Welcome to my first blog post, and yes, I am going nomadic. Oh, it’s exactly what it sounds like, and not a surprise at all to the people who know me. Actually, they are probably saying “What took you so long?”
I love to travel. I don’t care that I’ve only done it once. (well out of the country at least – I was ‘voluntarily homeless’ building concert stages around the USA for 4 years).
(Me on the U2 build in Atlanta, GA after an overnight shift. I brought my gargoyle with me and took photos as I built this tour around the USA)
I’ve wanted to travel and take photos since I bought my first camera at 7. I’m now 31. I’ve been slacking on my dream…but no more. So…
Welcome to GoingNomadic.com
My name is Dani Blanchette. I am a travel and music photographer (website: La Gringa Photos), I love attending live music (especially rock shows), and I am going to start making my own travel videos soon. (This last part is something I have never done. Please bear with me as I learn to shoot and edit.)
I am also about to embark on a one-way trip, and won’t return until I run out of money. Yes, this is my actual plan.
(Me being silly in Red Rock, Las Vegas. I love living in a city that is only a 10 minute drive into nowhere).
So I am selling everything I own (save for my DSLR, a laptop, a few clothes, and a couple sentimental heirlooms from my dead relatives) – and leaving the country this September. Indefinently. Seriously – im selling everything. My car I just payd off 2 month ago? – selling (I have a few people interested in buying it).
*note. Follow this link to find out what happened to my car not long after this post
My brand new kick-ass gaming desktop cpu I just bought in January? – selling it to my sisters best friend, who is a graphic artists in desperate need of a banging computer.
My laptop – Ok, it’s a P.O.S. and I’ll be lucky to get $50 for it at a laptop store.
All my clothes I’m selling or donating.
My awesome Asian style dishes – selling. My books – selling what I can, donating the rest.
That’s pretty much my story – I’m selling everything I can, to help pay for my worldwide – go till you run out of money – trip. And I’ll donate the rest. Maybe I’ll bring some cool photos of America and Vegas I’ve taken, or a few of the cooler band shirts I’ve amassed and bring those with me as swapping items/thank you gifts. But I’m really not going with much. I can buy extra clothes if I need. I’ll only need 1 or 2 pairs of pants, a few shirts, socks, underwear, and a sweater and jacket. And one pair of shoes.
So yes, I am, for the most part, getting rid of all my worldly possessions and roaming the world, taking photos of the places I go and the people I meet.
(And if you haven’t figured it out yet, I write like I talk. Sorry. I will try to get better as I get used to writing. Though I do create my own words, thus evolving the English language. If Shakespeare can do it, so can I!)
So yeah, this will not be a Pulitzer Prize winning blog or anything. I’ve actually never blogged before, but figured I should start one before my trip. This blog will be all about my travels (and the insanity of going all Mother Teresa on my stuff beforehand) and the people I meet and the kickass places I go. And it will be supplemented with many, many photos of my journey.
I’m a photographer, not a writer dammit!
(I am also a HUGE Star Trek fan!)
(I was also a dancer and ballerina for 15 years. I’m about 8 in this photo.)
(I was also, and still am, very much a tomboy. (Notice the band-aids on my legs.) Ballerina and tomboy. I was a strange and adorable child. And yes, I sucked my thumb until I was about 10.)
So get ready for long journal entries like this. I will also, hopefully, figure out this WordPress thing by the time I go, so I can make my blog page look slammin’. (I am using a stock windows photo right now. I am sorry. I’ll make this blog look more awesome soon enough.)
*Mother Teresa kicked ass by the way. Ok im not sure if you should use the words ‘ass’ and ‘kick’ to describe Mother Teresa…but she did. I don’t care what your religious beliefs are-because I certainly don’t go to church – but she was awesome. And no I don’t by any means think im Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa would not use words like ‘ass’ and ‘slammin’ and all the other descriptive degradations I will come up with along the way. ‘going Mother Teresa’ simply refers to ‘giving away your possessions’. That’s another thing I like to do. Use people’s names as actions. Also changing parts of speech of words is another fun thing a do. like “I’m a master at wordsmithing”.
I will attempt to not write EXACTLY like how I speak. But this is my first post, so I am mostly just having some fun.
This blog will be fun and amusing on all sorts of levels. Let’s see what crazy things I do and learn.
(Like abseiling in Red Rock Canyon. I have never rock climbed, but my neighbor, who I used to babysit years ago, is now an avid rock climber, and took me out for an afternoon when he came through Vegas. I love being outdoors and doing new things).
Tchao!
About Dani Blanchette
