Twelve months later and I’m homeless. I’m unemployed. And I don’t know where I’ll be a week from today.

How did I get here?

I took control of my life.

For a while, I was going through a rough patch. Boston was becoming boring and I was desperate to get out. To get away. I knew I needed to make some changes to make life interesting again. Here are some of the things I did:

1. Changed my living situation. I moved from a neighborhood that I knew well where lots of my friends lived, to an area I’d hardly explored, in an apartment with relative strangers.
2. Decided it was okay to be alone. If I didn’t have plans for Friday night, I didn’t care.
3. Allowed for more randomness in my life. Whether it was a last-minute trip to New York City or chatting up a stranger on the subway.
4. Took initiative. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, but once I knew what I wanted, I did as much as possible to make it happen. And on my own timeline, too.
5. Changed my habits. I started running regularly (how surprisingly relaxing!) and eating healthier.

What kinds of things do you do to make sure you reach your big goals?

You’ve probably heard of this dude: Johnny Cupcakes. He’s got a t-shirt empire and an impressive philosophy on entrepreneurship. I’ve been a fan of the brand for a while, mostly because the designs are awesome, the company is local and the story is interesting.

Johnny Cupcakes: The Company

Rather than writing about the company history, I’d recommend checking out the Johnny Cupcakes website. But here’s a quick summary: sold t-shirts out of his van, made enough money, employed his friends & family, sold lots of t-shirts, voted America’s #1 Young Entrepreneur of 2008, became a branding & creative icon.

“My goal…is to inspire all sorts of people to persistently work toward their goals. Young or old, students or faculty, entrepreneurial types or not, I show what a simple idea (and a ton of hard work) can do.”

Johnny Cupcakes: The Brand

How does Johnny Cupcakes remain such an awesome brand? He’s got cool t-shirts. Awesome in-store displays & packaging. He interacts with his customers. He’s creative. He’s a real person.

As of Friday, April 2, Johnny Cupcakes is on “tour” to interact with his customers across America. His past events all seem to have been pretty awesome. Whether it’s movie screenings in Boston (video below) or free, handmade ice-cream sandwiches in Los Angeles.

On the web:

• Johnny Cupcakes YouTube channel
• Johnny Cupcakes Tour schedule

Boston’s Quincy Market is one of those really popular tourist spots everyone goes to when they visit Boston. Even as a not-tourist, I’ll sometimes go for lunch. Plus when the weather’s nice, you get lots of street buskers.

Quincy Market is also where I participated in one of Boston’s “flash mob” events a few years ago. It’s a great place for random acts of fun because of the mix of tourists & locals. I did a “silent dance party” there in 2008 which was a lot of fun because nobody knew what was going on except for those of us listening to the track on our iPods. I love this kind of stuff!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH4J4QuyvII

Aaaand… in Polaroid news, beginning today you can now buy Polaroid film again! Check out The Impossible Project for details. I think I’ll probably buy a pack or two because the film I’ve been using has been expired for almost a year now. Colors are coming out all fuzzy.

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If you liked this post or want to find out more about my Polaroid photos, please subscribe to my feed.

Seriously, how could you go wrong with the beautiful imagery?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjMkNrX60mA

But that’s not the point of this post. There was a line in the movie that really struck me. From what I remember (and several Google searches semi-confirming), the quotation is unique to this movie—not the book. If anyone knows the exact line, please let me know, but this was the general gist:

[Alice is about to leave Wonderland]

Mad Hatter: You could stay here, you know.

Alice: I wish I could. But there are questions I have to answer. [Pause] And things I’m late for doing.

My memory is terrible, but that sentiment sums up some of the reasons I’ve already said are my reasons for leaving. I think Alice in Wonderland generally has some good travel cred, and the screenplay by Linda Woolverton didn’t necessarily disappoint.

Oh, and as a bonus—here’s a Craigslist personal ad that came up when I was searching for the screenplay:

Looking for... someone to enjoy a Sunday roast with?

Here’s the summary:

• Louise scored a free slice of pizza right at the beginning. She brought a big box full of stuff (several things courtesy of @SmarterTravel). Plus, some TravelPod patches!
• Maureen (who by a huge coincidence I already knew) showed up representing the Boston Globe Travel Show. She brought free tickets for next weekend. SCORE! Also, she highly recommends visiting Berlin.
• Graham from Graham’s Travel Blog was the one behind the travel gadget exchange idea. We talked briefly about Anthony Bourdain’s show and all the smoking, drinking & swearing that comes with it.
• Three folks from TripAdivor showed up: Barbara who came to the first TweetUp and two others. One who was on TV earlier in the day!
• Jeanne talked briefly about living location independent (Argentina—cool!). Hopefully I’ve convinced her to visit Iceland, but if not, maybe these photos will.
• Adam couldn’t make the last TweetUp but showed up to this one. He shared his CouchSurfing experiences and told us about the weekly Boston CouchSurfing meetup. Speaking of, I’m now on CouchSurfing! Friend me.
• I dragged Meytal along with me (she’s taking a RTW trip, too!) and she brought Lara (both are going to China for a month). Lara worked for my dream company in New York City. We share a mutual apathy for Chip Kidd.
• Susan of Transient Travels and I chatted for a little while about her options for her upcoming honeymoon. Tunisia, Barcelona & Croatia are all options.

There was some good business card representation at this TweetUp, too. Moo being the obvious winner. This will likely become a monthly meetup. Just use the #BostonTravelers hash tag on Twitter to get involved!

Why?! Okay, well I was interviewed by Joselin from BostonTweetUp.com about our Boston Twavel TweetUp #2 event. His company is kind enough to organize and maintain a running calendar of various meet ups around Boston. A really useful resource if you’re interested in meeting people (who isn’t, really?). Some history on Boston Travelers after the jump, as well as the details for Friday’s TweetUp.

#BostonTravelers is a group of travel bloggers, tweeters & just about anyone interested in travel/couchsurfing from the greater Boston area. It started when I read about a Boston blogger TweeetUp event on Susan’s (@susanforshner) blog Transient Travels and then realized I wanted to talk to similar-minded folks in real life, too!

Susan enthusiastically helped me organize a TweetUp event a few weeks back (read about it here) which I’m so glad we did. Soon after that I realized that another one of my Twitter-friends (Louise from @travelpod) was going to be in Boston this upcoming weekend. Hence, the Boston Twavel TweetUp #2 (RSVP here!) this Friday.

If you’re in Boston, I hope you can join us.