Literally, everything happened in February. Continue reading “February 2020: the one where everything happens”
2019 year in review
It’s just barely still January, so now’s a perfect time to finally wrap up with the 2019 posts! Continue reading “2019 year in review”
May 2019: I went shopping. And that’s okay
May was…a month that happened. It was a largely stressful month—every year about this time I have a fun existential crisis about what am I doing with my life, am I moving or staying here, am I moving out of DC entirely, am I falling prey to one more year syndrome? (Spoiler alert: I’ve been in my apartment five years and at my job for three. There’s been a lot of one more year syndrome buuuuuuuut that also doesn’t mean I don’t freak out for a few months every year anyway before ultimately deciding to stay put.) Nothing like a little annual existential crisis to spice up your life! Continue reading “May 2019: I went shopping. And that’s okay”
Amsterdam, Paris, and Brussels, oh my!
Honestly with how busy I’ve been and how infrequently I’ve been posting lately, it kinda seems like it’s just now very on-brand for me to write posts long after I decided I was going to. So why not a Europe trip recap that’s a month late? It’s an excuse to post a bunch of pictures anyway.
So, long story short: my brother lives in Amsterdam. Last December, in continuing with my tendency these last few years to go places where I know people and can crash with them, I bought plane tickets to visit him. I was thinking it would be a solo trip, but after some deliberation about whether the whole family would go (the answer was no: my parents just had to replace their roof), we decided my dad would join me. He’s missed out on other family vacations since he can’t take off of work nearly as easily as my mom can, so it was his turn to get to go on a trip.
Plus plane tickets were $330 from here so how could we not? Dad came up to DC on a bus and we headed to the airport. Continue reading “Amsterdam, Paris, and Brussels, oh my!”
Save money on travel by…being in a relationship?
So I’ve been keeping a secret for a few months: I am not currently single. Surprise!
Okay, I guess some of you know this already. Military Dollar and I are getting married (Reaching Dollar 4eva). I’m tired of paying so much damn money for my rent every month, so I’m going to stay home and cook and clean for Mil$ and she’s going to pay for everything for me. It’s an excellent arrangement, plus I get unlimited cuddling time with her pup. And awesome military spouse benefits.
Actually we kinda sorta got married at Disney after FinCon. We just need to actually turn in the paperwork to make it official. And also do the paperwork. Continue reading “Save money on travel by…being in a relationship?”
Adventures in (kinda, sorta) travel hacking
I’ve been reading about travel hacking since before I began this blog, but hadn’t put any of my knowledge into practice until about two weeks ago. And it’s all because of a mistake I made recently. Continue reading “Adventures in (kinda, sorta) travel hacking”
Family and suboptimal decisions (and lots of traffic)
Friday evening was not the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.
I left work early so I could head out of town early and hopefully miss the usual traffic, but even leaving slightly before 3:00, I ran into residual traffic very soon after leaving the city (it’s not summer anymore, what the hell is up with there already being an accident and traffic at 3pm??!?). Over an hour and only 40 miles later, it started raining. It actually started pouring, and it didn’t let up for the rest of the trip. I-95 is not only a nightmare traffic-wise, but it turns out it’s not graded terribly well, and I hydroplaned in a couple of different spots. Continue reading “Family and suboptimal decisions (and lots of traffic)”
Glacier National Park: close encounters of the bear and fire kind
So my bucket list trip to Glacier was fantastic and it’s long since past time I published this post. How am I supposed to make everyone jealous if I don’t post copious amounts of photos of the park? Buckle in, y’all. This is a wild ride. Continue reading “Glacier National Park: close encounters of the bear and fire kind”
An experiment in being on vacation
If you’ve spent any time with me, you know I walk quickly—I’m a woman on a mission with places to be! When I travel somewhere, the same is true. Before I go on a trip I research places I want to go and things I want to do and figure out how I can fit in the maximum possible number of things on said trip. Any of my travel posts demonstrate this very clearly, especially my trip to the Azores last year, where I was in charge of planning what we’d do.
In my current stage of life, I travel a lot, which ostensibly means I’m on vacation. But it’s hardly ever a relaxing vacation: these days if I’m traveling, I’m going somewhere new (in which case I have a list of places to visit) or I’m visiting friends (in which case I want to do things with them in their town). Sometimes both of those things overlap (see also Portland and LA and New Orleans), so bring on the packed itinerary!
The one exception to that trend is the beach, where my mom’s family has been going every summer for 30-something years and where I’ve now spent 27 weeks of my life, one for every summer I’ve been alive omg I’m so old. Continue reading “An experiment in being on vacation”
A weekend in NYC
Inspired by Luxe’s weekend money diaries, what better post to write than a recap of my recent (okay it was a few weeks ago now—life’s been very busy lately) weekend trip to NYC, especially since I finally met her while I was there?
I originally decided to visit NYC because one of my best friends lives there (and I’m totally taking credit for the fact that she now blogs—you can find her here!) and I hadn’t seen her since her wedding last year. But I also made sure to let the NYC FI people know I was coming so I could meet some of them. Continue reading “A weekend in NYC”