Comments on: Best of Legal Nomads

By: Kelsey @ Seattle Smith's

Kelsey @ Seattle Smith's — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:21:46 +0000

What an incredible blog of your travels!

By: TH-TO

TH-TO — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:47:23 +0000

Jodles,

The flight to Moscow remains my all-time fav. :-)

By: Jodi Ettenberg

Jodi Ettenberg — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:06:34 +0000

You’re right. Having traveled with me, you know how obsessed I am with food. I did lots of eating during my travels, but I rarely wrote about it. It’s part of my 2011 goals: share more about food. Happy new year, lady! Looking forward to seeing where we meet up for our 3rd continent.

By: Gray

Gray — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:00:18 +0000

Awesome, Jodi! But I can’t believe your food section isn’t three times as long as everything else! ;-)

By: Jodi Ettenberg

Jodi Ettenberg — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:05:27 +0000

Hi Casey. Good question. I’d say it’s the best of my memories – the things that I read back on and think “wow, I did that”. I don’t believe that any of the places were ‘meh’, to be honest. Other than Russia (where I didn’t really connect with the people) and Australia (where I wasn’t there to see the sights, but to let the 4 toenails I lost in Indonesia grow back), each country and place has had its own personality and adventures and I don’t look back on any and think ‘meh, it was just ok’.

However, there are plenty of experiences I never wrote about, some of which figure prominently in my memories. I spent many days trading street food cooking lessons for bringing tourists to eat at the food stalls, but it never made the blog; it was really for me, and for my love of food. I also didn’t write about some of the run-ins I had over the years, be it with the police or with the details of the red-shirt movement in Bangkok. I didn’t want to glorify the more dangerous situations where, in retrospect, I probably should have been more circumspect.

Of the places that really moved me, Burma, the Philippines and Mongolia are high up on that list, and many of these posts relate to those countries. In that sense, this list does mirror the highs of my many memories; I think the excitement and wonder I felt in traveling through Asia comes through.

Thanks for reading & best of luck with your planning. Looking forward to reading about your adventures too.

By: Casey OD

Casey OD — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:53:22 +0000

Are these the “best of” your writing or the “best of” your travels? Curious if you had any powerful experiences that you never wound up sharing in writing, or places that were kind of “meh” that wound up turning into great stories because of the people/food/birdcrap.

By: Amy @ The Q Family

Amy @ The Q Family — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:03:03 +0000

Great idea, Jodi! I love this. You have inspired me to do something similar. Maybe I will get it done by 2012. hehe.. :)

By: phil

phil — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 15:56:09 +0000

Jodi, this is great! Especially because I only recently started reading your site and you have a TON of content. Maybe see you in NY!! B well, Phil

By: Jodi Ettenberg

Jodi Ettenberg — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:47:44 +0000

Thanks A. I started the first site in my planning stages, then moved to Blogspot for the first 2+ years, and now WordPress. As you can see from the archives, it hasn’t been nonstop travel – I came home several times during the trip. But I’ve kept up with the writing and kept heading out for the traveling. It’s been a great ride.

By: Jodi Ettenberg

Jodi Ettenberg — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:41:11 +0000

Thanks Natalie. Breakfast or not, I can still make room for those tapas – they were obscenely good!