I am selling my backpack.

It has been a great backpack. I took it to climb Kilimanjaro and have used it for a few other travels.

It came from REI and is great!

Overall, it is like new, minus a few dirt scuffs.

Why, then, am I selling it?

We’ve been gone for 2 ½ years. It sat in a box the entire time we were gone. We have a lot of stuff that we’re coming back to, and realizing that we would like to keep our lives filled with things we love and use, while being free of clutter.

Because of that, we’re donating some things, giving away some things to friends, and selling some other things.

I’ve made a video to show off the cool features of this REI backpack.

I’m looking for $40 or better, but make an offer and depending on who else makes an offer, this backpack may be yours.

Three or more years ago, Carrie had heard that IKEA would not open a store in Denver.

Supposedly IKEA had a rule about how close their stores had to be to a port.

Colorado is a 20 hour drive from the nearest port (if you’re driving in an aggressive way).

But we returned from our 2 1/2 years of travel, and POOF!  There’s now a HUGE IKEA store right next to I-25.

IKEA in Centennial is every bit as big as everyone says it is, and it takes a while to walk through the store.

The maze through the store reminded me of the episode of Friends where Chandler tries to help Ross quit the gym, and instead ends up joining the gym himself because… there are… other interesting things at the gym.

“I want to quit the gym!” 

There’s too much interesting stuff to check out in here!

The place is huge.

Carrie got some new spice jars $1/each (what we went in to buy).

For our new apartment, we got some shelf liners as well as trash cans with a nifty sliding plate/drawer underneath them, so that we can pull them out easily.

We also bought some whole-wheat bread you make yourself in a milk-carton box (so smartly done and with all-real ingredients), as well as some Norwegian salmon. 

“You can buy salmon at IKEA?”  YEP!

Visiting IKEA also reminded me of the month that we spent in Finland with our friend Anu. 

The practicality of Scandinavian design is amazing because it’s so simple.

Both in IKEA and in Finland, I found myself saying… “That’s so simple!  Why doesn’t everyone do it that way?”

We miss our friends around the world, and it’s nice to have a touch of Scandinavia here in Colorado, even if we did get stuck buying some extras at IKEA.

That IKEA could be built and fully operational in Colorado, in 2 1/2 years, with the kind of inventory it has, is something of a testament to what is possible in the world we live in today.

Truly amazing, and we’ll likely be back… probably soon.  We do, after all, want a bookshelf.

My brother sent this to me… silent monks singing the Hallelujah Chours! Enjoy!

He changed the world.

He pursued his passions, even when it was difficult, and even when life didn’t go the way he planned for things to go.

Rest in Peace.

“I’m pretty sure none of this [Apple's successes since the mid 90's] would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.

As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

– Steve Jobs

A Song For a Soldier

by Jonathan Kraft

Click play if you would like to hear the song sung by me (no accompaniment, just my voice).
You can also Download as MP3.

This song is in honor of those who continue to serve.

“Rights are won on the battlefield…”
Maybe some day it will be revealed
That one man killing another’s just not right

But “freedom’s not free”, a price must be paid.
And protecting the groundwork that’s already been laid
Means a soldier’s sleeping away from home tonight

And I’ve never worn the uniform
And I’ve never been to a land war-torn
But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your sacrifice.

Thank-you for goin’ even though
You don’t really know if you will see home again.
Thank-you, for giving all you’ve got
Even sleeping in a cot
In a foreign land.

I don’t understand why people are where we are
When we’re all sleeping underneath the same stars.
Seems we could fix this through the breaking of bread.
But I’m still working to understand
The bigger picture here, is there a plan?

And a soldier’s not sleeping in their own bed…

And I’ve never worn the uniform
And I’ve never been to a land war-torn.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your sacrifice.

Thank-you for goin’ even though
You don’t really know Iraq or Afghanistan.
Thank-you, even though your child’s not born,
And knowing you’ll be scorned
By some who don’t understand.

It’s quite clear, that we’re all the same.
What’s not clear is who’s to blame
for this fear.
Causing so much pain.

Peace. God help us to gain our peace.

And I’ve never worn the uniform.
And I’ve never been to a land war-torn.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your sacrifice.

Thank-you.
For going even though
You don’t really know if you will see home again.

Thank-you.
Maybe someday we’ll figure out
How to live out
What God has already planned.

If you spend any time watching television news, you might want to stop.

They show you a teensy tiny picture of the world that just doesn’t represent reality.

That commentary aside, I would like to share some amazing news with you today, courtesy of the New York Times (opens in new Window).

Agriculture students from Vermont Technical College showed up with shovels and began digging. A couple from Hartland, Vt., brought a wheelbarrow and mucked out the barn, and then returned a few days later with a homemade lasagna. A couple from New Hampshire brought grain to feed the surviving cows and wood shavings to line the barn.

“My husband and I, we’re people that give, you know — we’ve never had to be on the receiving end,” said Penny Severance, who runs the farm with her husband, Larry, for its owner, Harland Perley, 81, whose family has had it for a century. “So it’s really hard. We’re so grateful.”

Read the full article here: the New York Times (opens in new Window).

For some time (years), I’ve been thinking of putting together a series of free posts (I had thought about videos) about how to do affiliate marketing (the location independent work which allows us to travel the world), and posting them on ThreeMoneyMethods.com.

But today I discovered that Shawn Collins has already done just that.

Shawn has no idea I’m promoting this site, and I’m not going to make any money if you go there. Everything on his site is free.

But lately we’ve been asked a lot how we earn money and how we can afford to travel the world, and here’s a great step-by-step guide that anyone can follow.

If you are looking to make extra money, check out http://www.extramoneyanswer.com/introduction-to-the-extra-money-answer

by Jonathan Kraft

My friend,

You belong exactly where you are right now.

You are a child of the infinite.
Divine wisdom resides in you.
You have all that you need.

Remember the immense value of your being.
Remember the immense value of your abilities.

You’ve been born with the ability to taste…
Choose to savor the flavors.

You’ve been born with the ability to smell…
Choose to enjoy earth rising to meet the sun at daybreak.

You’ve been born with the ability to see…
Choose to use your vision.

You’ve been born with the ability to hear…
Choose to really listen.

You’ve been born with the ability to touch…
Choose to really feel.

You’ve been born with capabilities that are the imaginings of the infinite.

You are the offspring of infinite wisdom.

You are exactly where you are supposed to be…
Even if you don’t know it.

Reach for the heavens.

Bring the spirit
of the infinite
into your being on earth.

Today, bring the very best
of what is within you.

Bring it out.

Bring it into the world.

The time is now.

So far, no one has asked me about the deliciousness of Indian Curries (except Anu).
I’m sure some people want to know what makes Indian food so delicious, but by far the most common questions I’ve been asked about food in India are:

-Have you had a McVeggie Burger?
-What does the McVeggie Burger taste like?

So in the interest of being able to answer these questions, I have visited McDonald’s.

Yes, you can not eat beef in India. And yes, cows are sacred do have the right of way here. Cows go wherever they want, and for the most part really not penned in at all.

It works in India. I don’t think it would work in the U.S.

Anyway… yes, you can order a McVeggie Burger.

After trying it, I think McDonald’s should be selling it in the USA, because I think it would sell very well.

(Maybe they already do sell it in the USA? I really don’t know…)

Anyway, thanks to Bhanu for taking us for our first-ever McVeggie Burger. Here is the video we made of the experience.

3 1/2 years ago we were in London for our honeymoon.

We took a Jack the Ripper tour… because, well, it’s London.

Carrie had taken a tour before, thought it was super-fun, and wanted to share the experience with me.

The tour we ended up taking was fine, but pretty average.

3 1/2 years later (and 8 years after Carrie’s original Jack the Ripper Tour), the guys who she took her tour with in 2003 actually found our website and sent us an email.

I asked them for some promotional content for their tour so that we could promote the best Jack the Ripper Tour on our site.

So, here you go. (P.S. Connections through the Internet continue to amaze me.)

Ripping Yarns Tours have been leading Jack the Ripper tours around whitechapel for over 25 years now and although a small company believe that the quality of tour must surpass all expectations, The Tour is now recommended in the Rick Steves Guide book to London both 2010 and 2011. and feature prominently on trip advisor too.

But probably the best measure of a tour comes from the satisfied customers and a visit to the website at www.jack-the-ripper-tours.com to read the guest book and the comments that have been made by those that have taken the tour are a fitting testament to the level of satisfaction on offer.

All the guides on this tour are serving Yeoman warders (Beefeaters) from the Tower of London so you can be assured that your guide knows how to conduct a tour properly and the tour content is such that it weaves the tale of Jack the Ripper, the social background the history of the area and helps paint the most vivid of mental picture of life and death in London’s East End, this backed up by crime scene photographs, letters and evidence etc. The story telling aspect of the tour sets it apart from the other tours available, it does not just extol bland fact after fact.

The Tour begins each night of the week outside Tower Hill underground station. meeting at 6;30 p.m. the Tour will commence at 6:45 p.m.. and lasts around 2 hours, guides will display a “Ripping Yarns ” poster
and will stand just outside the exit to the station.

On this tour you only pay at the end of the tour because by then you’ll have become a satisfied customer.

Ripping Yarns Tours lead smaller manageable groups. The cost has been maintained at £7 per person which must be the best value night out in London.

Bookings via the website at www.jack-the-ripper-tours.com
enquiries via jackgromhell1888@aol.com
or phone 0044(0)7813559301