Travel Tips

I'm a nurse who loves all sorts of nursing specialties ... I guess that means I have professional ADD :) When I recognized that there was very little medical literature on body modifications, I compiled data on traditional and modern types of mods, methods, risks, complications, normal vs. abnormal healing, conservative as well as extreme mods that are found in my community today. These body mods include tattoos, scarification, branding, piercing, splitting, stretching and others. I love that our modern world allows us to express ourselves as we wish, and I want to share what I know w/ others who wish to learn.

I was lucky to have wonderful mentors at my University who encouraged me to write and submit an article, which was accepted with very little subsequent editing! As a result I've been allowed to teach my peers on the local, national and international level on body piercing and how it impacts our caregiving and our medical interventions. My article has been digitalized on Medscape's Journal Watch ...... I"m now officially ON LINE!!!
I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!

I was also interviewed by KRQE Channel 13 here in Albuquerque about a concept begun in the UK deserved more attention. ICE, or In Case of Emergency is a simple concept. Place the word ICE in front of the person in your cellular phone you would want contacted in an emergency. See? I told you it was simple!

In the ER, I have frequently received an unconscious patient who I can identify from their wallet if I'm lucky. I have no idea who to call, or what their medical problems might be. By placing ICE in your phone/contact list - you are providing emergency workers with a means to notify your loved ones, and get lifesaving information. This is spreading by word of mouth - word of email actually. I first learned about this on the VT Miscellaneous Forum myself .... and started getting emails about ICE more than a week later. This is important and timely information. So, place an ICE contact into your phone today, the life you save may be your own.

I can't link this to my HP using VTML due to the manner in which the address is written ....

http://krqe.com/Video/expanded.asp?RECORD_KEY[Video]=ID&ID%5BVideo%5D=2742

I don't know how long this link will remain active, but for now, have fun with it ..... I'm already getting teased since they changed my name, and I used my 'teaching voice' aka: THE VOICE to some of my coworkers, oh and my jacket is crooked :)

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Oh! and if you want to reminisce about the 'good old days of nursing' - check this out!

My travels in 2006 were curtailed a bit by health issues .... but I had fun nonetheless!

Local Road Trips
I managed a little day trip to Chimayo to refresh my spirit. As usual, I volunteered at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. If you want to see some pics of this year's Fiesta, check out my Albuquerque TL. The first ever VT Artist's Retreat in Questa New Mexico over Labor Day weekend was AMAZING!!! So much creativity in one little place! I also did a quick weekend trip to Denversee family AND to see a family member's photo in a special add :) A few other places I managed to visit nearby include El Morro, Gallup, and Acoma!!!

Places I had to take a plane to :)
Baltoberfest 2006 was a blast! I can't thank our local hosts: EllieLou, FrankCanFly and LittleSam enough for all they did to make our time full of fun and fellowship. Baltimore turned out to be tons of fun with lots of VTers from all over! Point Arena is a place that feeds my soul. With family members, as well as family history to inspire me to greatness. South Lake Tahoe and Stateline were beautiful and a wonderful backdrop to a special wedding between my friends. On the way there, I managed a quick visit w/ La_Beba in Salt Lake City! I was honored to hang out with some very special VTers in Las Vegas as they made VT history :) My Las Vegas and Boulder City Travelogues are just for those curious types who want to see MORE!!!

Some of my travels for 2007 are already in the planning stage ... and finally a chance to use my passport again!!!

For 2005, I've been focusing on travel within my own continent of North America - specificaly those touristy yet orphaned places close to home.
Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico. Salinas Pueblo Missions National Park, Bandelier National Park, Jemez Springs, White Sands, New Mexico, Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, Hollywood, Florida , Arizona (thrice), Laughlin, Nevada, El Paso, Texas, Juarez, Mexico

Oh Canada!
After recieving an invite from Jojocan , I decided to go to the Province of Alberta, Canada!! I wandered cities, towns, mountain and prairies ..... there are more wide open spaces in Alberta than there are at home in New Mexico!!

A little place I wandered into, and fell in love with the surrounding region is
Hinton .There are so many wonderful places that are not yet in the VT database including Grande Cache, William Switzer Park, and the amazingly overlooked Willmore Wilderness that I included in my Hinton pages. Since this wonderful town is on the outer edge of Jasper National Park; it made a perfect staging area for my trip into the big parks. Banff National Park and Yoho didn't dissapoint me either!

In September, I spoke at a conference and visited Washington DC ... and took a detour to join in on the VT meet in Toronto! I was able to meet in a 3dimensional form many folks I've become friends with over the last year and reuinite with an old friend from decades ago ... I had a wonderful time!

A co-worker lost 18 family members in the tsunami of 2004 ... she is devastated, I watch her soul quiver as she cries at work ... but work she does - to save money for her return to Thailand that will allow her to say a proper goodbye.

We have all tried to help her heal, with emotional support and by giving her the extra work hours she so desperately craves - but she refuses our offers and attempts at financial assistance. She has encouraged us to attend the fundraising memorial service at the local Thai Buddhist Temple, and to donate to recognized organizations with a presence in Thailand.

The day after the local memorial, her husband of 20 some-odd-years left her .. she has sustained so many losses in such a short time ...

UPDATE: Because of her marital issues, Panee has decided to delay her return to Thailand for now .... we're talking going out there together about this winter???

So ... for my 2004 birthday I decided I needed to start living my goal of traveling more and I arranged to go overseas to visit an old friend.

When I saw that I changed planes in Amsterdam, I arranged a longer layover so that I could see the city I've heard so much about.

I spent 2 days in Amsterdam and had a blast wandering the streets :)

Then off to Ireland, Greystones to be exact. We wandered a bit about the country in my friend's care.

Ya' know, being from the desert, green amazes me .... you must think I'm a freak :) I even loved the intermittent rain - the locals complained, and I just relished the moisture while nodding in a concilatory manner.

I was raised a Navy brat, so lived overseas w/ my family for a time. I never thought of that as traveling, until recently, because it was just my family moving for Dad's work :)

In the course of these travels, some of which occured before my memories kick in - I saw much of the US and Asia. I do remember some of Asia and being stationed in Japan - back then I even knew some Japanese, but you know how kids are, we can learn quickly, but easily forget if the learning isn't reinforced.

I was in the Philippines during the Miss Universe pageant, on an Okinowa beach surrounded by jellyfish, became carsick in a Taiwan cab ...... these are the disjointed memories of my childhood ....

I've added some of these memory locations onto my VT travel map, and hope to find old pics to add to the travelogue, but won't post any tips from the distant past ...... I'll wait on tip writing until I return as a a grownup :)

One of my Dad's favorite things to do when we returned to the US was the typical American road trip :) So every chance we got, we would be poured into the car, or motorhome and take off .... as I've gotten older, I've rediscovered the joys of taking off down an open road. Whether for a few hours, or days, I love to get behind the wheel of my car and roll on down the road.

(You can check out one of my travelogues for an idea of what I can get myself into during a road trip) tee-hee

In the meantime, my adult travels have only just begun ... I spent the first decades of adulthood learning how to be an adult, and making a career - in 2004 I decided to stop making excuses and obtained my first REAL passport .....so international traveling has truly begun .......