Oh, the places I'll (hopefully) go

I'm currently writing this while sitting in a donut shop and watching the sunrise. I have to wait about an hour and a half till I can go into work, so why not write a blog post!

So, I have decided to book my flight to Iceland in February. I am not going to wait any longer! And since I've decided that, I've been really thinking about where I would like to travel to on my trip. And, while I know I may not get to all of these lovely places on this trip, I'm certainly going to try to get to as many as possible. 

So, without further a-do, here's the list of places I hope to visit in 2015-16 

• Iceland
• Norway
• Ireland
• The Netherlands 
• England
• Germany
• Austria
• Poland
• Italy
• Spain
• Switzerland 
• South Africa 
• India
• Indonesia 
• Australia
• New Zealand

Will I get to all of these places? Honestly, I have no idea.

To me, the most important thing is not how many of these places that I get to visit on this trip, but that I'm actually taking that first step and completely leaving my comfort zone to follow my dreams.

Next step, book that first flight to Iceland..

xx

Unsuspected Adventures

From a young age, we're always taught the popular phrase, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade".  If life decides to throw a little bump in the road at you, might as well make it fun. Life would be more simple if we all just listened to the popular phrase and made lemonade from our lemons!

Yesterday, I had quite the long day. I was headed out to a pep rally that my cheerleaders were cheering at, and I was already running late. So, I had to grab my shirt out of the dryer while it was still quite damp, and just drive with my windows down in the hopes of it drying off. That was a bit uncomfortable, but it didn't really bother me.

Then I get to the pep rally and went to go park my car in the lot. The pep rally was at a school, so there were kids playing outside, and there was a section of the lot that was blocked off by traffic cones. So I had to turn around and park the other way. Simple.

Well, life thought it be fun to give me some lemons.

My car wouldn't go into Reverse. It was stuck in Neutral and Drive. Uh oh.

So, I pulled into the only empty spot that I could get to without having to turn around. Then I realized that it wouldn't go into Park either (yay). So I would have to wait for a tow-truck to come an hour and a half later. But that was still okay, because I had to go into the pep rally. I left my key in the car, put the car in Neutral, put the emergency brake on, and turned off the engine. I wasn't too worried about anyone stealing it .. it literally couldn't move!

After the pep rally was over, the school kids got dismissed. And the tow-truck just so happened to get there at the exact time that you cannot get into the parking lot of the school while the kids were being released. Perfect.

And that's when I had to wait about another hour or so before the tow-truck could get to me. This entire time, all that was going through my head was the phrase. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

I put my music on, and just had a pretty chilled wait. And it also got me thinking, things like this are going to happen when I travel. Things aren't going to go perfectly to plan. Sometimes there will be hiccups, and that's okay. As long as you know how to handle situations and not let it get to you.

Once the tow-truck got to me, the driver helped me out and towed me and my car to the car dealership. The man's wife was in the cab of the truck too. They were so kind, and I honestly had a great time talking to them in the car ride. Then we got to the dealership, and I had to wait for a shuttle to drive me home.

I had to wait for about 2 hours for the ride, but there was a vending machine, a bathroom, and free wifi! I could not complain one bit! I was even able to get some work done while I waited. I read a little, worked a little, ate, drank, and was merry!

The shuttle actually just turned out to be a worker driving me home in his car. He was also so kind. We chatted and listened to music the whole ride to my house as we sat in rush hour traffic. I learned that he was from Dubai, and then we started talking about traveling and all the places we wanted to visit.

Once I got home, I realized that I was actually seeing this situation the wrong way.

Life didn't give me lemons. It gave me lemonade.

If my car wasn't to go all crazy on me, I would have never met these amazing people. I would have never known that I could handle myself in sticky situations. If you change the way you think about things, you can change your life.

Something you thought would suck, could turn out to be a lovely time. An unsuspected adventure, if you will.

xx

Budgeting .....

Oh, the dreaded, dreaded, B-word. BUDGETING.
No one likes to have to cut back on their favorite spendings, but in order to save the money I need to travel in October, I've been cutting back like crazy.

Since I first started saving for my journey later this year, I've been researching and practicing little ways to cut back and budget my money. And let me just say from the get-go, it can be hard. But let me also say, it makes it so much easier knowing it will all be worth it.

Here are some ways in which I've been cutting back these past few months

Cutting out the Starbucks                                                                I used to get Starbucks probably about 4 times a week. Or just get a coffee anywhere I could. I was spending a lot of money on coffee in a week. Cutting out Starbucks/any other bought coffee from your budget will do wonders. Instead of buying your coffee everyday, it's a whole lot cheaper to just make your own at home! I have actually started to decrease my coffee intake all together to cut my spending even more!


Bring your lunch to work                                      Instead of going out for lunch everyday at work, I started bringing my own lunch from home! This help me save at least $50 a week. This also helps you eat a lot healthier!


You only need the essentials                                        If it is not absolutely essential to your life, let it go! Things like your gym membership, Netflix (I know, that's a hard one), and going out every weekend are not necessary to your life. Only pay for what you need to survive day to day. Everything else is just an object standing in the way of you and your dreams!!


Avoid the Mall                                                             And Sephora... Buying that bag, or that coat, or those jeans, is not getting you any closer to your budget goals. The day I stopped wasting money on pointless material items, I started saving so much more money. I used to be in Sephora at least twice a week buying some new makeup that I saw someone else wearing and thought was the best thing on Earth. I spent so much time (and money) in there that the employee's knew me by name. That's not good!! I now learned that none of that will make me as happy as traveling.


It also helps to make sure you are aware of where every penny of your money is going. Don't spend it if you don't have too! And honestly, I am still having to tell myself this! Everyday!!

Budgeting your money and making a game plan can be difficult. But you can make it fun if you just keep telling yourself that every dollar saved is going towards another day of discovering the unknown, living the adventure, traveling.
xx

My Favorite Travel Bloggers of 2014

So, as I spent a majority of my time in 2014 researching all things travel, I have read an insane amount of travel blogs. And some were so helpful and inspiring to me, that I want to share them with you too!

Adventurous Kate (Kate McCulley)                                                   Adventurous Kate was actually one of the very first travel blogs that I started to really read. She was one of the first people to truly inspire me to travel solo. When I first became a reader of hers, I was still on the fence about traveling, especially since I knew I would be going at it alone. But once I read around 3 post by Kate, I was sold on traveling solo. Her focus is trying to show her readers and the world that it is okay and safe to be a solo female traveler. And she will be one of the speakers at the Women In Travel Summit that I am going to in March, so I am SO excited to be able to see one of my travel inspirations face to face!


Nomadic Matt (Matt Kepnes)  Matt was also a huge inspiration and help to me while researching how to start planning my trip. He has a huge amount of advice on his site. He basically has a step by step guide for everything you would need to know about how to plan your travels. And Matt responded to my concerned e-mail so quickly and gave me that extra boost of confidence that I really needed to get myself started. I was at a point where I was ready to start planning my trip, but my family did not want me going solo at all. So, I e-mailed Matt explaining my concerns and my families concerns, and he got back to me within about an hour, giving me great advice and calming my nerves. He is also a huge help in my traveling solo. AND he's just released his newest book and is going on tour for it now (go check it out!!)! So I'll get to meet him this February when he comes to Houston, and I am SO SO excited. I can't wait to thank him in person!


World of Wanderlust (Brooke Saward)                                               Last, but certainly not least, my latest obsession, World of Wanderlust (WoW)! I started reading Brooke's blog in November. Since then, I have read every single post on there. And read all of her books. Her writings are that good. She is also a solo female traveler, who booked a one way ticket to London a year ago and has been traveling solo for this whole year. She shares all of her stories and tips for solo female travelers, and they are so very helpful. She also has a YouTube channel! Brooke has been such an inspiration to me and my travels. Since reading her blog, I have added so many cities to my list of places to visit while I travel. My favorite thing about World of Wanderlust is that from reading it, I become more and more confident about taking that leap of faith and going solo. My favorite quote from Brooke's blog is "All it takes is one moment of insane courage.". Because it's so true. Reading her blog has taught me that. All it takes is the courage to step out that door and don't look back. And I cannot wait to do that.

I hope you take a look at these amazing bloggers and are just as inspired as I was! Their adventures are so thrilling and so inspiring. They were a huge help in giving me the courage to pursue my dream of traveling. I can't wait to put their advice into action this year.

Thanks for reading loves! Don't forget to follow your dreams ..
xx

Why I Decided To Take A Gap Year And Travel The World..

I was a cheerleader for 13 years of my life. I thought that I was going to be doing something to do with cheerleading for the rest of my life. Whether it was coaching, actually cheering again for a team, or working on staff of a top cheerleading company. It was my dream. So once I moved to Texas in 2012, I decided to try out for Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) staff. It was my dream to make it, and I worked for months improving my skills. So, you could imagine that I was very crushed when I found out that I did not make it. 

I was so lost when I found out that I didn't make it, because I didn't know what my dream was anymore. And for me, life is not complete unless you have a dream to reach for. So I spent about 2 months trying to decide if that really was my dream. In the end, I decided it was. So, I spent that Summer and Fall practicing my skills again. Until one day, I stopped loving it. And all that was going through my head was "Dream a new dream".

And so, that's exactly what I started to do..

By this time it was November of 2013 and I was getting ready to board my flight back to New York for Thanksgiving, when it hit me. I love traveling. I love getting on a plane and flying to somewhere. I even like doing that on my own better that with others. Even if it was just going back to NYC, I still loved the happiness that getting on a plane gave me. And I knew that it wasn't just the excitement of getting to see my family and friends again. Because even on the flight back to Texas, that same love and happiness was still there.

As soon as I got home that Thanksgiving, I started to read travel blogs every now and then, just dreaming of a life of travel. Then, I started getting more interested in different countries around the world. I would spend hours and hours a day in bookstores reading about a bunch of different countries and cities, just thinking about where I would want to go if I were to travel.

It was around May of 2014 when I decided that I could do this. I could save every penny I have and I can go wherever I want. I didn't have to just sit back and read about others living the same dream as me. I was already working full time, so I knew I could save the money. Instead of buying new clothes and make-up and pointless material things, I decided not to touch a penny of my money if I didn't have to.

I didn't know exactly where to start, but I knew what my heart was dying to see. I wanted to see the Northern Lights so badly. I became obsessed with seeing them. Now at least once a week I would spend hours researching the best times and places to see the Northern Lights. Then I decided that in August, I would make my dream a reality. I was going to go to Norway for a week and see the Northern Lights and all of Norway's wonderful beauty. I even learned how to speak a bit of Norwegian!

But sometimes, things don't go exactly as we plan. The day before I was about to book my flight to Norway, I received devastating news about the death of a friend back in New York. So, instead of booking my ticket to Norway, I booked my ticket back home to NYC and flew out the next day.

But I took that as a sign that maybe I wasn't meant to go to Norway at that time. Maybe I was meant to keep saving and achieve a bigger dream.

The night I got back to Houston, I had the thought of just taking a year off of work the next year. Because to be completely honest, I was not ready in any type of way to start "playing the game of life". I was not ready to just work the rest of my life from 9-5, get married, have kids, and never get to live out my dream of traveling. I'm only 20 years old, but I decided if I don't do this now, then will I ever do it? The answer was I don't know. I had to live my dream now.

So, I started seriously doing my research. Learning new languages, getting a backpack to travel with, seeing where I would want to go. And also realizing that I will have to do this on my own if I want to live my dream now. Like I said in my previous post, no one is worth putting off your dream, even if that means living your dream on your own.

And now, here I am, still getting ready and planning for my adventures to begin..

Also to help me get ready for my trip, I will be attending the Women In Travel Summit in Boston in March! I am so excited to hear some of my favorite travel bloggers speak and to connect with other women who are passionate (and more experienced) about travel.

Remember, to always keep reaching for a dream. And even if you reach that dream, or you realize something is not your dream anymore, DREAM ANOTHER DREAM!

Thanks for reading loves! Can't wait to live these new, exciting adventures ahead!
xx

21 Reads of 2014

Ah, hello! So, yesterday I was on YouTube just taking in my social media for the day, when I saw a video posted by one of my favorite YouTubers and my book and hair inspiration, Carrie Hope Fletcher. She is a YouTuber and actress who plays Eponine in Les Miserables in London's West End (jealous!!!). She is remarkable! Anyway, she posted a video of all of the books she has read in 2014, and that gave me the idea to count all of the books that I read in this past year as well. 

It turns out that I read 21 books in the year 2014. And now I will share them with you!


2014 Reads
1. Divergent - Veronica Roth
           Veronica Roth is an amazing author. I read the entire Divergent series in a week's time. I wasn't going to read the books at all, I was just going to see the movie. But a few days before the movie came out I decided that it would not be right of me as a lover of books to see its movie without properly reading the series first. Best decision ever. I thought that the film was amazing, but I of course, the book was much better. I feel like I would have enjoyed the movie more if I didn't read the book first, but I'm glad I did!

2. Insurgent - Veronica Roth
       I think you got the point that I thoroughly enjoyed this series .. also I can't wait for this movie!!

3. Allegiant - Veronica Roth
       I'm not sure if the ending of this book was the absolute worst ending of any series ever, or by far the best ending ever possible to create for a series. I won't say anymore so that I don't spoil it for anyone!

4. Four - Veronica Roth
       Four is number 4! I loved that this story is told in Tobias' point of view and that we get to read all about his background and his life before Tris came into it.

5. Maybe Someday - Colleen Hoover
       This book was suggested to me by my cousin and it was one of the coolest books ever because it actually had a soundtrack to go along with it. I know, weird right? Well the author, Colleen Hoover, teamed up with singer/song writer Griffin Peterson to create actual songs that would appear in the book. And the songs are actually good! It's an amazing story line, that has quite the twist in the middle of the book!

6. My Drunk Kitchen - Hannah Hart
       First off, I love Hannah!!! She is so funny and I love her YouTube channel! So this book was an absolute blast to read.

7. Paper Towns - John Green
       This man writes like no other! He is one of my favorite authors ever. His writings just keep getting better and better. AND they just keep getting turned into more and more movies!! Paper Towns was such an incredible book with the most interesting characters. I am a huge Margo fan and cannot wait to see Cara Delevingne play her in the movie. Also, Nat Wolff is the only person that I can ever picture playing the part of Q so, I am highly excited about that! Plus he is a great actor! Give me June already!!!

8. Looking For Alaska - John Green
        Yes, I'm totally aware that I am late to the Looking for Alaska party, but at least I got here! This book was truly incredible. Alaska is one of my favorite book characters because she is so interesting and is so different than many other characters. I had to re-read that last few chapters of this book several times. Also, happy 10 year anniversary of Looking for Alaska!

9. An Abundance of Katherine's - John Green
       While I did enjoy this book, it was definitely my least favorite book of John's. I felt like the beginning was really slow, but once it picked up, I started to like it more!

10. Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green & David Levithan
       Ah, yet another gem from John! And also David! I loved the storyline of this book and how two completely different people leading completely different lives have the same name and somehow find each other while looking for something else.

11. This Star Won't Go Out  - Esther Earl, with Wayne & Lori Earl
       This book means the world to me. Esther Earl was a friend of John Green's. The Fault in Our Stars was written for Esther. Unfortunately, she never got the chance to read it, as she passed away before it came out. This Star Won't Go Out is a collection of Esther's journal/blog entries and drawings, and entries from her parents. Reading this book has changed my life forever in a way that I cannot explain. The only way to understand how amazing this book and Esther are is to read this book. It will quickly change your outlook on life..

12. The Maze Runner - James Dashner
        This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire read. It was so action packed and there was never a dull moment. Also, Dylan O'Brien was amazing in the movie!

13. The Scorch Trials - James Dashner
        The second book to this series actually took me quite a while to finish. I found it to be somewhat of a slow read in the beginning, but once it picked up, I was thrown right back into that feeling that the first book gave me.

14. The Mortal Instruments: City of Heavenly Fire - Cassandra Clare
        The Mortal Instruments series as a whole was just magnificent. And this book, being the final book of the series, did not disappoint one bit! Cassandra Clare stole my heart the minute I started reading City of Bones and continued all the way through this series and The Infernal Devices series. I cannot wait for her new series about Emma and Julian!

15. Identical - Ellen Hopkins
       Okay, I'm gonna be honest, this was the one book that I actually didn't finish this year :x I know, I know, I shouldn't count it as a book that I read in 2014 if I didn't finish it, but I am determined to finish it up! From what I did read, I loved it! It's a very dark and weird book, but in all the good ways! I just got very caught up in life an ended up forgetting about it.

16. Hey, Let's Make a Band! - 5 Seconds of Summer (Ashton Irwin, Calum Hood, Michael Clifford, Luke Hemmings)
       I am a HUGE 5SOS fan, so this book was like heaven for me. And it was awesome because it was entirely written by the boys themselves. It tells their story of how they became a band, what it was like touring the world with One Direction twice, and stories about their lives before 5 Seconds of Summer became a band. For a 5SOS fan, this is the best it can get!

17. One Day - David Nicholls
       I saw this movie about 3 years ago or so and was completely in love. But then a few months ago, I was watching a video of Carrie's and she mentioned it, so the next day I went to the bookstore and got it! The book, as always, was SO much better than the movie. I fell in love with the characters and their tragic story.

18. Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell
        This book was one of my favorites in 2014. This love story was so incredible. I love how it was centered around music as well. And Eleanor and Park are both so awkward, but in the best way. Some of the moments were so cringe worthy, but it was because they were so real. I highly recommend this book to every soul!

19. If I Stay - Gayle Forman
        Amazing. Incredible. I could not put it down at all. I saw the movie before I read the book, and I'm happy that I did because I felt like I already knew the characters when I started reading. Adam and Mia's was my favorite love story that I read about this year. The way the book was written was also incredibly clever, with going from flashback to present to flashback and so on. And I have to say, Chloe Grace Mortez is magnificent.

     
20. Where She Went - Gayle Forman
        This sequel was just as good as its first book. What I loved about this story is that it was told in Adam's point of view and we got to know Adam and what happened to his life once the accident occurred. 

  

21. Grace's Guide: The Art of Pretending To Be A Grown-Up - Grace Helbig
        Let me just start off by saying Grace Helbig is one of the funniest people ever. And she actually does give some pretty cool advice! I've been watching Grace on YouTube since the DailyGrace days and she has just become more funny and successful as the years go on. This book was such a fun read, with all of her personal stories and even some advice from her mom.

And there you have it!! Every time I read I book, I always like to think about if there was anything that I can take away from the book. And there almost always is. All of these books have stolen a little piece of my heart and have given me a little piece of theirs. It was definitely a successful year of reads for me! I'm hoping 2015 will be even better! I'm already on book number 3, so it's looking good! Has anyone else read any good books this past year?

Some pretty fun travel posts coming up soon, stay tuned loves and thanks for reading!!
xx


*All pictures from Google

WELCOME BACK ....

Oh my ..
Is it possible that I am actually writing a blog post?! After almost a year of no new posts?!
Believe it or not, it is true! I have decided to "re-open" my blog, if you will. Over the past year not much has changed. Still just working my butt off. But now instead of working for money to buy new clothes or bags or makeup, I am working to save for my dream! (It is much easier to wake up everyday knowing you're working for something important rather than material things by the way!) And I'm sure you're wondering what this dream is.. it is TRAVEL!

I was never really into the idea of taking a year off of work to travel the world, but almost 3 years ago when I moved to Texas I was suddenly so amazed by the world and all of its different people and places. It's funny how something that seems so terrible at the time can make you realize some of your biggest dreams.

So, a few months ago, I decided to start saving like crazy for my trip. I set myself the date of October 15, 2015 as the day that I will be starting my travels! I am so excited to start this journey of mapping out my trip and sharing it on here. I have been doing so much researching and reading travel blogs for the past months, and now here I am basically converting my blog into somewhat of a travel blog! And while I may not be leaving on my trip for quite a few months, I'll still be posting about all the ways in which I'm getting ready for my travels.

OH! And did I mention that I'm going alone?!
Yup, you heard me right. This one will be a solo trip for me! It's not that I didn't want anyone to join me, it's just that no one could. Or at least no one is at a time in their life where they could just leave university or quit their job to travel as soon as I want to. And while it would be nice to go with someone, I am not about to put a hold on my dream to wait for anyone else. I know that if I really want this, I can't waste anymore time waiting around. I just have to take a leap of faith and go. And if that means going at it alone, then BRING IT ON!

I am SO excited. This trip has been consuming my thoughts so much recently. It's what makes me want to go to work everyday, because I know I'll be making money for my travels! I have a bunch of posts planned for the next few months, like explaining why I decided to do this, and even a post about my favorite travel bloggers. I hope you're ready for the adventure!!
xx