Canals of Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a city riddled with beautiful canals, scenery and delicious food, as well as a plethora of “coffee shops” and plenty of opportunity for erotic window shopping. It is a melting pot of fascinating culture, swarming with tourists from all over the world. Parts of Amsterdam are a bit shocking to look upon to the untrained eye; it is different than any city I have ever been to. The elicit, even grotesque parts of Amsterdam are often a few steps away from some of the most beautiful parts. Whether you agree with all that Amsterdam has to offer, it is a fascinating and eye-opening place to experience firsthand.

My friends and I spent two nights in Amsterdam and our goal was simple; we wanted to get a feel for the city. We wanted to walk along the canals, visit the red light district, visit a coffee shop, and just generally experience the vibe of the city. We were able to do all of this and much more in just two days. One of the most enjoyable parts of Amsterdam was just walking around aimlessly, watching the people and seeing all the interesting shops. Every new street offered some sort of surprise that added a new perspective on the culture of Amsterdam.

One of my specific to-do’s was to take a tour through the Heineken brewery. This was my favorite part of the trip, the brewery tour, and although you have to deal with crowds of people and a lot of waiting in line, is so interactive and engaging! They do a good job of explaining the beer brewing process (a passion of mine) while still making it fun and hands on. At the end of the tour you have an opportunity to drink at a rooftop bar at the top of the brewery and enjoy a delicious Heineken as you gaze out over Amsterdam. If there’s anything I love, it is drinking beer outside and in high places with a beautiful view. Heineken was awesome. One night we went to the Amsterdam Ice Bar, and that was incredible as well. It was exactly as advertised, a bar made of ice with drinks in ice glasses. It was pretty cold, though (I know, I’m a regular Einstein).

Another item on my list was to visit the Anne Frank house which unfortunately we didn’t have time to take a tour (online tickets are the way to go). This picture is taken close to the Anne Frank house (it is on the left right before Westerkerk aka the giant tower). I definitely want to come back to take a tour, but it was really cool even just seeing it from the outside.

Amsterdam means different things to different people but it will always hold a special place in my heart. I love you, Rin.

 

Until next time Amsterdam!

Magical Bruges

As I currently sit in the Mark’t, the central square in Bruges, I feel as though I have been transported back in time to a magical age before the invent of modern technology. It is as though time has not taken its toll on the beautiful, ancient buildings; it remains an oasis in a desert of evolving technology and change. Even as I look upon the buildings in person, and also after I climbed the ever ascending, winding staircase to the top of the Belfry, I had the sense that what I was experiencing was not real, how could it be? Those who refer to Bruges as a fairy tale city are exactly right. It’s difficult to believe such a beautiful, old, quaint, yet vibrant city still exists in today’s society.

My friends and I took a weekend trip to Belgium, spending two nights in Brussels and one night in Bruges. We started in Brussels, and naturally our first stop was a waffle shop. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a waffle so quickly, at least not until I had my second one 15 minutes later (it was practically a heart attack on a plate – a waffle topped with a pile of whipped cream, strawberries and sugar). We wandered the streets and wound up in my favorite spot in Brussels, Grand Place, the central square (Yes, you caught me, I have a thing for old city squares). Over two days it would be safe to say that I was in the square 10 or more times, I could not get enough of it, it was so beautiful. Sitting outside at a restaurant on the square and drinking a liter of Blaunche de Bruges was one of the highlights of Brussels for me.

The nightlife in Brussels was such a great time due to the fact that everyone was so nice and they genuinely wanted to talk and get to know us. We went to a bar called Delirium that has more than 2000 beers available for purchase, which is just such an overwhelming amount of beer (I wasn’t complaining). We ended up meeting people from all over the world and taught them American drinking games like thumper and cheers governor (they loved them and never wanted to stop).

The second night we went to a sports bar to watch soccer games that were a part of the Europa tournament. It was the most insane bar experience I’ve had. There were people from all different countries standing on chairs screaming for their countries (especially the Irish, classic) and drinking copious amounts of beer. Everyone was getting incredibly rowdy but the best part was that overall, people were extremely respectful of each other even though they were all passionate about their teams with several beers under their belts. It was an awesome and unforgettable experience to have.

It’s hard to talk about Belgium without talking about the chocolate, waffles, fries, beer or mussels, so let me just tell you they are all insanely good! I don’t know how one small place has so many incredible, unique staples. Also, all of those are heavy, seemingly fatty foods but I don’t think I saw one overweight Belgian in my entire three days in Belgium. Pretty remarkable if you think about it!

Now to my favorite part: Bruges. I had to start the post with a blurb about Bruges because I fell in love with it in just one night. It really is magical and charming, and the people we met were so unbelievably nice. After a full day of walking around and getting a feel for the city, we met up with a couple of locals, Rien and Maren. Rin (my partner in crime, and not to be confused with Rien) arranged for me to meet up with them because Maren is her sister’s friend from college. They were so incredibly friendly and nice, and they have such a romantic story of how they met. Briefly, Maren, an American, studied abroad and met Rien, a Belgian, they started dating and she eventually just moved to Bruges to be with him. Wild, right? They showed us around to some of their favorite bars and ended up inviting us back to their house for some beers and stimulating conversation. It couldn’t have been a better evening (Thanks Rin, you’re the best. And of course thank you Rien and Maren!).

If there is anything I know for certain, it’s that Bruges will be seeing me again.

Southern Expedition

Traveling is never truly about reaching your destination or about seeing miraculous places and historical monuments. Traveling is about the journey; all of the difficult moments, set backs, and long, uncomfortable bouts of transportation are what make up the real experiences of traveling. Often people look at these experiences as the negative aspects of a trip, but I disagree. All of the difficult parts are the parts you will remember and laugh about many years after. Set backs and difficulties while traveling often present new opportunities that you otherwise wouldn’t have had if everything went according to plan. You also develop fantastic stories that you will inexhaustibly tell for the rest of your life (People love to hear the same travel story 30-40 times before it gets annoying, it’s a fact).

Rin and I traveled thousands of miles by car on our east coast road trip of the US. At one point I did the math and I think total we drove about 37 hours over 15 days, often on very little sleep. There were many times we would get in the car exhausted and worn out, but we were always able to wear an optimistic attitude and to build each other up when we were having an off day. It is so amazing how much control you have over your own happiness; sometimes all it takes is an optimistic outlook and a roll-with-the-punches attitude to have a wonderful time. Traveling with someone who shares this outlook is such a relief and it makes it incredibly difficult to have a bad time.

Rin and I traveled from New York to Richmond to meet up with some of my friends and family for a night before heading to my brothers wedding in Myrtle Beach. It was quite a bit of driving for just two days but it was so worth it for the time we spent in Myrtle Beach. My brother’s wedding was so beautiful, and by some miracle the weather held off so they were able to hold the ceremony outside next to the beach. It was an undeniably beautiful, magical wedding with a really fun reception (Yes, the open bar helped considerably).

After having 4 wonderful days in Myrtle Beach with friends and family (Thanks for letting us crash, Mom! You’re the best!), Rin and I headed back up the coast, stopping in Richmond for a night before heading to DC. We had two sunny, warm days in DC so we were able to walk all around the mall and visit a lot of the Smithsonian museums. Our favorite museum, however, was the Newseum. It was incredibly well done, with exhibits including a portion of the Berlin Wall, a 9/11 exhibit that featured front pages on newspapers from all around the world the day after, an interactive television news studio, and so much more. We could have spent all day in the museum, it was fascinating and well worth the 20 dollar entrance fee.

DC marked the end of the best road trip I have ever been on (It is also the first road trip I’ve ever been on). I hope it’s the first of many more to come with my new partner in crime!

Next stop: Berlin, Germany

Tschüss!

Discovering Confidence

Any experience we have, big or small, can be life changing; the significance of an event is determined individually by the person who lived through it. It doesn’t have to fit any sort of mold, and you can’t force a situation that ultimately changes your outlook on life. These experiences happen organically when you least expect them to. They are not a daily occurrence and some of us only have but a few in a lifetime. These events are the type of experiences that you will remember when you are telling your grandchildren stories of the past. These are the moments in our lives that define who we are and where we are heading.

I am in a transition period in my life where change is constantly afoot and I am striving to redefine who I am. It’s not that I want to change who I have been; I just want to improve myself to create a more fulfilling, happier future. When in the midst of all of this change, it is easy to get lost and stray from the goals you set out for yourself. After all, in the process of rediscovery, you don’t have a solid foundation on who you really are or who you exactly want to be. It’s a bit of a roller coaster ride with plenty of ups and downs as you experiment and try new things.

This past week I went on a cruise to the Bahamas with three good friends of mine as an escape from reality. We had planned on just relaxing and having a good time, while also realizing that we would probably damage our livers in the process (Post cruise report – our livers are still intact.). I figured we would probably see some neat places and possibly meet some cool people in the process. Those expectations were met and severely surpassed. We definitely saw some stunning sights but more importantly we met some incredibly extraordinary people along the way.

I met a particularly special person on the cruise who opened my eyes to the possibilities of facing life without fear by handling every situation placed before you with confidence and a positive disposition. It is in our nature to worry about what people will think of us; everyone wants to be liked. However, what clouds our vision is the fact that we are falsifying our personal image if we aren’t acting as ourselves. It takes courage to be yourself. Letting the world know who you really are is frightening. What if they don’t like who you are deep down? What if they don’t think you belong anymore? What if you lose friends because you had the courage to be yourself?  The answer is simple: if they don’t like who you really are, then you shouldn’t be close enough with them to worry about what they may think anyway!

To look at it from a different perspective, being yourself opens up so many opportunities that you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to grasp. If I hadn’t made a conscious decision to just be myself (being on a cruise definitely helped me loosen up) I never would have had the wonderful experiences with the people I met on the boat. If I had pretended to be someone else, in fear that they wouldn’t like who I really was deep down, I never would have gotten past hello (They told me, I’m not making this stuff up. A little harsh right? Tough love is the best love, right?). Instead I decided to muster the courage it takes to conquer the fear and had the best week possible. Simply by being yourself, the odds of meeting people with similar interests who love you for who you are skyrockets.

Our adventure in just one short week offered so many amazing experiences, some that I will never, ever forget. I’ll spare you the details (Ain’t nobody got time for that.), but the large take away is that confidence is key. The entire cruise I would dance with our new friends but always timidly; I don’t know how to dance, so instead of going for it I just tried not to look stupid, which in turn just made me look stupid. How stupid is that? Finally, come the last night, I found the courage to just go for it and dance like crazy and I had one of the best nights I’ve ever had. People love to see the genuine side of other people; it is so easy to see through a lie. Just be yourself, as difficult as it is, and things will fall into place. Have confidence in who you are. Because of this, I was able to have the type of experience that was significantly life changing and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Photo Credit: Erin Lyons in Freeport, Bahamas

(This one goes out to the cereal killer; the master of grace and taste, the purveyor of confidence, and a delightful source of constant amusement and entertainment.)

Everlasting Pursuit

At this point in time, I think it would be appropriate to say that travel has a massive impact on my life; past, present, and future. I have been bit by the travel bug and most of my time is spent planning my next adventure or reflecting on past adventures. Travel has consumed me like it has to so many others across the world. I want to see more, learn more, and live more, and this is more than adequately accomplished through traveling. I have passed by the idea of having 3-4 weeks of vacation a year. I want to live a life that is composed of traveling.

I don’t think that I yearn to travel because I am lost or that I am running away from my current situation. I believe that the urge to constantly travel is my personal, constant pursuit to see the good in the world in a mixed array of cultures and people. I want to see the beauty that exists in the world, not only in nature, but in human compassion. I believe that the world is stocked full of incredible people from all different backgrounds and I want to meet them. I want to understand the different ways people get through life and I want to experience their unique cultures first hand. I want to grow as a person and ultimately find a way that I can be happy while helping other people. Travel is essentially my constant pursuit of happiness.

I think that a lot of people deep down would enjoy a life built around traveling and helping people all over the world while attaining all sorts of worldly knowledge along the way. However, most people just deem this as an unrealistic path to follow. They want to begin a career and follow a very rigid, defined track that will eventually lead them through a life that they are familiar with. It is the same track that most of their family and friends are on; it is accepted and safe. That’s fine! This makes many people happy and that’s really what matters, right? However, I don’t believe that path would make me happy; I have different plans. I believe that the unrealistic path for me to follow is a career track that has me sitting at a desk for the next 40 years doing something that I am not passionate about. The uncertainty of a life lived all over the place fills me with excitement. As for my plans to accomplish this, I won’t share at this point because if there is one thing I have learned, words can be fickle but actions are resolute. I am learning to share only what I have actually accomplished (Baby steps, excitement is hard to bottle up!).

That being said, no path through life is easy; there are immense challenges any way that you slice it. No path is absolute and no one knows what their future holds. I just want to take life one step at a time and I will see where it takes me. I will try to position myself in a situation that makes me happy; after all, that’s all that we can really do. With the knowledge that I have at this point about myself, I believe that traveling will make me happy and ultimately pave the way for a life that offers daily fulfillment and happiness. So travel, I will.

The picture above is a capture taken from La Catedral de Sevilla, offering a glimpse of one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to.

 

 

 

From Way Up High

At the peak of the world,

Everything is still.

The barrage of urban noises

Fades briskly away.

Wind sweeps calmly by,

Tickling the leaves on the trees.

Birds call out into the distance,

High above all else.

The land is sprawled out beneath,

Miniature from such a high roost.

The violence, corruption, and evil slip away.

From way up high,

Peace and beauty rein supreme.

From way up high,

I am optimistic.

Clarity

It’s easy to transition into a new, exciting chapter of your life. Happiness comes cheap and sleep comes easy. Fulfillment brims inside of you, making you feel completely and utterly content. There is always something to do; something more exciting then the last activity. You wake up excited everyday for the day to come, always with a “carpe diem” disposition. It is a lovely time, but ultimately a time that can’t last.

Through these times, it’s easy to lose yourself in a new world and forget who you really are. You stop doing things that have consistently made you happy in the past, through the ups and downs. You are stepping out into uncharted territory without a map to guide you. It’s fun, reckless, and exciting, but it’s also dangerous. If you step too far into the unknown, you might not know how to get back.

Center yourself around the daily activities that have always given you fulfillment. Change is a beautiful thing, and sometimes complete change is necessary. However, don’t lose sight of who you are in the temporary bliss. Continue fighting to be a better person even when life couldn’t be better; maintain as much happiness as you can.

This picture was taken on a hike I took with my mom and sister a couple weeks ago called Humpback Rocks. It a short but strenuous hike to a stunning view. Pictures can’t come close to capturing the clarity that comes with a view as captivating as that.

Stick to your roots and you will never go astray!

Someone You’d Admire

“One of them wants only to be someone you’d admire
One would as soon just throw you on the fire.”

Someone You’d Admire, Fleet Foxes

This is a lyric from a song from one of my favorite bands, the Fleet Foxes, called Someone You’d Admire. I love it because the song is so peaceful and calming, but the underlying message is quite dark. With competition ruling the world, people will do anything to get ahead. Competition changes people and forces them to make difficult choices. It forces people to change for the good or the better.

People are constantly balancing on a mixture of good and evil. No person is 100% evil, and no person is 100% good. It’s the choices we make that define what side we are closer to. These choices make us question whether we are good people or just power hungry, willing to do anything to get ahead. If you are too nice and feeble, you will never get anywhere.

Life is all about finding balance. Now go stand on one foot and think about your choices! (Lame, I know.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WExRR2GDQ7A

Lunch Amidst Construction

Yesterday I had lunch in view of the city, parked on the side of the street right in the middle of a major construction effort. Why? I just felt like it. I got a sandwich to go at a local hole-in-the-wall and then drove until I found a cool angle to look at the high rises and then threw on my hazards and ate my sandwich. It was wonderful. The temperature was amazing, I left the windows down and let the white noise of construction be my soundtrack. It was nice to be alone with my thoughts, but in view of the chaos. I was just about to leave when I remembered I had my camera in the back, so I decided to capture this lunch.

Definitely a little different than my other “Lunch (insert location)” posts, but I think it’s a good thing. I love nature, I love hiking and being alone, but sometimes we need to be in the middle of everyone. Maybe not always participating, but just casually observing the chaos of our world. There’s something special about stopping and taking a moment to cherish the beauty around you, even if it is in places you would never expect.

A Light on the Lake

All is calm on the lake. The clouds are slowly sliding across the sky, the wind is gently rippling across the water. The sun peers through the clouds, casting shadows behind every tree. The air is fresh with cool, spring air, making you want to give your son a playful noogie after he played a good baseball game. Birds are chirping and nature is performing all of its familiar songs. It is peaceful, an escape from the bustling every day life we choose to live.

I love the mountains.