Big Blue Marble: Postcards from the Road #2
March 2005

A journey is best measured in friends, not miles.
Tim Cahill

Dear Friends:

Hello.  How are you?  I've enjoyed hearing from many of you over the past several months.  Thanks again for all your support.  This is an exciting time for me and I'm glad you are here to help me along the way. 

This is my second Postcard from the Road.  I hope to get these out on a monthly basis from now on.

Happy Travels,

Paul Heller
paul@thebigbluemarble.com; www.thebigbluemarble.com; 4714 Windsor Blvd., Cambria CA  93428
(805) 927-1164

Where am I Now?

Currently, I am at home in Cambria, California.

Over the past several months since the last postcard, I've made busy:

• Teaching travel seminars throughout California. So far since I started in mid January I have taught seven seminars in Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, Pasadena, and San Pedro/Wilmington, California. Over the next several months, I have thirty five seminars scheduled throughout California.
  
• Revamping my website, changing the name of my company to the Big Blue Marble, and adding many new tips, blog entries, book reviews, and sample articles.
  
• Visiting Tijuana as part of Global Exchange's Reality Tour. During the tour, I followed a border patrol agent, met representatives from Mexican labor, ecological, and human rights organizations, and spent the night at a shelter for Mexican immigrants.
  
• Attending a terrific seminar, entitled "Running an Inspired Business", that reinvigorated my passion for this business.  The seminar was held in Las Vegas by Nick Williams and Barbara Winter.
  
• Taking several fascinating, one of a kind tours in California including:
  • the Wild Thing animal preserve in Salinas, a private zoo that rents wild animals to the movies
  • the Tablas Creek winery in Paso Robles which produces wine based on the recipe for Chateauneufdepape, the famous French wine.
  • the Nethercutt collection in Sylmar, an industrial LA suburb, with an impressive collection of vintage automobiles, hood ornaments and musical instruments; and
  • several major Hollywood TV/Movie Studios.

Free Gifts for all subscribers to the Big Blue Marble Postcards from the Road

• Gift 1: A copy of my handbook: Travel the World as Safely (or More Safely than) as Staying at Home.

  Word document: Safety Handbook
  Adobe Acrobat document: Safety Handbook

• Gift 2: Free consulting services (up to 5 e-mails or a thirty minute phone conversation) to help you to plan your next trip.

If you are interested send an e-mail with your question at any time this year to me at paul@thebigbluemarble.com and/or call me at (805) 927-1164

What's New With the Big Blue Marble's Publications?

I have completed four new handbooks on budget travel, alternative travel (volunteering, studying, and exchange programs), California tours, and living, working, and retiring abroad. In the research, I have talked to some of the most interesting travel experts anywhere including:

• Judy King, a newsletter publisher in Lake Chapala Mexico, about the myths and realities of life in American colony in Mexico.
  
• Brad Olsen (Brad is the author of several excellent travel books including several guidebooks to the world's sacred sites and World Stompers) about his trip to Thailand to help tsunami victims and.
  
• Barbara Winter about ways to support your wanderlust

A Request for Help

I would appreciate your comments about my new website. I have consolidated my two websites into one and changed the design a bit. I want to know specifically:

• Is the new site as easy to use and attractive as the old one?
• Do you have any ideas to improve the site?
• About any mistakes or inaccuracies.

I would also appreciate any help you can give in publicizing my seminars. So far, all the participants seem very enthusiastic but it is hard to get enough attendees to hold the seminars. So tell your friends, please.

What's upcoming?

From July to December, I will begin my trip around the world. The first leg of my trip will take place in Northern and Central Mexico. I'll write articles about my adventures for my Big Blue Marble newsletter  from the road. I plan to continue to travel in Latin America from July to December every year for the next five to seven years.

I  have also developed a mission statement and list of goals for 2005 for my publications, seminars, and new website features (including the inauguration of the new California Tour Guy website).