Our “Customers as Entrepreneurs” series spotlights former AirTreks customers who have taken their personal travel passion to the next level – they’ve made it a career, each enjoying a level of success that perhaps they themselves didn’t even expect.

In part 3 of the series I have the pleasure of getting Jodi Ettenberg to sit still for a second. Jodi is the driving force behind Legal Nomads, a very well-received travel blog currently riding a wave of popularity stemming no doubt from her dexterity with the written word, her unyielding determination to conquer the world and her instinct with the shutter release button. Jodi’s notoriety caught up with her this year when Chris Guillebeau asked her to be  the keynote speaker at the World Domination Summit in Portland, OR and, above all that, she happens to be one of most charming and energetic personalities on the social travel web. A traveler with a lawyering habit, Jodi’s currently on an extended career break fulfilling a life she herself invented.

She’s been a client of AirTreks’ since 2008.

Jodi, what made you decide to take your first big trip?

Back in high school I saw a PBS documentary on the trans-Siberian trains, and was immediately overcome with a desire to go and see Siberia and Russia myself. Over the years, that desire percolated under the surface and while my longer-term travels only began in 2008, it was what led me to seek opportunities abroad during law school. I spent a year studying in France in 2001 and that was the first time I left home for so long, and so far away. I often wonder what would have happened had my year there gone badly, but it was glorious – the last minute weekend trips by train to places unknown, the ferry rides to Corsica, the new friends made at hostels around Europe. I was hooked, and it reinforced that already seeded desire to see the world. Upon my return, I worked in South America and then started full time at a law firm in New York, all the while dreaming of a point where I would be able to travel yet again.

How did you come across AirTreks and what made you decide to choose us? How was that experience?

In planning my round-the-world trip  - what I imagined would be a year long trip but has become a 3.5year (and counting!) adventure – I turned to a few websites of people who had traveled in a similar vein. Both The Lost Girls and my friends Jared and Julie used AirTreks to plan out their longer RTW endeavors and I called to do the same. I ended up with a very helpful agent and a rough itinerary of a few long-hauls.

How was your trip? Where did you go?

The trip certainly didn’t go as planned, as I got sick in South Africa and had to return home. While I used Airrteks to book the second leg of the trip (to the Trans-Siberian trains) I didn’t end up doing a full RTW. Instead, I got mired in Asia and its wondrous foods and chaos and noise, staying almost 2.5 years on the continent.  However the initial law hauls – from North America to South America, then to South Africa and onwards from NY to Russia after I recovered from the bronchitis.

Of those places, which one do you think left the biggest impression on you?

That’s a tough question to answer because I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as impressions left. Ultimately a lot of how a place affects you depends on what you seek from a trip, and what memories you make as you travel through it. For me, there’s no question that Asia as a whole was one of the more indelible impressions, comprising a multitude of foods and laughs and crazy bus trips full of chickens, goats and laughing children. Of all the countries, the ones where I spent the longest and tried to get under the skin of the culture now take up the most brainspace: Myanmar and the long, rickety train rides, the Philippines and all the quirky dichotomies things that make the country so fascinating and my time with nomads in Mongolia, far off the train lines. While the countries themselves are fantastic, a lot of these impressions have to do with connection to locals and exposure to traditions I’d have otherwise missed if I raced through the country.

How important was that trip in making travel a part of your life, and what part did it play in either establishing the Legal Nomads blog or furthering it?

The trip was what led me to start Legal Nomads, to keep my parents and friends and family apprised of my whereabouts. And to show some shiny photos from the trip, hopefully in a bid to convince them I wasn’t too crazy to quit a good job to travel aimlessly around the world  The site has since grown organically, and as have my travels. I never expected to be traveling still, nor doing freelance travel writing or photography. But those initial plans have taken on a life of their own and I’m very thankful for the result.

What’s on your travel radar at the moment?

I’m currently in Istanbul after a wonderful month in Morocco. I’ll be heading to the UK for the month of December to hang out with my brother who has just moved there and to get some work done. After that, who knows! Debating a return to the Middle East, or back to Thailand (the sticky rice is calling my name) or places unknown. I don’t tend to plan too far in advance, but things work out in the end!

What final piece of advice do you have for people thinking about taking a trip like you took?

I’d encourage them to have a rough idea of what they want to do but not to set too much of a fixed itinerary – part of the fun is to take your time and go slowly, meeting people and learning about places you’d have otherwise skipped or not even known about. Building vague long-hauls as I did – fly into South America on x date and out 4 or 5 months later – is a good way to get a rough plan but leave lots of wiggle room in the middle. There are basics – vaccinations, some packing precautions, some research and reading – that are best done in advance but the most wonderful trips for me have been the ones that take form as I move from place to place.

Read all the posts in this series.

The post AirTreks Customers As Entrepreneurs pt 3 – Jodi Ettenberg appeared first on AirTreks Travel News.

This series spotlights a few of our customers who have done just that.

In the second edition of AirTreks Customers That Have Become Entrepreneurs I interview Sherry Ott, a perennial traveler and the co-founder of the much lauded Meet Plan Go! series, a yearly national event (with more frequent casual meet-ups) that helps fledgling round-the-world travelers get over their objections and jump out into the world.

AirTreks: What made you decide to take your first big trip?

Sherry Ott: There were 2 factors – I didn’t really like my job or career and I loved traveling.  The combination was what finally pushed me to take a career break.  I had been working for 14 years in a corporate career without ever taking a break between jobs.  Every time I traveled on vacation I met people who were doing extended travel and these people fascinated me; especially since I never wanted to come home after a vacation!  This also combined with the idea that I didn’t want to wait until retirement to travel and do some of the things I dreamed of doing – like climbing Kilimanjaro.  All of these ideas came to a head in 2006 and I decided to take a year off and go on a career break.

How did you come across AirTreks and what made you decide to choose us? How was that experience?

I came across AirTreks via an ad or article I saw.  At that time in early 2006, there weren’t many travel websites and there were only a few independent travel websites.

My experience using AirTreks was great!  I still remember the name of the booking agent I worked with  – Sarah.  I found it really useful to be able to talk on the phone with someone who could help me through the myriad of options I had.  I had decided I didn’t want an around the world ticket as I wanted to allow myself flexibility in my itinerary.  AirTreks helped me put together a multi-stop ticket that worked great for my first 3 months of travel – on airlines I had never even heard of up to that point!

How was your trip? Where did you go?

The first 3 months I flew from NYC to Nairobi Kenya.  Then I went over land to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro.  From there I flew to South Africa and then to New Zealand, Australia, Bali and Singapore.  I didn’t know it at that point, but it was the start of a completely different chapter in my life; one which would keep me on the road and never lead me back to the cubicle.

Of those places, which one do you think left the biggest impression on you?

Tanzania was the most daring place I had ever traveled to.  Central Africa is really in a league of it’s own.  My failed attempt to climb Kilimanjaro certainly left an impression on me as I vowed to go back and try again one day!  In addition to 8 days on the mountain I was also able to go to the island of Zanzibar during Ramadan and really experience the Muslim culture for the first time.  It was here where I also started to fall in love with challenging travel off the beaten path.  I found myself gravitating to smelly, fly-ridden markets that challenged the way I thought about food and business.  After Zanzibar, I took a ferry to Dar Salam for a crazy evening of karaoke in a dingy hotel bar.  The memories were from over 5 years ago but I still remember them vividly!

How important was that trip in making travel a part of your life, and what role did it play in formulating the idea for Meet Plan Go?

As I prepared for my career break in the 2006, dug through AirTreks’ website, and hopped on message boards –  it was then that the seed idea of Meet Plan Go was planted.  I struggled in my preparations as not only did I have no-one to talk to and confer with about my plans, and preparation; but I realized that there were no tools out there from an American perspective regarding career breaks.  I bought the book Gap Year for Grownups in the hope that it would lead me through the process; however, I quickly found that it referred to everything in British pounds and they used the term CV instead of resume.  The book was ok, but it didn’t really speak to the issues I was going through in my culture and society (America).  I tucked this fact away, and when I met Michaela a year and a half later we both bonded on the fact that there were no tools out there for Americans planning career breaks.  That’s when we started the career break movement in the US!

What’s on your travel radar at the moment?

After racing through Central Asia this summer on the Mongol Rally, I really would like to go back to those areas and travel slow through them.  Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.  I’m a slow traveler, I want to take my time and dig into a culture.  I also have a strong desire to do the Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage this spring too!

What final piece of advice do you have for people thinking about undertaking a long-term trip like the one you took?

There is never a ‘right’ time to take a leap and make a change in your life.  If you want to do it – then you have to dig deep and realize that all of the hurdles you are putting in front of you (money, family, timing, career sabotage, economy) are just excuses.  One of the ways to begin to get over those hurdles is to surround yourself by people who have a similar travel goals and can support your idea.  You need cheerleaders on your side, not people who allow you to throw excuses at dreams.  Get involved with your local travel community or the local Meet Plan go meetups and start finding out how others achieved their career break dreams.  If you don’t have a local community where you are at or are looking for more hands on help for your preparation – then check out our online community and Career Break Basic Training course and future webinars.  We’ll get you moving on the steps to go!  Plus – you get a $75 off Airtreks coupon when you join to get you going!

Read all the posts in this series.

The post AirTreks Customers That Have Become Entrepreneurs pt. 2 – Sherry Ott appeared first on AirTreks Travel News.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to be spotlighting some of the people who used AirTreks to take their big trip and later went on to start an online business.

To ring in the series I contacted former AirTreks customer David Lee, ex-pat and editor-in-chief at GoBackpacking.com, a widely subscribed-to and respected travel blog. He also operates MedellinLiving.com, a lifestyle and culture blog focused on the city of Medellin, Colombia, and finally, maintains Travel Blog Success, an online resource for helping other would-be travel bloggers get up and running on their own paths to blogging success.

AirTreks: What made you decide to take a big trip?

David Lee: In March 2002, I lost my job in a company-wide layoff. After the shock and anger wore off, I realized that even though I had a nice severance package, the financial commitments (car loan, credit card debt, lease) I had wouldn’t allow me to do any traveling. I reflected back on how little travel I’d done since my first backpacking trip to Europe after college, and decided I’d make travel the priority going forward.

Specifically, my goal was to pay off my debts, and save about $30,000 so I could afford to spend a minimum of one year traveling around the world.

How did you come across AirTreks and why did you decide to purchase your ticket with us?

I can’t remember exactly, as it was so long ago, however I was asking most of my pre-trip questions in forums. Someone there who’d used AirTreks may have recommended it, otherwise I would’ve found it through my own devices while searching the web.

Ultimately I decided not to buy a RTW ticket, however, because the first few countries on my itinerary required proof of onward travel, I enlisted the help of AirTreks. Having someone else take care of finding the lowest rates, and booking the first 3 or 4 tickets made my life a little easier as I prepared to leave home.

How was the trip? Where did you go?

The trip was amazing, and life-changing in ways I never expected. My first stop was Tahiti and French Polynesia in the South Pacific, followed my New Zealand, Australia, and 9 months in Asia. I really fell in love with Nepal, and specifically the Himalayan region.

From Asia, I made the leap to South Africa, where I spent 2 months traveling overland from Cape Town to Jo’burg, before flying up to Egypt, and then spending a month in Western Europe. My last stop was Colombia, where I ended up spending 6 months living in Medellin.

Of those, which one do you think made the biggest impression on you?

That’s a tough question. Nepal left a lasting impression, not only for the beauty of the Himalayan mountains, but for the kindness of the people, and rich culture, which included both Buddhist and Hindu religions.

But it was in Colombia that I found a place where I could live long term. While that was also due to the friendly people, it had as much if not more to do with the enjoyment I got from discovering Latin music (salsa, vallenato, reggaeton) and learning to dance.

How did you parlay your experience on the RTW into a travel blogging career?

I was blogging regularly at Go Backpacking throughout the trip, and wondering how I could turn that lifestyle of traveling freely and writing about it into a job. Specifically the idea of being my own boss, and writing for my own website, held the most appeal. That vision of where I wanted to be acted as a guide for the decisions I’d make going forward.

Being able to turn my hobby into a business was a slow process, as the idea of a professional blogger, let alone a full time travel blogger, at that time (2007-2008) was almost unheard of. It has required patience (for the niche to mature), persistence (the belief that what I do has value), and a lot of hard work (educating myself, experimenting) over the long run.

Any more big trips on the horizon?

In August, I left Colombia to begin traveling the rest of South America. I spent 2 months in Ecuador, including a last minute cruise to the Galapagos Islands, and am currently exploring Peru. I hope to reach Brazil for Carnival in 2012.

Read all the posts in this series.

The post AirTreks Customers That Have Become Entrepreneurs – Part 1, Dave Lee appeared first on AirTreks Travel News.

Recently Pauline has been interested in how the movie Eat, Pray, Love has impacted long-term travel and around the-world trips in general. It has had an impact, no doubt about it, and with AirTreks leading the way selling these type of tickets, Pauline was especially interested in how we help travelers arrange trips like this.

Listen in on how their conversation went:

AirTreks Interview with Pauline Frommer by AirTreks

The recording above is a short part of that day’s entire program. To hear the show in its entirety or to download podcasts of any of her other Frommer Travel radio shows you can find them all in her archives. Check out all Ms. Frommer’s conversations with travel personalities and experts around the world as well. Or else tune in online – the show airs on Sundays at 10am.

You can also take the first step in starting your own around-the-world adventure. Click here!

The post AirTreks Talks Travel With Pauline Frommer appeared first on AirTreks Travel News.