Finding Love Around the World

Moving to a new city, especially temporarily, you never really expect to fall for someone or get attached. Actually, you usually tell yourself to keep things casual, to just have fun and make new friends, and move on once it's time to go.
Despite how you think things will progress, sometimes things happen that you just don't expect at all.

                                  
                                                                    ------
After a long term relationship that ended badly, I never expected I would find someone I was meant to be with. 8 years of my life I spent on someone that, all in all, didn't want a future with me and moved on almost immediately.
It's amazing the feeling you get once you've sunk so far beneath the surface of where you thought you were supposed to be. This ocean of my life swallowed me whole and spit me back out not knowing what I wanted or where I would end up.

Relationships come and go as often as you let them and even though I had another relationship that lasted over a year, I went into it knowing it wasn't going to last. That's not the mindset you should have when starting into a new life with someone else by your side, but that's how things seemed to work for me even after that one fizzled out as well.

Heartbreak cuts so many deep holes into you, but it's up to you how you come back from it. I chose to travel, to make myself better and to find better places to be. Others might find themselves sinking further into how they felt at that time, but we deal with things in our own ways.

                                      

Australia seemed like the perfect place to start over for awhile, even knowing I was only supposed to be here temporarily. One week into my time here, I started talking to a guy that would end up changing my mind about so many things I thought I knew about love and relationships. He made me persistent again, I pushed myself to make the effort for something I actually really wanted. He showed me that other people suffer differently from getting their heart stomped on and it takes a different amount of time to be ready to open it up again.

                              

While my adventurous side tends to stay more towards going new places, I've been giving in to doing more things that I might not have done otherwise, like 4-wheel driving up the beach, surfing in water that could potentially have sharks in it, and reeling in fish that are almost as big as me. I would say that I've gotten over myself a little in how I thought I just didn't want anything significant.
The definition of love has changed for me since I've traveled a little bit, because it's more about how people treat you and how they treat other people around them.
Love is about being there and supporting someone, giving your all and staying faithful, and it's most importantly about trust and communication.

This isn't perfect and it never will be, but I'm happy to say that my heart is full of love again and for someone who truly deserves it. This is all because I took a little trip to Australia and ended up finding love during my travels here.

Cheers and safe travels!
                                     

For the Girls - Lunette Cup Review

Let's be honest here, things are about to get a little personal. Sorry, a lot.
I have been shying away from using this product because I was afraid it wouldn't work out in my lifestyle, although being a seemingly convenient choice for travel, I'm also not a big fan of change in these areas of my life.

So let's get to it. I'm referring to the menstrual cup, or in my case, the cup I bought from Lunette.
Now again, let me state that changing ways in the process of shoving things up my hoohaw every month wasn't on my top priority list, but because I have some big trips coming up, I thought I would give it a chance beforehand.

This is the first week I have ever used this product or any of them, so my opinion is completely unbiased.
I have been an avid tampon user since high school and while I don't like to talk about my bodily functions, this seems like a pretty critical subject for any lady out there who's a part of the traveling game.

The Lunette cup I bought was just the standard model 1 in blue (since it is my favorite color).
The directions of use are pretty easy to follow and also not difficult to understand.
The cup itself isn't as big as what your mind tends to think it will be (at least from what I thought).
It is made out of silicone and is very comfortable once inserted, much more than any tampon, and it definitely doesn't have the same instinctual pain when you're inserting it either.
I don't know how many times I just couldn't relax enough before shoving a tampon in there and it hurt so bad I wanted to cry.
Not with this cup, the silicone is a plus because it doesn't hurt at all and you can hardly feel it when it's in there.
Guiding it up into the right place and making sure it's open all the way can be hard to tell sometimes, but I never had any problems with it not working. And while you can leave it in for up to 12 hours, I would only suggest that at nighttime, but I did only empty it maybe twice during the day.

Now, let's get to the more personal, kind of gross, aspect of this. This is a cup, made for catching your blood, so taking it out and emptying it, isn't going to be the most pleasant thing in the world. It's actually quite gross having to put your fingers up there, grab it and pull it out as it's still trying to do its job. Emptying it into your toilet or where ever you are is going to look like something way worse is going on and having to wipe that slimy, bloody, kind of gooey thing off before you shove it back up there, it's not so cool. Messier than a tampon, but more eco friendly, so I think it still wins on that.

The recommendations for cleaning are to rinse it off with water every time you take it out, but that's just not convenient when using a public restroom at work, so I took some watered down paper towels to wipe it off, good and clean, before using again.
At home, I definitely rinse it with hot water and if you have a mild soap that won't cause irritation, I would use that too.

Overall though, I didn't have any leaks throughout this whole week process and while somewhat gross, it's very easy to use. The cleaning aspect is a little bit inconvenient at times, but it's doable.
For travel, it's way better and space effective than carrying around a billion tampons, although a pad or two might come in handy just in case. The do have wipes that would be good for on the go, which I'm saving for my actual trip.

Would I recommend this product? For sure. Will I use it again? Most definitely when traveling, maybe sometimes while at home. While convenient, it's tricky in an office setting at times.

Cheers and safe travels everyone!

The Constant Planner

Hi there! For those of you who don't know me, I'm Elisabeth.
I reside in the great Pacific Northwest, born and raised here, not too far from Seattle.

                            

Since getting into my working life, which was once I got to college, everything seemed to be a whole lot busier.
Busy in the sense of work, school, and then the constant need for something else.
It didn't take me till after college to realize how much I needed to get out and get away, if only for short trips or even occasionally for longer excursions.

That's when one trip led to my need and want to consistently be in planning mode.
Every second I'm not being productive in work or at home, I'm thinking about things I need to do or plan for an upcoming adventure or planning out new ones that will happen in time.

                              

I'm sure that constant need stems from something, but it doesn't matter so much when it's the only thing I can think about.
I guess, while my heart can be content anywhere, my head has to tell me to be smart, to go and get away while I can. Travel and see the world while it's still there.

While this makes things hard, because my life has also been a constant struggle between saving money and having enough time, I've still been trying to do as much as I can here, at home.
Even when not every trip can be a journey across a major ocean, short trips to US destinations or road trips to places I've barely been, that can ease my mind for a bit.

                               

It's not that my normal, work and general life are boring, it's just that I'm not fulfilling my passions as much as I'd like to on a regular basis. Sitting at a desk, typing on the computer instead of sleeping on a plane, awaiting my new destination. Not exactly my cup of tea and I drink tea pretty regularly.

The PNW will always be my home but my longing to be somewhere else is much stronger than my pull to stay here.
Thankfully I have the support of my family to help push me to those new horizons, although I like to think even if I didn't have their kind words to propel me forward, I would be doing that for myself anyways.

My planning comes in bursts of anxious steps. The first usually being the decision making one, where choosing the place, finding an opportunity can be tedious, with lots of research before actually making it.
Once chosen, my chest seems to tighten, because the anxiety builds more than I thought it would. 'I must buy tickets now!" I think to myself, which only makes it worse. Once the surge of adrenaline leads to the ultimate process of buying tickets, the anxiety subsides.

                                 

It's odd feeling so rushed when usually I'm planning out a trip at least 6 months in advance, but that's how my body works I suppose.
Now it's on to the details. Those are the ones that could go on until the departure date for travel. They may keep me up at night, trying to remember things I need to buy, things I need to do, papers I forgot to print, etc.
Usually, done quite in advance as well. Lists upon lists of items and check marks, costs and reminders. Everything gets worked out.

Once it's time to leave, I feel exhausted. The journey, the end, to possibilities are all worth it and I tend to not be tired when I arrive. Only ready to go and to see and to be there.

                                  

Is this how you work when you plan out your trips? Do you have more of a system you follow or do you go with the flow?
Do you wait till the last minute or do you plan and wait?

Cheers and safe travels everyone!

This One is for Mom - Portland

I think everyone has heard of Portland before, at least in passing. The hipster capital of the world where coffee meets donuts and food trucks are abundant.
This place has captured the hearts of many and I would say it has captured mine too. I wish I could say I've traveled here a lot, since I live in Seattle, but within the last 10 years or so, I've only been downtown a couple times.

Being able to successfully plan and travel down to Portland with both my mother and sister, was a good highlight of this year. My mom was entirely excited to go down and see old friends and the sights, taking pictures at every turn.
Just throughout the planning process she couldn't contain her excitement.

We were able to do a couple things I didn't get a chance to do at my last go-around there, but there's still so much left to see.
Here are the things we did as well as some other sights that would be worth seeing if you ever venture there:

We stayed right downtown, near the Pearl District of Portland, which was the perfect location to get around. The hotel I chose was Hotel Lucia, which had a classic feel with modern touches. The hotel itself was nestled right in the heart of this part of the city, with attached restaurants and all. The room was awesome and suited our taste for the weekend just perfect.



The amenities they offered, while we didn't end up using any, were pretty great. Fully stocked mini bar and snack array, in case we needed it. Pillow service, ice cream service from Salt & Straw (I wish they had had my favorite flavor, snickerdoodle), basically anything you needed you could ring them for.
They also had a gym, meeting rooms, dining options, and more.

Our stay was great in the fact that we were in walking distance to the max, the Portland light rail system, that can basically take you wherever you want to go in the city.
We started off our Saturday morning right, with the glorious Voodoo Doughnuts (just blocks away from where we stayed). Who says donuts aren't a staple for breakfast?

We then journeyed our way, via max line, to the Oregon Zoo! It ended up being awesome and very easy to see all of the animals out in their enclosures. The lions were probably the most enticing, since the cubs were in their teenage years and very feisty. So funny to watch them jump on each other and even pounce and hit the window right in front of us! Crazy, but very cool!



I wish that we had gone to the Japanese or Chinese gardens during our trip, but my mom and sister had been to both so we opted out, sadly for me. If you do get a chance though, definitely go, because I've heard they're very beautiful and interesting to walk through.

The Saturday market is also very eclectic and very Portland, so we had to stop and visit as much as we could there. We actually walked around the whole place, checking out every stand and seeing what goods were available. I always talk myself out of buying things, but it was still cool to walk around. We grabbed some awesome food from there as well, lamb gyro for me!

Our night was spent with more exploring and grabbing dinner at a small quaint but fancy little restaurant northwest of us, North 45 Pub. Delicious selection of mussels and add-ons to their mac & cheese. All in all, delicious.
We were going to get drinks up at the roof-top lounge at Departure, but it was very busy. Apparently a sports team was staying at the hotel it was a part of.



Sunday morning, Mother's day, I had made reservations at the hotel restaurant, Imperial, for brunch. Let's just say, that was a great choice on my part. The food was delicious and it started off with a lovely homemade poptart. Perfect!

Portland, while being the hipster city you might know it to be, has so much character and so much to offer. The myriad of dining options and things to do is amazing. The transportation system is incredibly easy to use and makes everything that much simpler to do. Oregon, while not sounding entirely exciting, should be on your next trip list of places to go.

Cheers and safe travels everyone!

That Travel Bug Feeling

If you love traveling, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
That feeling when you've been in one place for a little too long, when home starts to feel claustrophobic, even with family and friends surrounding you.

Yeah, that feeling.

That sinking feeling of needing to get out of here before you go crazy. When you haven't been anywhere for a couple of months and it starts eating away at you (not literally).

That travel bug (also not literal) keeps you awake at night, sometimes. It makes you realize that being home, even though it is such a blessing when you are there, can feel like a trap.
Just getting away, even for a couple of days can feel like a breath of fresh air.
It's not only about the destination even, the journey itself is more than freeing, but when you get there, that's it.
You are free.

Being somewhere new strengthens you, it empowers you, it drives you to be alert and ready.
It prepares you for the every day, for the world. Travel is more than just going from place to place, it is the reason for all the variations of life out there. Travel makes learning possible, from culture to culture.

I have never felt better than when I get off a flight and realize I'm somewhere new.
Sometimes, the feeling is incredibly hard to explain or even understand, but it's there and I know it to be true.

Wanderlust describes it well in the fact that it's a longing for places you have never been or want to go. That is me on the daily.
If you're anything like me, you have to keep your mind busy when you're home or else you start to second guess everything you're doing.
That's why I plan. I am constantly seeking options for what could be. My Pinterest pages are filled with travel related stories and tips, my Airbnb account has over 20 wishlists, and I'm in constant envy of all the photos from Instagram I see.

So planning is where I'm at. Constantly. Looking up how much flights might cost, seeing how lodging may play a factor in overall expense, and what kind of activities I could do once I'm wherever.
This travel bug is not going away and the only way to relax it, is to go.
Time is precious and I cannot wait to get out there and see the world, but it'll take time. I am not the proud owner of a lucrative travel blog, nor am I rich and/or famous and can pay for said trips at the drop of a hat. I have to work, to earn my way around, but I'll get there.

If you feel that feeling like I do, you know, there will never be anything that can stop me from wanting more than where I'm at now. There is no cure.

So, is it time to go yet?

Cheers and safe travels everyone!

Traveling in Deutchland

Germany in itself, is a great place to travel to due to it's rich culture and copious amounts of beer gardens. There's something about it that keeps you wanting to stay or travel around to neighboring countries because it's close to lots.
I had a great time starting off my EF College Break trip in Munich, although it happened to be a rough start for us. Two bus drivers we were supposed to have from the airport decided to jump ship and not show up (the bus was there for one, but the driver was nowhere to be found).
We also had the luck to be there when it was rainiest. Downpours and thunder storms were the brunt of what we got during our time walking around the city and staying in at our hostel.

Despite the weather, the city was great. With the character of a German village, but the big buildings of a bustling city, it was an interesting mixture between decades. It seems as though I noticed that a lot being in Germany and some other places within Europe, but it doesn't make the experience any less memorable.

Our first night there, mind you this was after a little over 11 hours of flying time, we were so tired! We stayed at the nice A&O Hostel there, a little ways out of downtown, but close enough in proximity and we walked around to see what was there and how to get around.

Anyways, we spent the rest of the night, well...resting. Sleeping mostly to get ready for the next day, where we walked around the actual city of Munich, getting drenched by rain and trying our best to find cool places to see. We ended up not finding our larger group in time to get a walking tour of the city, but our organization hadn't really been great up to this point.

Our welcome mixer was held at a local beer garden AugustineKeller (yes, I did drink beer!) and the food they provided was delicious, light fare but hit the spot nonetheless. It was nice to just be there, to be surrounded by people you could get to know that were there for the same reasons. Getting away, having a good time, making new friends, and to be in EUROPE. Yes, I love Europe, so sue me. It's amazing the amount of countries bundled up and ready to visit.

We also took a nice little day trip over to visit Neuschwanstein Castle, a gloriously huge castle outside of Munich that was used in Sleeping Beauty? (Don't quote me on that). It's a cool castle in the architecture and the views. We had a nice tour followed by the gift shop and the trek back down to the small city below. It was a nice site to see along our way!

The next day was full of traveling, on our way to Italy but stopping in Austria for a quick stop in Innsbruck to do a little shopping and to take a break. It was a nice break, a lovely city really. The same kind of charm of Germany in a way and the people were nice.
We got to visit a huge and luxurious Swarovski crystal store before lunch and then we were on our way.

Jumping to the end of our trip! We got back to Germany, this time via traveling through the Black Forest where we given a cuckoo clock demonstration and we ate black forest cake!
We also took pictures in the Black Forest, just to say we had been in it.

Our last place to stay on the trip was Frankfurt (here), same German feel, but more to take in and see, especially since the rain held up for us in this city.
We enjoyed walking around here, taking in the city and enjoying the food. We even stopped off at a local club for some late night dancing (Club Gibson), which was a blast!
Heidelberg was where our journey took us on our day trip from Frankfurt, where we surveyed the town, bought souvenirs and ate crepes. We strolled up to the ruined castle to take pictures and to taste some wine, where we got to see the largest wine barrel in the world! This was a fun day trip for us and we had a good time together, as newly found friends at the end of their journey.

Our last dinner, which was delicious and so much food, was at a nice restaurant in the city called Binding - DerGasthof. Delicious food served in 3 courses: soup, meat, and dessert!

It was a nice way to end the trip, lots of food and sleep before waking up extremely early in the morning to catch my first plane to Paris and then wait for my next back home.

Germany had a lot of great things going on for it, the food, the culture and the sites.

More to come from the rest of the trip soon!

Cheers and safe travels!

Germany, Italy, Switzerland - My Time Away

It's easy enough to say that "I had a great trip" and when people ask that's usually my response. They really don't know the half of it though. Whenever I seem to get to Europe I feel like I'm in a different place, a different world altogether. Europe is where my heart is and I'm constantly looking for ways to go back.

This trip I went with a tour group called EF College Break, which when I researched seemed harmless enough. All the other people going along were around my age and the trip itinerary fit where I was wanting to go. Signing up was easy, waiting the year to go was the hard part.
Yes, I signed up a year in advance, mostly so that I would have time to pay off the trip (because they offer that kind of thing for you, to pay monthly or all at once) which was a perfect amount of time for me to afford the payments and save more for the trip as well.

I was going alone, hoping to meet people I could connect and make friends with, but if not, I was good with that too. I was just looking forward to getting away from my day to day, having a break.

To recap my trip quickly (I'll post more about my experiences in each place in other posts), the trip was just what I needed.
We arrived in Germany, spent a day or so getting accustomed to the time change, exploring and eating our way through Munich.
Traveling by bus didn't seem very exciting at first, but air-conditioning and comfy seats weren't so bad. Venice was a dream for everyone and we ate more gelato than we thought we could in a day.
Switzerland was my favorite (more on that later) and we had a great time enjoying the fresh air and lovely scenery, cows included!
Back to Germany, where Frankfurt helped end our trip with a good bit of fun, meaning dancing at a local club and sharing our last dinner all together at a great local place.

The flights, despite being long and hard to sleep on, we're so bad especially when the airline was very courteous and gave us all we could hope for in food and drinks along the way (Delta airlines, by the way).

The trip had some shortcomings, lack of communication and organization in the beginning, but all in all, it got straightened out pretty quickly and we had a great time. Our tour director, while stressed at first, was funny and was glad to share with us what he knew of the different places we were going.

Making new friends and memories along a 10 day trip through parts of Europe, even through the rain, is always great in my book.
I would recommend this to anyone, especially since there are so many trips to choose from.

I will have more detailed posts soon about the different places I went, but for now that is all!

Cheers and safe travels!

Packing Only a Carry-On

Now, I will start off admitting that I have a problem with packing. It is supremely harder and harder every time I try to whittle down what it is I want to bring with me.
I challenged myself with my 10 day trip to Europe to only pack a carry-on bag (+ a backpack) with stuff I would need and it really was that, a challenge.

Packing what you want and what you need are both very different things.
Starting off, I threw everything I wanted to bring with me onto my bed... and yes, it was a mess.
Rolling up and squishing everything in my packing cubes was done, but it seemed like too much to me and a bit too heavy for a carry-on, so I thought and drew out things I figured I didn't actually need.

Here's a rough guess at what my packing list consisted of:

3-4 pairs of shorts
2 skirts (one of which was a maxi)
1 pair of jeans (which I will wear on the plane)
1 pair of casual cotton pants
2 dresses
2 rompers
6-8 shirts (tank tops and t-shirts)
4 cami tops
2 bralettes and 1 bra
10 pairs of underwear
1 cardigan
2 jackets (one my regular jacket and a windbreaker)
1 Bikini
4 pairs of socks

1 pair of athletic shoes (will wear on plane)
1 pair of comfy flats (Toms)
A pair of sandals

Toiletries (small shampoo, conditioner, makeup, cleansing wipes, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, lotion, etc)
Camera + extra batteries and charger/adapter + extra SDHC cards
Phone + charger
Passport and other important items (debit card, ID, money)
Purse
Snacks
Disposable water bottle
Gum

This of course will be edited and redone multiple times after this, but this is the roughest thought of what I wanted to pack.

I can't begin to say how difficult it truly is when you have a tough time like I do to not pack a lot, but in the end, it's totally worth it. You can always buy things you need when you get to your destination and it's always a lot nicer to not have to lug so much stuff around.

The bag I'm using is a Samsonite Savor Wheeled Tote bag that you can find here.
My pack is a High Sierra 14L Hydration pack (that I took the water pack out of) that you can get here.
My packing cubes are from Ebags and they work awesome! You can get them on amazon in different sizes (here), I just got the medium ones.

I leave on Saturday and thought I would post this early. I'll try to post pictures on my Twitter account (here) while I'm gone!
Or my instagram: suz1177

Cheers and safe travels!