10 Ways to Shake Up Your Life

Pie in the sky thinking does take you places!

Sometimes, just to shake things up, I like to do something that’s a bit different, a bit unusual. Here’s ten things I’ve done in the last year that you may like to give a go too.

Meet up with someone from Twitter
Remember, a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met!

Travel far and wide
Travel, travel, travel, and see all those places you’ve always wanted to. Go as far and as long as possible.

Give a new city a go
 Live in a new city – get down and dirty with the locals; talk to them, drink with them, dance with them.

Try the local delicacies
Eat weird food! Duck embryo, snake, rat, tortoise, dog, scorpion, cricket – I’ve tried it all, even British ‘pie and mash’.

Talk to randoms
My conversations often start with a really lame opening line, but often lead to wonderful new friendships.

Take the 100 Things Challenge
Can you live your life with only 100 things? You can live with less and still feel rich.

Deeply and profoundly believe in yourself
When I remind myself ‘I deeply and profoundly believe in myself’ – challenges that only seconds ago scared me become totally doable.

Face your worst fears
Sometimes you not knowing if you can succeed becomes a great motivator; cowardice can lead to courage.

Give a tourist a tour of a city you’ve just arrived in
Taking the lead means you do things that you’ll be more inquisitive, daring and bold.

Share yourself
Wearing my heart on my sleeve was scary at first, but the rewards are great when you share with others.

Back to Zero – The 100 Things Challenge

Back to Zero is a philosophy of mine that made it possible for me to travel the world living out of a 26L bag without debt and without fear of failure.

Freedom and independence is important to me and there is certainly joyful feeling I get when I zip past lumbering giants shouldering 150 litre backpacks at airports.

Recently though, when I moved apartments in London I realised I’d begun accumulating again. My hereditary genes of hoarding were trying to take hold. I’d been lured by the ‘shiny’ in Singapore, ‘cheap’ in Hong Kong, ‘cheap-cheap’ in Vietnam, ‘designer’ in Seoul and ‘stately’ in London. More luxuries than necessities in my life? This could not be!

Coming to my rescue was this 100 Things Challenge article. I did a stocktake and pared my life once again down to the bare. I counted one hundred and ten. Not bad. If I donate ten more things, I’ll happily gain another ‘zero’.

How Do You Measure A Year?

This year many of my life long dreams came true.

I’ve had many people say “oh, you’re so lucky” because I’ve spent 6 months travelling, free from work. I have a standard response to that compliment now, borrowed from Walt Disney;

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

Well, it’s the time of year that people compile best of lists, and so too have I. I want to share the important moments of the last 12 months. I am pretty lucky to be living my dreams, but remember you can be too. Just believe in yourself and your ability to make the impossible possible.

January

My personal theory of ‘Back to Zero’ took me to a space of exponential growth. Having planned for three years, I found myself financially free, my professional and private life was balanced, and having rejected material possessions I was unburdened. I had the means to live my dreams. I also unlocked the door to healing and began recovering from the sex abuse I survived as a child (survivor, not victim).

February

I vividly remember the hot, sexy man sidling up to me, shaking my hand while staring deep into my eyes. I almost spontaneously cumbusted when I met and interviewed porn star Brent Corrigan at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. As a bonus, I also made it onto his website. Oh yah, I’m on a porn website (check it out here)!

I almost didn't recognise him with his clothes on!

March

A two year radio project came to a natural end. One of my last interviews for my program The Fool and The Opera was with world renowned conductor Richard Bonynge. I was deeply moved when he also invited to attend a masterclass. It was a great honour.

April

I helped co-ordinate Australia’s first same sex formal for Minus18. I spoke with a girl who told me she was so excited because her girlfriend couldn’t go to her ‘real’ school formal, but they were coming our event together. During the formal, when performer Jessie Upton sang acoustic Somewhere Over The Rainbow the two girls, in tuxedos, slow danced. I cried over how utterly beautiful it was.

May

I farewelled the folks of JOY 94.9, the gay and lesbian community radio station that I’d worked at for over 5 years.  I remember when I joined I was an over-eager young kid of little more than 21. It was the right time to leave because I learnt all that I could and I was aching for new adventures. I left the station, still, an over-eager young kid.

Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke - Lynda Barry

June

My media mentor Addam Stobbs passed away and my world was a little sadder. At Addam’s funeral, I held hands with my dear friends Petro and Micah and I remember never wanting to let go. I know it’s from Addam’s lessons that I’ve drawn my most powerful quote, “Gays don’t deserve tolerance. We deserve respect, equality and love.”

July

I hopped on a A380 with my eye on the horizon. Over five months I saw Singaporean soldiers dance in formation, re-learnt to speak and write Vietnamese, sat in on a real Japanese tea ceremony in Tokyo, kitted myself out in hot Korean clothes, walked along the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and met a British prince.

September

I celebrated my 27th birthday by flying to Tokyo. My happiest moment was hearing the sound of the cicadas and warning alarms at a local train station. The sounds were exactly as they are in the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, the very show that made me fall in love with Japan when I was a mere teen. It took over a decade, but I made it to Tokyo.

October

On the tenth hour of the tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year, at an outdoor cafe near Hoan Kiem Lake in flawless deep-southern accent Vietnamese, I ordered drinks for my southern American friends. Some I’d met days earlier, others that very day, but we had one thing in common, we were there to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime festivities for Hanoi’s 1000th birthday.

November

When I was 12 I pretended I was born in Britain and had a posh accent. I’ve always wanted to be part of the world of David Attenborough, Blackadder and Bond (more recently Skins, Harry Potter and Bond). Now, I can happily proclaim I live in the city where it all happens; London.

December

Sitting in a production meeting at my new job, my heart skipped a beat when a colleague mentioned ‘BBC World Service’ and again when I saw a household name from British TV and Hollywood show pop up in my email. I find myself working for a major UK media producer with very recognisable names. I’m still amazed by this!

The Hoberman sphere is impressive when open, similarly your heart is most impressive when open to your dreams.

Dan Vogue 101 – The Basics

By The Rivers of Vinh Long (sung to the tune of Rivers of Babylon)

It’s time for an introduction!

The basics are; I’m Melbourne born, 27 years old, of Southern Vietnamese heritage (I speak Viet with a heavy Can Tho accent) and was born in the year of the pig (my oinker traits are loyalty, honesty and stubborn optimism).

I studied marketing at the University of Melbourne and worked in radio at JOY 94.9. I love photography, writing and drawing. I rock climb for the mental challenge, tinker on the piano to annoy others and my obsession is international food; I love weird foods from different cuisine cultures (eg. scorpion, rat, tortoise, dog, snake, etc.).

I adapt quickly and often find myself guiding fellow travellers in towns I’ve only just set foot in. Ironically, I have no internal compass and you’ll often find me with rotating maps to match the direction I am facing (thank goodness the iPhone solved this problem, now you’ll find me constantly figure-eighting my phone).

Six months ago, I quit my job and prepared to set sail for the world. Three months ago, I left my home to tour the world with my heart set on seeing Saigon, Tokyo, Seoul, London, Paris and Rome (as a bare minimum). With no return ticket, I plan on travelling for at least 2 years.

So far, I’ve seen Singapore, Tokyo and the entire coastline of Vietnam. Next week, I’ll fly into Seoul, Hong Kong then London. The most magical thing of all is to see the same sun set in different cities (and clouds seem different everywhere I go).

Up until recently, my greatest phobia was to be in a foreign country with no friends, job or money (my parents are immigrants to I think I inherited this from them). When my wallet was pinched in Hanoi I was forced to face that fear, and walk into it.

Before I left Melbourne, I was interested in a guy my friends nicknamed ‘North-West’. He checked to see if I’d be a suitable boyfriend by asking me for a list of 10 things that make me great. I wrote one, but didn’t share it with him because I felt he should discover it for himself.

Yesterday when I re-read the list I laughed at how ‘inside the square’ my life once was. I wouldn’t write those 10 things now. I don’t think I could be restricted to 10 either –  I need 101, or even more! I guess while travelling, what I’ve learnt is to trust and believe in myself.

I am who I am, and that makes me happy.

Just Shoot Me

Day X: My favourite shot in Rach Gia, Vietnam

It’s Day 42 of my travels and I’ve been snapping my way happily around the world.

I really wanted to learn the craft of photography and luckily I’ve met some talented people who are always willing to share their tricks of the trade.

A young guy in Singapore  showed me his amazing night time shots and taught me about shutter speed. In Japan I was taught about the “magic hour” when the sun sets and almost every shot looks beautiful. In Hanoi I was given a 101 in manual focus and as my camera “popped faster” I took more people photos.

Taking photos from the back of the motorbike really tests your ability to work hard and fast – and how to keep it steady. I see photos faster than my hands can take them and it’s about training my hands and body too react an capture that shot.

Photographer Minor White keeps me inspired,

“No matter how slow the film, the spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer it has chosen.”

I Liiiiiive!

The gong cast to commemorate 1000 Years of Thang Long

There’s a great scene in Disney’s Mulan where the lizardly family spirit Mushu (the powerful, the pleasurable, the indestructable) is woken by a gong and shouts “I liiiiiive!”. Well consider my gong struck; I’m back and blogging again!

It’s been well over a month and I’ve missed telling you about my discoveries, adventures and run-of-the-mill cautionary traveler’s tales.

In the last few weeks, I’ve been bitten by mozzies up and down the coast of Vietnam, seen lots of hilarious Night at the Roxbury-style dancing in Vietnamese nightclubs, celebrated my birthday in Tokyo with a Swede and returned to Hanoi to be faced with my ultimate nightmare.

I’ll tell you more in due time, but for now I’ll just say it’s amazing to be alive – life is great!

For now, I’ll leave you with my favourite moment from Mulan. My family knows the movie back to front and we always singalong to I’ll Make A Man Out Of You.