MPG 2012 Chicago Host: Lisa Lubin
All of our local Meet, Plan, Go! hosts have inspiring stories of their own career break travels. In the months leading up to our National Event on October 16, we will introduce them to you so you can see why they are part of our team.
Meet Our 2012 Chicago Host: Lisa Lubin
'I'm going to go travel around the world for a year.' That's the line I told my friends and colleagues back in 2006 after the idea to take a career break sort of snuck up on me and implanted itself in my brain.
And now six years later, well, in some ways I am still on my break, depending on the definition.
On a Path...
I'd worked in broadcast television for thirteen years and had a very defined life and career before my long term travels. I was on a path. To what? I am not sure. But I was on the all-American path paved by generations before me. University. Career. Home ownership. I was the picture of 'success:' I owned a car. I owned a condo. I had a cat (now that screams success!). I was in a long term, serious relationship. Heck, I even had a 401K. Well, I still do actually. Just because I chucked it all, doesn't mean I turned into an irresponsible ne'er do well after all.
Veering Off
And then the planets aligned, well, at least inside my head really, and I saw an escape and a way and a new path. So I swerved. I got off the fast highway-to-nowhere and slowed it all down. I just did it. The decision may seem big in retrospect, but at the time, I just took one thing at a time. I traveled to far off places. I met amazing people. I tried new foods. And I really took time to smell it all - the figurative roses, the pungent odors in hot trams of Istanbul, and the fresh sea air in Wales.
At the same time expected and unexpected, and planned and unplanned, my life has morphed into something it wasn't before. And I am not just talking about the three years I actually was traveling consecutively, (yeah, one year became three), I'm talking about what my life has become now.
What is Work?
I never went back to a full time job, well not at least full time as defined for working for another employer. And I'm not sure I ever feel like I am working full time, since now I am working for myself, so it feels so much different.
Some days I work very hard and never put this damn laptop down until well past midnight and I'm falling asleep on it. Other days, I meet a friend for lunch or dinner or both or I'm traveling and I don't get much laptop time in. It's flexible and I'm free to do whatever I want. Of course with that comes the insecurity of when the next paycheck will come and how much longer I can sustain this new life.
But for now, I am so free, so happy that I wouldn't change a thing.
Lisa Lubin is a three-time Emmy® Award winning television writer, producer/director, photographer, and video consultant. After more than a decade in broadcast television she decided to take a sabbatical of sorts which turned into nearly 3 years traveling and working her way around the world. She documents her (mis)adventures on her blog, LLworldtour.com, with photographs and articles from the road/train/rickshaw/camel. Her writing and photography has been published by the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, Smithsonian, Encyclopedia Britannica, and American Way Magazine. She also runs LLmedia, a video consulting business. Lisa loves cheese and kittens, but not together.
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1 Response to “MPG 2012 Chicago Host: Lisa Lubin”
Other comments
9 Comments on "A Year in Paris"-
Leah on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 8:12 am
I really enjoyed reading your post. I am thirty-two soon and have itchy feet that are ready to try out foreign soils.
It is a fear of leaving the security of the day to day grind of paying the bills and living a safe and non-challenging way of life that has put me on hold for some time.
I hope (as it has I) your post will inspire others to go and follow their bliss – Leah 🙂 -
Patricia GW on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 8:54 am
Travel and experiencing a new culture really has put it into perspective, and filled that void with purpose (and joy).
In three weeks I’ll be moving to Paris myself for one month. I have the same feeling – the incredible surreal realization that I’m going to be living there…. it’s thrilling!!
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Abby on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 2:11 pm
Oh, Jenny! Escargot isn’t palatable — it’s delicious! I love your writing style; it’s so fun and energetic. Can you believe how far we’ve come? Everyone, Jenny and I were in the exact same industry and have known each other online and via work emails for years and years. But we’ve only met once, many, many years ago. And one of those jobs she was sleeping next to her BlackBerry for was one I’d just left. And now she’s 33 and living abroad, just like I was last year. Kindred spirits. Jenny, you’re a true inspiration — I can’t wait to see how your adventure unfolds!
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Debbie Beardsley on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 3:22 pm
Your life in Paris sounds ideal. It is nice to read about people who follow their dreams instead of wishing they had! Enjoy the rest of your journey.
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Terriaw on Tue, 7th Jun 2011 1:40 pm
Wow, fabulous and well said! I love your new outlook on like. After experiencing career burnout and feeling a little lost and purposeless lately, you have encouraged me. I look forward to seeing Paris someday!
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Jenny on Tue, 7th Jun 2011 6:50 pm
merci for all the sweet comments! @abby we are soooo kindred spirits! well except when it comes to our differing feelings on escargot…;) and congrats patricia on the move! thrilling indeed!
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shawna on Thu, 9th Jun 2011 1:32 am
you’ve reawakened my travel bug. must. return. to. france. (someday.) eat a croissant for me!
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Weekly Travel Blog Links — LandingStanding on Mon, 13th Jun 2011 6:16 am
[…] how badly I want to go to Paris… If only we could afford living there for an extended period of time during our travels! Any […]
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G. Michael Schneider on Sun, 19th Jun 2011 3:36 pm
I am a firm believer in living and working overseas, just as you described. However, many of us actually like our jobs and our homes and are simply looking to renew and refresh our lives, not change it. However, you can have the same type of cultural experience without having to reach into your own wallet and without having to quit your day job–by taking what I call a “working vacation.” My wife and I have done this 15 separate times, from Australia to Zimbabwe, Turket to Tibet, Mauritius to Mongolia. I describe how to do it in my blog otherguysdime.wordpress.com and via Twitter at @otherguysdime. Learn how to have fun without having to have burn any of your bridges behind you.
2015-04-12 13:36
[…] but he offered to help in other ways. That’s when one of my Meet Plan Go hosts and friend, Lisa Lubin, suggested that I ask him to do a video interview and we could use it to open all of our […]