I’m a restless, world-wandering, language-loving, book-devouring traveler trying to straddle the threshold between a traditional, stable family life and a free-spirited, irresistible urge to roam. Even when I was young, I always wanted to be somewhere else. I was the kid who loved camp, vacations, sleepovers, and all forms of transportation. Did my restlessness spring from a love of languages and other cultures? From a fiction fixation and all the places I’ve visited on the pages of a globeful of authors? I think it’s more primordial, though, an innate itch that demands scratching at regular intervals. I’m sure I won’t have a travel story every time I add to this blog, but I’ve got a lot! I’m a pretty happy camper (literally), but there is some angst as well as excitement in always having one foot out the door. Come along for the trip as I take the second step …
Header Photo: In the summer of ’15, my son painted my blog name on the John Lennon Wall in Prague. Wonder how long it lasted there … ?! (Ha!)
Oops – that’s gone now, traded back for my favorite travel photo of all time – the north face of Mount Everest.
Published elsewhere:
- Trip Notes on the Paine Circuit Trek, for Mountain Travel Sobek’s “Travel Stories” series
- On Your Doorstep magazine, a GaiaGuardians Publication, Issue 2, September 2016, pp. 46-55
- An Eye on the World – If you prefer photos to prose (or in addition to prose!), check out my other blog site
Hanging with old friends in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Copyright: All words and images in this blog are my own work unless otherwise stated, and may not be used, copied or reproduced in any way without prior written permission.
Contact: For permission or to contact me for any reason, please email onefootoutthedoorblog@gmail.com.
One Foot Out the Door 
Hi, I found your blog through Blogging 201 and am now a new follower. You are warmly invited to stop by, too, and hopefully follow my blog back. 🙂
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Thanks! Just getting to look at blog-related things today, but I’ll check yours out later for sure!
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Thanks for the visit to my blog and liking the post. You have photo collection from many countries, but India is missing. If you like you are welcome to see some photos of Gangtok, Darjeeling, Kerala in India, in my blog Gallery Photo.
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You are right that India is missing, but I hope to correct that soon! There are so many places in India I’d like to visit, and the Ladakh area is a place I may do some trekking this summer. In the meantime, I will certainly visit your blog again to see your photos!
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Great blog and pictures 🙂 You’ve been a serious traveler, do you have a favorite place among all the ones you visited?
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That’s an impossible question! But seriously … I think I’d have to say the Himalaya in general is the part of the world where I’ve felt most at peace. Both Tibet and the Khumbu region of Nepal have settled deep in my heart, and I return to them in my thoughts with great frequency. But as much as I relish this kind of remote escape, I also adore classic European cities like Paris, Madrid and Athens, and I have fallen in love with Peru, been enthralled by Iceland, and been deeply intrigued by several African experiences. Stop me now! I really think everywhere I’ve been has been my favorite place for at least a short time! How about you?
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Isn’t it such a beautiful privilege to be able to wander the world? ..:) I worked and lived in Eastern Europe, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Sudan, Philippines, and the furthest I am to home (France), the more I tend to appreciate it. I felt in love with the incredible nature of Hawaii, New Zealand, but adore the energy of cities like NY and Seoul. But to me, it is mostly the people who make the place. I have sweet memories of people I met in India, who changed my perception of the country. Srinagar is one of the most beautiful place in the world too, and will forever be linked to the colors, the pace of winter. I also lived in Liberia and the memories are all colorful and filled with music. As you say, impossible question 😉 But I now tend to go to more peaceful places, in every sense of the word. Comes with age I guess 😉 Looking forward to reading more about your adventures on your blog!
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Loved discovering your blog today! Must follow! Cheers!
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Thank you so much! I’ll go check yours out as well!
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Great pictures! I love how honestly you write, definitely looking forward for more 🙂
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Thank you! It’s nice to hear you say that I write honestly because I always feel like I’m holding something back. You have made me feel bolder!
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Hi! Thank you very much for the blog follow 🙂 I look forward to checking out yours (and now off to find that cemetery post you mentioned…)
Kendra
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Excited to read more of your blog, was just reading your latest article on the anniversary of the Aushwitz liberation. It seems a lot of the places you’ve been to I haven’t, and vice versa! I’m a fairly new blogger logging my Southeast Asian/New Zealand experiences…Peru in March!
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Thanks for your interest, and I will check out your blog very soon! I’ve been to Peru four times, so let me know if you need any info! SE Asia is at the top of my list to visit, and New Zealand was an all-time favorite (although I don’t think I’ve ever written anything about it)! Happy travels!
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I itch right along with you! 🙂
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You have certainly been around the block! I look forward to reading your posts.
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Ditto!
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You are clever to have created two different blogs for your writing/photography. I did not and now find my blog an oleo of stories and my obsessive photo challenges which I welcome when I cannot think of a story. I am curious what that beautiful symbol that appears to be some sort of charm or amulet? on your sites. Very unique and lovely. I carry an Irish Worry stone made of Connemara marble in my purse. It’s cool smooth surface is so soothing to the touch and I love that it is also something of my Irish heritage. Thank you for comment on Whisked Away. My mother was so funny but very hard for my father who would literally always be looking for something she trashed. I imagine your family too lashes out when you de-clutter but I totally understand your obsession. I am the same. I am also impressed by your wander lust. I love to travel too but always love to come home and I am somewhat of a homebody. Thanks so much for reading my blog. I am eager to take a look at yours as well as I never have time! Enjoy day.
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Thanks for this wonderful, long comment! I started the “story” blog first but when I discovered the photo challenges and took a Blogging University class or two, I decided I didn’t want to (here we go with that word again!) clutter up that blog with lots of little posts that perhaps did not align with my main theme. As it turns out, I’ve tried very hard to make even my photo blog revolve around travel, so sometimes it seems a little cumbersome and repetitive to have them both. The gravatar image is the endless knot, a (usually Buddhist) symbol that many cultures have used as well, but which I came to love in Tibet and Nepal, where it is also known as the sherpa symbol. Mine is a small silver medallion that I wear on a chain nearly every day. It reminds me of some of the most meaningful trips and hikes I have taken, and it also stands for many things I appreciate: simplicity, harmony, interconnection, cause and effect, karma, etc.! Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Once travel gets into you blood it had to get rid off. Happy travels.
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So true! It’s both a blessing and a curse!
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Thanks for visiting my blog…come again.
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Hi from Finland! I just read about your experiences in Helsinki. Unfortunately you will not find any sauna in Finland where you could go with your bikini or swimming suit. If you want to do that, you will have to rent a cabin with your private sauna 😛 Maybe next time you can have an extra towel to put around you but even then you will have to go to the shower naked!! If you think this is bad, read what it’s like in Germany:
http://mrssuvi.com/2015/12/08/german-spa-etiquette/
😀
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Half the world probably laughs at the prudish Americans, but that is how we grew up, so it’s hard to flip the switch! Thanks for the visit and the info – I will check out the link to amuse myself!
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Yes I can very well understand it, it’s different when it’s the norm from a very young age 🙂
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Congratulations on your blog! You are so lucky and you take very good photos 🙂 I am happy to be one of your new followers!
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Thank you! Glad you have visited and enjoyed my blog. I have been lucky to have a job and lifestyle that allow for some wide-ranging travels so far. At the moment, I’m kind of in pause mode, but I’m sure I’ll be back out there again soon!
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That is one impressive list of places you have been! Mongolia next? I’m curious if you are doing a guided tour or have put together the trip on your own.
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I dare say you’ve gotten around a bit yourselves! I am doing a guided tour of Mongolia, but I found a very small company run by a Mongolian woman, so I’m hoping for as “realistic” a look at the country as possible. I am a pretty independent traveler, both alone and with my family, but Mongolia just seemed so vast to do totally alone. This trip will just be me (and 4 other strangers) because no one else can get away at that time (and – strangely! – no one else wants to go to Mongolia!). I’m pretty psyched about it!
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You’ve been to many of the places on our bucket-list! And I see Mongolia! Fantastic! Can’t wait to read about it. 🙂
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Yeah, I am very psyched about Mongolia! It had been on my list for quite a while and I finally got a great opportunity this summer. It will be fun to trade blog stories since we have some places in common and some not!
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I love your masthead. How cool is your kid for memorializing you and your blog in Prague!
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Thanks, Lisa. I’d never changed my header since I started the blog, and I just had a little moment the other day when I decided to spice it up a little. It’s a cool little story and reason for having the photo, but does it actually look good? It seems a little ragged! But maybe that’s appropriate – I’m feeling ragged, too!
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OMG it is awesome and far from ragged – even if you are feeling that way these days. I hope you keep it as your site header – it screams ‘🆒’. It you want to take it down, I’m going to hire your son to put my blog name on a wall 🎨
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Okayyyy, if it’s cool, I’ll keep it! And I’ll check my son’s street painting prices – haha!
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😉
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Thank you for finding my blog and leading me back to yours. I’m going to have fun here exploring!
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I could spend the next month reading yours!
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I guess we know what we’ll both be doing for the next month. Reading one another’s blogs! 🙂
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Hey! I stumbled upon your blog and it’s absolutely stunning and so inspiring and interesting to read! I wouldn’t if you wouldn’t mind helping to explain how you expanded your readership because I’ve just started my blog http://www.lostinwanderlust.co.uk about travel and self discovery but am struggling to figure out how to get more readers! Thanks so much! Sophia x
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Hi Sophia, thanks for your nice comments about my blog! I have just spent some time poking around yours … it’s a really polished site with some great content, and I’m impressed that you’ve done these things and written about them so beautifully at age 17!
As far as expanding goes, well, I’ve just sort of let it happen without too much stress or push on my part. It does snowball after a while, but in the early months, even the first year, my readership grew slowly. I made some effort to find others’ blogs and comment regularly in the hopes they’d follow me back. After a while, many did, and then their readers and commenters would find me as well. I started my blog for my own fun and just let the readership happen organically; it’s been exciting to gain new “friends” and communicate with them, but there are downsides to following up with a ton of readers also. I never want my blog to be my life; I want my travel and my actual life to take up most of my time!
As a final note, I find it harder and sometimes not worth my time to try to comment on blogs where I have to sign in every time just to leave a short note. I also sometimes just want to “like” a post of a blogging friend whom I usually interact with more fully, so it can be frustrating to not have that option. Most critical: make to easy for someone to follow you! (I can’t find a way to do that on your site.) Best of luck with your blog – it’s certainly off to a great start!
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Hey! Thanks so much for checking it out and your lovely comments; that honestly means so so much to me. Thank you very much for all the help; I’ll definitely figure out a way to let people follow me and you’re right about letting it happen organically, a lot of my friends already love reading it and hopefully one day it’ll keep growing because I love writing so much! Best wishes and thank you again, love, Sophia x
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Hi, you commented on a post on my blog last week about Indonesia. I’ve never been, but have sold my soul and decided to take a few guest posts. But if you’re serious about going, have a read of this by fellow blogger Travel With Kat, it’s much better written than the rubbish that appeared on my blog! http://travelwithkat.com/2016/10/28/top-10-things-to-do-in-java/
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Thanks, Richard! Glad to connect with you on Instagram today also! I follow the blogs of some guys in Indonesia (James and Bama) and, at least partly through them, that whole area has come alive for me in recent months. I really want to go someday. Funny you mention guest posts – I just featured my first one also, but a little different in that it’s my own daughter and I wanted to share some fun snippets from her expat journal. Thanks for the link above – I’ll be sure to check it out!
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I can very much relate to your “About” description. Oh yes…and that wonderful mix of angst and excitement about having one foot out the door—I know it well. Great introduction and I love the name of your blog. I look forward to checking out your adventures. You have been to many places that are on my list, particularly Peru, Argentina, Himalayas, Nepal….Thanks for the follow.
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Same to you! As for the blog name, I like it, too, although my husband initially said it sounded like I was on the verge of divorcing him! 🙂 I feel similarly about dawdling through your adventures on the blog someday – I’m just waiting for that day when I have time to sit down and do so! At least I’ll see anything new that comes along …
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Haha, mine might have interpreted it that way too!
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Hi Lexie, We just published a post about “Blogs We Love” … and yours is one of them! We wanted to thank you for all the joy you bing to our blogging community. All the best, Terri & James @gallivance.net
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I appreciate this so much! I am working my way through a very full inbox and can’t wait to get to your post to see more of the blogs you love … I love yours, too!
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Aww, thanks Lexie. Just relax, unwind, and we can catch up whenever you’re ready. 🙂 ~Terri
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Hi there, as avid travellers we have just come across your blog, looks interesting. We retired to travel December 2019 to travel the world then 7 weeks into our first trip Covid struck and we had to escape from Vietnam. Now we are eager to get going again but not knowing where in the world will be open to us travellers from England. Will have a tour round your blog for some inspiration 😁
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Oh, gosh, what a bummer! We were 24 hours away from flying to SE Asia when we pulled the plug right as Covid really started to ramp up worldwide. Hoping to get back at the end of the year … hope you can escape again sometime soon also!
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Hoping to start in early 2022 from where we left off, happy travels 😁
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