SDF - A Lifestyle Element

San Diego and How America's Finest Changed My Life

I was a New Yorker before I knew it. Born in Hong Kong and raised by the most uptight and protective parents, I am the typical Type A person. When it comes to traveling, I book my flight, arrange my accommodation, plan my trip and fill all the days at least two week before I take off. I get anxious if I don’t, as Type As do.

Summer after graduating from the Ohio State University, I had a few months off before the start of my job in New York City. I started looking for options within US where I could work for free in exchange for housing. That would allow me to travel while still keeping myself afloat.

The main site I looked for opportunities was Help Exchange. I knew I wanted to be near a beach, and I have enjoyed the handful of hostel experiences in Taiwan and Europe - those were the two criterias I looked for in my search. As it turns out, the majority of the results came back locating in San Diego.

Cruise with all volunteer staff for a staff party

I have never been to San Diego, and I have not been a big fan of SoCal because of my bad previous experiences in Los Angeles, so San Diego was not my ideal destination of choice. But I knew I had to take advantage of the summer of absolute freedom to try to do something I normally wouldn’t do. The next thing I knew, I committed to six weeks of volunteering at USA Hostels San Diego in exchange for housing.

I booked my flight and moved out of my apartment in Ohio two weeks later. Having no plans and no expectation of what the next six weeks of my life entails, I anxiously arrived in San Diego with two large suitcases containing all my life’s property. On the first night of my arrival, on a Wednesday night in June of 2014, I met Ian.

Now, Ian is a critical part of my story in San Diego.

Ian was the opposite of me. The only “planning” he did for the trip was buying his flight ticket from Indianapolis to San Diego. He had made a hotel reservation online beforehand, but once he arrived, he found out that he made the reservation for the wrong date. That’s how he ended up at USA Hostel, where I was arriving at.

Volunteer's Dormitory

Wednesday nights are bar crawl nights at the hostel. A staff from the hostel would lead the group of guests to a list of bars around the area. Ian and I connected on the fact that we both traveled from the Midwest. I found how he travels very intriguing - no plans, no agenda. He just walked around for 10+ miles that day with no specific destination in mind.So, on the night before he took off, when he had no plans where to stay and decided he was going to spend the night on the beach, out of curiosity and the mentality that I have nothing to lose, I followed.

Let me sidetrack for a minute and tell you some of the things I learned that night:

A June night is still freaking cold in California
IHOP doesn’t open 24/7 at all locations
Denny’s is not creepy at all at 4am
And the most important lesson: if you’re on the west coast, you can’t actually see the sunrise because you’ll be looking west if you’re facing the ocean. And the sun rises from the east, just making sure we all know that.

From the night I stayed on the beach before it got too cold

Some moment during that night on the beach (and then getting too cold so we decided to find shelter at Denny’s), I broke out of my comfort zone. All I had on me that night was a tank top, some very short shorts, a light cardigan, flip flop, my wallet and my phone. Normally, I would not even go to a beach without a beach towel and a bottle of water. And yet, I learned that night, that it is not the end of the world when you don’t plan. Just relax and go with the flow.

San Diego can turn even a city girl to hiking at Torrey Pines

It set the pace for me for the rest of my time in San Diego. I would have met volunteers from all over the world, where they had no data service on their cell phones outside of wifi zone, and we would meet each other on the beach “by the first pier after you get off the bus.” To be honest, I was extremely skeptical at first that I would find them, given the little information to locate them on a miles-long beach. However, time after time, technology has proven to be less dependent than I had expected, and “planning” seemed arbitrary in the sense.

Sure. Planning may be important when you are at a job, outlining projects for the next quarter and trying to justify your ROI. In the context of traveling, however, through my experience in San Diego - meeting Ian and working with other international volunteers - I have learned that “planning” might not necessarily mean your best interest. Sometimes, letting yourself go, giving yourself the freedom to not follow any agenda, might be the best thing you can do for yourself on the journey.

Ian & Mildred present day when Ian visited NYC

Mildred is a marketing girl in New York City trying to use the internet for something good. Travel is her daily motivation, and being a global citizen a lifelong journey. Find her on favthings.net and Instagram/Twitter @favthingsnet.

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Welspun Comfort - A Brand with Soul - Giving Back to the Society

"There are a lot of companies that I admire, but there are very few that inspire me. Welspun Group is one of them."

Welspun Group is a multinational company whose core industries are steel, energy, and textiles. Welspun is one of India's fastest growing conglomerates, doing business in over 50 countries with 24,000 employees and over 100,000 shareholders. Its clients include companies operating in the oil and gas and retail sectors such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, WalMart, and Target.

Besides being a global leader in most of its business verticals, Welspun acts as a responsible corporate citizen, sincerely practicing empowerment of the underprivileged and sustenance of the environment. With a participative approach towards social development, the company is guided by the three ‘E's - Education, Empowerment & Health and Environment. At Welspun each and every Welspunite contributes to the community at large.

Not long ago I had a chance to participated in panel discussion with other design bloggers, together we came face to face with the philanthropist and founder of Welspun Group, Dipali Goenka (Harvard University alumni) in their midtown Manhattan showroom located in the Textile Building. Under her leadership, she leads Welspun’s retail initiative in India and has set up distinct brand — “SPACES Home & Beyond”. Dipali initiated the set up of Welspun Vidyamandir High School, a school affiliated under Central Board of Secondary Education and Welspun Anganwadi, a pre-primary school in Anjar, Gujarat, India.

#MakingADifference

I joined fellow prestige panelist to talk about the impact and importance of Corporate Social Responsibility. Our discussion and interview were carried out through a shared social vision by Welspun Group Foundation.

Dipali Geonka inspired us and she advance the full participation of women and girls around the world in. Together we discussed topics on:

Empowering women through education and health
Empowering communities to help foster and create sustainable commerce
Helping the environment

During the interview I asked Dipali how social media might make an impact on their efforts and she replied us gracefully and said: "Each of you can help to put the word out, it’s not about what Welspun is doing; it’s about what we are all doing as global citizens,” I strongly agreed with her. As a blogger, we have the platform to spread the words out, not locally but globally.

It was a meaningful morning interview with Welspun Group last week. Dipali Geonka was an inspiration to all of us, so privileged to be part of the wonderful panel with Spread: PR, Advertising, Marketing along other notable bloggers: Patrick J Hamilton, Robin Baron, Decor Arts Now, Malene Barnett and Saxon Henry. Special thanks to moderator Tori Mellot and Julia. Watch the insightful interview commentary, click HERE.

Mean while, check out the book called: "She is Life"

http://www.welspun.com/userfiles/file/Coffee%20Table%20Book.pdf

What does the book stand for?

The book is a compilation of real life stories of women who have come forward to be empowered. Women who have overcome challenges and embraced change, to reclaim their lives and shape their own destinies. They are the extraordinary examples, the indisputable proof, that progress will come to those with the purpose, the passion and the persistence to achieve it. It is these stories that form the warp and weft of the very fabric of Kutch.

What message does it convey?

The book is a demonstration of the fact that when you empower a woman, you give her a better her life. When you empower a woman, you create a stronger society. When you empower a woman, you build a greater nation. Indeed, the unsung heroines featured in this book are now encouraging their families, communities and the people of Kutch to follow their path to a prosperous and progressive future. Welspun fully supports this with a long term, holistic corporate social responsibility vision and by investing time, money and effort towards the empowerment of women.

"Sunlight replenishes most renewable energy sources every day. #‎gogreen #‎savetheplanet #‎motherearth | Welspun Group #‎earthisbeautiful"

Welspun's stylishly comfortable home textiles can be found in retailers like Bloomingdale’s and Bed, Bath and Beyond, also can be purchase online via HERE. My personal favorites are the SPUN collections, HygroSoft Towel sets and Welspun new collaboration with American designer Amy Butler on their latest spring collections (available now) called Sari Bloom and Kyoto, made from organic cotton!