£1000 worth of memories. Ideas needed.

[tomnicholson]

Ok so this is my first post on stevepavlina.com so go easy on me. Its a wall of text but its quite important to me.

Quick comment on how Steve's documentation of different ideas and his introduction to me of concious living has completly and utterly changed my life. For this i thank you.

Background : At the moment im an 18 year old boy living in Newcastle,England and busy studying ancient history at the university here. (First year).
A few month ago my great grandad passed away and i personally had great raport with him and we shared a connection that my other 8 cousins did not. I was devestated by the news. moreover, we found out recently that the care home he was in was taking more money from the family than they should have been and ultimatly, stealing from us.

Long legal battle story short- My family has come into £80,000 money we didnt have last week.
Personally, as an 18 year old ive been given £1000 outright. Now, in the memory of my great grandad i want to do something special. I dont want to buy something i wont use in a few years time and i dont want to pilfer it away on university living.

Therefore, i want to spend it, on memories.
Things i will remember for all my life. My first choice in activity is that, in summer, i wish to travel to Australia for 2 weeks and do voulantary work at the Zoo through some companies that allow me to do it at a reduced price. This will leave me with over £6-700.
This is where you come in :P
Im really open to the ideas of other possible ways in which i can create memories that will stay with me as a reminder to my grandfather in a positive, concious way.
Ive had ideas such as travelling to the US to visit one of steves workshops but i dont think i will have enough money to sustain that.

Over to you :P (Sorry for the wall of text)

[ssandra]

What did you grandfather like? Maybe it is a good idea to think about that, and (if you llike it as well) do that.

Traveling is always a wonderful option. In Mexico for 1000 US you can easily travel for a month or 2 if you go backpacking and do it the cheap way.

I can recommend the "on a shoestring" books (such as "Mexico on a shoestring" for example) Great places and cheap.

[tomnicholson]

OOh i didnt think of it like that. Well, as i only knew him when he was in old age his activities werent the most thrilling. He was a very intelligent man and like me, was in Mensa. So the very fact i try so hard in university is pretty much in his memory.
im in 2 minds with backbacking because, as i would be alone it seems quite dangerous. But ill definatly look it up and read around on it.

[Sam kovacs]

A Camera to take photos in australia

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by tomnicholson

im in 2 minds with backbacking because, as i would be alone it seems quite dangerous. But ill definatly look it up and read around on it.

As long as you use common sense, it is not dangerous at all.

I went traveling for the first time alone in Guatemala when I was 20 (although I was in a language school, so I only went away in weekends). Still, I went with the crazy chicken busses,

Went alone shopping, going out in bars etc.

One thing I made sure of (that trip) is that I never got drunk unless I was with some fellow travelers who I was pretty sure I could trust to get me home again.

When I was 22 I went backpacking for 4 weeks in Mexico before my semester in University started there.
I hardly spoke any Spanish when I left, more when I came back

I did some stupid things (like getting drunk as hell, for several days in a row with a bunch of strangers) but it all came out well. Never had any trouble, absolutely nothing. Worst thing that happened to me was that one night I forgot my purse on the beach, which I found back the next morning, excluding money of course, but including bank passes etc.

I also had the greatest experiences of my life. Like a group of friends who just met each other, came together at the beach, one of us had a guitar, and we just sang songs all night long.

Or discussions about the universe and the point of it all, philosophy, traveling, people etc. All with people I just met 2 seconds ago...

It was the greatest time of my life!

If you want some tips on what to do or not to do, you can always pm me.


Ow... and I'm a girl, blond, back then pretty good looking, so in a bit more of a risk situation than if you are a guy...

[vartann]

Originally Posted by ssandra

One thing I made sure of (that trip) is that I never got drunk unless I was with some fellow travelers who I was pretty sure I could trust to get me home again.

just make sure your fellow traveller is not DiCaprio riding to the Beach