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Traveling for Research
Every year I take one major trip – part vacation but also part research. It is a great way to fill up my photo stock and come up with lots of fresh article ideas that can keep me going for months afterward. The key to be successful is the planning.
In 2011 it was San Francisco during Chinese New Year. I took lots of photos but also came away with a lot of great story ideas that kept going for several months. In 2012 it was Miami and Miami Beach, That trip was only so-so for writing, but several of the photos I have taken have become my best sellers on micro stock sites like Deposit Photos.
This year I will be spending most of February and part of March in Las Vegas. There are lots of opportunities for photos, but Las Vegas is one of those places that have been photographed to death. But I will come away from my 4-5 weeks with more ideas then I could ever write.
But I just do not go. I set up my trips carefully. I do my research before I go. I contact the local convention centers and chamber of commerce, send email notes to PR firms and generally let people know that I am in town and looking for article ideas. It is important to know what you write about, and be able to express both the type of article you want to write but also a realistic idea of what media you will be writing for.
It goes a long way.
I am already covering the Travel Goods Show Feb 27-March 1 for a pair of markets. That’s good, and my assignment fees will more than cover my costs of the trip (Hurray!). Anything else is gravy and profit. I’d like to get more while I am in Las Vegas. I am working on poker money now.
Ano Viejo (Old Year) to 2013 (New Year)
Our last day of 2012. For the world it was disruptive, confusing, cheerful, outrageous, awesome and the list of descriptors goes on and on. It was another year of people showing their worst, and their best. Another year of countries doing the wrong thing and doing the right thing.
For me, I hope and pray that the good things I did outweigh the mistakes I made. I hope I made a positive influence om my students, my readers and my friends and family. And I hope and pray that I will find a way to be a better man, a better friend, a better teacher, a better writer and a better husband in 2013,
To everybody – Happy new year.
Feliz Navidad – On to Las Vegas!
Christmas time and all is well. Friday was my last day before the Holiday Season break at my school, so I can turn to holiday times with my wife, family and friends, while also planning for my annual vacation/research trip.
Research trip for February 2013: Las Vegas!
It has been three years since I returned there, as I have since done San Francisco and Miami. I loved San Francisco but I did not sell many articles or photos off the trip. Miami was much more successful for me. In fact this simple photo is one of my most popular on sales for several photography sites.
While I am traveling in February, i like to start contacting editors and PR people now so that I can arrange stories and visits. We will see how this year goes!
and of course almost all of my background material is out of date.
Vacation is NOW!
It is time for one week away from my day job… and afternoon job… and night job… and weekend job
The Dreaded Day Before School
The Day Before School – nothing like a stressful time for teachers before the big day.
So I came into my classroom today and everything had moved. The maintenance staff had done two magnificent things. The bookshelf I had asked for had magically appeared, still sporting the $69 price tag from the office supply store they got it from. They had also painted the walls of my room.
Nice it was done but they had two months to do it before. Why do it the weekend before kids get in when they had to tear apart half the things I´d done to get my room ready_ Urrgh!
I got so intent on getting my room fixed up that I completely forgot there was a mandatory staff meeting at noon. Supposedly they paged me several times but I never heard it. I suppose it partly could have been that three maintenance workers where doing their noise best to fix the locking mechanism on my storage locker. Tools included some hunky hammers and chisels. The banging gave me a headache. In any case I heard it from several people, including both the Principal and Vice-Principal about missing the meeting. What could I say?
I stayed late and in the end I got enough done to be satisfied – not happy -‘ merely satisfied. I´ll see how it goes tomorrow once I get real students to abuse. I foresee more classroom re-arranging in my future.
The trouble is I´m nowhere near where I need to be work-wise. I still have two articles to finish and ship off to the editors. My Seniors drop off their summer research assignments tomorrow. I need to get on filing income tax (double urgh!) and I have Planning documents due to administration on Thursday.
In the end I did enough. I decided I needed to burn some frustration and stress off so I changed and I packed what I needed in my spare backpack. I walked home. Four miles in 88deg weather while dodging evening rush hour traffic.
The Day before School is Over. Back to School Tomorrow!
Back to School
If it is the end of March that means it is Back to School in South America. Urg! That means my vacation is over and I’m back at Colegio Americano de Guayaquil and getting ready for a new year.
Some Things Change
There are a load of new faces. International teachers generally sign on for two-year contracts so international schools generally have a high turnover. I’m looking at my fourth year and I feel like an old man at times. There are lots of teachers that need settling in and shown how everything works.
For the second year in a row I’m moving classrooms again. This time I’m only moving next door. it seems “someone” wants all the math teachers together so my old room 32 is going to one of the math teachers while I go next door to room 31. Hey, at least I’m closer to the bathrooms. I guess that’s something.
I was told that everything had been moved out of my new room so I checked to see if I needed anything. The storage lockers were stuffed with books and Christmas decorations and books. I don’t think I’ll be using One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Treasure Island in my business and History classes, so we’ll see.
SOME THINGS REMAIN THE SAME
We just did two full days of a teaching seminar that could have been done just as well in 3-4 hours. (sigh).
They don’t have a key yet for my new classroom so I can’t get to it unless the maintenance supervisor is around to let me in. I know it will get fixed eventually but it is a real pain since I want to get in there and get my room organized and decorated for the first day with students.
WRITING
On the writing front I finished one 5,000 word article and sent it in to the editor. I have two shorter travel articles still to do – one of 800 words and another of 1,500 words. I want to get these both finished before I get students.
Good luck Everybody!
Happy Anniversary to Us at Del Natos in Guayaquil!
This last week Lisa and I celebrated 11 dazzling years together. We did it with a sumptuous feast at Del Natos – a Guayaquil trademark parillada.
Happy Number Eleven
It was a great break for a lot of reasons. For one, Lisa is at the end of a teaching quarter, so she’s doing some serious stressing about kids and getting grades in and all the amazing angst a dedicated teacher goes through.
For me I’d just returned from a lengthy trip to the States and only had a few days before my day job kicks off again.
And finally it was a real fling for both of us. We have finally committed to doing something about our advancing years and expanding waistlines. Well, we can’t do anything about the years part, but we certainly can do some things about the waistlines.
Now that's a steak!
So we diligently made a complete lifestyle change – eating in a more healthy manner and exercising. We have both dropped some weight. I’ve dropped 13 pounds since the start of the year and Lisa also made a major goal so we decided with all of that a treat was in order. The Bife de Chorizo is 900 grams (almost 2 pounds) of cow, served with your choices of potato (in our case, a massive baked potato covered in their special cheese sauce) with a salad bar on the side.
So much fun, and believe it or not, I didn’t even blow out my diet doing it. I hadn’t eaten much all day because I knew what we were in for. I’m so clever…
So now I have a happy wife and I’m happily stuffed with meat. Life can’t get any better.
Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
— On Sun, 3/13/11, Yali Zhao <eceyyz@langate.gsu.edu> wrote:
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