“Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be.” -Kurt Vonnegut

Hey y’all,

I have a confession to make: I have been applying for a job. I know, I know, it’s a real buzz-kill to the care-free, jobless, shoeless lifestyle fantasy you think I live. But, before you go being all “aww, geez, that Laurie is such a slave to The Man,” keep reading.

Or, if you’re not much of a “reader” but more of a blog “skimmer”, click here to Vote for Me in the 2012 Amble Resorts Island Intern contest. Thanks a ton!!!

OK, for all you “readers” out there, here’s the scoop:

In February I was dorking around on facebook and The Professional Hobo (of course I follow her) posted this interesting link to a resort company advertising an “Island Intern” position/contest. Of course, I clicked. More out of curiosity than anything. And then I got to thinking . . .

The “Island Intern” would travel to Panama (which we love and where we’re already headed) for a month this summer (when we’ll be arriving) get set up Amble Resort’s private island, travel around and share their experiences online through sites like Facebook and the companies’ own blog, The Ambler.

While I’m definitely a bit older that your average intern*, I thought, “I have been wondering what I’d do next, you know, since leaving work full time in November of 2010 and embarking on a transformational sabbatical to Panama”. You know, that whole thing.

The “what next” thoughts have spurred me into trying things on and seeing how they fit. At first, the idea of becoming an Island Intern just seemed like a “sounds like fun, why not?” kinda thing. But, the more I dug into it, the more I started to get excited about the real possibility of combining what I love to do – and am already doing – with my professional skills in a whole new way: as a Travel Host. After all, I already love to travel, meet new folks, go on exploring adventures and tell all y’all about it on the interwebs. Plus, I think my past experience as a political organizer (fearless relationship building, grassroots marketing and online outreach) would be a huge asset in this arena.

But, what’s a Travel Host, you say? And, what’s this Island Intern deal got to do with it? Well, here-ya-go:

1) Travel Host is something I’ve totally made up. For me. I suppose there are tons of folks out there with this “official” title and it can mean many things depending on who you talk to. But, for me, it expresses how I’d love to be able to greet folks coming off a plane, from their (busy?) lives back “home” and give them an amazing experience on their visit – you know like when you visit a friend in their hometown and get the “inside scoop” on all the best stuff.

1-a) How’d I do that? Well, you gotta get in there and get to know a place. Take for example, Austin. Sure, I grew up there, but I also make it a point to get off the beaten path, visit small businesses and ask – like really ask – how someone’s day is. It’s part of the reason I can never just run up to the MiniMart in be back in 5 minutes (because of Abdel) and and why I love going to see Denny at the amazing Arturo’s Underground Cafe (because we’re friends, and his salads are killer!). Having grown up in Austin, I’ve shown a lot of new folks around and I love it. I love thinking of what flavor of Austin they’d really savor and building an itinerary just for them. And, I love seeing them fall in love with the City, I love, too.***

2) So, what’s this Island Intern deal all about and how will it help me become a Travel Host? Well, the Island Intern position is a starting point; they know it and I know it. In fact, they’ve been very forthcoming about how some of their finalists last year who were selected as their 2011 Island Interns have, in fact, parlayed the experience into another, professional experience in the field. And, for the record, I know that changing careers is rarely easy and those with who legitimately sport the Travel Host title have worked their tushies off to make a living – away from friends and family.

Also, I’d like to take a moment to talk about Amble Resorts, “the company behind the contest” (I made that up ;). From my research, Amble Resorts and their founder Ben Loomis are different. And, I like different. I like that the island is being developed in an environmentally responsible way: with passive cooling systems, 95% of the island is NOT being developed, and that an emphasis is being placed on immersive experiences.

You can click here to read all about Amble Resorts straight from the source.  

So, this all leads us to something really important which I mentioned briefly above (to all of those busy blog “skimmers”): the selection process for becoming an Island Intern is, in part, a CONTEST where YOU can VOTE for ME (sorry for yelling but I’m a little excited). I’ve been posting shameless-self-promotions on Facebook and even joined Twitter (swoon) prompting y’all to vote and really wanted to take my time here on the blog to give more of an explanation about Amble Resorts (“the company behind the contest”), the Island Intern contest and why I’m interested. But, all that aside, if you haven’t voted yet, DO IT NOW (please and thank you :). Click here to vote.

And, of course, if you feel so inclined to post/share/invite your friends to vote, too, I’d love that!

Finally, you might be wondering: what about Damon, the dog, the boat? All important questions which we have made up answers for: since we’re headed to Panama anyway, and are so familiar with Bocas, we figure we could leave the boat and Kemah in Bocas with Will (D’s brother who’s joined us for a while) and D could come with me – or not. We’ll see.

So, that’s that. Like I said, I’m trying things on, this feels like an awesome fit for the both of us (me and my new BFF Amble Resorts) and I’d love your help. So many of y’all have been so supportive already and I appreciate it more than you know.

Thanks so much for your help and you can bet your behind I’ll keep you posted with the latest news from this aspiring Travel Host!

Xoxox,

Laurie

*Over the years, I’ve worked with a ton of interns and volunteers: young and not-so-young but always life-saving! The best interns I’ve worked with always share similar traits: they’re hungry to learn (to do it “your way”**), eager to sink their teeth into a meaningful project for which they can be responsible and posses the humility and realism to do the grunt work, which is part of every job.

**When I say “your way”, I don’t mean “my way”, I mean the “company way”. Being able to adapt to the style of the team will always get your far (or cause you to find a more natural fit).

***Shameless-yet-super-cool plug: I was absolutely thrilled to have my feature on Austin included in National Geographic Intelligent Traveler’s I Heart My City blog.  Check it out!