This Photo Friday from Kathmandu, Nepal was submitted by Facebook fan Sabeen Khan.
“The picture was taken during our visit to Nepal. This girl was dressed up in beautiful bright colors of red and gold, and wearing probably her mother’s jewelry. The vibrant colors against the earthy browns on the streets of Kathmandu made this a scene worth capturing.”
You can follow Sabeen’s travels on her site Travel Out There.
Want to see your photo here? Check out our easy submission policy!
One of the best things about taking a break and traveling the world is the exposure to different cultures and religions you encounter. While traveling through Sri Lanka by train for a month Sherry was able to see the ancient temples, stupas, and climb mountains to see shrines.
However the ancient city of Polonnaruwa housed some of the biggest and most intact religious ruins around the country. This stone carved Buddha was one of many which were standing the test of time. For those of you interested in visiting UNESCO World Heritage sites on your career break of sabbatical, then put Sri Lanka on your list; you’ll find 8 World Heritage sites on this relatively small island.
Interested in learning more about Sri Lanka, then visit Ottsworld where Sherry is covering her Sri Lanka Travels.
Last year we wrote about one of our favorite websites – Passports with Purpose – which once a year brings together the travel blogging community to help raise funds for a special cause. Last year they raised $30,000 to help build a school in Cambodia (well above their goal of $13,000).
According to PwP co-founder, Beth Whitman, “The school is a humble building north of Siem Reap, close to the Thai border. Though simple as it is, it has tremendous meaning to the children who have an opportunity to learn there.”
We are proud to join Passports with Purpose this year in their goal to raise $50,000 to build an entire village in South India with Land for Tillers’ Freedom (LAFTI). The village is for the Dalits, India’s most neglected class of citizens.
THE VILLAGE
For more than 50 years, LAFTI’s founders – Krishnammal Jagannathan and S. Jagannathan – have been committed to helping Dalits (India’s untouchables), especially women, with projects that include land distribution, cultivation, adult training, youth housing and housing construction. For less than $2,000, LAFTI can build a home, for which the land title is given to the woman of the household. Passports with Purpose aims to raise enough money to build approximately 25 homes to create the Passports Village in Karunganni, located in the state of Tamil Nadu.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
In order to raise funds, dozens of travel bloggers have donated some incredible prizes – including us! For every $10 you donate, you will be entered into a drawing for the prize of your choice. So, for example, if you donate $30, you can chose to enter once for 3 prizes or 3 times for the same prize.
Visit the donation page for a complete list of prizes:
Some key dates to keep in mind:
CAREER BREAK BOOT CAMP PRIZE
We are thrilled to announce that we will be donating one membership to our Inaugural Meet, Plan, Go! Career Break Boot Camp (course begins January 9, 2011 and runs for 8-weeks).
What exactly do you need to make your travel and career break dreams come true? With Meet, Plan, Go! Career Break Boot Camp, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3…and we’ve packed it all: 1. Inspiration, 2. Structure, and 3. Community
This online course and social learning platform is where people with the dreams of taking a career break or sabbatical to do extended travel can come together in a community learning environment. Designed by certified travel coach Tara Russell and career break travel gurus Michaela Potter and Sherry Ott, the course will provide you with inspiration, structure, community, resources, tools and motivation.
Learn more about the Boot Camp here.
Here are a few words from members of our Beta Boot Camp:
[Boot Camp has] exceeded my expectations! My mind has been opened to different opportunities that exist for travel and incorporating work and travel.
Your insights and experiences are invaluable and I cannot thank you enough for sharing them via the Boot Camp. Your passion is contagious and your encouragement is much appreciated, especially when the travel break mentality is not always mainstream in my daily world! I will be recommending the course to many friends.
Fantastic job – I can’t tell you how impressed I am that this is the first time you all have done something like this – everything about this site/course/your instruction and guidance leads me to believe I am not in a beta group, but working with a group that has done this a million times…and does it the right way. Kudos, and thank you so much for all of your time and efforts!
The Community has been a wonderful way to hear from similar minded travelers, the workbook & journaling have been extremely helpful in getting my thoughts out and seeing what new ideas form. Hands down though, the insights that each of you have shared from your experiences and the encouragement you’ve offered have been my favorite part of the course.
Thanks to the amazing sponsors of Passports with Purpose: BootsnAll, LiveMocha, Round the World with Us, HomeAway, Traveller’s Point, Hostelling International, Quintess, Raveable, TravelPost, and Uptake.
We’re in the process of writing more entries for Nepal. In the meantime, check out Sherry’s posts about her volunteer career break in Nepal from Otts World:
[singlepic=1314,200,,,right]Abrupt Transitions: Dhal Bhat Days – Volume 1
I arrived in Kathmandu after 27 hours of travel from NYC to Nepal…My body and mind felt like mush, on top of it I had cramps. I was excited to be in a new country again – yet a bit intimidated to be doing this all by myself. When I left on my around the world travel 2 years ago, I left with a group of friends who I could talk to and in some way that could comfort me and ease me into the solo adventure. Read More
We’re in the process of writing more entries for Nepal. In the meantime, check out Sherry’s posts on her volunteer career break in Nepal from Otts World:
[singlepic=1320,200,,,right]Barbot or Bust: Dhal Bhat Days – Volume 7
What the F have I done? Just when I was starting to settle in – I agreed to turn my little village world upside down again. I think the Dhal Bhat is making me crazy. I’m traveling through some of the worst conditions for the past 8 hours. Maybe it is more mental than anything physical, but after the 6th hour of sweating profusely, feeling disgusting, and now trekking in the complete darkness up a trail that I cannot see – I started to cry. Read More
We’re in the process of writing entries for India. In the meantime, check out Sherry’s volunteer career break posts from Otts World:
[singlepic=1297,200,,,right]Spice Diaries – Volume 1
I have arrived in India…everyone said that it would be an assault to your senses, that it would be overwhelming, that it would be hard – after all, India is the big leagues for vagabonds like myself. Yet, I arrived here 5 days ago – and I’ve felt none of this. It’s been a simple transition so far – yet I proceed cautiously. My only explanation for this is that my past travel experiences have seasoned me – and for that, I’m immensely proud. I wear a big grin on my face and think to myself…India…try to shock me! Read More
We’re in the process of writing entries for India. In the meantime, check out Sherry’s posts from Otts World:
[singlepic=1307,200,,,right]Spice Diaries – Volume 10
I woke up this morning, and went out to fetch the Sunday paper. The moment I stepped out on our little terrace I knew it was going to be a tough day…the air was thick and heavy. The weather forecast in the paper said that it was to get to 35 degrees in Delhi today – which is over 100 degrees to those of you living in a Fahrenheit world. Read More
[singlepic=851,200,,,right]Nepal was one of the countries I visited during my 2001 career break. Following is an overview of our trek on the Annapurna Circuit.
I just finished my trek through the Annapurna Circuit of Nepal and it was an incredible three-week experience. It seems like it lasted a lifetime, yet also went by so fast. This is one of the most beautiful countries and the quiet and peacefulness of being in the middle of nowhere at this time was a welcome opportunity. I loved the fact that for the past three weeks we were cut off from everything. The only things we needed to know each day was what time wake up call was and how long we should expect to walk.
