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         xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss"><docs>This is a RSS file. Copy the URL into your aggregator of choice. If you don't know what this means and want to learn more, please see: <span>http://platial.typepad.com/news/2006/04/really_simple_t.html</span> for more info.</docs>
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<link>http://www.platial.com</link>
<title>Leap Of Faith Map On Platial.com</title>
<description>Add your own spontaneous relocation stories.</description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/34853">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/34853</link>
<title>portland, oregon.  the place that saved my life.</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        i moved to portland in a hurry when i was 19 years old.  coming from phoenix, az, i had finally decided that i couldn't take it there anymore.  i previously thought that i would never move from phoenix.  my family was there, my friends were there.  where else would i go?  one day, it just popped into my head that i had to leave.  and fast.

i demanded a raise at my job in phoenix - secretly to pay for my move.  2 months later i was in my car with my computer, some blankets, and some clothes.  driving up to portland with no job, no place to stay, no real plan at all.  i spent time in weekly hotels, some of worst motels you could imagine, and a horrible roach-infested apartment.  i never once thought that i had made a mistake.

i had never been to portland before, but it seemed like the complete opposite of phoenix from what i had heard about it.  it rains, it has trees.  these were the only two things i cared about.  it seems funny to think back to that time, but its absolutely true.  as we were driving toward portland, i was so anxious and so afraid that there weren't going to be enough trees.  despite not having very much money, not having a job or a place to live, this was my primary concern: the number of trees.  i remember being so scared about it.

portland renewed my faith, in everything.  i instantly felt good here.  it will always be my home, no matter where i live.  the land of portland, the people of portland - everything about it - i absolutely love.  its beautiful.<br/>Tags: home, portland, trees, moving, az<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/34853">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>45.523611 -122.675</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:wept</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2006-02-10 09:46:10.230402+00:00</dc:date>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/35705">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/35705</link>
<title>Where I Saw How Humans Lived and Decided to Become One</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        I can't believe it took 18 years to find my way into a world where people make themselves happy, aren't afraid of other people and wallow in their beautiful imperfections. My earliest friends were homeless people, japanese businessmen and my incredibly strange, inspiring and sincere roommates. It's also where I became ethnically aware- Everyone acknowledged me as brown after years of family secrets told me I was white. <br/>Tags: new york, moving, leap of faith<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/35705">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>40.730413 -73.997469</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:deisnor</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2006-02-15 23:06:38.59053+00:00</dc:date>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/35707">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/35707</link>
<title>Have You Ever Been To Amsterdam? No but I'm Moving There Tomorrow</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        I packed everything and moved to Amsterdam the week after graduation. At the going away party, I parted ways with my newest unrequited love. I figured I would find a hostel when I got there. It took a few tries with a bag big enough that it was obvious that either 1. I was moving or 2. Was an inexperienced traveller- both were fairly accurate. There is no more exhilerating feeling than moving to a new country where every possibility is wide open. I was scolded by the hotel manager on the second day for getting paint all over his towels. After staying in my tiny room http://www.platial.com/place/35708 in this budget hotel for a month and learning about the Koran, I moved next door to a pension which later became http://platial.com/place/1482<br/>Tags: leap of faith, moving, amsterdam, hotel<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/35707">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
        </description>
<georss:point>52.369998 4.889999</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:deisnor</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2006-02-15 23:25:08.512014+00:00</dc:date>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/64321">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/64321</link>
<title>Chicago River and Broadcast News...</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        I lived in California all of my life. Even when I moved to Berkeley for college - I was only 6 hours away from my family. When Mark and I drove away from Phillips Ranch the day after Christmas - 2003 - I felt horrible. I was leaping into a new life on the other side of the country - Chicago. I wanted to go after a new career in broadcast journalism. I promised myself a few years ago that as soon as my brother graduated from Cal - I would follow my dreams. 

Medill was hard - but expected. After working full-time in tech support for three years - it was tough to transition into student mode....and I felt old. Thankfully, Medill didn't take in talentless hacks - so I was able to keep up with folks fresh from their undergrad programs.

This grad program made us sweat for our degrees and I'm grateful for all the experiences. During our broadcast quarter - I made it my business to do off-the-wall and out-of-the-box stories. When else would I get a chance to do a ride along with the Coast Guard on the Chicago River? 

I had a blast during my new life in Illinois - Evanston and Chicago.<br/>Tags: chicago, illinois, medill<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/64321">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
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<georss:point>41.888541 -87.625451</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:queenkv</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2006-04-19 03:26:52.265829+00:00</dc:date>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/35686">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/35686</link>
<title>Moved to Korea after art school on 8 days notice.</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        I was holding down a few contractor type jobs in SF when I ran across an ad for 'english teacher' in South Korea in the paper.  The American contact was a Korean travel agent doing recruiting for his brother in-law's new chain of english language schools for the children of wealthy professionals.  They were incredibly desperate to fill a few slots at these soon to open locations all around S. Korea.  I had basically 2 days to think about it, and about a week to ditch out of the city, haul my stuff up to Portland, and get on the longest flight I've ever been on.  The school was brand new, had no supplies and no idea what teaching was really about.  They were nothing more than a new business filling a perceived need.  I had a blast with the kids but not such a good time with the administration.  Some high/low lights include: -Getting arrested because of a drunken brawl between my roommate and a cabbie. -Getting my passport and plane tickets stolen by beach combing pimps 2 days before an intended trip back to the US. -Skating with some college punkers on their crazy homemade half pipe after work nearly every day.  -A tai-chi infused afternoon with a chemical engineering student who really really wanted to help Korea become "#1 country in world".  -A meditative trip to a buddhist retreat in the mountains.  -Hiking the hillparks with dozens of seniors walking uphill backwards because it's good for your health.  -Falling asleep on the bus on the way to work, waking just as the bus passed my stop, and actually automatically yelling out in Hang-gul (korean) the word for "DOOR!"  -Seeing a group of 8 dudes in clear plastic trench coats lipsyncing 'Hotel California' on a smoke machine filled stage in a spendy night club.  -Beach fire fueled with discarded ratan furniture set (then the owner comes screaming out, turns out it wasn't discarded).  -Meeting a kid in the military who said he worked in the "Propaganda" department.  -Learning about the development of the written phonetic 'han-gul' alphabet. (it's amazingly simple and so smart).<br/>Tags: pusan, korea, work, teaching, english, spur of the moment, little campus<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/35686">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
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<georss:point>35.11 129.029998</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:jason</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2006-03-20 23:46:01.446795+00:00</dc:date>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/36054">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/36054</link>
<title>My Other Home Town</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        Paris is the place where I really grew up. Where I learned how to be happy and generous. Paris is my other home town, the one that I chose for myself.

It was difficult for me to place this on a map called "Leap of Faith," because I don't think of it like that. In some ways you can look at my entire adult life as a series of leaps of faith, but when they are strung so close together like that, it's difficult to isolate one from another. It's not like leaping so much as letting myself be carried.

People often ask me why I went to France when I was 20 and I have no true answer. I used to always say that I was trying to get as far away from Iowa as possible and that when I got to Paris it suddenly dawned on me that the world is round and if I don't stop somewhere I'm going to end up back where I came from.

<br/>Tags: paris, growing up, magic, love, parties, wine, cheese, tali, vigo, sam, family, lovers, friends, happiness, expat, booger, lily, shakespeare and co, nanterre, la baule, nanny, nicolas, rice and lentils, erik<br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/36054">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
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<georss:point>48.862964 2.28404</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:tracy_the_astonishing</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2006-02-21 07:16:18.772435+00:00</dc:date>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.platial.com/post/92646">
<link>http://www.platial.com/post/92646</link>
<title>The flip side</title>
<description>
        <![CDATA[
        Where I lived for 3 years. Where all of my friends and family had been born or met within 2 hours of here. RVA is pretty much everything that PDX is not but there is something about the place where you are born that is impregnated in your bones and I will be buried there. I left  to engender potential because it is too easy to allow comfort and sucurity to grab hold and these things are the first trappings of death. I wagered that potential would ulitmately be worth more in life than security and I had to move 3000+ miles to grasp it fully. So far its paid off because hardship is the great motivator. The clock is ticking and I am Roy Batty cursing heaven. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.platial.com/post/92646">Map this on Platial</a><br /> 
        ]]>
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<georss:point>37.560364 -77.473354</georss:point>
<dc:creator>platialUser:dashney</dc:creator>
<dc:date>2006-06-15 19:51:36.127742+00:00</dc:date>
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