My bucket list!

I've always kept a mental bucket list, but it wasn't until the summer of 2012 when I really started putting pen to paper and formally writing down all the things that I wanted to include on the list.  

I remember that day during June 2012 well: I was in Anchorage for work, but stayed over the weekend so I could do some hiking in the area.  The night before, I had purchased a new journal (I am a sucker for good journals) that was appropriately San Francisco themed with the perfect quote so I started writing down the specifics.  At that point, I don't think I had even developed an obsession with San Francisco yet, so I find the whole thing even more fabulous.

I had brought my journal with me in my hiking backpack for the day because I guess my thought was that I might be inspired by the natural beauty surrounding me and want to write something poetic.  Instead, at the trailhead for Flattop Mountain, a popular hiking spot outside Anchorage, I found the perfect park bench with an incredible view and started writing down all my thoughts on things I wanted to do in my life and my bucket list started.  

Of course, after I got down everything I could, I promptly climbed the mountain and took some peace sign pictures at the summit.

From there, the list took off and I have since added to it, but not in a very methodical way.  Sometimes I'll make notes in my work notebook or put them on a to do list in my phone and other times I'll make mental notes of things to add.  Recently, though, I took on the semi-colossal task of consolidating everything into a spreadsheet (because that's how I do).  Of course I might have missed some hidden away in a notebook somewhere, so it's definitely a work in progress, but here it is.  I also resisted the urge to put every country in the world as places to visit and rather focused on specific activities I wanted to complete or festivals I wanted to attend.

The best part of the exercise?  Going back through the list of things I had added in past years and realizing that I had completed them.  Attending the International Hot Air Balloon Festival (#12), going white water rafting (#59), taking a glassblowing class (#79), attending the Richmond night market (#67), going on a jungle bridge tour (#77) and overnight camping at a place so remote you couldn't drive to it (#56) are all things I have crossed off in the past couple years (in the case of white water rafting, I went 4 times one summer!), among many others.

In some instances, friends helped me to cross things off my list without even knowing it.  When I went to visit a friend in San Diego last fall, lo and behold, he really wanted to go whale watching (#21).  I missed my opportunity to see a whale (but some of our boat did), but we did see a lot of dolphins coming to the surface of the water.  It makes my heart happy when we are so on the same page and I adore my friends even more when they help me cross something off the list.

Hope this inspires you to start thinking about what you might want to put on your own bucket list or finalize some initial thoughts you might have floating around in your head!  

26 in Review

I have never been a huge fan of making formal New Year's resolutions, but I am a big proponent of reflecting on experiences and learn so much from looking at where I've been and where you want to go.  I typically do lots of reflection and goal setting around my birthday.  Since I turned 27 last month (and celebrated on a boat with some friends), I thought it was about time to break my 2+ year hiatus of blogging and write down some of my thoughts on the last year.

To be honest, the last year of my life has been insane in the membrane, but I wouldn't change a thing.  It involved LOTS of travel. During 2014, I took over 100 flights and spent more nights than I want to admit in hotel rooms.  On the flip side, I got to see about a dozen national parks in six different states.  I am also proud to say I am on track to hit my goal of taking fewer than 100 flights in 2015 (I'm only at 36 right now!).  It involved cutting people out of my life (which I can only hope will be positive in the long-term).  Some were easy like a friend who wasn't respectful and a colleague who did nothing to support my professional goals.  Others not so much like the guy I always imagined having a future with who never seemed to want to commit (but wanted me to do things like go on a business trip to Australia with him and emotionally support him).  I think of all of these people often, but know having them in my life would do more harm than help, so I have to let it go and wish them the best.  If they are meant to be in my life in the future, we will make amends, right?  It involved unexpected "firsts" (but more on that later). It involved a new car (and mourning the loss of my adorable lime green Beetle). It involved some realizations.  Experiences are great and I wouldn't change them for the world.  Nothing, however, compares to being able to experience the world with people you love and adore.  It involved more meditation. As a result, it involved more gratitude and patience.  In fact, I am not sure how I could have dealt with some of my work pressures without the principles of mindfulness at my fingertips.  It involved thinking about what I want to spend more time on in the future.  Dancing, journaling, self improvement, fitness, blogging and reflecting, so here we are.  I am also committing to working on a personal project each year related to something I want more of in my life (although I am still working on finalizing my project for this year).   

When I was recently at a conference, I was thinking about how much I missed reflecting on my experiences with this blog, so I decided it's time to start it up again.  Seems like an appropriate commitment to make right around my birthday too!  I'm not sure how regularly I will get to updating this here blog, but I am thinking that rather than have it be more focused on my travels (because let's be honest, I still travel a lot), I was going to highlight more major trips or accomplishments. Look forward to an upcoming post on my "Year of the National Park" where I visited about a dozen national parks in six different states and "What I learned in 100+ flights", some random insights I have thought about during all my time on the road (and lots of up in the air photos of cool cloud patterns).

To the future! 27 is going to be great! :)

One Last "To Do"

So I got the big city vibe (Costa Rican style, of course), some quality outdoor adventures in rainforests and on volcanoes and had some awesome beach time (complete with coconuts).  All the was left on my Costa Rican "to do" list was to visit a local outdoor market.  Since I didn't have a map of the city, I thought it might be a hard task to achieve, but lo and behold, my sense of direction pulled through and I found a great 5ish block outdoor market just a couple blocks from the bus station.

I am fascinated with the food of different countries, so I always love seeing what the markets look like...even if it does make me jealous that we don't have something equally as fabulous in Seattle (although the Pike Place Market is pretty cool).  I loved all the colors and displays of fruit and veggies lining the street...

 

 ...and the other vendors with carts full of other goods walking around the streets. You needed a Santa hat or a purse in addition to fresh produce?  This was the place to be!

I said my goodbyes to San Jose before catching a cab to the airport for the flight back to the U S of A.  Costa Rica, I will be back! What a great get away to help kick off the next chapter of this adventure called life! 

You had me at "balcony with hammock..."

Any Costa Rican adventure should have a bit of volcano adventure, but also some beach time to relax.  After some research, I happened upon the city of Manuel Antonio, which offered some great views of the beach along with a National Park (should I want it) and some great restaurants.  Home was a villa, which included "balcony with ocean view and hammock" in the description...when I saw that, I was sold.  I loved the hillside home!

The place was more of a 1-bedroom condo, so it was nice to be able to enjoy a morning coffee with a visit from a frog (I wasn't quite sure if it was poisonous, so I kept my distance, but I still appreciated it) and spend more time than I like to admit hanging out in my hammock and reading a book.  There were even monkeys playing in the nearby tropical trees and hanging out on the nearby roof AND a gecko that came to visit in the evenings.  It was truly divine!

When I finally decided to venture outside the confines of my ocean-view villa, I found a restaurant that had an entire airplane inside of it.  That's right.  There was just an airplane hanging out in the middle of this really cool and funky restaurant overlooking the water.  I decided to splurge and got an amazing ceviche and a whole red snapper fish (the special).  I think it was the best meal I have had in quite a while.  Everything was so fresh and all the flavors melded together so well!

I went for a walk to explore the area and found some amazing things including adorable villas, the most awesome "X-ing" sign (apparently you need to watch out for sloths, monkeys in addition to people), places that had more monkeys than people (extra amazing!),  banana trees and beautiful murals.

Surfing was something I wanted to learn, but I was just not quite feeling it, so I instead opted for enjoying some beach time with my favorite...coconut water!

It was tempting, but I resisted the urge to swim in the crocodile-infested waters!

While one last walk down the beach, I couldn't help myself when I saw some brightly colored sarongs with exotic animals and "Pura Vida".  I even negotiated the price down by less than half.  I am getting to be a pretty good negotiator! :)