From the ABOUT ME
“Some of my nearest and dearest have dubbed the way I see the world as my “Shannon-tinted bubble.” You, know, I am not entirely sure what that means even ten years after the first time I heard that expression, but it seems appropriate to share it here. I felt compelled to note it just in case someone else has a theory on why one who those around me so consistently assert the truth of the bubble notion.
Anyhow, I got off track a bit I suppose. What does all of this have to do with my round the world travel adventure?
Well, first let me introduce myself. I, Shannon O’Donnell, am currently 25. I’m from the American south…but not the true south. Florida.
Yes, I know. Your grandparents live there.
Well, so do (did?!) I. I graduated from college with a degree I had no intention of ever using as it was intended and have aspirations for the entertainment industry that prompted me to move myself out to LA just after graduation.
In May of 2008 though, at the ripe age of 24, I hit a wall in my life that can only be described as my quarter-life crisis. I was completely on the “right” track:
Graduate college- check! – BA in Advertising and Public Relations.
Find a well-paying job – check! - Internet-based freelance SEO work.
Move to Los Angeles – check! – Cute apartment on the only moderately sketchy side of town.
Pursue acting career – check! – Agent and manager secured, some auditions coming in.
You know, everything was pretty much going in accordance with my life plans (blech, life plans, what a trite expression). But then it hit me all at once – this picture of my life tens years down the line: still living in LA, with a husband, kids, and a mortgage payment.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I want all of those things.
Just. Not. Yet.
So I sold most of my possessions, packed up my car with the rest, kissed my LA friends good-bye and drove aaaaallll the way back across the country to Florida. I deposited what was left of my possessions at my parents house and then packed up my bag and headed on the road…I figure I will travel for a couple of years or until I think of something better.
Some people who hear about my plan to travel all over the world and automatically assume that I am this vagabond with no aspirations for my life and no plans for a family and settling down (and there would be nothing wrong if that was the plan). In truth, I do hope for some of that in the long-run, but I also know that a year (or more) of traveling the world will broaden my precepts on life and make me oh-so-much happier in the long-run. Traveling was always a part of the plan for as long as I can remember – even back when I was 12, pining after Prince William, and dead-set on moving to England and marrying HRH - how embarrassing in retrospect!
My reasons for traveling may have matured just a bit in the intervening 12 years but the wanderlust is still there. I can’t wait to meet new people, learn new languages, and experience life outside of the microcosm of the United States. There is something in my being that is telling me that there is more I need to experience and learn before I settle down, some nuggets of truth I haven’t yet found.
And since all of that got a bit deep toward the end there, a quick run-down of some adjectives I feel describe yours truly: quirky, tenacious, reliable, irreverent, playful, sure as shit, honest, opinionated, and a touch sarcastic. Top that off with a truly a bizarre sense of humor to make it all a bit more interesting – I’m one of those sad souls who laughs hysterically at their own jokes!
So, that would be me in a nutshell (Help! I’m in a nutshell! Let me out!). If you want to know more, I daresay you’ll learn more about me through my blogs. :-)”
