Travel with more purpose

Posted on by August 4, 2013

I have an unending interest in history, which is one reason that travel is so fun for me, as everywhere you go there is some history.  Some recent some ancient.   From old buildings, historic events, to personal history and ancestral history.

Ireland is intriguing to me because my grandmother’s grandparents came over to America from here.  I have been able to trace my roots back this far easily enough using several free databases over the years online, and through corresponding with other long lost family members, but now I have the ability to find even more!

I am pleased to announce that MyHeritage.com has signed on as an official sponsor of my adventure.

I first discovered MyHeritage.com while I was recovering from my surgeries in 2010.  They are a wonderful way to create family trees and to share them as well.   You download their family tree building (HERE) and you can build and input your information like so many other software options. This free software is very powerful (offering book and chart building and printing, as well as research options and subscriptions available), but the most intriguing feature and what I think sets them apart is that when you sign up with them for a free (or premium account for more features) you get a website of your tree that also acts as a cloud-based backup of your family tree data!  You can build your tree offline and then upload it when you have a connection (Perfect for the genealogist on the road, like me!) Whats more  you can share this website with others, and they periodically scan the trees and compare to see if there are any matches in other trees that you might not know of!  I have already found several distant relatives through this feature.  They also have a mobile app that lets you add info and share photos on the fly and view your tree as well.  Very useful for finding out new info while away from you computer or notes.

Part of the benefit for the sponsorship is that it will allow me to earn some income while I am on the road.  With their powerful data subscriptions they have provided me, I can now do various look ups for people and charge a small fee, helping to power my travels.  While I am traveling I can also go and see the land of my ancestors from all lines!  Ireland, Germany (Prussia), Holland, Denmark!  Who knows where else my roots will take me, but that is part of the excitement, the search!

I’m very happy to add MyHeritage to list of sponsors that are supporting my efforts to inspire people to travel for many different reasons. Maybe it’s because you couldn’t due to illness for a long time like me, or maybe it’s to find your family history.  In any case, travel far, and travel safe.

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-Ty

Diversity

Posted on by August 4, 2013

In Ireland I’m staying at a golf course and resort, as a temporary volunteer.   I do a few hours of work each week in exchange for my room and food.  I stay in a staff quarters with a Spanish couple and a young Italian man.  For me it is very interesting to help them learn English.  They are all three trying very diligently to learn English, and can speak  it quite well right now.  The words they have the most trouble with were surprising to me though.  Words like “Get” were confusing because of the number of contexts it can be use.  Get out, Get Away, Get Back, Get On, Get Off, Get There, Get Here, Get Him, Get Her, Get It.   Also all the double meaning words are obviously difficult, such as There, Their and They’re.  Of course there is all the slang and sayings/phrases that don’t make much sense.  “Raining cats and dogs”, and “throw away” (garbage) are two that took a bit of explaining.

An interesting mixture of people work here.  Just yesterday we were served Chinese food, cooked by a German chef, served by an Indian chef, to an American, an Italian and two Spaniards, in Ireland.  There are also Czech, Polish, Latvian and South African people who live and work here.  It seems that Ireland too is a major melting pot of cultures.

After my few days of work on the greens of the golf course, mostly edging bunkers (Basically cutting the sod of the sand traps to be clean and removing the grass and stones), I managed to get out to do a little exploring and photography on the grounds.  The weather though did not cooperate and it soon clouded over again.  I did manage to find a few interesting shots which you can see in the main photo gallery here.

I am working heavily on finding new sponsors to help my adventure along, and to refocus on my mission.  I want to be more definitive about what my reasons for this adventure are.  I am not simply trying to have a big vacation, but to inspire people to travel, especially people who have or are suffering from serious illness.  Having spent my young adult life unable to do much of anything adventurous because of my battle with Ulcerative Colitis, it is important to me to help others who maybe suffering with it, or other conditions to see there are ways to do some of these thing while staying safe and healthy. For those who aren’t sick, but need a little push, I also want to encourage them to take that first step, that leap of faith and go find the amazing part of the world that they are interested in.  Please feel free to contact me asking questions or giving suggestions, as I always enjoy hearing from people interested in the things I post.

I also wanted to take a moment to thank Scottevest and Aarn, two of my sponsors for their help.  With out them this trip would be very different and more difficult to complete.  Having the right gear is paramount to completing any major adventure!

 

-Ty

Ty in Ireland

Ty sitting in Ireland with his Aarn Mountain Magic 50 Backpack and Scottevest Expedition Jacket.

 

Ireland!

Posted on by August 4, 2013

The trip from Southampton, England to Dublin, Ireland was fairly uneventful.  A couple of long bus rides, which I’m used to now, after my trek across the southern states back in April.  In Holyhead on the west coast of England, the bus boarded a 700 foot long ferry that was bound for Dublin. It was only about a 6 hour ride, but the ferry was set up quite nicely.  It had a small restaurant and coffee shop, a bar and lounge, and several very nicely arranged lounges. The people off the bus, being 1:30 in the morning, quickly filled the more comfortable seats, while I found one that was nearby a power outlet to recharge my phone.

The ferry started underway and was smooth sailing.  The waves below could hardly be felt, even more stable that the 1100 ft cruise ship I had made it across the Atlantic aboard.  I was able to get a few moments of sleep before we landed in Dublin, just as daylight had broke.  Back on board the bus, we set out for the Dublin bus terminal where I switched to a local commuter bus heading for Kilcullen.

Now something that should be pointed out before I continue, is that buses in the UK and Ireland have seatbelts, and its required by law to wear them.  Also, the seat belts make perfect little pillows when your head dips down after 24 hours of traveling.  So I may have partially fell asleep and missed my stop.  It’s quite disorientating to wake up and notice that your stop should have been 25 minutes ago, and none of the area looks familiar.   Then you remember it isn’t familiar because you’ve never been there before and it makes sense.

Luckily the next stop was a train station and major stop for the commuter buses and I was able to catch another bus heading back to Kilcullen where I needed to be.  The bus driver was nice and laughed a bit, and made sure I got off where I needed to this time.  After that it was a short cab ride to the Resort I was to be staying at.  After introducing myself to the manager and explaining my little mix up, they had set me up with the other helpers in the staff quarters and I was introduced to my room mates, a couple from Spain and a young man from Italy.

So far it’s been wonderful being in Ireland.  The climate reminds me of home, very green, not too warm, not too cold, rain and sun and hail all within an hour of each other.

There will be more stories coming, and some pictures as well. I am out in the countryside a bit, so I think there will be some wonderful chances to get some great pictures soon.  Talk to you all soon!

-Ty