Canadian Virtual Assistant Plans Quest to Visit 28 States in 31 Days ~

Renfrew, Ontario, Canada - August 31st, 2007 - What do you get when you mix two Canadians (a metro sexual lumberjack and a hyperactive virtual assistant) and two dogs traveling across the US in either a Nissan Sentra or a 2005 Dodge Ram?

Your first guest might be a new reality television show.
Your second guess might be a bad joke.

Neither is correct. In fact, this IS reality and Erin and Steve Blaskie are quite serious about traveling to 28 states in 31 days with their dogs in tow.

On April 1, 2008, Erin, her husband and two dogs will embark on journey across the USA unlike no other. They will visit 28 cities and drive 8,000 miles Both Erin and Steve Blaskie are self-employed. They don’t have vacation pay and can’t take a leave of absence. The will rely on joint savings and Erin’s auto pilot approach to business to fund the trip and ensure income keeps flowing.

The idea for the trip was one of Erin’s many brilliant brainstorms. Steve is a lumberjack who gets a month off each year and Erin figured it would be fun to see as many states as possible during this time. “I didn’t really think Steve would go for it at first but to my surprise he was very excited about the trip. I think my passion for travel has definitely rubbed off on him.” say’s Erin.

Erin is a self proclaimed control freak and loves to plan everything down to the very last detail. She quickly put her talents to work creating a blog to chronicle the couple’s plans for the journey. You can visit it here http://thetravelingva.com/about/

According to the traveler’s profiles located on the blog, Steve is geographically and directionally challenged but ready for adventure.

Molly and Summer Blaskie are the “fur children” of Steve and Erin. The two Labrador Retrievers will travel with them and Erin is already scouting pet friendly stops along the way. Erin plans to create a product about pet friendly travel destinations and tips. A portion of the proceeds will benefit an animal-focused charity and details will be released at a future date. Pre-sales may be available to help fund the adventure and your pet friendly travel tips are welcome on the blog.

Erin is busily putting systems and people in place so that her business will basically run without her during the trip. Part of her inspiration came for Timothy Ferris’s book entitled The Four Hour Work Week.  Ferris shares tips and strategies to lose the 9 - 5 and live a life of your dreams.

It seems that virtual positions are the wave of the entrepreneurial future. Many businesses now hire virtual assistants to perform a myriad of duties. More and more businesses rely on just such a virtual arrangement to cut down on office space and employee costs.

To keep track of the traveling VA, her plans and join in the journey be sure to visit the website http://thetravelingva.com/category/the-cross-usa-trip/
You can view visual itineraries, learn about travel requirements for Canadian citizens and more. Updates are posted regularly.

Erin Blaskie is the owner and founder of BS etc. a virtual assistant company. Erin says ” Business Services, ETC was founded to give business owners relief from all of those tasks that are taking up valuable, profit generating time!” Blaskie does work for high profile internet marketers such as Lorrie Morgan- Ferrero of Red Hot copy and Sheri’ McConnell of the Association of Web Entrepreneurs just to name a couple. Blaskie also coaches people who want to become virtual assistances via her VA Visionaries program.

I Bought a GPS System!

On Friday of this past week, my husband and I went to FutureShop to purchase a GPS system.  We didn’t know what to expect so we browsed around the GPS section playing with the various GPSes (is that a word?!) until help finally arrived to take us out of our navigational misery!

After much discussion, we finally settled on one - the TomTom One XL.  It’s normally $499 but we got it on sale for $399 - a cool hundred bucks off.   Here is a description of the system from the TomTom website:

The TomTom ONE XL has everything you need to make your trip safer, more relaxed and more fun.

At its heart lies TomTom’s award-winning plug-and-go navigation software, but the new 4.3” wide high-quality touchscreen makes navigating even easier.

Your ONE XL has a pre-installed database of safety camera locations in the UK. This database is fully integrated in your ONE XL navigation software and alerts to warn you when there is a fixed safety camera on your route.

There’s a large choice of route options and to make your trip complete, thousands of useful and fun Points of Interest pre-installed for on the way.

In other words, the TomTom ONE XL makes getting there better than ever.

We tested it out this weekend by going to Algonquin Park (middle of nowhere) and Kingston (on the highway) and it worked great in both areas!  It only miscalculated where we were by a couple of meters once on our way out to Algonquin Park.  It knew which road we were on but couldn’t really tell precisely where we were due to us being in the middle of the mountains.

I also downloaded a bunch of different voices from the internet but we settled on the voice of Lori, an American girl.  So, we’ve been calling our TomTom Lori.  We thank Lori for giving us directions when we are lost and Stevie blows kisses to her because she’s taken him from directionally challenged to navigationally perfect.

Can’t wait to see what she’ll help us with across the USA in April.  We can hardly wait for our trip…  The next piece of technology we need to get is a wireless internet card that will work across Canada and the US…  hopefully from the car!

Technorati Tags: GPS, GPS unit, GPS navigational system, GPS system, TomTom, TomTom One XL

Do You Know About GPS Navigation Systems? If So, HELP!

For our Cross-USA trip, I have decided that we absolutely need a GPS navigation system.  As I know nothing about these systems, I am calling out for your help on deciding which to buy!  Here are some things I need to consider:

• I live in Canada so I need to be able to either (a) purchase the product locally or (b) purchase it online from a retailer that will not charge me hundreds of dollars in customs duty.
• I want a system that I can purchase USA maps for (do you purchase the maps?!  Download them?!)
• I want a system that talks to me…  I’m thinking something like, “Turn left at stop sign ahead.”

I have looked at Futureshop and they have TomToms, Pioneer systems, Escorts, Garmins, LGs… *sigh*  Stores should have ONE choice for EVERY product.  Yes, that would be boring but it would make my decisions easier!

So, where are my techno-geeks?  Generally, that is what I am but since this falls out of my general geeky knowledge base, I need your help.  Let me know if you use a GPS currently and what you like about it.  Also, tell me which GPS systems I should steer clear of.

PS - If you own a GPS Navigation System company and want to send me one for free, I’ll review it on the blog… I promise… :)  Email me and I’ll give you my physical mailing address.  (What? Are you reading this and think it’s shameless?  It is!)

Technorati Tags: GPS, GPS Navigation System, GPS system, navigation system, navigation systems, TomTom, Pioneer, Escort, Garmin, LG, Futureshop, FutureShop, techno-geek, techno geek, geek, Cross-USA trip

Entering the USA - Everything I Need to Know…

In planning this trip, one of the most important things is making sure we’re all able and ready to enter the US.  If you are a Canadian citizen looking to travel to the US, here are some important details for you to note.

From the US Customs and Border Patrol website:

Entry of Citizens of Canada

Citizens of Canada are exempt from the visa and passport requirement of Immigration and Nationality Act (section 212(a)(7).) To enter the United States, a Canadian citizen must be able to establish both identity and citizenship. Documents that may establish citizenship are:

• Birth certificate
• Citizenship certificate
• Passport.

Although a CBP officer may accept an oral declaration of citizenship, it is recommended that a Canadian citizen carry a document that establishes citizenship. Under current procedures, all travelers may be required to present photo-identification.

NOTE: A Canadian citizen arriving from outside the Western Hemisphere is required to present a passport. Canadian citizens classified as Treaty Trader, Treaty Investor, or Fiancé(e) require a visa.

I also just called down to the US border office at Alexandria Bay and the gentleman I spoke to said all is okay.  So long as it’s a vacation (which it is), I can still manage my business while I am away - checking in with my assistant, etc.  So, we’re good!

Now… about our puppies.  I need to check to see what the rules are there!

Here are the guidelines:

• Pets must have a valid rabies vaccination certificate that was obtained at least 30 days prior but not over 1 year before date of departure.

Hmm… I think that is it!  I’ll probably call down to the customs office about this too just to be sure my girl’s won’t be excluded from the US!

Technorati Tags: Traveling to the US from Canada, customs guidelines, border guidelines, border patrol, customs and borders, bringing dogs to the US, travel to the US

My Anthem…

Lyrics for “The Long Way Around” by the Dixie Chicks

My friends from high school
Married their high school boyfriends
Moved into houses in the same ZIP codes
Where their parents live

But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

I hit the highway in a pink RV with stars on the ceiling
Lived like a gypsy
Six strong hands on the steering wheel

I’ve been a long time gone now
Maybe someday, someday I’m gonna settle down
But I’ve always found my way somehow

By taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around

I met the queen of whatever
Drank with the Irish and smoked with the hippies
Moved with the shakers
Wouldn’t kiss all the asses that they told me to

No I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

It’s been two long years now
Since the top of the world came crashing down
And I’m getting’ it back on the road now

But I’m taking the long way
Taking the long way around
I’m taking the long way
Taking the long way around
The long
The long way around

Well, I fought with a stranger and I met myself
I opened my mouth and I heard myself
It can get pretty lonely when you show yourself
Guess I could have made it easier on myself

But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

Well, I never seem to do it like anybody else
Maybe someday, someday I’m gonna settle down
If you ever want to find me I can still be found

Taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around

Technorati Tags: The Long Way Around, Long Way Around, Taking the Long Way Around, Dixie Chicks, The Dixie Chicks, Dixie Chicks video, Dixie Chicks music, Cross-USA Trip, Erin Blaskie, personal anthem

Can’t Spell Traveling (Americans!) or Travelling (Canadians!)?

I’ve just registered additional domain names to make this super simple for people to remember.  Here they are:

www.thetravelingva.com (original)
www.thetravellingva.com (for my Canadian friends)
www.crosstheus.com
www.crosstheusa.com
www.crossunitedstates.com
www.crossusatrip.com

Now go forth and remember what you will!

PS - Thanks to all the recent comments on the latest Cross-USA trip…  Miss it due to all of the Montreal photos and updates?  Catch it here.

Ciao!

Technorati Tags: Cross-USA Trip, The Traveling VA, The Travelling VA, Erin Blaskie, virtual assistant, virtual assistance

Cross USA: Living the Four-Hour Work Week… Tim Ferriss, I Thank You!

On April 1, 2008, my husband, my two dogs and I will be setting out on a journey across the USA. It’ll take us 31 days and we’ll visit 28 cities and drive 8,000 miles but this isn’t your average vacation. We’re both self-employed. We don’t have vacation pay and we can’t take a leave of absence. I’m a virtual assistant and my husband is a lumberjack.

So, how are we managing this? Well, I’ve outsourced my outsourcing.

As a virtual assistant, I help manage businesses’ around the world. Entrepreneurs, speakers, coaches, authors, busy professionals and big businesses outsource their daily tasks to me so that they can work less. Well, after doing that for three years, I decided that I can do it too! So… I hired a virtual assistant’s assistant. I manage the incoming work and requests and the outgoing completed items and she does the work. It’s a beautiful relationship!

As I travel across the USA this coming spring, I’m going to be doing a few things:

• Documenting the life of having a ‘nomadic’ career and showing you that what Tim Ferriss crafted in the 4HWW (The Four-Hour Work Week) is not only possible but you can do it at any income level.
• Managing my business via a project management tool called Basecamp.
• Working with my assistant who will be back here at my office.
• Visiting my clients who live and work all across the US.
• Enjoying myself while I earn an income and while I see parts of the world I have not yet seen.

There’s more exciting news to come but I’m going to hold that inside for now.

If you want to stay up-to-date, just enter your e-mail address in the sidebar on this site.

What I do want to let you know is that I would L-O-V-E your help. If you’d like to help spread the word about my journey, I’d love it if you blogged about what I am doing or added me to your blogroll… Whatever you can do to help! Some people are even adding the image you see in the sidebar, the summary of our journey, to their sidebars on their blogs with a link back and I thank them for doing so!

This isn’t a selfish project… I’m going to be using this site as a means to give back and join forces with some reputable and worthy charities. More on that to come…

I just can’t wait to prove Tim Ferriss RIGHT! Not that he needs proof that his ideas work - he’s living the life!

Check out Tim Ferriss’ blog and make sure to check back here often too! I’ll be outlining everything I do to make this work (and what I go through that doesn’t work) so that you too could set yourself up with a virtual, nomadic career.

Technorati Tags: The Traveling VA, The Traveling Virtual Assistant, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, Tim Ferriss, Timothy Ferriss, The Four Hour Work Week, The Four-Hour Work Week, 4HWW, outsourcing, outsource, outsourced, assistant, assistance, CN8, lumberjack, Erin Blaskie, Steve Blaskie, Trina Lamarche, VA Assistant, Basecamp, project management, new rich

Visual Itinerary for Days 16 - 31

Technorati Tags: Google Maps, visual map, visual maps, visual map of the US, visual map of the USA, Cross-USA Trip

Visual Itinerary for Days 1 - 14

Using Google Maps, I’ve mapped out our route for days 1 through 14.  Here are those photos:

Technorati Tags: Visual map, visual map of the USA, visual map of the US, Cross-USA Trip

Traveling VA Updates!

I’ve been updating my past trip logs like mad so please apologize the dust and the clutter while I do that!  That being said, there are tons of great photos and blog entries up now from past trips so please do check those out!

You can view any of my past trips by selecting a trip in the drop-down box that says “Choose a Trip:”  Once you’ve selected, click view to look at all of the blog posts for that particular trip.

I hope you enjoy the photographs.  All photos are taken by either myself or my husband.

Also, for the many of you who requested that I stop in your city when we’re doing our Cross-USA trip, let me know if you’re serious!  We’ll work something out.  Drop me an e-mail to info@bsetc.ca.

Cheers!

Erin Blaskie
The Traveling VA

Technorati Tags: The Traveling VA, Erin Blaskie, virtual assistant, virtual assistance, working virtually, taking your business on the road, Cross-USA Trip

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