Shannon is an inspiration, and not just to female travelers, but to all of us. She took a traditional RTW trip in 2008-09 and has never looked back. She is now a completely location independent worker and I have some serious envy of her for that accomplishment.
Her blog is A Little Adrift and it is simply great. In depth, thoughtful, packed full of information about scores of places and things she has done. You can, and should, scroll over there and get lost for hours. I know I have. You also need to follow her on Twitter here: Shannon’s Twitter profile.
I am currently trying to talk her into joining a harebrained scheme that I am developing for later in 2011, so in addition to commenting on her wonderful answers down below, put in some sort of pitch for me. Something like, “dunno what Mike has planned, but I bet you’d kick ass as it,” would be most welcomed.
In all seriousness…. well, it is the Lucky 13, so in all non-seriousness, enjoy getting to know this great traveler:
1 — Location where you have been the most drunk in your life?
Hah! Closing party for a film I worked on in Orlando, Florida – the after-party was…fun…We piled so many people on the couch we broke it. Good times.
2 — Person whose tweets make you smile the most?
@earthXplorer – he is a supremely positive human being and that shows in his daily tweets and twitter interactions.
3 — Full in the blank: I don’t understand how anyone listens to ______ music.
jazz (shudder)
Leonardo, for the ladies
4 — Best Halloween costume you have ever seen?
A homonym – so cleverly hilarious…I like intelligent people jokes and that’s one of those costumes you have to think about to get.
5 — Your favorite actor or actress, dead or alive?
That’s so tough, right now I am a big fan of Leonardo DiCaprio; I think his work has gotten so nuanced and rich – he is the Tom Hanks of our generation (and I love me some Tom Hanks).
6 — You are stranded on a desert island, with supplies and your ever-charged iPod. You can only have five bands/performers on it. Who are your five?
Paul Simon, Matchbox Twenty, Pink Floyd, The Cheiftans, and a CD of showtunes (I think that covers all the bases of genres I like :-).
never before photo of detention scene in Shannon’s biopic
7 — More blanks: My Mom and Dad are never going to read this, so I can now admit I lied to them in a huge way about ___________.
I got a Saturday School (severe detention) for telling off my teacher in high school but convinced the principle to stay mum as long as I could get myself there…so I lied and said I was spending the night at a friends house and to this day my dad doesn’t know I ever got in trouble…it was the only time and I was an angsty teen, what can I say!
8 — Best movie that no one has ever heard of?
Baraka (great for some travel inspiration) and Run Lola Run – both those movies are well worth adding to your Netflix queue!
9 — Most vivid childhood memory?
Sitting at a picnic table in the Florida Keys with my four brothers, all of us sticky with salt water from swimming all day and sandy from the campground. We went there for ten days nearly every summer of my childhood. My brothers and I played board games at the picnic table while my parents cooked our dinner and then served it up on those brown wicker paper-plate holders (they were an 80s fad alongside Tupperware).
Yes…. embarrassing.
10 Let’s hear one of your guilty pleasures – a good, embarrassing one.
I despise reality television… but ::cough, cough::: I have been known to sit through marathon TV sessions of both “So You Think You Can Dance” and “America’s Next Top Model.”
11– Something you would not do for $100,000 cash.
Turn over my passport for all time, gotta keep exploring!
who doesn’t have a crush on her?
12 — Who plays you in the movie about your life?
Natalie Portman; I have a complete girl-crush on her, she’s hugely intelligent, and wickedly talented. I think she’d do swell in my roll 🙂
13 — What single thing do you miss most from your high school years?
The single minded focus on goals that was encouraged and demanded – my life revolved around theatre/classes/education and those things I loved– everything else was “not my concern” (roof over my head, food, etc.). Though I worked throughout high school, my father built a world that allowed me to primarily focus on those goals – focus gets scattered when you’re an adult and you have to consciously bring that element into your life or you get lost in the mire of conforming and being a “responsible adult.”
That Bart Simpson pic (and edit) is brilliant! And what a gorgeous shot of Natalie, glad I’m not the only one with a crush. Many thanks, honored to be an interviewee this week 🙂
Thanks – forget how I found that application, but knew it was perfect when I read your answers. Thanks again!
I love so you think you can dance and I am proud to say it:) Agree with you about EarthXplorer. I remember reading an interview with him when I first started tweeting and he stated that we should all be positive on the Internet. It stuck with me. And then when we did the Princess Cruise with him and his wife, we met a great guy that is genuinely positive and nice.
It really is an entertaining show, I fluctuate between embarrassment and outright support…a lot of actors get all uppity about reality TV taking jobs, etc, so I have to mind my p’s and q’s or I’d be in debates all day long about how much talent they have on the show! 🙂
Shannon no! You shudder at jazz? I think you’re just listening to the wrong stuff. I will keep my iPod full for the next time we randomly run into each other!
I will take you up on that! I am willing to consider that you could change my mind. And to be honest, I rarely cop to not liking jazz because people are horrified, lol. 🙂
Loved it as usual! And love her blog. And I also love me some Leo!!!
Thanks Andi Good to know I have some Leo backup! 🙂
Shannon’s a cool chick! I got to meet her when she was traipsing through Boston this past summer.
Second Run Lola Run…really cool film. Never saw one like it before or since.
Can’t wait to meet her myself. If I can just get her into this Fall train project…..
It could happen, I’m down with the idea! 🙂
My reality tv guilty pleasure is Survivor
I never got into that, but my roomie was hooked for the longest time! 🙂
Nice to learn about someone who I’ve seen a little bit on Twitter, and cool there’s more location independent folks out there than I’d thought. Thanks for doing this interview, and look forward to hearing about the new scheme…
Just checking out your blog as well! I hope to travel with my (as yet unborn) kids one day and always love seeing that it’s possible 🙂 I am also intrigued to see what how Michael’s plans unfold!
Honestly? It’s a lot easier than you’d think… Particularly once they’re past the needing to be carried stage….
Shannon,
I never watch tv, but sadly, I have a weakness for reality tv on occasion. Isn’t that terrible? Definitely want to check out the movies you mentioned!
They are both worth watching! 🙂 And I find my love affair with TV is impossible on the road, but I catch a few things on Hulu when I am stateside, lol, and sadly that includes reality TV on occasion 🙂
ahhhh, I need to show you some torrent DL sites then. Savior for me on days where I just want to chill out with TV shows from home, including ones that just aired.
But don’t torrents come with all sorts of viruses. The one time I tried it my anti-virus software went nuts!
I mean this in the best possible way… get a Mac! 😉
Seriously, I have never had a single virus problem, but then again, I am on a Mac and they are notoriously not prone to any viruses. Don’t suppose notoriously is the right word there, but…
It would be a good question for FoxNomad or the other techies out there. Suppose you can scan them for viruses after you DL, but I’ve had total success with them. There are also some websites you can watch streaming TV on, which is less convenient, but might avoid the virus problem on your PC.