The Sunscreen Song by Baz Luhrmann

Ladies and Gentleman, of the Class of ’99. Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientist, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. O never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me in twenty years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now, how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind. The kind that blindsides you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other peoples hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long. And in the end, its only with yourself.

Remember compliments your receive, forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know, didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40 year old's I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they are gone.

Maybe you'll marry. Maybe you won't. Maybe you will have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40. Maybe you'll dance the funky chicken at your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it. Or what other people think of it. Its the greatest instrument you will ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions even if you don't follow them. Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they will be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go. But for the precious few, you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle for as the older you get the more you will need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths. Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You too will get old. And when you do, you will fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you will have a trust fund, maybe you will have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair. Or by the time you are 40 it will look 85.

Be carful who's advice you buy. But be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more that its worth. But trust me on the Sunscreen.

Life from the Shore requires Sunscreen. If traveling is about learning and developing yourself. Baz Luhrmann is a high priest of travel and the Sunscreen Song is his gospel. It's simple advice that comes from his experience. Not everything he says will resonate at once. But if we are talking about inspiration to live a happier life, he gives quite a few important tips. Baz says what works for him, and you can do with that what you will.

Paradise Falls from Up

Angel Falls / Paradise Falls

Brittanica/Disney taken from Mentalfloss.com

I've been pretty obsessed with Up recently; and Disney for literally my entire life. Up is that perfect Disney mix of sad with a 'Happily Ever After'. Ellie and Carl are two of the best examples of adventurers at heart I've every seen, and I genuinely wish they had a chance to see the world, even if they didn't actually need to.

Its funny that, Paradise Falls, the place Mr. Fredricksen wants to move to with Ellie; actually sounds more like an retirement home than anything else. Which made me wonder; is Paradise Falls a real place? After a quick Google, search I discovered, IT IS!

Well, kind of. Angel Falls is found in Venezuela and it's the highest uninterrupted waterfall in the world. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is incredible. Even more importantly, its going on my Places To Go List.

For more on Angel Falls, go here.

For more Real-Life Locations That Inspired Disney Places, check out this article from mentalfloss.com.

And if you have never seen UP. You should reevaluate what you have been doing with your life and go here immediately.

Any movie places you guys need to go? Let me know in the comments down below.

Passports

The older I get the further in love with my passport I fall. I could entertain myself for more time than is acceptable, just looking at all the stamps, and reminiscing about all the great trips I've been on. I love it, and the more I travel, the more I appreciate it. If I could fill an entire passport I'd die from  pure accomplishment. 

My dad gave me a bunch of old passports, he had laying around when I was younger and I recently went through them. I never met my grandmother on my father's side but I do have her passport. Looking at her photo and reading her name is always a good time. She probably didn't value here passport the way I value mine but it still makes me feel a little closer to her. I know where she went and the photo of her is better than most of the ones I've seen.

With a few decades even the ugliest passport photos become cute. My tips are, keep all old passports, even the ones that don't belong to you. Pay close attention to the stamps in your passport. And if you don't have a passport, get one immediately. Even if you don't really have a need for it. Just have it on hand, you never know when it will become necessary.

So what is your favorite stamp in your passport? Let me know in the comments down below.

Travel Makes One Modest...

CoverDrive

Driving around I noticed a bus stop that really took me by surprise. CoverDrive is a young Barbadian grown band. They've gotten pretty popular in the UK in the last few years but they still always rep Barbados. Its funny seeing familiar faces, even if they aren't faces you know personally, get famous.

None the less, these kids are good. Their music is their own. Lots of different pop, rock and caribbean influences, but it works. Proof that there is a lot of local talent that is internationally competitive. Check out a few of their songs and let me know what's your favorite CoverDrive song.

Wanna hear more? Maybe buy their album? Check them out on iTunes.

Post Crossing

Postcrossing is an online community of people who love sending and receiving postcards. The idea is pretty simple. For every postcard you send, you receive one. Basically its your chance to be penpals with the world.

I found Postcrossing on a dorm notice board. I walked past it for almost a month before I noticed it. But once I started, I was hooked. I love getting mail. Love it. Getting mail from strangers halfway across the world is even better.

Moving back home to the Bim made me a precious commodity. A lot of the people on Postcrossing are trying to collect postcards from around the world. While its easy to get a letter from Germany or USA. There are way less Bajan postcrossers in circulation, so although I'm not open to private swaps I started getting loads of requests from people around the world, asking for some mail. Honestly, I reject the majority of the private requests. But every once in a while, I'll get a special request which I can't deny.

As you can guess a lot of the people on there are travelers, or travelers at heart who haven't had the opportunity. I've gotten cards from some really random places, with some great stories. I got a post card from an Australian lady, who runs a blog, FlyingFishInc. Its great! She makes postcard art and journals her travels. There's even a post of the envelope she sent me.

If you love postcards or you enjoy traveling and are grounded for a while, join Postcrossing. It will help feed your travel bug for a while. And if you want some inspiration to spice up your postcards check out FlyingFishInc.

Happy Postcrossing.

Occupying Yourself On The Subway

Spending time in a city sometimes means having to spend time on the subway. And anyone who has spent time on the subway knows it can be an incredibly awkward situation. Everyone has somewhere to go, and they are trying to do it as fast as possible. Besides that, you are thrown into a confined space with complete randoms. You don't know anything about the people around you other than what you can see, yet you are knee to knee with the person trying not to invade their personal space. On a basic level, you have to judge the people around you even though you are taught not to judge a book by its cover.

So, you are on the tube and you are alone, have no book and your cell phone has no reception. Basically you've got no escape. Now most of your time is spent avoiding eye contact with the people around you. Here's what I like to do to occupy my time. Make up stories about the other people on the train. Some can be elaborate, others can be simple.

For example, I once 'met' a fellow who was recently divorced, on his way to the Central Park to meet his teenage son. He hasn't  been able to connect with his son. Part of him doesn't really like to talk about his past and his time in Afghanistan and he thinks thats part of the problem. But since the divorce, its become a little easier because he appreciates his time with his son more. Its funny because having to be a parent less has made him into a better dad.

Another time, I 'met' a lady who was going home to order pizza. Because pizza is the best.

I like doing this because it takes people watching to the next level. Everyones got a story and even though you may not be able to ask all of them about their's, nothing should stop you from making up your own. And maybe you can actually do something productive with those snap judgements you've been making about everyone on the subway.

What do you like to do on the train, to occupy your time? Any good stories you've made up about total strangers?