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Today’s post is about a girl who chucked everything to travel around the world, not because she wanted to break free from her day-to-day routine, but only and purely for her love for travel. Meet Lisa Lubin, our travel crush of this week who set out on an adventurous jaunt three and a half years ago, and covered 45 countries across the globe. What started as a dream trip of 12 months, lasted for more than three years and ended recently in Chicago where Lisa finally unpacked her bag.

Even though, at first glance Lisa’s journey might seem similar to Elizabeth Gilbert’s journey chronicled in her widely acclaimed book “Eat Pray Love”, unlike Elizabeth, Lisa’s inspiration to explore the world did not arise from a need to find solace or rediscover passion for life; it arose from an unadulterated desire to make the world as her home, integrate with the fascinatingly diverse cultures, interact and connect with people from every corner of the world, step outside the material world that had defined her travel boundaries, grab life by the horns and truly live!

What’s striking about Lisa’s travel spirit is her drive to blend into the place that she is visits by not being a tourist, but by being one of the locals. Along her journey, Lisa engaged herself in volunteering work, teaching English, working at a café and a university, making sure that she gets to meet as many people she can during her stay in various countries.

The former Emmy-award winning TV producer at ABC7 in Chicago, who is now a world traveler, believes that you are never really alone while traveling. On the contrary, when you travel solo, you are open to meeting new people and absorbing their culture. According to this talented traveler, writer, and photographer, world is a much safer place than what we speculate it to be.

To read some enthralling accounts of Lisa’s world tour, memoirs of her extended journey, interesting travel reads, and some very insightful travel tips visit her blog “LLWorldTour…just a girl in the world” Which is our favorite travel tip by Lisa you ask? – Pack only for a week. Why? Because the world is abundant and you’ll find everything that you’re looking for, in fact even more affordable if you keep your mind open.

If you want to find out how was it possible for Lisa to quit everything and travel? How did she manage to pay for it? How did she plan her travel of her three years and live out of a bag? Join her in Chicago, as she hosts the nationwide career break initiative on September 14 2010 – “Meet, Plan, Go!”, to raise awareness about career breaks and extended travel. Get inspired to fulfill your dream of becoming a world traveler!

Let Lisa’s tale of adventure inspire you to Eat Pray Love on some of our offbeat and non-touristy excursions. Explore our latest Grand Canyon Tours, Washington, D.C. Tours, and New York Tours to plan your next adventurous getaway with Tours4Fun.