Chris Fischesser’s Blog

Well, I decided that we are not getting any younger.  So I put together my official bucket list as of right now!

1. See all 50 states pretty thoroughly (5/50)
2. Set foot on all 7 continents (3/7)
3. Get 6 pack abs (2/6)
4. Visit all 27 countries in the EU (3/27)
5. Be the owner of a successful company (we are continually growing!)
6. Build my own computer
7. Be the best husband I can be to Renee (coming soon)
8. Skydive once (not started)
9. Retire before the age of 55 (long way to go)
10. Get debt free (almost there)
11. Go snorkeling (not started)
12. Go scuba diving (not started)
13. See the penguins in Antarctica (not started)
14. Be Happy (work in progress)
15. Not to stress over small stuff (work in progress)
16. Have a group of friends that I trust and enjoy being around (work in progress)
17. Live a life that I can look back on and be proud of (so far so good)

Do you have a bucket list?

So, as many of you have heard I recently proposed to Renee Von Deylen in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Since this is my travel blog, it definitely qualifies so I wanted to share some of the beautiful photos and experiences from the trip.  If you want more details on the proposal feel free to check out our website www.chrisandrenee2012.com.

I may have blogged about this in the past, but for those of you that haven’t heard of the Travel Advantage Network (TAN) it’s basically a travel program you can sign up for and it’s similar to time shares except they own all the properties and most of them are on resorts.  Anyway, I decided to use them for this trip and we paid $500 for a 2 bedroom hotel room right on the beach inside the Gulf Shores Plantation Resort for a week!  I had my suspicions since it was our first time using them but it was AWESOME.  They had 7 pools, 2 tennis courts, volleyball courts, a private beach, hot tub, etc.  It was phenomenal and I hope to go back the year after our wedding.

Everyone in Gulf Shores seemed to be for the most part in a great mood.  We went to some hideaway restaurants and holy crap were we impressed.  They had great food and the atmosphere was perfect.  The best part about Gulf Shores in my opinion, was no one was there.  We went in September which is right after the kids go back to school and they said it was their “down season” yet it was 95 degrees and sunny just about everyday.  The locals even said it’s the best time to visit.

We went to a putt putt place and were surprised when we were not only the only ones there but the owner also ran the restaurant next door.  We paid like $4/person or something and he said “play all you want”.  So we played a few games and just had fun.  It was everything we could of asked for in a vacation.  I highly recommend Gulf Shores to anyone who is looking for a beachside vacation for a reasonable price.

Well, I previously posted pictures of Cuyahoga Falls and an overview of our stay there.  We loved it so much we decided to go back with a hidden incentive.  We had to pick up our 30 bottles of wine we custom made when we were there last time.  I was a little hesitant because I felt like we saw a decent amount of Cuyahoga Falls but I was completely wrong.  After going back I feel like we saw about 10% of the whole park the first time we went.  We still have yet to see half the park I bet.  It’s the biggest park I have been in to this day.  The place never runs out of scenic settings that are perfect for a amateur photographer like myself and Mike.

On top of that we decided to hike some of the trails this time around.  The trails are just endless as well but realistically you can only do about 2 trails a day.  Each trail is anywhere from 7 miles to 20 miles.  I mean you can take shorter routes, but if you want the scenic views usually you have to take the longer trails.  I was pretty beat by the end to be honest.  I’d say we hiked about 8 or so miles.

I mean just to put it in perspective for you, they have a train that takes 2-3 hours to get from top to bottom of the park.  I mean the train isn’t running full speed or anything because it’s a “scenic” railroad but still.  I just love these types of trips.  I hope to take many more since it’s a perfect weekend travel trip.

I think this picture sums up our stay at Cuyahoga Falls.  It was pretty amazing staying 3 floors literally above what you see in this picture.  We had a chance to stay in Sheraton’s “preferred” suite as well.  It had a nice whirlpool, it had 2 separate rooms, and a nice little kitchen area.  It was much bigger than a normal hotel room and it was only $119/night which I thought was a pretty good deal.  We also got breakfast vouchers included in our stay for each morning which was awesome.  I was pretty impressed with the hotel to be honest.  It was much more upscale than your normal hotel.  The elevators were glass and were illuminated by lights, which I thought was pretty cool as well.  I just felt like I was living a life that was a step above what I should be living, you know?

Anyway, enough of the hotel.  There was an Irish festival going on literally 1 block away.  So we walked over there and listened to a REALLY good Irish band called the “Glengarry Bhoys” but the music they played live was much better than that on their CD I thought.  The next day though, we did something a little unique.  We went to make our own wine at a place called “It’s your winery”.  It wasn’t exactly what I expected, but it turned out pretty well.  Basically, you pick the wine you want to make by tasting wines, you pick the labels, the bottles, the font’s, everything.  I was pretty tipsy by the end of the wine tasting by the way  Then they give you a 5 gallon jug and you take the ingredients and pour them into the jug and start making your wine.  Once your finished adding all the ingredients and stirring the mixture it then takes 6-8 weeks to ferment.  So in 6-8 weeks we make another trip up to bottle and label our wine.  It’s a pretty neat little experience.

After the wine experience we decided to get some ice cream from a local ice cream store which was known for their unique ice cream which is a mix between soft serve and normal ice cream.  It was pretty delicious, not gonna lie.  Then we to take a drive to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which blew my mind.  It’s such a big park they have a train that drives through the park and takes 3 hours to go from top to bottom.  I mean the train only goes 25 MPH because it’s a “scenic” railroad, but still that should give you an idea of how big the place is.  We went to the Brandywine Falls which is the photo you see to the right.  I mean the falls are huge, I wish I could put a person on top of the falls so you could see how big they really are.  There are a TON of trails through this park.  We only got to go to 2 areas and that took us like 3-4 hours in itself, mostly because we were talking really good photographs like the one you see.  But Renee and I love to hike, so I imagine when we come back up to bottle our wine we will hit a few more trails.

Anyway, I highly recommend taking a weekend trip up there if you are looking for something that’s close.  Tons of fun, lots to do, and pretty affordable if you ask me.  But I love the scenic kind of stuff and love to hike, so I’m a bit biased.

Talk to you guys next time

Chris

You only get to live once.  And during your most physically capable years of your life, you will most likely spend most of your time doing something you don’t enjoy and possibly hate for 8 hours a day.  You work.  Unless you are part of that slim 5% that actually loves doing what they do for a living, and if you are, I’m happy for you.  If you’re not, just think about that statement and put money aside for a second.  Doesn’t that just blow your mind? You only get to live once, and you will spend most of your physically capable years of your life doing something that you don’t want to do.

So why not quit your job and do something you love now? Oh yeah, that money thing…

In my eyes, being wealthy isn’t having a ton of money.  It’s having a small amount of money for the rest of your life for doing something you enjoy.  If I could have $3,000 / month for the rest of my life from doing something I enjoy, I would be the happiest guy alive and in my opinion, the wealthiest.  Is it easy? No, probably not.  But what’s it worth to you?  I told myself, “You know what, if I quit my job and this website business doesn’t pay the bills right off the bat, I’ll get a job at Apple for a few months until it does start to pay the bills.  I’m going to work at this because it’s something I love and want to do the rest of my life”.  But yet time and time again I run into people who are afraid to take the leap of quitting or looking for a new job.  They would rather wake up in a bad mood every morning at 6am and dedicate 10 hours of each day to something they don’t enjoy just because of fear.  Fear of the unknown, fear of not being able to pay the bills, and fear of what people will think.  TRUST ME, you will pay the bills because of the type of person you are.  It doesn’t matter if you have to shovel your elderly neighbors driveway for $20, you will make it work. And yes, people will doubt you, and people will think you are crazy, and people will try to stop you.  But once you have what you were chasing… Those that doubted you will now be jealous and those that supported you will now be proud.  And every drop of sweat you put into getting to where you are today, is instantly worth it.

Find something you love, and chase it.  Because every day you spend doing something you don’t love, is a day you will never get back.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect when heading to Morocco.  I heard it was a great place to visit because of it’s culture, society, and markets.  But in my mind, I imagined a place that was maybe 5-10 years behind the U.S.  I almost put it in line with Ireland, just a desert instead of farmland.  But you just can’t compare a place like this to anything else in the world.  It almost has it’s own category of places.  It has it’s own culture, it’s own society, and the markets are just amazing.  Yeah, technically they are behind the US and Europe in technology by like 15-20 years, but that’s what gives this place it’s own character.  It’s almost like a mix between Omish and current technologies.  People utilize donkeys, horses, and bikes/motorcycles more than they do vehicles and machines.  But they also have satellite dishes, and internet cafes, etc.  Anyway, that’s the best overview I can give you, the pictures in the Photos section will give you a better idea.  Onto the trip!

We arrived in Tangier, which we heard wasn’t a very safe city.  We had to kill about 8 hours before our train left for Marrakech which was our final destination.  I never felt threatened or anything, but I mean we did get quite a few stares because Renee and Katie did not have on the headdresses and their whole bodies were not covered.  But I mean other than that, it had a beautiful beach side which we walked on for a few hours.  We never did see 1 police officer, which we later found out was because they really don’t have that many police in Tangier and that’s why it isn’t very safe.  Also, we did have an “incident” happen in Marrakech where we found out the police were corrupt.  If you ever want to hear that story, just ask me.  It’s too long to put on here though

We boarded our overnight train, which had 4 beds in our compartment.  It was actually more comfortable than I thought it would be.  I really couldn’t sleep though because the train horn kept blowing like every few minutes as they crossed roadways.  Well, all of a sudden, we came to a stop and I looked out the window and we were in the middle of no where.  I heard some hammering, banging, etc so I thought something broke.  Then I saw our engine that was pulling us drive by our train cars.  I was a little scared haha.  Then the whole train shook and there was a loud BOOM as the engine connected to the other end of the train.  Then I sat there like “REALLY? How do you expect people to sleep on these trains… seriously!”

We arrived in Marrakech, and we could not find our hostel for anything. Even the locals couldn’t find it at first.  Then finally we found an older guy, and he found it for us.  The door didn’t say “Hostel” or anything.  You can see it in the pictures, we laughed once we found it.  The hostel was awesome.  I loved it.  It did not have a roof, it had a tarp…  Which was awesome because the wind blew into your room and stuff.  It was all open air 60 degree weather during the day and maybe 40 at night, but that’s what covers are for, right?

The markets, were just amazing.  Take a look at the pictures, thousands of people, hundreds of shops.  They have everything and anything you could think of.  TV’s, stuffed animals, spices, shoes, towels, refrigerators, you name it.  You “haggle” the price down on everything.  Anything they sell, you can haggle, except food.  Everything there is SO cheap too.  For $1 you get 8 duran, which is their currency.  Just to put it in perspective for you, I paid 170 duran for a carry on piece of luggage, which is like $20.  Three people can eat dinner there for 150 duran or $14.  And these are nice dinner’s probably equivalent of TGI Fridays or something.

All in all, I am definitely glad I went, it broadened my perspective and gave me insight on how some other people live their lives, which is exactly what I wanted.  I met amazing people along the way, and I bet if some of them lived back home, I would be pretty damn good friends with them.  It’s a shame I have to travel across the pond to see them.  I would definitely recommend that if anyone is in the area, stop and see Marrakech for a few days.  It’s a truly memorable place.

I’m back! Sorry it took so long to get this post up.  I have been super busy with my website business work.  Literally the day after I got back, they needed me downtown, so it’s been non-stop.

Anyway, on to the trip!  Our flight got canceled from Philly to Madrid and we couldn’t get a flight out until 2 days later.  So we were stuck in Philly for awhile before we even came to Madrid.  We got to see a little bit of Philly, but because of the snow storm, it really limited us to what we could do. The whole city was shutdown.  But we made the best of it!

Once we arrived in Madrid, we met up with Renee’s friend Katie as soon as we got there.  It was nice knowing someone who spoke Spanish and a friend none the less, but it kind of took away from that true “adventure” feeling.  It was almost “too” easy to get around, order food, ask for help, etc.  On the other side though, she took us to some great restaurants, all the best sites to see, and we met up with some great people we probably wouldn’t have been able to.  So I mean it definitely has it’s upsides of knowing someone who lives where you are going versus the minor downside.  I was just used to the true adventure from my first Europe trip, but it was nice knowing what it felt like to know a local.

As for the city itself, it definitely has a NYC feel to it, but not so many skyscrapers, which I liked.  It almost had a feel similar to Paris where buildings couldn’t go above 4 stories high.  So that was cool.   Soooo many people, so many name brand stores, and everything else a big city would come with.  What amazes me with every European city is the amount of languages people speak.  Spanish and English was pretty common.  We even saw a family on the subway to the airport and they were speaking 3 different languages to their children, it was amazing.  Makes me feel stupid!  One thing that really stuck out to me about the city as well was how SMALL it was!  All the doorways, all the ceilings, everything was like a foot or two smaller than the US.  I had to duck sometimes and I’m only 5’10!  I asked why it was that way and they just said because there aren’t that many tall Spanish people.  I feel sorry for the 6’4 and 6’5 crowd! haha

New Years over there was definitely a unique experience though.  I am glad we went for New Year’s because if not, I would of left that city feeling like it was just an OK city comparable to NYC.  If you decide to go, definitely go during a spanish holiday or spanish event to really be a part of the spanish culture.  Sooo, onto New Year’s…  You can drink in public, which is really nice on a holiday like New Year’s.  You can drink on the subway, in the streets, wherever.  The only thing the police ask is that you don’t use glass bottles.  Obviously they don’t want fights with glass bottles being tossed around.  Besides that, the unique thing about Spanish New Year’s is they eat 12 grapes for the 12 strokes of the clock before midnight.  We believe this is to symbolize good luck for the next year (12 months… 12 grapes… get it ), but the weird thing is they don’t count down!!!  We were standing there waiting for the countdown to start drinking beer and stuff and all of a sudden everyone starts cheering and we look up and it’s the new years!  So we just put all 12 grapes in our mouth and called it a New Year!

The people there that we met were awesome.  So many people from the US too.  We met people from California, Utah, Michigan, and a few others.  I mean it’s just crazy the people you run into.  They were extremely nice, extremely helpful, I mean I couldn’t have asked for more.  I wish they didn’t live so far away!  It’s funny too, because most of the people you meet from the US are there because they are passionate about something. Whether it’s teaching Spanish, traveling, or just living there, I mean every one of them has a passionate reason, which is awesome and makes for great stories.  Looking back now, I think the people made that city an awesome time.  If it weren’t for the people, I think I would have thought the city was rather boring.

That about sums up Madrid!  All in all, great time, highly recommend stopping in Madrid for a few days if you are in the area, especially for New Year’s!  Feel free to browse the photos section to get an idea of how crazy it was.

Next up…. Morocco.  Stay tuned.

I know you guys missed me, so I thought I would keep you guys updated on my trip to Spain and Morocco.  As of right now, I am heading out tomorrow morning.  I still haven’t packed all the way so I will keep this short.

As of right now, the plan is to spend a week in Madrid and go to Sol for New Years(it’s like the NYC of Spain), then head down to Morocco for a week through RyanAir, which we got round trip tickets for $30.  I know, crazy huh?  Although, you watch, we will be flying in a propeller plane with 1 wing or something.  We will be hitting 3 cities in Morocco….Fez, Marakesh, and Tangier.  It’s like 60-70 degrees there right now, so I can’t wait.  We plan to take a couple excursions cause they are pretty cheap down there.  1 excursion is a camel ride I believe and another is a trip through the maintains to see all the waterfalls and whatnot.  Anyway, it should be fun!  Hopefully I’ll talk to you guys soon.  Hope you had a good Christmas and that you have a good new years as well.

Chris

So after being back home for a few weeks now, things are really starting to set in on some of the major things that these Europeans have taught me on my few weeks of being in their territory.

1.) Slow Life Down – Everything over there is about the quality of life, not work, not money, or not who drives the best BMW.

It’s funny, I sat down in the smallest chinese restaurant I have ever been to in my life with a guy from south of Amsterdam and he told me a few things that really hit home with me personally that I never thought would have came from this guy.  He explained how most Americans have to work 2 jobs to really get ahead of the “rat race” in the US.  I sat there and thought for second of some friends and family, and concluded that yup, that’s pretty damn accurate.  Given that most people only work 1 job but they are IN the rat race, not ahead of it… They have a mortgage, a car payment, student loans, medical insurance, house insurance, cable, internet, cell phone, etc etc etc.  They are always in debt and always paying bills after bills.  It’s the American lifestyle, I know, debt is a “good” thing, right?  Unless of course, you can work two jobs or work overtime to pay down your debt.  I then ask you, “What kind of a life is that?”  Working 10 to 12 hours a day JUST to either pay the bills, or enjoy a nicer car, better house, or some other huge TV that we really don’t need (I’m guilty, I know).  If you enjoy going to work, that’s a different story, but I don’t know many people that actually enjoy going to work.  In fact, I can count them on one hand.  So back to the main point here, you only get 1 life, and most of us are pretty far into it.  So don’t do something you don’t enjoy for 10 to 12 hours a day for 30 years of your life.  Make some changes in your life whether it’s your job, or cutting back on things you don’t need, and enjoy life.  Use that money on things you love.

2.) Retire Early – It felt like a lot of people I met over in Europe were already living their retirement.

It is almost drilled into our brains, SAVE FOR RETIREMENT!, CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR 401K!, and many other ways to save for retirement.  Here’s my thoughts.  First and foremost, who even knows if there will be social security for when I retire.  Second, who knows what will happen in the stock market.  I watched A LOT of clients’ retirement money get cut in HALF while I was working at my finance job.  “Oh sorry, you can’t retire like you were planning to do for 30 years of your life, keep working, we will tell you when!”  That’s a fun conversation to have.  And just the other day, I read and article that over 70% of trading on the stock market is done by super computers.  These computers are making the decisions on when to buy and sell.  Scary huh? What happens when one of those computers gets hacked? or someone puts a 1 instead of 0 into the formula and starts selling billions of shares instead of buying?  I don’t want to sound like a pessimist, just stating that just like everyone else, I have trust issues with the stock market.  And lastly, let’s just say I retire at 65 like every American wants to, what condition will I be in to travel and do the things I want to do?  Will I be able to zip-line at 65? Nope.  Scuba dive? Maybe, doubtful.  Hike the Swiss Alps? Nope.  And that’s all assuming you are in good health! How many times has life been cut short on so many people we know?  What kind of a life is that if they worked 10 to 12 hours a day for 30 years of their life and then died at 50?  I personally feel like they got screwed!  In closing, don’t get me wrong, I’ll continue to save for retirement, but I will also enjoy my life today and do the things I want to do while I can.

3.) Don’t take your friends and family for granted – Because being alone aint as fun as you would think

I know this sounds over used and everyone says it, but I’ll tell you what, before I left on my trip I thought I could go anywhere alone and be perfectly fine with the peace and quiet of traveling alone.  I would be forced to meet a ton of new people and it would be awesome.  And don’t get me wrong, it was all that I thought, and I met a ton of new people, but I’m not as tough as I thought once I got into the countries where they don’t speak your language   You can still meet people, but there is a huge obstacle in the way.  And of course it’s frustrating, but I would rather be frustrated with a friend and be able to laugh it off than be frustrated by myself.  You soon realize how small you really are in such a huge world.  Those friends really make a difference in your life, whether you realize it or not.

That should wrap it up for the Europe trip! Hope you enjoyed and I’ll continue this blog as I travel and when I go back to Europe in December.

-Chris

Well folks, unfortunately, after much deliberation and talking with my business partner, I think I am going to cut this trip short for a good reason.  Corey and I just landed probably one of the biggest projects we have ever had with our website business.  It’s going to generate enough money to cover this trip over 4 times again.  I considered working remotely, but frankly the internet over in Europe just isn’t as good as it is back home and what would take me 1 hour back home would probably take me 3 hours over here.  And on a 100 hour project, what would take me a few weeks back home turns into months over in Europe.  And I would feel terrible making Corey go to all these website meetings while I am laying on a beach in Nice.

I had an awesome 2 weeks over in Europe and felt like I saw half the world even though it was only about a dozen or so cities and towns.  I already plan to be back in Europe in December and start off in Madrid.  So as the title mentions, this is not the end, it’s just the beginning.  Thanks to everyone who was following me throughout my trip and I hope to pick it back up here in a few months.  I look forward to seeing you guys back home!

-Chris