A few days before the start of year 2014, one of my best friends and I made a pact: that the year 2014 would be our #YearOfTravel. A New Year’s Resolution, if you will.
The pact consisted of a single condition: That we had to go to a different U.S. State OR a different country every single month of the year 2014.
… Well, turned out that by mid-year, I had failed.
But with every “pact” (e.g. the Constitution) comes the opportunity for Amendments, right?!?!
Thereafter, I decided:
Amendment #1 (THE BILL OF MENDI-RIGHTS): Go to a different state or country ON AVERAGE of once a month for the year 2014.
(Honestly, that just means go to 12 different states/countries in the course of the year.)
Cheating a little… but WHO ARE YOU – THE PACT-POLICE?!?!?!
Let’s just say, I stayed true to the newly-amended pact <sly smirk>…
To celebrate and wrap up the wonderful roller-coaster-of-a-year 2014, I will look back on the cool/crazy/fun trips I took this year :). To commemorate, I will post my Instagrams from these trips (if any…), just because I’m too lazy to sift through mountains of photographs.
January 2014: London & New York (NYC) & New Jersey (Princeton)
Caption: Laduree in London!!
Caption: My new BFFs, Kiltz and Popo! #namedthemmyself #harrods #paddingtonbearz
Caption: London in all its evening glory. #piccadillycircus #reddoubledeckerbus #dusk
Caption: Big Ben reminds me of Peter Pan. #nevergrowup
Caption: So long, Muggle world – I’m going to Hogwarts!!#kingscrossstation
February 2014: Nevada (Lake Tahoe counts….. sheeeesh…) – no Instagram because I’m a poop that forgets to document things.
March 2014: Colorado (Denver) & Illinois (Chicago)
Caption: I still gush at the sight of flowers [Denver]
Caption: The world is my oyster. #chicago #willistower#103floorsup [Chicago]
Caption: Legitimately mind blowing. #thebean #chicago#landmark [Chicago]
April 2014: Taiwan (Taipei)
Caption: Stumbled across an AMAZING Vermeer exhibit at the CKS memorial. #ilovetaiwan #favoritememorial #OGODSHESSTARINGATMEFROMALLANGLES #pearlearring
Caption: The only picture I snuck in at this “no photos allowed” Japanese restaurant. #suchahooligan #omakase #taipei
May 2014: New York (NYC) & New Jersey (Princeton)
Caption: #princetonreunions, you win. #partywithazns #heyiheardyouwereawildone #flo #rida #beeronbeeronbeer
June 2014: Nevada (Las Vegas)
Caption: Vegas so far. #majorlazer #edcday1 #steveaoki #fireworks #lasers
Caption: Me and my best frand livin’ large. #killinit
Caption: Obligatory EDC update pic stitch. #edcday2 #ilikeusbetterwhenwerewasted
Caption: We roll deep, yo. #edcday2 #sunset2sunrise
July/August/September 2014: DRY SPELL/DEPRESSION/BURNOUT/NO-URGES-TO-TRAVEL-WHATSOEVER (the unfortunate circumstance that led to Amendment #1)
October 2014: Texas (Austin) & California (I THINK LOS ANGELES COUNTS CUZ CALIFORNIA IS FREAKING HUGE. sorry I don’t know why I’m yelling.)
Caption: Absolutely unreal. Who knew you could have foie gras nigiri….in Texas?! Oh, and in true Texas fashion, we had bacon. And hamachi nachos. #uchi #sogoodiwanttocry #friendssincebirth [Austin]
Caption: Team HELLA CALI representing the Bae Area at #ACLfest. Roster: ANNORITO, @haidzzzz, kb1z,@mendzzz, From The Bae, Dat Sun. #solidarity [Austin]
November 2014: Japan (Tokyo)
Caption: “Am I doing this right…?” #selfiestick #gopro #SFO #japan #cyclops
December 2014: Cambodia (Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh) & Singapore & South Korea
Caption: … And I’m off! Will attempt to update blog daily.#solotravel #cambodia #livelifelove #singaporeair #theymademecheckmybag #sobitter [San Francisco]
As you can see… WHAT A YEAR IT’S BEEN. I want to thank each and every person who accompanied me on any of these trips, as well as the people I’ve met along the way who endowed me with a richer perspective on life. Through others, I’ve discovered myself.
Hopefully this travel momentum will continue into 2015. Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee the same spread/quality of travel destinations this coming year (though I’ll surely try). I’ve come to realize that with the mid-twenties… comes great responsibility (haaaa, I know I’ll look back on this later in life and be like “pshhh…amateur hour…”) But for now, this chica need to save up for the future.
Not my most insightful/introspective post, but figured I would post something really quickly (like seriously, this was the quickest-time-to-post yet) to wrap up my #YearOfTravel.
To quote the movie Up, “Adventure is out there!” Cheers to future adventures, future friends, and future discoveries. Happy 2015, everyone.
With love,
Mendi
the wanderlust is real. 