The Next Chapter

It was about this time last year that I woke up one morning and decided that I wanted to quit my job and travel the world. The decision to do something like this was not thought out but rather a quick decision that I made to take an enormous step out of my comfort zone and learn more about myself and the world. What an amazing number of months it has been. The experience and freedom of traveling alone was life changing and I will never forget this time and am proud of myself for the independent confident person that I have become.

I still clearly remember the October morning when my mother dropped me off at the curb of SFO and with just a backpack on my back I walked into the airport and boarded the plane to Lisbon. I was scared and nervous of all of the unknowns but excited for the adventures I was going to have, the places I was going to see, and the amazing people I was hopeful to (and did) meet.

Now months later I am so grateful and blessed for the amazing experiences I have had, but as I write this I have the same nervousness and excitement of what is next. Tomorrow morning after 9 months of exploring the world and myself this chapter in my life will officially close with the next one opening as I commute to work with the rest of the population. I am still going to be working in the insurance industry but in a different role, with a new type of coverage, and with lots of traveling required. I have lots to learn but am thrilled about this opportunity as it is a position that I have been interested in for a long time.

Thank you for following my adventures this past year. Hands down this has been the best thing I have ever done in my life and I am happy I was able to share bits of it with all of you. My blogging days aren't over but my early retirement is so the world adventures will be put on hold and the working adventures will begin.

Update on Adventure in the Kitchen

I realize I haven't posted in awhile so I just wanted to update everyone on the latest in my adventures. The last adventure I mentioned was learning how to work in the kitchen and last night I had my first successful complete meal (maybe it was the new apron)! Growing up we rarely ate red meat so I challenged myself to learn how to cook a good streak. Dad and I shared a delicious asian flank steak, with vietnamese garlic noodles, and sauteed vegetables. We agreed the meal was tasty and a success. The past few weeks I have been trying a lot of new recipes and am starting to learn different flavors and what goes well together. Learning how to be a good cook is a life long lesson but for the time being I am enjoying experimenting and playing around with food.

Bit from my traveling book

I read many books while traveling, but the book "Down The Nile" by Rosemary Mahoney was the first book that I read and instantly related to. Below is an excerpt from the book which nicely sums up how I felt at the beginning of my trips in Europe.

I rowed with a little bit of fear and a great deal of joy. I was alone, finally, with no one to protect me. I wanted to sing for happiness- a rare, raw immediate sort of happiness that was directly related to my physical situation, to my surroundings, to independence, and to solitude. The happiness I felt that morning had nothing to do with the future or the past, with abstractions or with my relationships to other people. It was the happiness of entering into something new, of taking the moments simply for what they were, of motion, of freedom, and of free will. I loved not knowing what would happen next, loved that no one here knew me. I felt coordinated and strong and the world seemed huge and vibrant.

Reflections from my journal

For the first time since I wrote my entries I took the time today to read over my journal from my travels alone in Europe. I was surprised and proud of myself with how much I have learned and grown from this experience. I thought I would share some of my entries with the rest of you, and hopefully this will inspire everyone...

I wrote the following in Paris at Rodin's Garden while looking at The Thinker...

While looking at The Thinker I couldn't help but ask myself am I the thinker? Wasn't that one of the points on this trip for me? I was to think about what I want out of my life. An important lesson to learn from the thinker is that you need to be sitting in order to think. You can't contemplate and dig deep into yourself for ideas when you are too busy rushing. To think/contemplate/reflect it is essential to sit in peace.

Reflections while in Prague...

Conversations with other travelers has helped me reflect but also challenged and educated me. I think back to my time in Lisbon and the wonderful stay I had there. When I started this trip I was a little naive person not knowing anything and in some ways naive about the world. I had so many questions about the world and myself and was searching for answers. I think it would be wonderful to return to Lisbon and show people just how much I have grown as an individual and world citizen. I don't have all of the answers but I have learned and grown a lot. My eyes have been opened to other lifestyles and I have also learned a lot more about the history of different areas.

These are just a few excerpts from my journal and I'll post a few more in the days ahead. What an amazing six months this has been. I am so thankful for the opportunities I have had.

A new adventure...

I wish that this new adventure was on an airplane somewhere exotic but instead my latest adventures have been in the kitchen (yes, I know very scary)...

For those who know me I have been collecting recipes since college and have an enormous binder of recipes to try but never have had the time to try them or anyone to feed. Thankfully, I have a bit of time, a car to go grocery shopping, a nice kitchen to cook in, and a great family (and sometimes friends) who are willing to eat my experiments. This isn't going to become a Julie & Julia experiment/adventure because I am not going to be spending the next year trying a new recipe each day nor am I making anything that complicated. But I have tried some recipes that are easy and taste great and want to share my adventures in the kitchen and yummy recipes that others can make too... even on a work/school night. One of my favorites I have made over the past few weeks (easy but not quick) is salmon with a meyer lemon relish adapted from the Chez Panisse cookbook. The salmon is cooked at a low low temperature so it slowly cooks and my dad said it tasted like sushi because it was so moist.

Tonight I thought I would try cooking gnocchi since this isn't something I have cooked before nor do I eat it much. I made the gnocchi with asparagus and pancetta from cookinglight and surprisingly it was healthy and took less than 30 minutes and was tasty. So far I haven't had any fires in the kitchen but will keep you all posted on this new adventure in the kitchen...

Not a miracle on ice baby...

For the past 30 years both my parents and sister have thought and believed that my sister was a miracle child born on the night of the "miracle on ice" the game in which the US beat the Soviet Union in the Olympics. My parents even have joked that they were going to name her Victoria after the victory that the US had. 30 years later I did a little research and have rained on my sister's parade by telling her that she wasn't born the night of the "miracle on ice". As it turns out the miracle game was on the 22nd of February and was where the US beat the Soviet Union. The 24th of February (Nance's birthday) was the day that the US beat Finland in Lake Placid to win the gold medal. So on this 24th day of February, a very happy 30th birthday to my sister not the miracle baby but rather the golden baby. I love you and thanks for an amazing adventure in Vancouver for the Olympics.

One crazy crazy day in Whistler...

On Sunday I had one of the most bizarre days. It all began very very early in the morning when we were patiently waiting for our bus which just so happened to be a big yellow school bus to take us to Whistler. While waiting for the bus half awake someone came across the street and started to ask us what time our bus was leaving at and some additional information. She then went on to tell us that she worked for CTV (one of Canada's national tv channels) and was going to be broadcasting live across the street. Without any delay my mother spoke up and told the woman that it was my sister's 30th birthday and that she was born the night of the miracle match etc... The woman got so excited that she asked all of us to come over because she wanted to interview us on tv because it just so happened that they were going to be talking about the USA vs Canada hockey game and our story was perfect. We agreed to come across the street and were interviewed on national tv. Of course not being able to bs I made a complete fool of myself on tv when the woman asked me to explain why the US was going to beat Canada.

After our television debut we hoped on the not so charming yellow school bus and drove to beautiful Whistler. The day in Whistler was unbelievable with a beautiful clear sunny day. After exploring Whistler we staked out a place to watch the much anticipated USA vs Canada Men's hockey game. For those who didn't watch the hockey game all I can say is that you missed out on one of the best hockey games in a long time. Many people have called the US's victory the greatest victory since the Miracle hockey match 30 years ago, I wasn't alive to witness that game but the hockey game was unbelievable and an hour after our victory my heart was still pounding with nerves. Even in a packed bar of Canadians, us six Americans showed some US pride and celebrated our huge victory over Canada.

Our full day in Whistler didn't end after the game but rather the adventure just began. We boarded our good ole yellow school bus at 9pm to head back to Vancouver. After an early morning and exhausting day I quickly fell asleep on the bus. I woke up a bit later and realized we were sitting in a parking lot at a Chinese restaurant. In a daze I asked my cousin where we were and what was going on. He informed me that the bus had left two people in Whistler and the owner of the company said we had to turn around and drive back to Whistler to pick them up. At this point in the trip we were closer to Vancouver than Whistler. Considering the bus was only the nine of us from our group and one additional person we couldn't believe they would make the bus turn around and drive an additional two hours at 10:15 at night. We were all furious and couldn't believe the lack of organization and the rudeness of the owner of the company who threatened to call the cops because he said we were holding the driver hostage because we wouldn't let him turn around and drive back to Whistler. For the record we didn't once touch the driver or say anything rude to the driver we just were not willing to drive two hours out of our way to pick up two people when all nine of us had paid some nice pennies for the ride on what we didn't know was going to be a yellow school bus. After all of us exiting the bus in protest and deciding that we were going to look for a cab back the bus driver agreed to go against the owners wish (which he got fired for) and take us back to Vancouver. At about 11:30 we all arrived home thankfully safely and were exhausted after a full roller coaster day filled with excitement and fear. What an adventure!