Calling PS World Travelers and Jet Setters!

[Independent Gal]

Hi Shminbabe, I''d rather not say what my dad does, for purposes of anonymity. But I can tell you that he got this position by way of being headhunted. They came after him with an offer he couldn''t refuse, you could say.

Could your husband contact a few headhunters and let them know he''s available? If he hasn''t already? Another place to look for positions is in the front area of the Economist, if he has international experience.

I know how hard it can be to find positions at that level (lonely at the top). I have a friend who was the VP of a major airline, then got laid off in a huge round. Yes, even VP''s can get laid off! And it took him ages to find a new position. Mind you, with that kind of buy-out, he could afford to take his time. Forever if he wanted. Bastard.

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 9/15/2007 11:20:12 PM
Author: Independent Gal
Gwendolyn: Haha. I know, it''s hard to keep up. We subscribe to the Economist and I try to at least read their 2 page ''quick update'' every week, but it''s hard! Too many weeklies, too much PS! not enough time.

But yeah, Mugabe, not my favourite guy.

Funny thing about violent conflicts and local craziness though, I have a lot of friends who just ignore it and go wherever. I have a friend living in Kabul at the moment (mind you, she works for one of the armies stationed there). I have another friend - actually the one who said ''Peru!'' who lived in Uganda and then in Haiti for ages. Apparently, you just sort of get used to it.

I ended up in an area of conflict once. I spent a semester in Australia, and both on my way in and out of the country, I had a layover in Fiji. On the way into Aus, I spent about 12 hours on the beautifully white beaches of Fiji, just hanging out in a hammock by the sea (on Valentine''s Day, no less!), and then went on to Australia without incident. On the way BACK, however, there was an issue. There was a coup d''état in the capital, complete with beheadings, so the airport where I was (Nadi/Nandi) had a small army (literally) occupying it. I had tried to re-route my flight when I found out it was going on, but I couldn''t change my ticket. The people on my flight were all kept in one area of the small airport and were guarded by soldiers with giant machine guns and we weren''t allowed to go anywhere without an armed escort. Instead of spending the hour or two I was supposed to have spent in Fiji that day, I ended up spending about 15 or 16 hours--they put us all up in the hotel that''s on the airport grounds and again we were sent off with armed guards.

When my flight finally *did* take off, LAX (where we were landing) had no idea what had happened, and had no info on what had become of our flight. I was meeting a friend in LA to then fly out on a charter flight to Tahiti for a week, and she was flipping out because my flight had just evaporated out of existence! When I finally did arrive, we found out we''d missed the charter to Tahiti and that another one wasn''t due for a week, so we had to can that whole trip (but we bummed around southern Cali and bits of Mexico instead, which was fun, but it''s noooo Tahiti!)

Anyway, yeah, that''s my one experience with that kind of thing. Crazy. Definitely wouldn''t seek out *those* kinds of adventures.

 

[Independent Gal]

Yeah, I think I remember that coup. Was that the one with the big sit in in parliament? And they sentenced the guy (Speight?) to death, because by law they had to (treason) then officially pardoned him and abolished the death penalty? That was awesome. Fiji has some of the most interesting politics in the world. Or was this the more recent, slightly less intereting / exciting coup? Anyway.

I was in a town in Cambodia where some bandits took a school hostage and started executing the children. The people in the town were understandably upset and before the police could take the bandits into custody, some men literally tore one of the them apart and beat him to death. It was pretty nasty and gory. I was, uh, shaken up.

When I was in Malaysia last year, I was up near the Thai border when, across the border, they were blowing up school teachers and government employees. I'm sure no one on the beaches far away in Phuket was much bothered. And it's not like anyone was going to say 'I know! Let's cross the border into Malaysia, find a random tourist, and blow HER up!' That would just be bizarre given the political situation at issue. Most political violence is strategic and carefully planned. The thing to keep in mind in such things is whether it's in anybody's interest to harm random tourist strangers. Usually, it's quite the opposite. But sometimes it can be strategically the smartest thing to target tourists, and that's when you should definitely stay away.

So I guess I should try harder to stay up on my Economist reading so I can tell the difference, huh?

 

[Skippy123]

I just saw this http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-20473703

 

[TravelingGal]

Wah, I am so jealous! Peru! I had actually started planning a trip to Peru before all this greencard business started with TGuy. I wanted to go to Cuzco, and then do the Macchu Picchu thing. You have to take a ton of photos.

You will have an amazing time, I am sure. Do you have room for a fatty boomba preggo lady in your luggage? Hey, let''s do the craziest PS get together story ever...Independent Gal takes Traveling Gal to Peru!!!

 

[Independent Gal]

You''re on! Looks like my BM can''t make it on the dates I want to go, so I''m on my own as it turns out. C''mon down T''Gal!

I was just looking at the whole Cusco - Inca Trail thing last night on line and I almost JUMPED out of my seat with excitement. It''s a 30 mile hike over three days. You have to take a guide and they only allow 500 people to go a day. And when you see the pictures of the ruins you''ll see along the way! GAH! And then at the end, the center of Inca civilization. Imagine what it feels like to round a bend at dawn and WOW!

Lordy. Can''t wait. I''ll plan several days in Cusco acclimatizing cause I hear the altitude thing is a serious b&tch. I''ve never dealt with it before and it makes me a titch nervous.

Mind you, it will be pretty rainy up there, and dry and sunny by the coast... maybe I''ll save this and go with FI someday?

So many options.

Anyway, my ticket is booked! I''m ready to go! SO... EXCITED! Nothing in the world better than travel.

 

[Independent Gal]

Cool Random Fact: There are apparently 32 distinct climates on earth. Of these, Peru has areas exhibiting 28 of them. Holy shmo! Pick yer climate, people! You want a nice cool dry ''steppe''? You got it! Alpine? No worries? Tropical rainforest type thingy? No problemo! And then to the beach for desert.

 

[Independent Gal]

Oh yeah, and one word: llamas. LLAMAS, people! teeheeeeee!

I''ll bring y''all back one. Promise.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 9/19/2007 9:45:11 AM
Author: Independent Gal
You''re on! Looks like my BM can''t make it on the dates I want to go, so I''m on my own as it turns out. C''mon down T''Gal!

I was just looking at the whole Cusco - Inca Trail thing last night on line and I almost JUMPED out of my seat with excitement. It''s a 30 mile hike over three days. You have to take a guide and they only allow 500 people to go a day. And when you see the pictures of the ruins you''ll see along the way! GAH! And then at the end, the center of Inca civilization. Imagine what it feels like to round a bend at dawn and WOW!

Lordy. Can''t wait. I''ll plan several days in Cusco acclimatizing cause I hear the altitude thing is a serious b&tch. I''ve never dealt with it before and it makes me a titch nervous.

Mind you, it will be pretty rainy up there, and dry and sunny by the coast... maybe I''ll save this and go with FI someday?

So many options.

Anyway, my ticket is booked! I''m ready to go! SO... EXCITED! Nothing in the world better than travel.

Yup, I read all that in my research and then got sidetracked in my "import-a-mate" ordeal. The high elevation thing made me a bit nervous too. I was planning to do the whole hike, although there is a train people can take to the certain point. I''m not sure how far you will have to book to get a guide (and permit in) but I remember researching some groups and some had good reviews...other not so. I looked at so many photos of the ruins and pictured myself there at sunrise. I ache to travel just thinking about it...

That is so awesome you are going without your FI. I love your spirit!

And you''re right...nothing in the world is better than travel...even diamonds.