Blog about your Passions - DesignforBeauty

One of the biggest advantages of living in a tech-forward city like Seattle is the number of Tech Talks and Startup events that are held all over town.  The sleepy mountain town is teeming with bloggers, photographers, and of course - geeks.

Home to Moz.com, a company rooted in SEO optimization for websites and blogs, I was fortunate enough to hear Geraldine DeRuiter speak about the success of her blog - the everywhereist.com.  Her biggest piece of advice to the audience - blog about your passions.  What a great piece of advice for a travel blogger, haha!

Her advice inspired me to start another blog, one focused on the power of craftsmanship in your product

  http://designforbeauty.wordpress.com  

DesignforBeauty is an amalgamation of insights and thoughts around the creative process of #designthinking.  Design Thinking is a practice commonly employed to create copacetic websites and products, like Nest.com.  It has its roots in the cognitive sciences, falling in suit behind great minds like Herbert Simon author of The Science of the Artificial (Forbes - Design Thinking: a unified framework for Innovation) 

While writing code can be incredibly therapeutic, I've found pixels to be the perfect outlet for my creative muse.  Sometimes you get so lost in the tiny tiny tiny spaces that it just makes sense.

I hope you enjoy reading some of my more ethereal thoughts as much as you have my adventure-driven ones.  Later :)

Priya

Where to travel next?

Ελλάδα

Ulaanbataar

Bagan, Myanmar

Breaking and Entering a Vehicle in Pioneer Square? NBD...

Fascinating experience with local law enforcement.  Break ins around Pioneer Square don't seem to be an urgency.

Russ had his car broken into recently on the same street, we didn't want it happen to any one else :(

Shokunin

The craftsman or artisan manifests all five attributes of the Japanese concept 'shokunin'

   1. They take their work very seriously and consistently perform at the highest level.
   2. They aspire to improve their skills.
   3. They maintain a clean workplace.
   4. They are impatient: the shokunin are better leaders than collaborators. They are stubborn and insist on having it their way.
   5. They have a deep passion for their work.

Jiro dreams of Sushi

Secret.

I've turned into a new type of traveler. I enjoy a clean bathroom and a nice place to stay. Hmmm, seems like ill need to find new ways to at cheap.

Traveling buddy, anyone?

P

Viet nam

This place is surreal. Jungles on the beach, lush green foliage, so many colors. I can understand why it has such a bloody history; it's worth fighting for. But I can't comprehend destroying the land for it. Apparently 20% of the land mines placed by American soldiers remain. We are intentional, and unapologetic.

I'm officially certified w my advanced scuba license! Deep sea diving, caves, night dives...it's all to come. I think East Timor is making it to the top of my list. I want to see marine life so badly.

I made my way to hoi an. A picturesque French/Vietnamese town w small nooks and alley ways. So pretty. And expensive. This is the place to shop; and get tailor made clothing....for relatively cheap. Not cheaper than India, but still cheaper than anything in America.

I can't believe this trip is coming to an end. Only 3 days left :(. I want to keep going, keep experiencing. But the real world calls. Ah, this was the fix I needed to keep me going for another few months...

After my last dive. Sexy goggle line on my forehead.

My dive team - Liao and Matt

Asian kids are the cutest

Adieu pour le moment. 

P

Une ode aux délices

Breakfast each morning in nha trang...Vietnamese coffee w condensed milk. Tastes like dark chocolate

Fresh fruit by the beach...mmmm, coconut

Freshly caught crab on the beachside. So good.

Morning grocery shopping before cooking school. Dragon fruit, green mango, Vietnamese grapefruit...

Our guide holding mangos, left is sweet, right is for cooking

Fresh rice paper...used in spring rolls

Jackfruit! My favorite

Fresh rice noodles, yellow has turmeric

Fresh basil and watercress

....and of course, garlic :). Yum

Chilis and tomatoes, so pretty

Just a pile of pineapples laying around

Neha! The jelly used in your fav drink

More crab...eeks.

Fresh banana leaf. Used in salads

Spices, spices, spices. From the top, left to right - oil, galangal, ginger, sugar (orange!), pepper, salt, five spice, shallots, chili paste, fresh garlic, watercress and coriander

Magnifique.

P