Spring 2018 Recap

Okay, listen. I had all intentions of keeping up with my blog with my full-time job, but it’s difficult! Not only am I busy from 8 to 6:30 (that’s including my commute), but I have a social life again after being gone from the city for almost two years. Your girl is straight-up tired. AND here’s the (somewhat) sad truth. My days run into each other, my weeks run into each other, and my months run into each other. Not much changes day-to-day so it would have been a veritable copy/paste from one month’s recap to the next. So instead of being late with my April and May recaps where I also might have had to address that I turned 33, I present you with my SPRING recap, or rather some highlights from a very busy season, that started with a weekend with my family for Easter:

March 2018 Recap | Settling Into the Real World Again

Since I began my new job in mid-March, it’s taken me a few weeks to settle in and figure out my commute, schedule, and energy level. I’ve been trying to catch up with people I haven’t seen in a while as well as get to know my new coworkers (who are all nice, funny, and welcoming, for the record). I’ve also still been working on my apartment and the exploration of my neighborhood which takes up a good amount of time. I know, “excuses, excuses”, and I’m sorry I’ve been quiet on here, but I promise, I’ll still be around. Here are some fun things I did in March:

February 2018 Recap | NJ & NYC

I didn’t spent a lot of time working on my blog in February because my life was kind of insane, in the best way. That’s because I moved back to New York City this week after being away for more than a year and a half!

December 2017 Recap | NJ & NYC

I already published one recap last week, but it can’t replace this post because it’s my 24th monthly recap without skipping one and I need to keep it up or else you’d forever be wondering what I did this month, right?

2017 Travel Year in Review

How do you measure, measure a year? 2017 was the year I spent time in 13 different countries and 11 different states. I traveled to Europe three times. I set foot on my fifth continent. I revisited London, Indianapolis, Ireland, and Portugal. I reunited with friends from college in Prague and Dublin and old coworkers in London, Chicago, and Dubrovnik. I traveled for 10 days in Cape Town with someone I met in Mandalay and for 12 days in Croatia with someone I met in Dublin. A twelfth of my year was spent dog-sitting, both in Chicago and Jersey City. I added Shenandoah National Park to my list of U.S. National Parks.

November 2017 Recap | NJ, NYC, & PA

In November, I had the closest thing to a regular schedule than I’ve had in over a year, and I actually really liked it. I felt like I was going to the office every morning, even though “the office” was every library and coffee shop within a 20-minute radius and my coworkers were the woman who works at the doughnut shop in Ocean City, an octogenarian with a MAGA hat, and my 9th-grade English teacher who now works at one of my libraries (Hi, Mrs. B!).

October 2017 Recap | Croatia, Jekyll Island, NJ, NYC

When I returned from Ireland and Portugal in August, I have to admit I was in a mood. I’m so thankful for the opportunities I’ve had and the decisions I’ve made that have allowed me to travel so much this year and last, but I was sad that it was coming to an end. I couldn’t stop thinking about traveling and couldn’t stop messaging with people I’d met during my travels and so, I took off again. A friend I’d met in Dublin was heading to Croatia, which has been on my list for ages, at a time when I had nothing else planned. So I found a cheap flight and flew back to Europe, feeling normal again on the way there.

September 2017 Recap | NJ & NYC

This time last year, I was traveling throughout Myanmar on my first trip of my gap year. This year, I was home with no upcoming travel plans, feeling a little bummed about that but also feeling wonderful about many other things. I had lots of visitors, my longest stint back in the NYC area in a year, and started a few new exciting projects. 

Fraunces Tavern, New York City

NYC | A Hamilton Happy Hour with Urban Adventures

Everyone in New York City knows that Hamilton tickets trump everything except for weddings. “I can’t go to your charity event – I have Hamilton tickets.” “I can’t travel to DC for that important meeting – I have Hamilton tickets.” “I can’t go into labor right now – I have Hamilton tickets.”

But what if you don’t have Hamilton tickets? {I’m speaking hypothetically of course, because I *do* have a ticket thanks to one of my cousins, though we have to wait a whole eight months until it’s our turn – for all we know, Carrot Top will be starring in it at that point.}

Posing with angel wings in Broad Ripple, Indianapolis, Indiana

June 2017 Recap | NYC, NJ, Delaware, Indiana

Everyone’s saying it, and I also can’t believe it’s July already. For many, that means that half the year has passed, but for me, this time, it means that I quit my job a year ago already (though I worked a few more weeks) – which seems insane. This month’s adventures were domestic but kept me quite busy nonetheless.

Gardens on railroad tracks in Long Island City, Queens

Queens, NYC | 6 Things I Learned About Long Island City with Brooklyn Unplugged Tours

I’ve been looking at real estate lately. I know, I know — I’m supposed to be nomadic and free-spirited and without roots, but lately I’m craving a little stability. I’d like to be back in NYC in the fall, and I’ve been looking in any and all neighborhoods of Brooklyn to see where I should live next and even to see if I could actually buy a place. It wasn’t until recently, while on a tour with Brooklyn Unplugged Tours in Long Island City, when I started thinking I could live in Queens as well.

April 2017 Recap | NJ, NYC, Maryland, Virginia

I rejoined the real world a teensy bit this month – working 40 hours a week and commuting to the nearest coffee shop across an under-construction bridge that takes 20 minutes to cross is no joke. I’d completely forgotten what it was like to have a job but it’s a good one to have. As I mentioned in my March Recap, I am working temporarily to help launch a new travel website. I’m super excited to show it off to you when it’s made public, but that also means I’ve had less time to work on my own stuff, though I got a lot done right when I returned from Europe to at least bring you new posts in the beginning of the month.

March 2017 | Czech Republic, Germany, France, NJ, NYC

In March, I continued my whirlwind trip of 10 cities in six weeks, and accidentally added one more city to that list. March came in like a few days in magical, mythical Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic, where I met a person whose profession is “fire eater”, and went out in the only Starbucks within a half hour in a drizzling, ghost-town-in-the-winter on the Jersey Shore. That makes it seem like I’m not happy to be home – this is not the case. It’s awesome sleeping in my own bed, having access to all of my possessions that are not packed away in my sister’s basement, and not having to pay for all of my meals. Well, and having phone service all of the time, being in the same time zone as most of my friends, and being able to catch up on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. And, of course, being with my family and the pup, and reuniting with friends.

January 2017 Recap | NJ & NYC

I’ve been waiting a whole month for 2017 to begin. Of course, it’s *officially* begun – I did watch the ball drop while stuffing my face with buffalo chicken bread, but I also haven’t been outside of NJ and NYC since before Thanksgiving. There’s definitely something to be said for being home, drinking hot coffee, and sitting by the woodstove with a puppy in my lap, but I long for adventure. Luckily, adventure awaits me on Saturday for almost six straight weeks. If you’re interested in following along in real time, follow me on Instagram as I’ll be posting a few pictures a day and using Instagram stories to share my travels with you all.

December 2016 | NJ & NYC

Even though I’ve already posted my 2016 Travel in Review post, it would be neglectful for me to not post a December 2016 recap, since my monthly recaps are something I’ve kept up since January. I didn’t visit any new places in December, but I still saw lots of friends and family, and that’s important.