always do what you are afraid to do

I spent the past week reading articles and posts about the economic downturn and its impact on people’s lives. It makes me start to wonder if leaving my job (right after getting a promotion + 10% pay raise) is such a smart idea. Certainly, my mom is freaking out about it.

In addition, I’ll be on a fellowship salary while in Mongolia, which is a major major paycut (like 75%). On the upside, the cost of living is much lower, so even though I might not be able to contribute to my retirement savings, I am not likely to go into debt.

I also plan to travel afterwards, which means I’ll be without any income whatsoever for almost 6 months (unless I can find something simple somewhere, such as teaching English).

Financially speaking, it seems almost silly. I’m taking a paycut, I won’t be contributing to retirement, and I won’t even have a salary for a while. I also will be eating up my savings quite a bit. If I were just out of college, it might make more sense, but I’m 30 and at a point where I should be more “settled” (as my mom likes to point out).

But some things, I think, can’t be measured in terms of finances (or even common sense, perhaps). Some things require a leap of faith and trust in long-term gain. This fellowships fills a critical gap in my work experience, and that it is with a prestigious institution will only open doors wider.

I am committed to my career path now. I could take an easier path and stay at my current job and still do relatively well. But I’d like to move beyond that and do something bigger. And for that, I need this fellowship and the future opportunities it brings. I also need some time to travel unencumbered with work constraints.

On the plus side, my financial issues will be clear. I’ll have renters in the condo, I’ll be debt-free, and I’ll sell most of my belongings. I’ll also have a healthy amount in my savings account. And, luckily, I’ve been very good about thinking about retirement savings for the past 10 years (thanks mom!), so I’m in very good shape now so that one or two years missed will not be a real problem.

And being in an LDC means I don’t have to worry about as much stuff. If anything, that’s the best part about this!

So it’s really not that big of a leap of faith, and from my perspective, not at all nonsensical. It is, however, a step outside the comfort zone. But as I think about more, I am less and less afraid of making a bad choice. For now, I am confident that this is definitely the next step for me.

out of clutter find simplicity

Lately I’ve been pondering my forthcoming flight from this city, and what that means in more practical terms.   Specifically, what I am going to do about the place I live, about my rental property, about all my stuff.

In the past year or so, I’ve decluttered to some extent, but I’ve also picked up some new items.  The difference this time is that the new items are essential and thought-out - they weren’t impulse buys to sit in a box for years.

As the pile of stuff dwindles, I find myself with fewer things to worry about.  More importantly, I find that I worry about more important things.  Without a car, I don’t fret about car repairs.  This leaves me more time to spend on interpersonal repairs.

Last year, when I had plumbing issues in the condo, I found that I spent a lot of time dealing with that issue, to the detriment of my work commitments.  As someone who always has too much on her plate, this type of distraction can be very devastating.

I would love to sell the condo, but this is not a good time.  So for now, I’m hoping to find renters who would do a 2-year lease.  I’m willing to lower the price and lose any profit in the hopes of reducing some stress and hassle in my life.  I would set up a system whereby they could handle maintenance issues and I would be billed directly (or they could take it out of the rent). In this way, I hope to find a little more simplicity.

Another thing I’ve discovered lately about simplicity is that it means that everything doesn’t need my full attention all the time.  I have learned to prioritize, mostly based on deadlines.  This means that even though I will want to sell furniture, I don’t need to worry about that immediately.  It is freeing to put that at the very bottom of my to-do list.

My life will never be simple, in terms of what I do and what I want to do.  But it can be simple in terms of where I focus my attention.

the body gospel

Inhale, and God approaches you.  Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you.  Exhale, and you approach God.  Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God.  ~Krishnamacharya

Yoga means union.  It is from the base “yuj”, from which we also derive the word “yoke”.  Thus, we try to join together the spiritual and the physical, body and mind, earth and sky, atman (the soul) and brahman (God).  In doing so, we reveal ourselves to ourselves, and at the same time, connect to something greater than ourselves. Yoga simultaneously brings awareness of our inner and outer consciousness.

In the 5000 years we’ve been practicing, the tradition has branched and become as varied as human beings themselves are.   But the foundation remains essentially the same, and the rising awareness that yoga brings holds true regardless of practice.  In some ways, I like to think of yoga as the story of mankind. We are diverse and eclectic, but we are all, at the core, still the same.

You can put whatever trappings you want on your yoga practice (or you can strip it down the essentials), but in the end, we are all undertaking the same journey towards union.

I’ve been practicing yoga on and off for about 6 years.  I notice that when I’m “on”, life flows a little more smoothly.  And when I’m “off”, life stumbles along a bit more roughly.  This is not coincidental;  yoga is not only a good stress reliever, it’s also a reminder of what is truly important in life.  That is to say, being present in the moment and being thankful for what you have, as opposed to worrying and fussing about things over which you have no control.

I am ready to take my practice to a new level, so I have been thinking about teacher training.  In the US, most teachers are certified through the Yoga Alliance.   Certification is done at the 200-hour level (ie, 200 hours of instruction) and 500-hour level (ie, 500 hours of instruction).  Most of the instruction is contact, though some hours are reserved for personal study and reflection.  One does not have to be Yoga Alliance-certified to teach, but it is a nice standard by which to judge whether a teacher has the proper training so as to avoid injury.

My local studio offers training, so I thought about taking it there.  But the timing is not right, and it’s a difficult thing to focus on in the middle of the rest of life.  Instead, I plan to take teacher training instruction in India. There, I can spend 1-2 months at an ashram and devote myself fully to the instruction.   There are a few schools in India that are Yoga Alliance-registered, so I will be looking at those first.  Right now, my first choice is in Dharamsala.

the travel bug has bit

I made the mistake of downloading Google Earth again today (had avoided doing so after getting a new computer at work).  So, I’ve spent the last few hours flying around the world.  We started in Glacier National Park, and then I proceeded to Ulaan Baatar.  I will be spending 10 months in UB next year!  Then I decided to check out Lake Baikal, where I am hoping to pay a visit.  Then it was onto Leh, in Ladakh, up in the rooftop of the world.

I have decided that while I am in Mongolia next year, I am going to see as much of that country as possible.  When I am done, I am hoping to head south into SE Asia for a little bit, and hopefully stopping in Hong Kong.  Then I’d like to go to India for a few months.  Finally, I plan to end up in Beijing (see the Great Wall and other parts of China), and then on to the Trans-Siberian to Moscow (with a stop at Baikal).   Eventually, I will end up in W Europe, and then back home to the US.  Hopefully, I won’t run out of money!

doing good from the comfort of your own home: cambodia edition

As I’ve mentioned before, I recently took a vacation. While the purpose of the trip was to visit friends and family and take a break from school and work, I also managed to include an educational component (yes, I’m a geek). Specifically, I got a crash course on the state of education in Cambodia.

A lot of people couldn’t pick out Cambodia on a map. If you’re older than 30, your knowledge of Cambodia might be limited to the Vietnam War. You might also be familiar with the Khmer Rouge. You might not know that our incursions into Cambodia during the former had a great deal to the do with the rise of the latter.

The Khmer Rouge period has had a deleterious impact on Cambodian society today. Not only is the population very young, it is also not well educated. This is due to both genocide and emigration, but also due to the selective targeting of the intellectual components of society. In addition, infrastructure was heavily damaged during the Khmer Rouge period, and many parts of the countryside still contain landmines.

Add these together, and providing education across the countryside becomes difficult. In addition, poverty (and the increasing price of food) means parents are unable to afford to send their children to school, which then makes them vulnerable to trafficking. Young girls are sent over the border to work the sex trade in Thailand.

In the midst of this, I met some engaged and ambitious people working to improve this situation. Both work for NGOs in Cambodia - Schools for Children of Cambodia is local, though its board of directors is from the UK. This Life Cambodia is also local, founded by an Aussie expat.

This Life Cambodia is currently providing fundraising and technical assistance to Self Help Community Center in Puok District. I had the opportunity to visit SHCC and see the project firsthand. Puok District is well off the grid, which means they receive no electricity or piped water. As such, they run on generators (which grows expensive as fuel prices soar) and store water in their homes. This, of course, puts community members at risk of a number of easily preventable diseases. It also means that the things we take for granted (prenatal care, refrigeration, school) don’t exist.

To combat these issues, SHCC is building a school. It is a massive undertaking, but one in which the community is fully vested. When the school is complete, it will have 3 classrooms, a library, and a computer room. It will also run on solar panels (which will also help power the community) , 2 fishing ponds (for the sustainable production of fish), and various organic gardens. The hope is that the school will be self-sufficient.

The proposed costs for this project are around $12000. This includes construction of the school, the land lease/purchase costs, and materials (ie, books, farm products). 100% of donations received through This Life Cambodia will go towards this project (unless otherwise specified).

For my personal finance visitors, it’s conceivable that $12000 is less than your total non-mortgage, non-school debt. If you’re like most people in debt, some of that probably came from poor decisions and frivolous purchases. And for that same amount, about 200 children can be provided an opportunity that will literally be life-changing. Education (even at only the primary level) reduces child and maternal mortality, and it reduces risk of gender-based violence and trafficking.

Here is where you come in. Chances are, you’ve got a plan to reduce that debt. It probably includes being frugal, saving, and spending wisely. So consider adding another dimension to your debt reduction plan - philanthropy. What goes around, comes around, yes? Even a small donation of $5 or $10 will go a long way for SHCC… and will barely make a dent in your own budget.

And for those of you not in debt, well, we can all benefit from a little good karma.

(pictures of the school site)

everything’s perspective

A little over a year ago, my life seemed terribly important. I had important things to do at work, at school, at volunteer gigs and organizations I was a part of. These were Very Important Activities that only I could do, and they required all my time and attention. And heaven forbid I didn’t get things done on time - the whole world hung in the balance.

Four international trips and a couple life-changing books later, and I have a different outlook. Nothing is so important that I have to kill myself over it. It’s not as if someone’s life is at risk. And there are a lot of things I take for granted that make my life soooo much easier than I used to think it was. A year ago, everything was just so hard. Now, I’m more grateful than anything else.

So - a brief rundown of things that have changed my perspective in the past year:

1. My trip to Nicaragua. A year ago, I worked on a public health project in Nicaragua. We were in the mountains near the border with Honduras, where some of the best coffee in the world can be found. I had a chance to visit a coffee plantation, in addition to the work we were doing (a survey assessing community knowledge of dengue fever). Coffee pickers make pennies a day, while carrying bags weighing up to 70 kilos. Coffee growers make about $2 a pound, for coffee that you will likely pay $10 a pound.

Three days a week, we had no running water in the house we stayed in. In the developing world, average water use is under 50 liters a day. In the US, it’s about 150 liters (12% of which goes to watering grass).

2. What is the What? If you haven’t read this book, go to your nearest bookstore and pick it up right now. This is the story of one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. After trekking across East Africa before the age of 10 to flee terrorists, Valentino arrives in Atlanta to experience a different, but no less exhausting, set of problems. I am an immigrant, but it was my parents who bore the brunt of the problems that immigrants face. And at least none of us were ever chased by lions.

The Lost Boys left their homes and families in Sudan to flee to Ethiopia, where they lived in refugee camps before they were kicked out. They trekked again to Kenya, where many of them still live in refugee camps. Some of them have been relocated to the US, to cities such as Syracuse and Pittsburgh.

3. My trip to India. I went on pilgrimmage last year, and the first day of my trip it took us 8 hours to go less than 300 kms. Patience was the most important thing I packed for that trip. At one point, my brother got sick, and we had to hire a man with a basket to carry him. My brother is 5′10″ and weighs about 175 lbs. The man was maybe 150 lbs (on a fat day). He carried my brother 3kms on his back… and charged about $12. My dad tipped him extra, but still far less than what I’d want to be paid to undertake such labor.

4. An earthquake in Peru. A week before we were due to leave for Peru, a major earthquake struck in the south. Ultimately, we had to change our itinerary, but that’s a minor inconvenience compared to the fates of the people living in the slums of Pisco and Ica. An entire city disappeared overnight, and so many were left homeless.

5. Collapse. The concepts Jared Diamond talks about in Collapse are not unfamiliar to most of us. But his detailed analysis of failed civilizations makes me pause and take a good hard look at where our current civilizations are heading. We seem to be making the same mistakes those others made, which led to disaster for them. Will it also lead to disaster for us? I’m really starting to think so.

6. My recent trip to Cambodia. This warrants its own post, later this week. I was in Cambodia for the first time 8 years ago, and a second time last week. A lot has changed in 8 years… and a lot hasn’t changed at all. Cambodia was an unfortunate victim of our incursion into Vietnam 30 years ago, and it still bears the scars. Major parts of the countryside still contain the landmines planted then and since.

My good friend has been working there for the past three years. She’s a friend from primary school, and it’s amazing to see how different our lives are now. She leads a simpler life, but the things that are Very Important to her really are important.

Looking back at myself a year ago, it’s amazing how convinced I was that all the stress was so necessary. But starting with my trip to Nicaragua, I’ve begun simplifying things in my life. I’ve also stopped worrying about all the little unimportant things (which is more of my life than I used to think). I’ve started stripping my life of the unessentials, to the best of my abilities. And I find I’m less stressed, my debt is decreasing, I’m getting more sleep, and I’m enjoying life more. It’s amazing how nothing significant has to happen to enact a real change in your life. You just have to change your perspective.

fun in the sun

After a grueling 24 hours of travel (and an additional 12 if you count the overnight in NY), I made it home in one piece.  First stop was laundry, and checking email.  Then a quick nap, and then I even managed to get my act together and go to yoga and climbing.  Now I’m slowly getting caught up at work and at home.

Vacations are fun, but they can also get out of hand.  All thoughts of my budget go out the window when I’m on vacation, so I was a little worried when I got home and gathered all my credit card and ATM receipts.  I haven’t totaled them yet, but just a quick check online and my credit card is actually in really good shape.  I guess when you get into the habit of being frugal, you can still subconsciously follow those instincts.  It also helped that Cambodia is not exactly a high-priced country.

But now I’m sunburnt and a little tired, and I’m not sure I want to be home.  Everything seems fast-paced and complicated, and my to-do list is growing.  I’m already behind on schoolwork too!  Right now, I just want to crawl back into bed….

exhausted, sunburnt, and pensive

Almost home…  Just 20 hours of flying to go.

weekend check-in

So I’m at the end of the term and things are a bit busy right now.  I’m also heading overseas for a week or so, so there won’t be much posting for a bit.  But things will be back on track when I return!

In the meantime, this past week saw a few changes.  The biggest is that I sold my car!  Finally.   I got a pretty decent price for it, and of course, the bulk of that is being funneled into paying off some debt (some of it went towards an unexpected plumbing expense).  The next two months will see some serious downward movement in my debt chart.

I’ve been doing great with my March goals, and still keeping up with my February ones.  I’m still managing to wake up on the relatively early side, and I’m keeping up with climbing and even yoga.  And I’ve eaten some minimal crap in the past 9 days (a reese’s pb cup and a couple of girl scout cookies).

Sadly, I won’t have a thesis topic by my deadline.  But, I’m still hoping to have one by the end of the month.  I did finish one proposal, so when I return from my trip hopefully I will get the other one done.   And I’ll be on my way to getting in my vacation in only a few days…  Life is good!

march goals

It’s March 1st! Time to enumerate this month’s goals. I’ll be traveling in the middle of the month, so I made these goals a bit on the easy side.

1. Develop thesis idea and rough outline. I need to work on my thesis this month, and at least have an idea for where I want to go. Specifically, I need a topic by March 12th (per my schedule).

2. Develop proposal for project at work (ideally, two projects). I have two ideas for new projects. Both need proposals written. One I will do this weekend, and the other might have to wait until I return from my trip.

3. Eat less crap. I’m not exactly sure how to measure this one - it’s harder in the negative than the positive. But perhaps something along the lines of measuring how many days I go without eating something completely non-nutritious (basically, overly processed foods like packaged sweets and snack items).

4. Take a vacation! This is one of my yearly goals, that will be completed this month. I am going to SE Asia for just over a week.