The tears have a way of forming under my eyes more regularly these days.  I often blame my mother’s genetics for that.  Here is a video that as many others have brought tears of joy to my eyes.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Natural talents exist all around us.  Humans are amazing creatures! Please watch! I bring you Chooka Parker.

A good portion is tax deductible. Check it out as it’s only taking applications for another 5 days.

http://www.ted.com/registration/choose/event/ta2012

Those that have known me for a long time know that I have always been interested and curious about the health properties of food.  What is in the food I’m eating?  What nutritional values does it have?  I have gone through a few food phases as well starting when I was in college.  As a Division I athlete I was very conscious about how food energizes the body to allow it to perform not only the mental feats for the day but also the physical ones.  I learned a lot about the relationship between how we treat our bodies with food, sleep, etc. and how this directly translates into how are bodies treat us in return.  During this college period I read a book by Marilu Henner, 30-Day Total Health Makeover, which opened my eyes to the hormones, pesticides and genetically modified food that was on our shelves each day at the grocery store.  I stopped eating dairy and red meat and shopped at places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, limiting my frequency in the mainstream grocery stores.  I attempted to change my families eating habits as well.  After graduation, I took a course with a holistic health coach learning even more about the various nutritional properties that exist in the food we eat.  I learned that an average sized apple is around 80 calories and high in Vitamin C and fiber.  I memorized that a slice of bread on average is about 100 calories.  The effects of college peer pressure and my own competitiveness meant that my thoughts around my own image and those of food were not always healthy.  In certain ways this compelled my learning about food.

In 2007 I traveled to Argentina and Brazil.  Argentina is known around the world for its steak.  How could I go and not eat steak while I’m there?  I had to try it.  What comforted me was the knowledge that food regulations were different in Argentina and many places around the world to that of the United States.  I knew that the cows weren’t being feed hormones to grow or eating genetically modified grains.  I trusted the food that I was going to eat there more than in my own country.  I ate healthy quantities of meat the entire 4 1/2 months I was in Argentina and Brazil.  I came back and realized that I really enjoyed eating meat and I hated that I felt I had to limit that due to the regulations in my own country.  For how forward thinking and progressive the United States is, it upset me greatly that we modified our food more than any other.

I moved to England in 2008 and knew that the food on the shelves there was by and large healthier then the food on the shelves in the United States based on the research I had done over the years.  I stopped restricting myself and began to eat dairy, red meat and really whatever I wanted.  I became an overall healthier individual.

Thanks to my father, I just watched the clip of Robyn O’Brien http://www.robynobrien.com/ on wimp.com at the Ted conference in Austin, Texas in 2011.  It was a very important reminder of the realization that I have to think about what I ingest while I’m back in the United States.  It made me instantly want to live back in Europe for the pure fact that I would be able to worry less about the food I purchase in a normal grocery store due to the difference in our regulations.  I have long thought about the connections between food and cancer.  If you have 18 mins. I urge you to watch her video and learn some of the fearful facts about food, cancer and our country’s ties to exorbitant healthcare costs.

Thank you Robyn for being a much-needed reminder.  It is so incredibly unfortunate that I have a cautionary stance on food in my own country which so naturally fuels the fire to live in a place where I don’t have to.  I urge you all to ask questions about what is in the food you eat, about how you live your lives, and why you get sick.  When we actually stop and start to think about them they are more connected than we often realize.

http://www.wimp.com/realfood/

I followed my friends in business school to go and see Andrew Zimmern speak. I had tons of work to catch up on and prepare and had never heard of him.  Should I really be spending my time hearing someone speak that I’ve never even heard of before? Well, Andrew Zimmern pleasantly surprised me.  He is the host of Bizarre foods with Andrew Zimmern on the Travel network.  This of course I only learned via his talk and through my friends afterward.  Here is a link to his website where you can find more information on him and his TV show.

He is the new Entrepreneur in residence at Babson college where I’m currently getting my MBA.  He was incredibly humble and said he was thrilled to be able to be around like minded people.  I couldn’t have agreed more and it was a wonderful reminder of how lucky I am to be around these very like minded individuals here at Babson.  I, like many of my classmates, want to change the world.  I want to help the world connect.  I want to help tie people, experiences and help everyone realize that we are so similar. We all want our children to be safe, eat food that is healthy for our bodies and minds to grow and to laugh with our friends and family.  The world is a simple place and yet we make it very complicated.  Andrew this afternoon helped to remind me why I came to Babson in the first place.  I came here to start an infectious positive change, not particularly in my own life but in those around me (hopefully all over the world).  I believe I’m doing this on some level but I know I have so much more to give and so much more to do.  “Entrepreneurship in action” is Babson’s matra.  It is difficult to know exactly how to do this when the world is both big and small at the same time.  The living and acting in the living, not allowing yourself to be only on the ride but creating the ride.  Thank you Andrew for reminding me that the life experiences, people we meet and stories we are able to share with others help to connect this very big and small world and make it one.

In my friend Saad’s front garden with his mother. What a wonderful, beautiful, sunny winter day in Pakistan. January 2012

Bare feet and sunset. The mosque was the perfect combination of architecture, acoustics and history.

I can’t get enough of these two English cuties!  They put the biggest smile on my face everytime I see them and never seem to get old.  Hope they do the same for you!

I’m currently attending the US Field Hockey Coaches Association annual convention in Philadelphia.  One of the hot topics has been whether field hockey players at the collegiate level should wear goggles.  The High School program has adopted protective eye wear into their equipment parameters however there have been no movements internationally to do so.

Personally, I feel that protective eyewear is unnecessary at the collegiate level.  I am a supporter of making the game safer, however the number one way to prevent injuries in the sport of field hockey is through knowing how to play the game.  The better skilled players are then the fewer haphazard injuries that take place.  Injuries in general are a natural part of any impact sport.  Reducing them is wonderful however they can never be 100% prevented.  They, like possible injury from driving a car, are the risks we take each day when we live our lives.  As athletes we are well aware of the risks involved in sports.  As athletes at the collegiate level we are well skilled and eye injuries are rare.

Attached is a recent article about protective eyewear.  What are your thoughts?

I booked a rental car on Dec. 26^th before I left for the airport in the States. Being the spendthrift that I am, but also the procrastinator that I can be; I hadn’t booked the car far in advance to leaving despite the fact that I had looked at rental cars several times.  I booked on a little unknown company called Novo who after further research is based in Ireland.  Well, that’s a little strange isn’t it?  I’m renting a car in Australia, but renting from an Irish company (first red flag that I didn’t pay attention to!).  Alright well, it’s the cheapest by far (second red flag) so we’ll press confirm and see what happens.  Back in the Perth airport I pull out my printed reservation which tells me I should have a car with Red Spot (also previously unheard of to me, third red flag).

I walk up to the Red Spot booth, but no one is there.  Now it is 6:30 in the morning so maybe they aren’t there yet, but the lovely little sign posted on the counter tells me that they man the desk when there are prearranged bookings.  Uh oh #1.  So I pick up the phone which connects me to someone at Red Spot.  I speak to the lovely women but she responds that she doesn’t have any record of my confirmation number or name in the system.  Uh oh #2.  So I explain that I booked it two days ago, but perhaps with the holidays and time difference there has been a hold up.  Sugar!  I hang up and head to the internet to check my email to see if a confirmation email from Novo has arrived.  Log in…nope, no email.  Rats!  What now?  The reservation says I should receive a confirmation between 24 and 48 hours from my booking.  Well we’re in hour 30 something and no word.  Ok, I’m a traveler so I can figure this out.  Alex said he’d wait for me to get to his house before he left for work.  I said perfect, I should get there about 8ish.  Well, now it’s 7:30 and no headway on the car front.  Brain starts working….ok, I go to each of the rental desks in the international terminal and double-check that none of them have a booking under Connors, nope and nope.  But one of the kind ladies tells me that Red Spot would be manned at the domestic terminal and there is a free shuttle that can take me there from the international terminal.  Perhaps they do have the booking but got the reservation number wrong when I told them or will find it when I show them my printed reservation.  Brilliant!  I haven’t exhausted all of my options yet so I hop on the bus to the domestic airport about 10 minutes away, mossy on up to the manned Red Spot desk and walla still no booking! Rats and double rats.  Alright, think think.  Ok, so I check my email one more time.  Nope nothing and realize now that it is almost 8:30am, Alex might be leaving for work soon.  Well, he said he’d leave me a key so no worries.  Should I call him??  Should I ask him to pick me up?  No..too much trouble and it would take him about 30-40 minutes to get here.  Light bulb finally goes off. Taxi!!!!!  Perfect.  I get some money out of the ATM and head to the taxi line where I jump in a cab for Stirling Highway.

I get to Alex’s at about 9:30am.  Awesome, there’s a car in the driveway.  That must be his.  Ding, dong.  No answer. Knock, knock.  No answer.  Maybe he’s in the shower.  Ding, dong, no answer. Knock, knock, no answer.  Ok, let’s see he must have left a key and note somewhere.  Under the mat, no.  Under the potted plant, no.  Alright, I’m tired and am in desperate need of a shower!!!  There’s gotta be a key here somewhere.  I leave my bags on the front steps and notch up my detective abilities.  Can I get through a window on the first floor?  Almost, but no cigar.  Ah, garage isn’t shut; he must have left me a key and note in there.  Wonderful, garage open…head to the back of the house and open the door to the back yard.  Wonderful making some progress here.  Open the gate to the back deck where there are three doors which lead into the house.  Door #1 is unlocked, bingo!  There is a bathroom and laundry there but the door from there into the main part of the house is locked.  Darn it!  Ok, but at least I’m forming a possible next best thing scenario.  I can always shower here in the back bathroom, throw my bikini on and layout by Alex’s pool until he gets home.  Things could definitely be worse!  And right I’m in Perth, Australia in summer time!  Things could be way worse!  But I’m not going to lie that is the backup plan I really want to get in the house, put my stuff down, take a shower and a nap, etc.  Alright on to door #2, locked.  Door #3, locked.  Alright there’s gotta be a stupid way into this house.  I haven’t had to break and enter in a while so my radar skills are definitely not at their peak.  I decide to take a break from the entry hunt and get my bags from the front step and bring them around the house to the backyard where they would definitely be safer. This gives my head a little thinking time to reassess the breaking and entering situation.  Alright bags in the back now.  Take a step back from the house and look…any open windows??  Ok, there are two open windows on the second floor.  I bet I could climb on the fence and up to the roof of the deck and into a second floor window.  That could definitely work.  I climb onto a cooler by the kitchen to get a better idea of my route and badabing badabomb what is this?  The kitchen window isn’t locked or fully shut!  I think I can get my fingers around the frame enough to open it!  Yippee!  Kitchen window is officially open!  I pull myself up and through the window and onto the kitchen counter.  I’m seriously ready to jump for joy!  Finally in the house!  What a relief!  I bring my bags in, shower, put on clean clothes and fall asleep on the couch.  Amazing!

I wake up to Alex waking me up, but I’m officially out of it.  I start rambling I don’t even know what trying to get my bearings. What time is it? What day is it? Where on earth am I?  Oh, right, Perth, Australia in Alex Gordon’s place, right…Alex, you idiot where was the key?  You obviously didn’t want me to come stay with you huh?!  Fine I believe you.  We’ll go back to the idiot part but all ends well.  I’m here even if I did have to break in.

The rest of Day 1 in Oz goes wonderfully and by the end of the day I feel as if I live there again.  I drop Alex off at work and take his car so I can drive down to Cottesloe beach for some sun and surf.  Amazing! It’s packed with good-looking people and the sun couldn’t feel more amazing after the Northeast Winter.  I pick up Alex on my way home from the beach, shower and we head to our friends Claire and Chris’s for dinner.  I’m so excited to see them and to meet there new little man Samuel! Wow how times move quickly.  I last saw them in London before they moved back to Perth and got married.  A year and a half later they are married, settled in Perth and have a handsome son.  About 10 of us sit around eating pasta, drinking lovely wine and laughing about both old and new times.  Jen and Digger are there too which was such a pleasant surprise!  We all drink a little too much and before I know it we’re dancing on chairs, singing into fake mikes and having an absolute ball.  Wow is it amazing to be back!  I beg poor Alex to go for a walk with me as the evening temperature couldn’t be more perfect.  He kindly agrees and we take a short walk through the neighborhood before heading to bed.  The sky was full of stars!  It was so beautiful.  As he is picks lemons off of a neighbor’s tree I see a shooting star fly across the sky.  That shooting star had so much unspoken meaning.  We settle in at home at about 1am and I crash. I couldn’t be more exhausted!  But gosh, what a day! I can’t wait for day 2 and I’m already reminded how much I love Perth, Australia and my friends here.

I often can be heard saying that my father has an obsession.  His obsession is Penn Treaty Park.  My obsession is traveling.  My traveling obsession contains both new and old places.  I love to visit old friends and familiar sights that feel like home to me, but also adventure out into the unknown.  I’m notorious however for often making my travels multi-purposeful.  I for whatever reason often find it hard these days to explore a new place for the pure sake of exploration despite how much I love it.  Perhaps it’s a part of trying to be more responsible on some level; however I am positive that others would never view it that way.

I left the United States for other shores on December 26^th, 2011 and landed in Perth, Australia on December 28^th, 2011.  The trip is one of the longest you can travel in the world as it is almost perfectly half the distance from Philadelphia, PA where my journey began.  For the next two weeks I’ll recap each day here on my blog with little anecdotes, favorites, etc.  So without further ado; December 28^th, 2011…