Traveling, Mourning, Coming Full Circle
My mom’s birthday is coming up and in her memory it’s a time of year I like to devote to change. It was around this time a few years ago that I quit my job with no prospects and jumped into freelancing, and again around this time when I fulfilled my mom’s wish of seeing the world; sadly, she never got to, passing away very suddenly only weeks after leaving her own job to travel. It’s through traveling that I really learned how to mourn, how to be okay with being sad and how to move on in all aspects of my life. I went from running away to really enjoying my time away and learning from every destination I touched ground on.
It’s become one of those times of the year that really means ‘change’ for me; mom’s birthday, spring, a time to be thankful for everything you have and figure out how to make it even better. Thankfully this year all my change has been processed for me (except for the haircut I’m about to schedule because a prince could seriously climb a tower up my locks right up. Yes, it’s that ridiculous) and largely by fate, which I’m amazingly grateful for. And because these changes seem to have come about by themselves right around this special weekend, I can’t help but feel like there’s someone watching out for me.
Besides that haircut (I swear I’m getting it this weekend; I really can’t go on looking as if someones child drew me in class), here’s what’s going on:
I’ve decided to put my consultant hat away for now and have accepted a full-time position at The Huffington Post Media Group at AOL. I’ve been working with AOL on Urlesque for about a year now and during the processing of the merger I was offered a position which was almost tailored exactly to my skill set; when something like that comes around it’s difficult to say no. I’ll be leading social media for AOL/HuffPost culture verticals including my old friends AOL Travel, Gadling and HuffPost Travel. I’ll also be working on HuffPost Books, HuffPost Green, StyleList, HuffPost Style, HuffPost Food, Kitchen Daily, slashfood, and my dear old Urlesque.
As far as writing goes, I’m lucky enough to have regular gigs at Flavorpill and Time Out New York, and semi-regular posts appearing on Your Tango and Lifetime.It doesn’t get much better than working with my editors at these sites and publications and I feel extremely blessed.
I’ll still be blogging here and live-blogging, including guest judging a Top Chef Live competition in conjunction with Bravo and Foodspotting later this month that I’m so completely excited about. More details TBA.
Finally, travel. It’s been difficult to shuffle around trips when you’ve got so much going on, so I’ve held nearly all travel until later this summer when I’ll be in India. I’m very excited and if you have any golden triangle tips, please let me know.
The biggest triumph for me, though, is looking back at this exact date last year and realizing how far I’ve come. I owe a lot to my friends and support system, who are a family to me in absence of a traditional one, and I can’t wait to take the next steps in my life with all of you.
SOO many comments. It would figure you post this when I am on a Spanish language keyboard and am having issues writing very much. Oy vey. BUT – what I need to say is that I love ya Annemarie and am sooo stoked the one trip you are still doing is with me to India. I cannot even imagine the amazing time we are going to have. In fact, something about this trip to Buenos Aires makes me think of our trip and makes me more excited for it than ever before. Also, all these amazing work opportunities coming your way are so deserved. It is wonderful to see your talents being appreciated. XOXO
am so happy to have chanced upon your writing; I am learning the other parts to you which we don’t get an opportunity to see at the crazy family events. As you know, I share your wanderlust and seek new parts of this world whenever I can. Indeed, as I am writing to you inamorata also planning the next adventure, this on the heels of Vietnam, which was nothing short of amazing.
Graham returns home on tuesday after his incredible journey. I know he has learned to negotiate among the different cultures he has encountered and that his sensitivity to others has been profoundly altered for the better.
Keep in trucking (and writing).with love, Audrey
Happy birthday to your mom, Annemarie. I’m sure she’s very proud of you.
Anja – Thanks so much. Very appreciated.
Audrey – So happy to see you on this side of the virtual world. Let’s please get together soon.
Kirsten – September. That’s all.
Good piece! It is always interesting to see how unique situations place us into a position or experience for a time that we do not expect, yet down the road it is that experience that leads us into fitting into something else often even better. Is it be accident, or is it all predestined or simply that God has a plan for us all?
Happy Birthday to your mom and kudos to you for taking the sadness of her loss and turning into something she would’ve been so incredibly proud of! Congratulations on all your endeavors, they are all admirable and honor her dreams so greatly. xoxo
You deserve the best. You’re mom is definately proud of you.
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