! Paying off my debt and power saving for my trip are the two top level goals. I also have secondary goals of going to LeakyCon 2013 (Portland, OR) and Dragon*Con 2013 (Atlanta, GA). While at least one of the secondary goals may not work out, I still want to do my best to plan for them both.

My pay does fluctuate monthly, as I am not on salary and get overtime frequently. Contract and freelance work, while a great way to make a little money on the side, is not always a guaranteed source of income.  The thing to remember about a budget is that you do want it to be flexible to meet your changing needs every month. An example of this would be that I am planning to take a weekend trip to St. Lous, MO which is going to incur additional fuel costs, as well as dining out, hotel, and entertainment costs. I will need to make up for these costs elsewhere, find more freelance work, or take a hit to my existing travel savings. Thankfully, freelance work is up this month, so I'm not to worried.

Budgeting can be challenging, but it can also become addictive once you start accumulating money. Eventually it becomes more of a challenge than a hassle, and I've found I often end up putting back items I pick up in a store because I want to be able to go home and transfer that money to savings instead!

Do you have a budget?

Remember to project!

Exciting news! A friend and I have been given permission to use a local studio to do some recording of various things! Prepare for podcasts, audiofics, and interviews in a much higher level of sound quality!

In which Jessie and Rufio bring you updates and birdie kisses.

http://www.traveljunkiesworldtour.com/interview-jessie-carter-wayward-travels/m - Interview on Jannell's blog!
http://xshot.com/products/pocket-xshot - XShot camera extender
http://lush.com - Lush Cosmetics
http://www.rei.com - REI is Awesome

They say that your Career Break plans only become a reality once you start telling people about them. However, once you start telling people about them then people you don't know well start knowing what's up.  When my next door neighbor asked me about my trip, that's when I knew that things were starting to get real.

A video in which Jessie rambles about how she has made the decision to go on an adventure instead of living out the American Dream.