Growing up, my mom once told me, “you have been really lucky to have such good friends”. Â I would have to agree with her. Â From Puerto Rico, to Michigan, to Australia, to a few other places in between, I’ve been blessed to have been surrounded by people that not only make my life better, but make the life of those around them better.
Continue reading Lose the mask and great friends will follow
I’ve been wanting to retire ever since I started working, which is odd because I’ve often wondered how I managed to score jobs that pay me to do what I’d probably do for free. The fascination with retirement apparently came at an early age, because my senior high school picture had as one of my goals: “retire at an early age”. Odd indeed!
Continue reading Following your passion and the insanity of early retirement
Every time I’m in Catalunya I’m taken over by a sense awe, an awe at the flags draping from every balcony, from every home, and from every corner. It is intoxicating to see flags that are the same as my own.  It is exhilarating… and so I understand the Catalans’ unnerving feeling at seeing a flag not quite their own etched on their passport, but having no say in the matter.  I understand them. I feel them.  Because even though these words come out in English, my heart knows no other language but Spanish.
There, I said it. I’m not ashamed to admit it, and I’m not even a climber.  Everest is a joke. I have no respect for 99% of people summiting it.
You learn a lot through the trekking grape vine, and some of it is actually true. You learn what tea houses have the least offensive
apple pie. You learn what type of baby powder to sprinkle on your body to mask 2 weeks without a shower. And you learn which peaks are climbed for bragging rights and which ones are actually hard. Take for instance, Annapurna, which is 757 meters shorter than Everest, but has a 40-50% death rate. Everest, on the other hand, is a tourist joke for people with far more money than common sense.
Continue reading Everest: Excess of oxygen, money, and common sense.
I admit it. I talk to strangers. I’d probably also take candy from them if offered. It may be a character flaw, and Roy seems to think so, but usually because I end up befriending them with few inhibitions.
Earlier this year I made a list of things that truly made me happy. Traveling and spending time with friends was at the top of the list, closely followed by the work I do– inexplicably, I’m still quite passionate about it. I decided to put myself in the path of life, to make it easy for the world to unravel itself, giving me what I truly wanted. I made lists of ideas on how to get more adventures in, how to travel more, how to spend time with the people I love.
Things started to fall in place. I visited friends. I had adventures. But I wanted more. I was addicted (and still am).
Continue reading Taking candy from strangers