It’s officially been one year since I launched my blog with my first article about the springs in my home state of Florida. Over the past year, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to travel to some amazing places, meet some incredible people and grow in ways I hadn’t expected. Let’s take a look back at the last year together.
My first trip of the year was to New York City with a big group of friends. We rented out an Airbnb and explored the city’s landmarks, food scene and met up with old friends. I didn’t write any blogs about this trip and I only mention it to show that it’s okay to sometimes keep certain memories to yourself when you share so many others. However I will leave you with this one photo by the talented @frasermair.
In February, I bought a drone and traveled down to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands with my brother for about a week. We met many people who were recovering from the hurricane that ripped through months before, but had positive spirits. One local I met through Couchsurfing even took my brother and I surfing(we used actual surfboards, not couches).
April was an exciting and busy month of travel starting with my first solo trip of the year through Costa Rica. I had previously been to Honduras and Nicaragua for humanitarian work but never traveled alone in the region. Sure, I’d traveled alone through Europe and Australia but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about going by myself. It’s unfortunate that we tend to look down on certain countries because of their economic status or location on a map, but we’re conditioned to. This trip helped remind me that there are amazing and kind people in every country and I gained both a great deal of confidence and open mindedness from my stay there.
One of the best parts about traveling is the people you meet. I’ve met so many great friends from traveling and it’s always a pleasure to be able to see them again, especially when you visit them in their home country. One of the guys I met while studying abroad in Spain is from Mexico City and has wanted me to come visit for a while. I was lucky to be able to after my time in Costa Rica.
I flew into Mexico City and then we drove up to Huasteca Potosina to explore the amazing waterfalls of this tropical paradise. I could not believe how many amazing waterfalls were packed into one region. Each new waterfall seemed more breathtaking than the last.
April had still not passed by when I squeezed in yet another trip to Puerto Rico with another good friend from college. We had both previously been down there within the last 2 years and had seen many of the more popular tourist destinations so our goal for this trip was to find some places off the beaten path and we sure did. Puerto Rico has some amazing beaches you’ve really got to check out!
After several months focused on travel at the beginning of the year, I set my focus more on pursuing other goals I had on putting my degree in IT to use. It was a hectic few months during which I spent little time working on my blog but decided to return to it late in the fall when I finished some partially completed work on my trips from April.
In early November I took a long weekend to go explore Shenandoah National Park in Virginia as well as test out my new Canon M50 I bought to learn more about photography. It was a far cry from the typical trips I take in warm tropical places but a great opportunity to explore more of the US.
I started out 2018 with some amazing travels and decided that I had to finish the year in the same fashion, as well as get a break from the colder weather in my new home that I was not used to growing up with. What better way to do so than spend Christmas in Fiji?
One week in Fiji exploring the outlying islands, the sand dunes, and a volcanic hot spring flew by and we headed to Sydney to ring in 2019 and see the famous fireworks over the harbor before heading off to road trip around Tasmania.
5 days, 4 dudes and 1 tiny car exploring Tasmania’s rugged wilderness was the perfect way to start off the new year. It’s been a crazy, stressful, and wonderful year and I’m excited to see what 2019 brings for my blog and I. I hope you’ll join me for this unknown path ahead and I thank you for all your support thus far!
