Something I discovered about myself early on is my need to feel like a small fish in a very ginormous pond. Hence why I need the immensity of the ocean like a fish needs water (pun intended, I'm basically a mermaid). Every so often, I get extremely stir-crazy, to the point of real craziness. This usually happens during the winter when I spend 8 hours in an office cubicle without windows and the sun sets 15 minutes after I get home.
I think my general unhappiness stems from getting caught up in day-to-day small life details, like keeping up with the Jones’s and watching too much TV (and not the quality kind). I’m grateful that I have made the most out of every place I’ve lived and visited. California was full of beaches, great restaurants, surfing and the US Surf Open, the LA temple, time in Long Beach with one of my best friends from high school, my first trip to Las Vegas and seeing Zedd in concert, incredible work events like the ESPYs after party and publicity jobs for different clients. Jamaica and Florida have been the same way and I like to think that I’m doing as much as I can with the time I’m given in Utah.
Looking back on 2015, I checked off a lot of things that are on my temporary bucket list: the kinds of things you think about like “That would be so fun, let’s do it!” and then never plan it out, the time passes you by, and it’s over. Luckily, I married a man who fully supports my initiative to pay for whatever it is and get it on the calendar so that it’s a done deal. Some of those things for 2015 were the Loveland Living Aquarium in Draper; a Florida trip with Brian and a Rays game; a home trip with Brian including a DC day full of monuments, museums, and the National Zoo, plus a Baltimore day with the National Aquarium and the restaurants I miss (Glory Days and Panera Bread), the DC temple with Brian, AND one of my best friend’s weddings; concerts to see Ed Sheeran, Joshua Radin, Imagine Dragons (sort of), Fall Out Boy with Wiz Khalifa, and incredible, local bands; Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork; the Payson Temple open house; tons of great Utah hikes including the famous Donut Falls; Crystal & Downata Hot Springs; exploring Vegas more; wakeboarding; Hot Air Balloon Festival; my first Lagoon experience this summer and Frightmares in October; my first Bee’s game; getting engaged; getting married; getting my endowments; buying and renovating a house; going to the circus for the first time since I was little; going to Jamaica for the first time; the Christmas Concert on Temple Square; ice skating at the Galaven Center; celebrating NYE at The Roof Restaurant in Salt Lake City and taking a private flight with a friend the next day.
At the beginning of every year, I have this shift in my view. I get past the frustration of too much darkness outside and not enough warm weather and I finally begin to relook at the time of year as a beginning to plan a lot of new things. That’s where I am now. So my goal is to set up something fun and memorable for every month of this year. I want to see something that I’ve never seen before, or do something I’ve never done before. Life is too short to let it pass you by.
For January 2016, we went and visited the Midway Ice Castles that I wrote about previously. While this isn’t something that I would call a must-see in Utah, they are well-known and something I wanted to check off the list. This weekend, Brian and I are leaving Friday and spending our long weekend in Las Vegas with his brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephews and we’re going to have a few pretty awesome firsts. Stay tuned for that!
The reason I decided to write all this out for you all is in the hopes that it inspires you to also take action and mark 2016 as the year that you started planning for all the things you want in your life, AND MAKING THEM HAPPEN!
Traveling, inside the U.S. and internationally, is something I have a lot of passion for. I’ve been to 31 U.S. states (that I can say I have memories of), the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, St. Thomas, St. John, Canada, Jamaica, and Italy. And this isn’t enough! I want to see so much of the world, and so much of it is close by and accessible. So I’m going to make us a plan, because traveling makes my heart happy.
If you’re like me and also have a desire to see the world but don’t think you can afford it, I’m including a few websites I’ve used in the past that have great deals on vacation packages! If anyone knows of any other great ones, please share them in the comments below!! Thank you in advance!!
- www.cheapcaribbean.com : Cheap Caribbean has awesome vacation packages to basically every Caribbean island. Most packages include airfare and you can set your preferences to only include all-inclusive resorts (aka no paying for food and drinks separately, you just show up and eat anywhere on the resort). Check out their packages and promotions tabs! I’m talking 5-days 4-nights, all-inclusive resort plus airfare for $580 a person. You’re welcome! (: (This is where Brian and I booked our Jamaican honeymoon)
- www.applevacations.com: I personally haven’t ever used Apple Vacations but I’ve heard great things about it! I’ve found Cheap Caribbean to be more affordable, but you never know!
- www.eftours.com: *International travel* EF (Education First) Tours is the company my university used for my study abroad trip to Italy touring Florence, Bologna, Milan, Venice, & Rome. There are so many things already built into each day for you. We went to an olive press factory, had cooking classes in Rome, toured the Colosseum, took a Gondola ride through the canals of Venice. The great thing about EF is that you don’t have to be a student. As long as you’re 18-28, you can enroll on one of these great international trips. Some are shorter from 6 days, or you can enroll in something like the “Ultimate Europe” trip where you spend 35 days traveling all over the continent. Some of the famous trips they have are Ireland, Costa Rica, London & Scotland, Australia and New Zealand, Amsterdam to Athens, Vietnam Cambodia and Thailand, Highlights of Japan & China, Spain France & Italy, Italy & the Greek Islands, Grand Tour of Spain, Berlin Prague & Munich, Germany Italy & Switzerland, Peru & Machu Picchu, or London Paris & Barcelona, to name a few.
Take advantage of whatever resources are out there for the things you’re passionate about. Your life is now!
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