The Travel Talk

One week from tonight I will be doing a presentation at Glenhyrst Art Gallery on The Found Vagabond as part of an event called "The Big Literary Night Out"  This is one of a series of events at the gallery which usually features artists discussing their works, but this one is all about books and the writing process.  I am very much looking forward to hearing the presentations from the other authors - Jack Jackowetz, Zig Misiak, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, though I am already quite envious of them as they all seem to have way cooler names than me.

I have been thinking about the presentation for a couple of weeks and have a draft one partially done, but I've been struggling with what angle to take for the talk.  It is only about 15 minutes long so whatever I present will have to be crisp, concise and very focused as 15 minutes goes by very quickly.  Unless, of course, you realize partway through your speech that your zipper is open, a large booger is stuck to your cheek, and there is a guy in the crowd who loaned you twenty bucks last year and you forgot to pay him back.  Then time slows to a crawl.

One thing I've learned in Toasmasters is to first think of who your audience will be and what material would be of most interest to them.  I'm expecting the crowd to be generally middle aged (I hate saying that term as more and more I'm realizing I've slid into that category), well-off, and some will have traveled extensively.  So I began by pulling out my book and looking at the table of contents to see where I should focus my talk.  Should I tell one of my travel stories?  Should I show a bunch of cool travel pictures?  Should I talk about how great travel is and why everybody should do it?  Should I go Facebook-style and brag about how many countries I've been to?  Should I focus on the spiritual aspect of travel and how meeting special people along the way can really change your life?  Some of the attendees will probably have kids in high school or college so maybe I should talk about encouraging young people to travel and considering working in another country?

As a person who was not born and bred in southern Ontario, one thing I know for sure is that people who were born here often fail to appreciate what an amazing part of the country this is and how lucky we are to have so many local opportunities for local travel.  In one part of the book I talk about the "American Style Power Weekend" where you take a weekend and pledge to make every second count.  From here, it's possible to make a weekend trip to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo, and if you really want to go for it, how about New York City, Washington or Chicago?  Or how about any of the thousands of cool small towns and villages that decorate the landscape?  What about a tour of the lakes - we are within an hour of so of three of the great lakes - Erie, Huron and Ontario, and each of them have towns and cities where you would swear you were on the ocean (though this year the "ocean" in question would be the Arctic).

So we will see where I get to by next Friday.  As usual, I have my lovely and talented wife helping me out with formatting the presentation as she always has great ideas and can spot my terrible ones!

I 'm hoping the excellent press I've received for the book locally will help bring people out to the event, here are links to a couple of those:

Article in The Paris Star
Inside Brant television interview
Brant News - article just came out today, not online yet

Oh, one more thing.  The Glenhyrst event next week has free wine and cheese from the Tipperary Bog.  'Nuff said.

South-East Asia, here we come!

It has been quite a while since we have done a major backpacking trip. In fact, we have not taken an extended trip since moving back to Canada in 2003 so we are long overdue. This summer the four of us will be taking a glorious ten weeks off and exploring the countries of South East Asia. We land in Singapore mid-June then will be flying out of Bangkok at the end of August, just in time for school. What we do in between these dates is up for grabs!

We are hoping to visit 6 countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It is going to be hot and sticky since we are visiting during the monsoon season, but at the moment, with the -20 temperatures and extremely dry winter air in Canada, the idea of extreme heat moisture seems divine. Let’s say if I feel the same way with a fifty pound backpack strapped to my back hiking through the jungle in the middle of a tropical downpour!

The kids are very, very excited and doing a lot of reading and research on the countries we will be visiting. They are determined to go on an elephant trek and would also like to see some monkeys in the wild, so I expect those two goals should be quite achievable. They both received backpacks for Christmas from their grandpa so have already starting thinking about what to pack and which few precious toys they should bring along for the journey.

One of the best chapters in The Found Vagabond is on traveling with children. Traveling with young kids seems to scare the crap out of most people, but we have been doing it since our kids were babies. If we hadn’t done that, and if our kids were not used to traveling, then I seriously doubt we would be considering a trip of this magnitude. But I know we will all do just fine and have some amazing adventures together.  The kids are currently 7 and 9 so at an excellent age for such a trip as they are old enough to take care of themselves and will probably be able to retain these memories into their adult years. I have said this so many times, but I am always surprised at how the vast majority of parents take most of their vacations away without their kids. It is such a privilege to be able to include children on your travels as the delight they experience usually serves to enhance your own. And kids are usually much more resilient and adaptable than us adults give them credit for.

I had an idea the other day (yes, it happens occasionally). I am currently in the midst of a marketing and publicity campaign for my book The Found Vagabond and I started wondering if I would take a few copies along on our trip to give to people we meet along the way. Then I imagined a neat experiment that would serve to promote my book, allow many people to read it for free, and test some of the concepts I present in the book, such as traveler bonds, coincidences and friendships made on the road. It will also serve as a marketing tool even after we return from our trip?

So what’s the idea? I am going to give 5 copies to fellow travelers for free and ask them to simply pass it onto another traveler to read once they are done with it. But these copies will have a special index inside where the recipient enters his/her name, where they received the book, where they gifted the book and, most importantly, a web link where they can enter this information, and it will then appear on our www.lifeisgrand.org website. Imagine - a book on travel doing its own traveling around the world! I’m hoping that by the time the books are too ratty and beaten up to be used anymore, they will have covered many more countries than I have. Maybe in the end somebody will mail copies back to me, or perhaps somebody who knows me will get one, or maybe they will all be abandoned or lost somewhere. Who knows? But I have a feeling something exciting may come of it.

Christmas shopping in Cuba

 

It is our last morning in Cuba and thought I would write a quick blog before the reality of regular life strikes back like a Star Wars sequel.

Though Christmas Eve is a mere two weeks away, it is the last thing on my mind; we have been completely sheltered from any sort of holiday spirit here at the Memories Flamenco resort in Cayo Coco. Our thoughts have been more focused on finding the best beach chairs, keeping the plastic beer cups full, avoiding sunburn and being sure to sample everything on the ample buffet spreads. As far as all-inclusive resorts go, this is probably the best one we have ever been to. The mathematics of how the tour operator and resort can be making any money eludes me. I just cannot understand how a family of four can be flown to the Caribbean, fed delicious food and unlimited drinks, and be catered on by armies of personal assistants for less than $2,500 for an entire week.

Saying all that, after a week of this routine I am always ready to go. It is nice to spoil yourself for a short time, but after a while the whole thing gets a little ridiculous. I have certainly caught up on my sleep – made it to 11:30 one night, but the rest of the evenings I was sleeping by 9:30 or earlier. Of course, I was then awake by 5:30 most days, which allowed me to sneak out of the room with a laptop, grab a coffee and do some early morning writing.

I brought a copy of my book along, and have been tempted several times to open it up and start looking for errors, but every time I tried, Ana slapped my hand.  And I am very thankful for that as I needed a break from it. The next phase of the project is to start selling the damn things instead of trying to perfect it! So far I have only really “released it” online and through Amazon and have not yet done any local marketing. There will be a couple boxes of printed books ready for me when I get home so will start my marketing efforts then and see where that takes me.

This is the time of the year when I start preparing for the annual Olson family review. It sounds dorky, but each year during the Christmas holidays I do a full set of financial statements, put a Powerpoint slide presentation together and we have a family meeting to review what we accomplished during the year, and then set goals for the following year.  We each set personal goals for areas such as health, fitness, education, and work, then together set family goals for travel and finances. I try to track every dollar we spend during the year so it’s always enlightening (and sometimes shocking) to see where all that money actually went. I may be accused of being a planning fanatic, but hey, if you don’t know where you are trying to get to, then how the hell can you even know if you are traveling in the right direction?

Ouch, just got a mosquito bite. Won’t be getting any of those in Ontario for the next few months!

I've got a book....now what?

I announced the release of The Found Vagabond last week.  Since then I've been simply trying to keep away from the thousands of reporters asking for interviews, the daytime talk show producers leaving dozens of voicemails, politicians and political leaders from around the world calling to congratulate me, and so on.  It is all really so tiring.

So, to escape all this embarrassing attention, we are headed for Cuba today for a week of sunshine, overeating, and probably a whole lot of scheming of what exactly to do with this book.

Primarily, I wrote the book because I think I have a pretty good story to tell and wanted to share my experiences with others in the hopes that they can benefit in some way.  But I also wrote it for myself...maybe just to see if I could do it.  I've always enjoyed writing, but I know that it is very tough for a writing career to pay the bills.  That is why writing is not my job.  At least not at the moment.  But that may change someday, when I move onto the next phase of my life, whatever that may be.

So for now, I just need to figure out how to promote my book, get a few people to buy it, start getting some feedback on what they think, then adjust my techniques for the next project.  I'm looking to my sister-in-law Carrie for some inspiration here - she has been an independent singer/songwriter for many years, and I'm sure has many tricks up her sleeve.  A book is very similar to a musical projects in many way - it is a creative endeavor, you put your whole heart and soul into it, some will like it, others will not, and your main job is to try and find an audience who will appreciate your creation and offer support.

So that's what I'm going to for the next week.  With a drink in one hand, a book in the other, sand on my feet, and a clear mind.  Like I write in the book, being away from your everyday routine allows you to step back, see things differently and think better.  So we will see what happens.

In the meantime...since internet is hard to come by in Cuba, I will be completely off line.  If you do contact me for any reason about the book, have no fear - you are not being ignored and I will respond to you as soon as I am home.

Enjoy!

Introducing The Found Vagabond!

Scaling the most spiritually important peak in Sri Lanka, in the dead of the night, surrounded by thousands of pilgrims...

Fishing for piranha with members of a Maroon tribe in the depths of the Amazon jungle...

Flying with your lover to an enchanting Caribbean island for lunch...

Coming face to face with great white sharks during a vicious Atlantic storm...

Introducing The Found Vagabond!

Inspired by years spent living in 13 different countries and traveling to over 80 on five continents, author Kris Olson has a story to tell. Part travel guide, part memoir, The Found Vagabond is an insightful and exciting chronicle of one man's lifetime dedication to travel, and the life changing benefits of exploring the world, from one's backyard, to the some of the most remote locations on the planet.

Travel brings strangers together, breaks down your inhibitions, shatters your stereotypes and opens your mind to limitless possibility. Yet, real risks exist on the road and there are actions you can take to ensure your travels are safe, fulfilling, rewarding and unforgettable.

From novice traveler to rugged explorer, The Found Vagabond offers inspiration and insight for any reader interested in travel, delivered in a humorous and entertaining style.

The travel book is nearly done!

I am happy to announce that I am in the final stages of completing the travel book I have been working on for many years.  Late in 2012 I decided I needed to finish it, otherwise it was never going to get completed.  So the book is fully written, been through about ten edits by myself and I now have a friend doing a full edit, which she has done and will be coming over this weekend to review it with me.

We have also struck up a friendship with a local couple who had their boat docked at the slip right across from us.  She is a teacher and he is an artist and is helping us out with designing the cover for the book - we have a great concept, just need to put all the ideas together.  This is definitely Ana's arena as my visual design skills are terribly lacking, I'm more of a content guy.

I am going to be self-publishing the book as opposed to going the traditional publishing route.  To be honest, this is the way it was always going to be, and I really haven't explored the traditional route much, preferring to sell it in digital formats, but also as a printed copy that can be ordered online.

The book has changed so much since I began; it was originally going to be a book of travel tips and things I've learned on the road.  But as I wrote it over the years, it started to change, and though it still has some unique travel tips, it became a very personal memoir on travel and how travel has changed my life and caused me to view the world, people and myself much differently.  There is also a thread of spirituality that runs through the book, ranging from the coincidences that happen while traveling to how being in a foreign place can enable so much introspection and reflection on yourself and your life.

Should I tell you the title?  Mmmm, not yet, but Ana came up with it and I think it is fantastic.  My working title throughout was The Grand Adventure but I knew that was not going to be the final one.

We are now busy getting all the infrastructure set up to sell the book such as a website, Paypal buttons, formats for Kindle, Nook, Apple devices, images to be included, trim size, pricing, mailing lists, social media strategy, local marketing plan and so forth.  We have already done something similar to the other two ebooks I've written, so we are familiar with the process, though not the physical print-on-demand version, that is brand new to us.

Is my goal to sell a thousand copies?  No.  But I do want to have a final product that I can be proud of and that others will enjoy reading.  And I do think it has turned into a pretty good book.  I've tried to balance out the tips and suggestions with a lot of stories and personal experiences to support them, plus a collection of some of the best photos we've taken over the years that gives the reader a great visual to support the writing.  And, of course, there is plenty of humour, as always.  I was happy to hear that my editor friend was both laughing and crying at various points throughout, so that is a good sign.

The book is divided into two section; the first being the core part about travel and the second a collection of ten travel stories.  Some of these have been on our website at one point or another, but they have all been heavily edited or, in some cases, re-written completely.  Speaking of that, Ana has been doing a complete redevelopment of our www.lifeisgrand.org website which will be rolled out in conjunction with the book, it is going to be much cleaner, much smaller and much more focused on travel.

Many of our friends and family are referenced in the book, so if you are reading this blog, there is a good chance you may find yourself mentioned.  I will also be asking for people to help get the word out when the book is released, maybe a Facebook post, maybe a group email, pee it in the snow (for you folks in Alberta and Saskatchewan at least), send out a raven, any sort of thing like that.  It all helps.

The goal is to have it ready for December...so I better get back to work on it!

2013 Lake Erie Sailing Trip - Day 15

Day 15 – Port Dover

Picture this.  It is midnight on Lake Erie.  The moon is full and bright, sky cloudless and littered with stars, and we are being pushed along by a gently humming engine and the lake’s gently rolling waves.  The periodic and predictable flash from the lighthouse of Long Point is visible in the distance.  Magnus and Stella are sleeping soundly below and Ana and I are sitting in the cockpit, together, huddled up in a blanket, watching the show of stars in the sky above, talking and feeling very much in love.

It has been a fine trip indeed.  And this moment alone with my beautiful wife has made it even better.

As we round Long Point, with the lights of Port Dover just barely visible 15 miles away, the wind suddenly picks up, going from 5 mph to over 20 mph almost instantly.  I adjust the sails for the increased wind, then we spend most of our time below in the cabin.  I pop my head out once in a while to check for boats and to ensure we are still on course, but the autopilot is doing a fine job taking us home.

We arrive in the marina at 4am, do an absolutely flawless docking and get the lines tied and power cables connected.  Ana calls Canadian border control and gets us cleared through with no issues.

We are back home, safe and sound, and after 350 miles, many new discoveries and a lot of laughs ends the 2013 Lake Erie boat trip.