Rosie and her 20's
Been busy this summer? Me too! Check out some of my favorite posts you may have missed along the way and feel free to drop your newest blog post in the comments so I can take a read! 🙂
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Rosie
If you read my previous post about preparing for the worst when traveling, you’ll know I almost didn’t make it to Vancouver. Luckily, I did and I LOVED it!
I gauge how much I love a city based off how much I’d want to live there and we ended up seeing how much apartments cost and looking at job openings so it’s safe to say we loved it.
Things I did:
1. Capilano Suspension Bridge
Seriously sooo cool and worth the money, just a little packed!
2. Stanley Park
3. Sunset Beach Park
4. Explored Gastown
5. Vancouver Lookout
The views of Vancouver are incredible, beautiful buildings surrounded by ocean and mountains!
Places I ate:
1. Nelson the Seagull
2. Tim Horton’s
I had to, right?
3. Cactus Club Cafe
4. Perverted
Really cool looking and yummy ice cream!
5. Forage
6. Heritage Asian Eatery
I loooooved Vancouver. That was my first time to the West Coast of North America and it did not disappoint! I have a special place in my heart for Canadian cities, they are just so clean and friendly for people my age. All of the buildings are so beautifully designed and you can literally not get sick of seeing the mountains over the ocean – it’s stunning. I’d love to go back one day.
Have you ever been to Vancouver?
Traveling gives me a lot of anxiety. I’m normally a hot mess day of, even though I’ve done so much planning and coordinating to avoid any mishaps.
I prepare for the worst as best as I can. I have back up plans and we get to the airport extra early. I do a lot of research and ask for advice of people who have been there – but there are always things you can’t prepare for.
For this most recent trip, I got really sick. Like I was in the hospital on Wednesday night and we were leaving for Vancouver on Friday morning. I had been looking forward to this trip for months and I was at a point in my summer where I NEEDED to get away. The threat of this trip not happening probably made me sicker.
As a very cheap optimist, I didn’t buy flight insurance. I was gripping my stomach Friday morning waiting for the cab, still wondering if I should actually go. Will I be able to make it through a 10 hour day of travel? I had to weigh whether I could willingly give up the hundreds of dollars I spent versus putting myself through basically torture.
After this experience, yes, I will always buy flight insurance now. I’m not invincible. But I stomached it and went on the trip anyway, anticipating spending all my time in bed.
But I was able to pull through. I’m a major foodie so it has been quite a bummer to not enjoy all the yums Vancouver has to offer because I’m sick. But at least I got to enjoy this beautiful city and next time I travel I’ll be even more prepared.
I’ve traveled to a lot of cool places. I made memories there, met people, had a great time with great people, experienced and learned new things. And I miss it.
I miss it almost like it was a person who made an impact on my life and then vanished.
But we can’t live in the past, we can’t live in previous vacations and places we’ve traveled to. We can just hold on to the beautiful memories we made there. We have to break up with the places we’ve been.
We have to let them go and live our real lives again, we must maintain presence. Because when I find myself looking back on brunches next to the ocean, or exploring a volcanic cave, or standing in front of a glacier – I feel a pang of jealousy and a need to escape.
While it’s okay to escape life just for a little bit, we shouldn’t always be pawing for the past. I’ve broken up with the places I’ve been. I’ve said goodbye, for now, and visit the happy memories every once in a while. But I won’t spend time yearning for something that once was.
It’s gone and over. Maybe I’ll return again one day. But until then, we’ve broken up and I have to move on to my present life.
I am on a traveling hiatus, only partly by choice. Life is really busy right now and there are so many other things that require money, time, and attention.
On the one hand, my break from traveling has allowed me to see my friends more. I’ve gotten more done around the house and in my own town. I’ve been really busy at work and stacking on trips on top of work would have just been way too much for me to handle (even though I’ve done it before). I have had time to myself and to just relax.
On the other hand, I’m tired of it. I need a distraction from life and traveling is usually the one thing that whisks me away and makes me happy. I keep looking at my calendar booked with hundreds of other things like appointments, work events, family get-togethers and am just underwhelmed with the way my summer is looking.
It is possible to have too much of a good thing and I was booking trip after trip after trip with no regard for my real life. I love traveling, but I need to appreciate the here and now too. The break from traveling has been an adjustment, along with many other things going on with my life, but I feel like it has been much needed.
Taking a break from traveling has been good for me, but I’m ready to get back into it! Luckily I have a trip planned in July. Where are you going this summer?
The way I approach social media is the following: do it for the gram, but also do it because you love it. I find nothing wrong with people sharing their adventures, selfies, and accomplishments on social media. I find nothing wrong with people traveling just because they want a great photo. I find nothing wrong with people hopping on certain trends like books, movies, or becoming more aware of what’s going on in the world just so they can chime in on social media conversation. Because it may all be for this little internet world, but there are many real life experiences coming from it.
It’s not always the case though. Sometimes our social media lives take over our real lives. And I hate to admit it, but it’s happening to me right now.
If you were to go on my Instagram right now, you’d see fun travel shots from the past. You’d see that I spent my weekend loving life and going to farmer’s markets and getting coffee. You’d see all my friends commenting and liking my photos.
But my real life is just nothing like that right now.
I’m pretty bored and the occasional coffee run doesn’t change that. Work is stressful, life is mundane, and I’m tired. So I’ve dug myself deep into the social media hole just to escape life.
Nothing really should be used to escape life. Alcohol, traveling, social media – are all things you can enjoy, but shouldn’t be used to just forget your life. And that’s what it feels like for now and I’m honestly sharing it with the world because I know other people get sucked up in it too.
I get home from work, put on netflix, and scroll through my phone until it’s time to sleep and that’s no way to live.
Sometimes social media just takes over our lives, but we have to recognize it and get ourselves out and do something for ourselves. Because social media is not going to do it for us.
I have started tagging along on my boyfriend’s business trips. Which means while he’s working, it’s up to me to entertain myself. Two weekends ago, I had a little solo adventure in New York City – a place I’ve been many times.
There’s always SO much to do in NYC that it was a little overwhelming for me to choose an itinerary. Even though I’ve been to the city more times than I can count, I don’t know how to navigate the subways AT ALL. So I stuck to walking and doing what I know I’ll love!
On Saturday, we got dinner and drinks on the Terrace of the Yotel where we were staying. Yotel NYC is a smart hotel and very centrally located. The rooms are like little pods and are so fun and affordable. The food on the Terrace was so good and it was a lovely evening!
On Sunday I stopped and got coffee and a muffin at Old Country Coffee and people watched while I ate. I then walked the High Line and stopped a few times for photos and reading. I walked the High Line down to the Chelsea Market and stopped at Creamline for lunch. I tried the Impossible Burger here because I’ve heard SO much about it!
I haven’t eaten meat in about 10 years and have tried tonssss of different burger alternatives, but none that actually taste like a burger. I really enjoyed the Impossible Burger and I would urge non-meat eaters and meat eaters to try it!
I shopped a bit then walked the Highline back to the hotel. We went out and split a sushi burrito at PokeTown. Say what you want about quirky spins on classic foods, sushi burritos are delish.
Then I ended my weekend in NYC, but I will be back soon! 🙂 What’s your favorite thing to do in NYC? (Clearly my favorite thing to do is eat!)
