Shannon on Isle of Skye, Scotland
Interviewing Phil Paoletta last month was so much fun that I decided to interview another travel blogger, Shannon O’Donnell. She left Los Angeles, California in November 2008 to travel around the world by herself. Shannon is currently taking a pause from long term travel in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and rooming with Jodi from Legal Nomads. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!
Jennifer Barry: First of all, thanks for doing the interview! So, why did you decide to leave LA and travel for a long period of time?
Shannon O’Donnell: I was in LA and I felt like the city was crushing my soul. If you read the blog back then, like some of those earliest entries, I hate on Los Angeles so much. I really wasn’t pleased with how things were going and just the style of living. You have to be in your car all the time. I thought to myself, I’ve told everybody, I love traveling, I’m a global citizen, and all I had done was a study abroad program in Italy. That’s it. I had done a little bit of Europe, and then I came back home, and I hadn’t been anywhere else. So I asked myself, do I want to be in Los Angeles and do I want to be an actress for the next 10 years, or do I want to leave and travel for a while and maybe go back there later? And then the next day I got a one-way ticket to Australia.
JB: Wow, you didn’t even have a way back.
SO: I didn’t, I was going to go and see what happened.
JB: Did you have any concerns about traveling, like being a single woman and going around the world by yourself?
SO: Before I left that’s all I could think about. I mean, everybody I told my plan to had just gasped. What, you’re going by yourself, how could you do that? And then of course that made me fearful. I had read some blogs, Lost Girls, was actually the one blog I had read right before I booked my ticket, it was three women who went. I thought, hey, I know they were together and I’m going to be alone, but they are women, and they had an amazing time. I thought, this has to be doable. My dad was really supportive too.
JB: Really?
SO: Yeah, he’s very supportive. He just wanted the right to send me an update on every single possible skirmish or happening that’s in my area. So that’s the agreement. I get emails that say, by the way, did you know, and then insert any catastrophe.
JB: I see, so he has like Google Alerts to wherever you are.
SO: Yeah, it’s funny though, he read the reports for Southeast Asia, which I think is one of the safest areas I’ve traveled. And before I left on the trip, he read the US Department of State warnings about unexploded land mines in Laos, but the likelihood that I’m going to be in a place where so few tourists have been, that there’s all these unexploded land mines is so slight. So my dad asked me, “What are you going to do, are you going to know how to identify unexploded land mines?”
JB: Wow, well that’s a good argument for staying on the path, land mines are bad.
SO: Yeah, they are bad.
JB: So other than the land mines, you said you thought that Southeast Asia is one of the best places to travel safety-wise. Do you think that’s a good place for women to try out traveling by themselves first?
SO: Absolutely. I started in Australia. One, because it was a cheap flight from Los Angeles, I could land right there. And two, because they spoke English. And that was a safety net for me. So I think if you needed that comfort of knowing the language, it’s a good place to start, kind of get your backpacker wheels going. I also always wanted to dive the Great Barrier Reefs.
But if you wanted to start straight out budget travel, the backpacker network in Southeast Asia is incredible. I mean there are so many backpackers here. The route is really well-defined, even when you’re off the path. If you choose any place where backpackers have been, there’s enough comfort and familiarity that you’re going to be fine.
JB: Good to know. So even though you don’t speak Thai, it’s not a big problem? Because a lot of people worry about being in a country where nobody will understand them.
SO: Obviously it would be great if we could all learn every language, that’s the best window into a culture. I’m even learning Thai now. But English is the international language. No matter which European/Western country you are from, if you are a Westerner and you’re in Southeast Asia, and I’ve found this in Central America too, they assume that you speak English if you don’t speak their language.
JB: Right.
SO: And so you’re almost always able to find somebody who speaks English.
JB: So what made you decide to stop traveling for a while and decide to stay in Chiang Mai of all places in the universe?
SO: I think that travel fatigue sets in at some point. When you’re packing up your backpack every day and there’s nowhere to call home, when home is wherever your backpack is, that sometimes you just kind of get weary of constantly learning a new language, figuring out transportation, where you’re sleeping tonight, and to find new places to eat, meet new backpackers and socialize. All of this, it’s really fun, and there are chunks of time where I like to do that, but by the end of even my year traveling around the world, I was done with the every other day travel and I decided to stay a week or more in a place. That led itself to say, “Okay, I want five months.”
There’s a huge community of backpackers and travel bloggers in Chiang Mai right now, and that’s partly why I came.
JB: That’s cool. So a bunch of travel people all gravitated up there?
SO: Not everyone, but a lot of us.
JB: Right, so have some bloggers decided to take a little detour to visit while there are so many people in the same spot?
SO: Absolutely, a lot of travel bloggers have come through. Actually, we had a couple last night who met Jody through her blog and they were not going to come up to Chiang Mai because we’re in the north, a pretty decent bus ride from Bangkok if you’re not already headed this way. But they wanted to meet the community up here, so they made that U-turn and they said okay, let’s go.
Part 2 of this interview will be posted on March 30.
Bio: Shannon has traveled the world for the past nearly three years, blogging at her site, A Little Adrift, the whole way. She left on a traditional round the world trip and is now on a slower route that includes volunteering, eating, and helping the planet when she can. She supports Breadpig because, really how can you not love an organization primarily aiming “to make the world suck less.”
Popularity: 29% [?]
Related posts:
Wow Shannon–you’re my hero. I think there’s a little part of all of us, at least deep down inside, that wants to cut loose and try something like this. Yes, it’s radical, but that’s the whole point. It seems that the perspective you’d gain from stepping completely out of your paradigm has real potential to benefit you in some way for the rest of your life.
How do you survive after what, 3 years on the road? Did you have it all budgeted, or do you take odd jobs along the way? I think more people would be open to this if they knew a means of surviving in the process.
In fact it seems like it would be a great thing to do at the beginning of a recession. While everyone else is fighting for jobs and trying to keep their homes and cars, you’re out having the adventure of a lifetime! Sounds like a plan!!!
Hi Kevin, I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
Since Shannon is in China behind the Great Firewall and may not be able to read this for another week, I will answer your questions. Shannon didn’t have much saved at all in the beginning, she has been working along the way. In the second half of the interview, you will learn more about how she does it. Part of her flexibility is due to having very little debt.
That is a great point about the recession. You can drop out of the work force for a while if you have money saved, or you can go somewhere the economy is better.
Thank you Kevin! I’ve always figured that even if I want to get a more mainstream job at some point, the travel and years of nomadism will only help on the resume
Regarding budget, I have freelanced the entire time as Jennifer mentioned – mostly writing and SEO work. And though I had this work before I left the states, you’d be amazed by how many opportunities present themselves once you are on the road and have the flexibility to accept some jobs you could never find just through a google search – job opportunities land in my lap all the time in most new cities I visit!
Aww, thanks Kevin
I firmly believe that if you’re compelled to take a year or two off to travel, or heck, even a few months, that the results on the other side will be astounding…both personally and professionally.
Regarding the budgeting, as Jennifer said (and thanks Jennifer for stepping in while I was incommunicado in China!) I work the whole time and have very low expenses. And though I had my freelance work before I left on my travels, I strongly feel that just saving up enough for a couple of months and then traveling is a good start – I have been amazed by the number of job opportunities that are consistently handed to me in new cities (teaching, marketing, hands-on labor…you name it, I could be doing it). So it’s less daunting than it seems to find work on the road!
Shannon and Jennifer.
Great interview! Though it must be fun to travel so much, three years is an amazingly long time. Unlike Paul I have no questions about how to afford it. Living modestly while traveling can not cost more than rent, car and all the other bills. What I goggle at is the time. I can totally understand the stopping in Chaing Mai.
When I went Backpacking through Europe a few months back I loved it. But by about the 6 month mark I was starting to get burned out, and at 8 months I just had to come home. Though I love to travel and I am going on a (very short) trip to Belize soon I don’t think I wold ever want to be gone so long again… At least not unless I went some place (like chaing mai) and settled for an extended period.
Hi Steve, glad you liked it! I will reply for Shannon since she probably won’t have internet access for another week.
I remember your epic European trip. Thanks for chiming in with your experiences that even Europe can be affordable. I don’t think I could do 3 years either. I would probably want to go home after a couple of months unless I really settled in somewhere with my cats and husband.
I think it’s great to show people that you can travel for a long time without being rich or saving for several years.
Hi Steve, thanks for sharing your experience – I’ve come to the same conclusions regarding time; after the initial 11 months around the world I now structure my travels so I can come back to the US every 6 months or so and I stay for a couple of months, then pick a new place. The perpetual movement wears on me..as do the temporary friendships. Right now it’s amazing to have a set of friends and an expat community here in CM
Awesome guys!
I have traveled to 4 different continents and 9 different countries so far but have never stayed at the same place for an extended period of time – except in Australia where I did my high school and in United States where I am currently at.
Travelling the world and making money online is my true passion..a list in the bucket..ya’ know!. And I am vigorously working towards it.
It is always motivating to read about people like Shannon who make money online and travel the world (O:
Thank you Jen for conducting the interview with Shannon. Really enjoyed it!
Hi Adam, glad you thought it was awesome.
Shannon will love to read that when she gets back from China.
What countries did you visit besides Australia, the US, and Nepal?
I’m glad you found Shannon’s story motivating! I know you are working hard on your internet projects. Shannon is proof that you don’t need to be rich to work on your travel bucket list.
Thanks Adam! I am grateful every day that I have the ability to work online and sustain my travels – congrats on the travels so far and good luck with your current projects
Well reading the interview with Shannon makes me feel a little bit less crazy. I recently read a book about birding and thought to myself: I need to see a rare bird that belongs to an endangered species. My wife suggested the Kakapo (native to some island near New Zealand I suppose that qualifies as “bucket list” item, I’m looking into the logistics to see what’s required and is it doable.
Riley
Hi Riley, you are definitely not crazy. If the birding is important to you, why not go?
You will probably regret it if the Kakapo goes extinct before you can see one in person.
I’m going to second what Jennifer said – find the way to do it! If that’s your passion then there’s a way to get to that island and on a birding expedition. Good luck with the trip planning!
I met Shannon a few months ago and she’s a great travel blogger! I can definitely understand how she got burnt out from constantly moving. Chiang Mai is a great city to kick back for a few months and gear up for another round of travels.
Welcome to Live Richly, Laura! That’s cool that you got to meet Shannon in person. I don’t think I could have handled the constant travel myself. It sounds like there will be a huge travel blogger meetup in Chiang Mai this year.
Loved sharing coffee and stories last year Laura! Good luck on your own upcoming travel/working adventure
[...] CommentsSuzanne @ Mind Tree on My One Year BlogiversaryJennifer on A Brand New Role: An interview with Shannon O’DonnellJennifer on Live Richly Round-Up 11Jennifer on Live Richly Round-Up 11Kevin@OutOfYourRut on Live [...]
[...] my third interview with a travel blogger (check out Phil and Shannon if you haven’t yet), but this time you get a two for one! Jack and Jill just started on their [...]