Love of the Journey

2016 – Travels and Life in Review

Happy New Years! I couldn’t be more excited for the year to come, but 2016 was so AMAZING that it deserves some review. Last year was one for the books: an emotional, spiritual and adventurous rollercoaster that has forever changed my life.

At some point about 2 years ago, a light bulb in my soul lit up. I had to make a change. I had to make myself happy again. I had been stuck in a stressful rut and was unhappy with my day to day life.

For a long, long time I had wanted to travel and see the world.

But in order to be “successful”, I couldn’t leave a job. I would never achieve “success” in that way. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Once this light bulb in me came on, I went into super save mode. I did not spend any unnecessary money, though I still afforded myself the random glass of wine, good nutritious food, and time out with my friends. These were things that made me happy, and I was not willing to give those up in order to save just a slight bit faster. I moved in with my boyfriend which also cut my bills and allowed my savings to grow.

After about a year I was ready monetarily and emotionally. I told my job that December 31 would be my last day. And boy did that day come fast.

I started the year with a ticket to Mexico, no job, and a dream to fulfill. Unbeknownst to me, 2016 would be the most amazing year of my life.

While I may not have worked my way up a corporate ladder as I used to, I did get to do the following Travel and Adventures:

  • Backpack in 4 countries: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Costa Rica
    • First time with long-term backpacking with no plans and just a $30/day budget.
  • Stretched my comfort zone every day
  • Spoke lots and lots of Spanish
  • Spent more time on beaches than I would like to admit
  • Yoga, yoga and more yoga whenever and wherever I wanted
  • ATE more delicious ethnic food than I have the rest of my life
  • Snorkeled in the Caribbean ( many times)
  • Met and snuggled with so many stray dogs along the way
  • Drank some AMAZING mescal
  • Went to the BPM Festival
  • Went to Laguna Bacalar ( SO BEAUTIFUL)
  • Did marketing work internationally
  • Went to many cenotes and swam in them
  • Got my PADI Scuba diving certification
  • Ate seafood fresh from the ocean
  • Went to a Garifuna Wake ( which was more like a celebration with drums, dancing, and food)
    • Also, pretty sure I ate pigtail soup at this wake
  • Went to a cave in Belize with multiple full body skeletons from Mayan sacrifices
  • Explored Tikal and other archaeological sites
  • Saw beautiful Spanish cathedrals
  • Saw multiple live volcanos
  • Ate the freshest pineapples, coconuts, mangoes, bananas and more
  • Went to tiny villages where Mayan was the spoken language
  • Road a chicken bus in Guatemala
  • Went to Chiapas right before the pope came
  • Went to Aqua Azul with a police escort
  • Traveled to almost all corners of Costa Rica
  • Whitewater rafted on the Sarapiqui and Bolsa
  • Milked my first cow
  • Took my first Tuk-Tuk ride
  • Climbed Cero Chato
  • Jumped off my first rope swing
  • Learned how to surf
  • Walked to the whales tail at low tide
  • Touched a sloth and saw a lot of new wildlife
  • Walked to an island at low tide
  • Took a ferry for the first time
  • Stayed in communities only reached by boat
  • Took my first public “boat” transportation- and the boat ran out of gas and broke on that ride
  • Crossed more borders by land than I ever had
  • Became a White Water Rafting Guide
  • Did a 7 day River Trip in Cataract Canyon
  • Road tripped around Colorado
    • Went to the sand dunes
    • Camped in many national forests
  • Took a road trip from Colorado to the Grand Canyon ( 2.5 months)
    • Went to 7 new states on the west coast
  • Did my first snowy full day hike with bean(my chihuahua)
  • Went to a quite a few National Parks on my bucket list
    • Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Olympic, Death Valley and Yosemite National Park
  • Saw the Grand Canyon via a 20-day white water rafting trip!
    • Side hikes, waterfalls, beaches and BIG WATER
  • Lived out of a van for 6-7 months
  • Camped in hundreds of places around the country!
  • Went to Vegas for my first time
  • Met so many wonderful people from all around the country and world :)
  • ….I GOT ENGAGED!

So much more happened, but this list is getting too long ;). The truth of the matter is that this year was the FIRST year of my adult life that I truly just LIVED! My soul feels refreshed, happy and ready to conquer the world.

2016 – Forever I will be blessed and grateful for the amazing opportunities and experiences! So much growth has happened in this one year than I could ever begin to explain.

2017 –  I am rejuvenated and refreshed for whatever you have planned for me! Being happy and truly living is what I now define “success” as. I am so excited to work my butt off this year to create a “successful” forever and to continue my journey to new countries far, far away!

CHEERS!