As of September 2018 I have been doing this blog for three years! It’s crazy to think about, and I’m so glad I’ve stuck with it. The blogiversary post is a little late this year because I wanted to time it with the reveal of my new logo, but that’s taking longer than expected and isn’t ready yet! I figured this is better late than never. If you want to go back and read my past blogiversary posts you can find Year 1 here and Year 2 here.
Blogging Goals Recap
You can see the goals I set for my blog last September–mainly have a logo designed and restructure my website so that it makes more organizational sense. I accomplished both goals (kind of). I’m still waiting on my logo design to be finished but at least it’s in process! As far as restructuring, I did that earlier this year and am so happy with it. You can now search all my posts by location, which I think makes browsing so much easier on a travel page! I also bought a new computer (my old one was too slow for Lightroom), so I’ve been able to start editing my photos which I’m really excited about.
In terms of content, my posting schedule significantly slowed down in 2018. Maybe you could call it writers block, but for whatever reason, I just didn’t feel like I had much I wanted to share… so most of the time I didn’t. That luckily changed–inspiration reappeared–so I’ve been writing more recently (a lot of my stuff hasn’t made it on the blog yet and maybe it never will). I continue to fall in love with writing, and I hope it will be a big part of my life for years to come.
Discovering a Love for Poetry
I read Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur this year, and it inspired me to start writing my own poems. I shared a few of them on my Instagram and figured I would also put them here for those of you who don’t use that platform. They are currently untitled and are pretty rough because I haven’t studied the correct way to form poems haha… but I had a blast playing around with these words and decided to share them anyways. Stay tuned for more in the future 🙂
Traveling has taught me that some places
hold you and nurture you back to health
while other places break you apart
and leave you to pick up the pieces
I’ve learned to love both because
either way it’s always what you need
The universe has a way of doing that
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
If I had to choose the world or you,
I’d choose you every time
Because you are the world to me.
(But don’t make me choose.)
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
I sat on my ass in an uber â €
I sat on my ass in the airportâ €
I sat on my ass in a planeâ €
I sat on my ass in a trainâ €
It’s amazing how far you can get just by sitting on your ass ⠀
2018 in Review
While we’re still on the subject of 2018 I figured I’d do a quick review of my year and share some of my favorite things as well!
Places Traveled:
- Palm Springs, CA
- Los Angeles, CA (4 times)
- Indian Wells, CA
- Indiana (3 times)
- Santa Barbara, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Washington DC
- Portland, OR
- Seattle, WA
- Virginia and Maryland for a long weekend
- Japan: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Kagaonsen
- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- New York City
- San Francisco
- Lake Tahoe, CA
- Vacaville, CA
- Joshua Tree, CA
- Las Vegas, NV
Wow! I wanted to try and have a slow travel year if you remember my 2018 travel resolutions…. haha guess it’s not really possible if you’ve been bitten by the travel bug. I just can’t help myself.
Favorite Netflix Shows I Watched in 2018
- Terrace House Opening New Doors: I am obsessed with this Japanese reality show. Visiting Japan earlier this year was an incredible experience. I loved the culture and people, even though I felt like such an outsider and like it was a place I’d never truly understand. Terrace House has no script–they just film what happens between 6 people living together (kind of like MTV’s The Real World but way less trashy because…Japan). Each person has a personal goal or something they want to accomplish through living in the house, and they are free to leave at any time-usually it’s when they’ve achieved their goal. I feel like this show has given me the smallest glimpse of what it’s like to be a young Japanese person. I no longer feel such a divide to the culture because I’ve gotten to see how the cast interact with each other (and can understand their conversations through the subtitles Netflix has put on since they are releasing to an English-speaking audience). They are so different to Americans–they’re extremely polite and considerate and their mindset is quite different to the way we would approach things here. Every few scenes they cut to a group of comedians who dissect everything that’s happened. It’s hilarious. I’ve loved every second of this slow paced but endearing show.
- Queer Eye: The new fab 5 are amazing, and I love them all so much! I laughed and cried and was so moved every episode. I can’t wait for the next season.
- The Office: So many friends kept recommending that I watch The Office, and this year I finally listened. I’m currently on season 8, and it is freaking hilarious. You have to watch it if you haven’t. You’ll fall in love with all the characters… I don’t know how that’s even possible but they’ve done it.
- Making a Murderer Part 2: Kathleen Zellner you are a boss-ass bitch. She tears apart everything that happened in season 1, and it is SO GOOD.
Favorite Movies I Watched in 2018 (not necessarily movies that came out in 2018)
- On Chesil Beach: incredibly awkward, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking
- Call Me By Your Name: beautiful, can’t say enough good things.
- The Disaster Artist: so bizarre and so well recreated.
- The Greatest Showman: truly entertaining.
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: this Netflix original was SO SWEET.
- The Imitation Game: based on a true story about the Englishman who cracked the Nazi Enigma code and changed the course of World War II.
Favorite Books I Read in 2018 (out of 19 total read)
- Body Love by Kelly LeVeque: I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the science of food, how to eat it to fuel your body, and how the right food can keep your hunger hormones and blood sugar in check. It’s completely changed the way I think about food in the best possible way.
- No Impact Man by Colin Beavan: This book had been sitting on my shelf for a while and I finally picked it up at the beginning of the year. The author attempts to make no impact on the environment for one year (along with a wife and baby), and it is just fascinating. If you’re interested in minimalism at all or even reducing waste, this book is for you. The numbers and facts he drops blew my mind. I’m still thinking about this book a year later.
- Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman: the movie was amazing, the book was amazing, read it.
- In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson: I reviewed this book and Call Me By Your Name in a previous post you can find here. But basically I love Australia and thought Bill did a wonderful job capturing it and inspiring me to see more. Oh, and he’s hilarious.
- American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin: A blogger I follow mentioned she loved this book, and I was intrigued enough by that to buy it. I believe this was my first time reading true crime, and I was totally hooked. I appreciated how well written it was. Also, visiting Hearst Castle is on my Cali bucket list, so I wanted to know what happened to Patty Hearst even more. The story is absolutely crazy but it really happened.
Best New Things I did in San Diego
- Whale watching: so magical when you actually see something, so affordable (not even a big deal if you don’t see anything), and they have a bar on board! Sit back and relax with a drink in your hand as you head out to sea in search of whales and dolphins. We did this twice in 2018 because it was so fun (with this company).
- Renting electric bikes and cruising Hwy 101: I haven’t laughed so hard in such a long time. It cost about $50 for 4-5 hours to rent one bike from here (helmet and lock included). We zoomed north from Solana Beach and stopped in breweries along the way to Encinitas–all on the historic route 101 that runs right along the ocean. Such a California activity and so worth the slightly high price tag.
- San Diego Symphony: we went to watch Love Actually while the musicians played the score live. It was beyond incredible, and I’d love to go again. This year they’re doing the same thing with Jurassic Park and Harry Potter. I may or may not already have tickets to Harry Potter 🙂
Goals for my 4th Year Blogging:
Continue to grow my following (easier said than done)
Improve photography and find a consistent editing style
Improve writing: practice makes perfect! But let’s be honest I’m not striving for perfection.
Get logo uploaded
Wild card: start a podcast! Would anyone listen?? HAHA
What’s Coming in 2019
I have a feeling/hope that 2020 will be a big travel year for us, so I really want to try and save money and enjoy living in San Diego in 2019. That being said we already have a few plans to look forward to.
- Seeing Britney Spears in Las Vegas in February
- Visiting Joshua Tree again in March for my birthday. We’re staying at an Airbnb I’ve been eyeing for almost 2 years, and I literally can’t wait to stay there!
- Australia in April/May: Ollie’s birthday, Hannah and Ryan’s dirty 30, seeing my little brother who’s studying abroad in Sydney. It will be jam-packed amazingness.
- Seeing Sir Paul McCartney in June–shaping up to being a year of seeing music icons. Seeing him live is on my bucket list, and I can’t believe we have tickets!
- Visiting Huntington Beach, CA in August to watch a professional surf and BMX competition: attending new sporting events is kind of Ollie and I’s thing. In 2017 we went to the PGA tour for the first time which was so fun. We’re doing it for our third  year in a row this January! And in 2018 we went to professional tennis and got to see Venus and Serena Williams play. So 2019 will be surf, which I’m so excited about considering we live in SoCal (and maybe cricket while we’re in Australia).
- My brother’s wedding in October! Going to be the best day ever!
I also can’t stay away from NYC and SF for too long, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up there at some point. But I sincerely am going to try to not do as much so I can hoard money for 2020 plans 🙂
What are your goals or resolutions for 2019?