“It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.” – Sun Tzu
Click the Bow to See The Project
I worked with my friend from the Nomad Cruise, Claudi Brueggen to create a random quote generator from Sun Tzu’s Art of War.
“Punta Mona, it’s kind of like this Garden of Eden & you’re greeted by people with the biggest smiles on their faces, because they’re living in heaven.” – John Blomquist (Tweet It)
Travel Topics:
Recently started a climbing podcast, Chalk Talk
Traveled to Costa Rica with host Ian Robinson in 2007
Went to Puerta Viejo en route to Punta Mona
Punta Mona is a center for Regenerative Design and Botanical studies, founded by Stephen Brooks
How he got lost in the jungle by himself, nearly killed by a coconut
Ran through the jungle in the pouring rain with Ian
Got married on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica
How the unfortunate growth of Costa Rica has lead to it loosing it’s charm
After Costa Rica, went to Nicaragua, to Ometepe Island
stayed at El Zopilote on Ometepe
Traveled to San Juan del Sur
More tales of his travels to come on the Love Affair Travel podcast
“Nicaragua still has that developing country charm & it’s such a treat.” – John Blomquist (Tweet It)
The first time I met Jellaine was when she showed up for a CouchSurf. She was working on a travel blog then called Backpacking in Stilettos. Her mindset was fascinating back then, and where it took her is the stuff of legends.
Despite debt, career and family problems she grew a million dollar business on her own. She didn’t have investors or a team to help her out. All she had was an unbreakable confidence that she would make it.
That’s exactly what she did. I’m honored to introduce, Jellaine Ross.
I spent long days picking apples while living in the Australian mountains. A departing French guy gave me a giant, beat up, old novel that was partially being eaten by black mold. This novel changed my life. It’s called Shantaram. Every evening after tremendous days of fruit picking, I would pull my lawn chair from the van I was living in, brew a cup of instant coffee and read this amazing book as the vibrant sun set across the enormous Australian sky.
This novel was my savior. I was enthralled. It wrapped me in so many layers of intrigue: adventure, adversity, travel, language, drugs, war, death, poverty, purpose…
I can’t recommend the book enough. I think it played a pivotal role in my decision to continue travel working. If you’d like to buy Shantaram on Amazon, please us my affiliate link (?) to support my writing. Thank you.
In the video below, Roberts talks about some of the stories that he writes about in the book. Enjoy ->
Video #1
I recommend you watch all eight of them.
Notice how Roberts mentions that he became a doctor not because he went there to save people or to help, it happened inadvertently; the job became him. This is a key understanding to long term travel. You can have your goal, but expect that your travels will change you. You will meld to the circumstances and in this transition, you will learn invaluable life lessons.
I’ve heard rumors that Johnny Depp bought the rights to the book and plans to make it a Hollywood move. I’m a big fan of Johnny’s and him doing the character of Linbaba sounds like a dream.
“The contours of all our virtues are shaped by adversity”