It's #Monday morning and a new week in Seattle...✨
I want to talk about the concept of newness. I'm someone who values & seeks out new experiences, exploring new places, & meeting new people, which I think many travelers have in common. I typically prefer new & different over a set routine. Can you relate or do you love having a solid routine?
Yesterday was a gorgeous hot summer day in Seattle & my brother needed a ride home from the airport in the afternoon. On my way to pick him up, I remembered back when I was 16 and the very first time I was driving alone after I got my license. It was also a beautiful summer day & I was driving down the same road. I was so excited & giddy with the sunroof open, windows down, & music blasting on the speakers. On that first drive I was only going a short distance to my friend's house, but I was squealing, singing, & dancing with excitement of my newfound freedom. Yesterday I thought of how the prospect of driving to the airport back at that time in my life would’ve been soo exciting & also probably mildly terrifying, driving that far on the highway.
Now that I've had my drivers license for over a decade, the newness & excitement of driving a car has faded. My thoughts yesterday were originally occupied by the amount of time taken from the sunny day (I live about 40 mins away from the airport) & the cost of the gas guzzled. But the memory reminded me to bring a bit of the joy back to my drive with my windows down & music up. And to also acknowledge the gratitude that I have a car to drive & the ability to drive it (and constantly dance in it 💃🏽). I decided to take a more scenic route, across Lake Washington & through #Seattle with gorgeous views of Mt. Rainier as I drove south on I5.
Nothing can stay new forever, from experiences to relationships, but the power of our perspective and attitude can keep things exciting, or at least grateful for their presence. And there's always a way to make something old new in a new way (you might just have to get a little creative).
Where can you adopt a renewed attitude to something that isn't quite new anymore into your new week? #go4thetheglobe
✨We travel to fall in love with the unknown,
to fall in love with the kindness of strangers,
the colorful streets and mountain peaks.
To find comfort in discomfort,
to learn and to grow,
to eat and drink and dance in the unknown,
to face fears and prove to ourselves that we can.
We can move, we can fly, we can climb.
We are alive.
We pack ourselves into crowded spaces -
buses, trains, ferries, and planes.
We find ourselves in the expansiveness of the open road,
soaring above clouds, sailing across seas.
We arrive with open hearts & open minds
in new places where no one knows our faces,
waking up to the freedom of the unknown,
with nothing but opportunity and possibility ahead of us.
We create bonds over belly laughs and bad stomaches,
We capture moments and feelings,
we reach new heights.
We may lose belongings,
earrings and water bottles, lovers and friends,
but what we gain is always more than we've lost.
We find ourselves along the way.
We find we are all more alike than we are different,
we find we are all beautifully broken,
we find we are stronger than we think,
we find hope and connection and strength and love.
We travel to live in the present, in the here and in the now.
At least that's why I travel// ❤️🤷🏽♀️
Why do you #travel? Can you relate?
This photo gives me the feels. It's travel and it's home. My two favorite (albeit perhaps contradictory) places.
Thanks @armandanorthwest 📸 for capturing my vision here. Thanks to anyone still reading ❤️ #go4theglobe
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#Seattle #trainstation #unionstation #SoNorthwest #pnw_shooters #do206 #visitseattle #travelgirl #wanderwashington #map #wheretonext #girlslovetravel #pnwlife #travelwriter #pnwonderland #downtownseattle #upperleftusa #emeraldcity #bluejeans #liveinit
And it was all yellow (ooh) 💛✨🎶
What's the most creative setup you've orchestrated to get a photo? 📸
To capture this shot on my solo trip in Antigua, Guatemala I...
1) Opened the front metal barred door to someone's home so I could balance my Panasonic @Lumix G85 camera inside one of the bar frames 🚪
2) Placed my journal under my camera and a pen under my 14-140mm lens to position the shot and add height 📓
3) Turned on the self timer and ran back to the wall to take photos 📸
4) Prayed my camera wouldn't come crashing to the ground in the process 🙏
In case you're confused AF, I've posted a little behind the scenes video of the set up in my story 🤷🏽♀️😝
At one point, the woman in the home opened her front door, very confused, and I explained I was using her door frame to take photos. 🙈 She looked at me like I was crazy, but also seemed relieved I was doing something harmless and told me to make sure to close the door before I left. 😂
My tripod didn't fit into my 55L backpack for this solo trip and as "fun" as it can be to set up a creative tripod alternative, I know I'll always be prioritizing space for a tripod on solo trips going forward. #go4theglobe
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#yellowwall #greendress #yellowhouse #travelgirl #guatemala #visitguatemala #antigua #antiguaguatemala #antiguaenguatemala #guate #guatemalacom #solotravel #yellow #centralamerica #latinamerica #walltraveled #travelblogger #lumix #lumixg85 #panasonic #citizenfemme #SoFeTravel
Have you ever heard of a Mobula Ray? 💦
If you look in the right corner of the photo, you'll see one leaping out of the water! Head to my stories to see some of my Mobula Ray photos and videos & check out the #mobularay hashtag for epic shots captured by others.
While in #Cabo, I saw so many of these "flying rays" leaping out of the sea in front of my hotel and also while out sailing! One my highlights from my time in Cabo was while I was snorkeling and I started to swim back to the catamaran to get my GoPro. On my way back, I spotted a giant school of Mobula Rays coming toward me. They were deeper than I was, but they swam right under me! I followed them until they got too far away and turned back toward the boat to see another smaller school swimming toward me! It was such a surreal experience that I'll never forget 🤗
Fun facts! Mobula Rays...
🔹scientific name is Mobula Munkiana, which is where their nickname Munk’s Devil Ray (or manta de monk in Spanish) comes from
🔹are one of the smallest ray species, growing to a max of 3 feet (1 meter) wide
🔹are considered the most acrobatic of all rays and can jump as high as 9 feet (3 meters) out of the ocean. They often do flips and spins, which I witnessed!
🔹travel in some of the biggest schools in the world, sometimes of over 10,000 individual rays!
When can you see Mobula Rays in Cabo?
🔹Late April to July and November through January they can be found in both the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortez
Save this post if you want to see Mobula Rays in Mexico! #go4theglobe
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#mobularays #cabosanlucas #loscabos #tesalate #beachtowel #sailing #catamaran #bikini #devilrays #visitmexico #vivamexico #damestravel #darlingescapes #seaofcortez #bajacalifornia #boatlife #vacationmode #tropicals #vitaminsea
"Cabo" - San Jose del Cabo vs. Cabo San Lucas 🇲🇽
When most people travel to the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico, they refer to it as "Cabo." What people might not be aware of is that Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo are two different places, albeit less than a half hour apart.
Cabo San Lucas is famous for it's beautiful arch (pictured on my feed last week), wild party scene with nightclubs and beach clubs, and massive resorts.
San Jose del Cabo is quainter with colonial buildings, a historic district centered around Plaza Mijares and a prominent art scene.
Although I'd been to "Cabo" twice before, I hadn't spent time in San Jose del Cabo before my most recent trip. I enjoyed strolling the colorful streets and browsing the multitude of shops (I even picked up this super cute purse!).
Did you know about the "two Cabos" and the differences between the two? I will admit I couldn't have told you the difference until this last trip. If you've been to Cabo before, which Cabo did you stay in? If you haven't, which Cabo sounds more your style?
P.S. I used @photoshop again on this photo - this time for the sake of #symmetry! Check out my story to see the before and after and also a quick (less than 1 minute) #photoshop tutorial on how I did it! I'd love your feedback. #go4theglobe
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#travelblogger #mexico #sanjosedelcabo #cabo #adobe #photoshoptutorial #pinkhouse #pinkwall #darlingdoors #roamingwomen #visitmexico #cdmx #worldtravel #girlsthatwander #travelbabe
📍Arco del Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 🇲🇽
Let's talk about PhotoShop💥
If you swipe right, you'll see the original edited photo. I loved this shot, but I thought it would look so much better without the railing/netting in the way, so I decided to take a stab at photoshopping it out. It proved to be more difficult than I thought and before I knew it I had spent almost an hour removing it 😱The result was pretty sloppy so I stepped away from it for a while and moved onto working on something else.
When I came back to it later, I liked how the thumbnail looked of the photoshopped version compared to the original, but up close it really wasn't something I thought was clean enough to share. It was pretty obvious it had been photoshopped. So I decided to start from scratch and try a second time. Again I got sucked in and spent almost another hour editing out the railing/netting. The result (that you see here as the first photo) was better than my first attempt, but I definitely felt you could tell something was off if you closely examined the photo. I didn't want to post this one, but after putting nearly two hours of extra work into editing, I didn't want my efforts to be a complete waste of time and I felt it I couldn't justify putting even more time into the image for a single Instagram post by trying a third attempt.
What do you think of the photoshopped version? Better or should I have just left it as it was? And what do you think of PhotoShop in general? Is it something you use on your own photos? #go4theglobe
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#cabosanlucas #mexico #visitmexico #mexicotravel #seemexico #travelgirl #catamaran #sailing #cabosails #photoshop #arch #sundayfunday #sheisnotlost #iamtb #citizenfemme
Because Mexico is always a good idea 💁🏽♀️💗
I’m headed back again! This trip (that happens to fall in line with my birthday on Friday) with family/friends was planned months before I knew I would have the opportunity to go to Mexico last month. You can never go to Mexico too many times🤷🏽♀️😝 🙌
When I visited #Mexico in May, many people asked if it was my first time. While it was my first time in Mexico City and San Cristobal de las Casas, it was definitely not my first time in Mexico. I was curious how many times I had been, so I tallied up the visits and realized that this will be my 9th time in Mexico! 😱
I first traveled to Mexico for spring break, originally as a kid with my family & friends - to Puerta Vallarta (twice) & Cancun (once). The tradition continued in college, with spring break trips with friends to Cabo (twice) and Cancun (once). The year that my mom passed away, my family spent Christmas in Cancun.
Aside from the countries I’ve lived in (the US, Spain and Australia), Mexico is the country I’ve spent the most time in. What country have you visited the most? 🌎 #go4theglobe
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#pinkwall #cdmx #mexicocity #ciudaddemexico #citizenfemme #girlslovetravel #iamtb #darlingescapes #walltraveled #girlswhotravel #travelblogger #sheisnotlost #ootd #mexicocityofficial #romanorte #mamboutique
