#{ life's waiting to begin ; wanderlust 2017 }

[gaylortruther]

(many) tag games

saw someone else do this so i figured i’d go through all my tag games in one looong post instead of spamming you all with a bunch of separate posts!

i’m gonna tag everyone now and yall can choose which tag games you want to do or whether you want to do them all (or whether you want to do any)!!

thanks to everyone who tagged me in all of these! i LOVE being tagged in tag games and i am always up for more! <3

tagging THE SANCTION (including ppl that i haven’t gotten up on the page yet im sorry abfjffsdhsjbjsdf it will happen SOON):  @newdivinities @wolvesofarcadia @maskedlady @victoiirres @sancta-silje @bumblebeesonpaper @wasting-ink-not-youth @horrorspell @ya-lady-tauriel @awritinglen @purpleshadows1989 @ivonoris @theforgottencoolkid @the-ichor-of-ruination @grotesqu-e @lucacangettathisass @tea-ndi @hazeywrites @lunar895 @thewordsinthesky-andstars

[LAST LINE TAG]

TAGGED BY  @melwrotethat AND @hazeywrites

thank you both for the tags! these are the last few lines of the prologue-excerpt-thing i wrote for the page i’m working on for WHERE THE CELLAR MEETS THE SKY

Somehow, Collin hears them. Silently, she rolls up her sleeve, and Rowan feels the Collin Sutherland they knew is somewhere far, far away. The tattoos are black, geometric in design, two on each arm, and eerily similar to the ones Rowan has just discovered on their own left arm. They're sure if they were to roll up their right sleeve, they would find more.

"I should have told you a long time ago," Collin whispers. "I didn't know you were a part of it, but I should have guessed. I didn't want to put you in danger."

"I'm not- I don't- in danger of what?"

The waves crash onto the shore, and in the distance, a seagull cries, sending Collin into action. She grabs Rowan's hand and starts pulling, dragging them back behind the house.

"Come on. We don't have a lot of time, we have to get going. I can tell you everything on the way. I don't know why he brought me here instead of straight to the veil, damn it-,"

"Wait!," they say, wrenching their hand out of her grasp. "Just- stop! Where are we going?!"

Collin's eyes flash bright, despite the lack of sunlight. "Home."

yeah, a bit long, a bit unedited, but *shrugs*

[SPELL OUT UR URL USING SONG TITLES]

TAGGED BY @tea-ndi

thank you sage!!! <3

hard feelings/loveless | lorde

another one of those days | cavetown

let’s fall in love for the night | FINNEAS

ocean eyes | billie eilish

honey and milk | flower face

i know | king princess ft fiona apple

dreamz | sara king

iloveyou | BETWEEN FRIENDS

nobody’s home | gnash

greek god | conan gray

sycamore girl | rex orange county 

and there you have a small sample of my music taste! add in literally every taylor swift song (dont judge me), some lo-fi tunes without ANY words whatsoever, and the occasional fall out boy or panic at the disco goddamn absolute banger, and you have my XANDERS JAMS playlist on spotify. ENJOY

[11/11/11 TAG]

TAGGED BY @awritinglen <333333333333333333333333

thank you for tagging me len!!! your questions were so fun!! i’m doing this for WHERE THE CELLAR MEETS THE SKY

Name all OCs in your WIP

OMFG okay,,, wait do you mean full names?? POV characters as of rn are Collin Aisling Sutherland, Rowan Tilley (doesn’t have a middle name) and Avery Bristol Charter. then the next most important one is Isaac Michael Rosewell, even though he’s the antagonist. then the side characters that are still very featured are Noah Rosalyn Pratten, Reese Iseul Radley, and Sage Emarosa Delgado. THEN we get into the very very side characters, Willa Robinson and her son August Robinson. then we have Avery’s parents, Alaric and the late Octavia Charter. and thennnnn we have Beldane Moreno, Avery’s uncle and Collin’s grandfather (undecided abt that last name but going w it for now). i promise it all makes sense. i promise anfnfsjnfdjsfd

Name at least one hobby your Main character love

i’ll give this one to Collin, she is a musician! Avery’s mother always taught her music before The Accident (dun dun dunnn) and after Collin was abandoned in the Nigh she threw herself into music. she plays guitar mostly, but she secretly loves piano the best out of every instrument she knows

3 sentences about your current WIP

OOF. im so bad at summaries why would you do this to meee abfhshjbsbshfjsbf. “A determined believer wants to return to a home that never wanted her. Almost 4000 miles away, an incisive, intellectual outcast of a dreamer muses over getting out of their hometown. And infinities away from them both, a teenage revolutionary disappears into thin air, on his way to bring back his past and fix his (and everyone’s) future.”

Is there a romance in your WIP and did you plan it from the beginning?

yes! there are three! they are definitely a main focus of the plot, but not THE main focus. Reese and Rowan were definitely planned from the beginning. Collin and Noah were, too, but they weren’t originally enemies to lovers, and they are now (hehehehehe). and Isaac and Avery were DEFINITELY not planned from the beginning. in fact, Avery was originally paired up with Sage, but it’s literally so much better this way and i’m so glad it’s been changed. Isaac and Avery has been planned since about when Isaac’s character was thought up, one year into planning WTCMTS.

What genre(s) is it?

a mix of dystopia and urban fantasy. and it’s YA, borderline NA because some of the characters are 19-20, but i still think YA is appropriate because of the style of writing.

What’s the aesthetic of two of your characters?

fun question! Collin’s aesthetic is very emo-punk, with a splash of yellow towards the end of the series. piercings, blue hair, rips on clothing, dirty converse, smudged eyeliner, safety pins. the yellow comes in as part of her character arc, as she learns to accept that her childhood memories are tainted and not actually perfect utopia. Rowan is way more minimalist (sometimes). they’re into the bookstagram type aesthetic, and mom jeans with sneakers, jean jackets, plants against a white wall, colorblocked windbreakers, rain against a car window.

When did you start your current WIP?

WTCMTS was started in august of 2017 

How far along are you in the process (i.e 1st/2nd/3rd draft, worldbuilding)

still worldbuilding, unfortunately, for personal reasons

Who’s the hardest character for you to write?

OOOOOOF. sage or rowan?

What music genre best decribes your main character(s) and whats their favorite?

Collin - alternative (favorite band would be like twenty one pilots, p!atd) 

Rowan - ichillwave (clario, rex orange county)

Avery - emo (fall out boy, all time low)

Isaac - indie alternative OR instrumental lofi (jaymes young, birdy)

Noah - electropop (lorde, halsey, charlie xcx)

Reese - folk rock (the head and the heart, of monsters and men)

Sage - indie pop (lana del ray, florence + the machine)

Are you working on more than one WIP?

yes! i have four currently but only two are important lol, ILLUNIUS and WHERE THE CELLAR MEETS THE SKY (this one). WIP PAGE

MY QUESTIONS

how did you come up with the title for your WIP?

is there anything you want to change about your WIP but you are hesitating on?

do you have a favorite character? a character that is your baby?

write a tinder bio for one of your characters.

how do you feel about epilogues? does your wip include an epilogue?

what changes does your MC go through over the course of the story?

what is the most significant insignificant thing that happens in your story? don’t explain why it is significant if it spoils things ;)

do you know what will happen after the ending of your wip, or would you rather not picture it?

how long does your wip span? is it a novel? a series? does it have prequels or spin-off wips?

what is a major internal conflict for your MC? 

do you include flashbacks in your wip? do you like writing flashbacks?

[HOW TO KNOW YOU’RE IN A ______ NOVEL TAG]

TAGGED BY @writevevo​ AND @wolvesofarcadia​

thank you both for this tag! it’s so much fun and both of your novels sound like novels that would be very interesting to be stuck in :D

inspired by this post

HOW TO KNOW YOU’RE IN A HALOHIDINGS NOVEL

you’re an older sibling and you have a younger sibling. you’re extremely bitter towards your younger sibling for stealing opportunities from you, damning you to a life you never truly wanted. your younger sibling adores you and just wants to please you. they never meant to do it. 

you’re stuck in constant, wistful wanderlust, never feeling like you truly belong, never fitting in anywhere, not with friends, not with family, and when you finally find the place you’ve been looking for, you realize it’s nothing like you dreamed or remembered.

you’re not heterosexual. no one around you is. no one is cisgender either. where are they? no one knows. 

you have a peculiar capability dancing under your skin. it trickles from your pores and muddles with your mind. maybe you asked for it, maybe it was predestined, maybe you never wanted anything to do with it. whatever the reason, it’s there, and you don’t know what’s you and what’s it. maybe you’re not meant to ask. maybe you’re meant to succumb. 

your memories are as fickle as the rain, coming and going and breaking through the clouds, shattering the fog and disappearing with the sun. you can’t recall what you’re doing here, or where you’re meant to be instead. what’s your name?, they ask. you don’t know.

there are two worlds. one world is blissfully unaware of this, or at least, as unaware as any world of millions and millions of people can be. no secret can be kept forever, they tell you. you are desperately trying to keep the secret.

the one closest to you, despite your abhorrent denial of this fact, the one you would trust with your life, will betray you. because of their decision, their selfishness, you will either lose them, or lose yourself.

THOSE WERE SO FUN OMG. they all mostly apply to both of my major wips, which is probably bad. oh well LMAO

SORRY THAT WAS SOOOOOOOO LONG hope at least someone does one of these tag games lol <3 

xander out

[measuringlife]

Measuring Monday: Daddy

Tumblr has been my quiet safe space for 8 years. This has been a place to grieve and be vulnerable. Much of what I compiled below for this week’s Measuring Monday was already written and shared here over the years. Only now am I beginning to share my writing more publicly and I am thankful for the space and community here when I was less brave.

The world lost a great man 11 years ago yesterday. My world especially got a lot dimmer and for sure a lot less funny.

My Dad was awesome. He was born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island in the same town I grew up in. He was the first in his family to attend and graduate college (with an Art degree) and after being a hippie in Southern California for a few wanderlust months he went back for a Masters in Education.

My Dad was an art teacher in a low income, minority school district and he LOVED IT. He spent his ENTIRE 33-year career in the district. After teaching for 20ish years he went on to administration. He was a middle school assistant principal for a number of years and then a high school assistant principal for a number of years. They wanted him to be principal, but he didn’t want to deal with politics.

When I was in first grade my Dad started a Saturday enrichment program for K-12 students, he ran the program for 12 years. Some of my favorite childhood memories were from that program. My Dad also piloted a night school program within the school district so people could get their HS diplomas. My Dad was a pretty big deal in the K-12 Education world. Even after he retired he couldn’t stay away. The last year of his life he was teaching in an education certificate program at a Dallas Community College. My Dad was great at what he did.

We shared a love of many, many things, especially musicals. RENT was one of our favorites and after he died “Seasons of Love” took on a new meaning. I’m measuring those years within my “dash” (it’s a great poem if you are not familiar, look it up) in daylights - in sunsets - in midnights - in cups of coffee - in inches - in miles - in laughter - in strife and more.  Back in January 2010, a friend of mine challenged me to measure my year in cups of coffee, which lead to measuring my miles, my body, my health and the rest is history. I get a lot of joy and satisfaction in measuring my life. It makes life seem a little more permanent and a little less fleeting at times.

The last 3-4 years of his life I pretty much talked to my Dad every day, even multiple times a day. Since he was retired he was available to talk whenever. I generally would call him when I was walking to and from class in grad school. Even if it was just a few minutes we’d have a great chat. I can honestly say we were best friends. There are still times when I wish I had my Dad to call.

Our last day was a fabulous Daddy-Daughter day - we were dorks and really called them that. Little did I know that a week later he would be taken from me. I was living in North Texas at the time, 5 months into my first job out of grad school and I was going through a rocky patch. My Dad lived 2.5 hours away in Dallas and wanted to come up for the day to cheer me up. Plus my he was having gastric bypass surgery that Thursday and I really wanted to see him before then.

Part of the reason I moved to Texas was to be closer to my Dad. My parents got divorced after my freshman year of high school and he stayed local, but once I went to college we never lived in the same state. I was in Connecticut and he was in New York or Florida or Texas. I saw my Dad so much in those 5 months we both lived in Texas it was wonderful, some of our best times. I had a lot of ups and downs with my Dad, but our last few months were so much fun.

That last time we hung out I drove up to Oklahoma so we could go to the casino and play some slot machines. Well on the 20-mile drive to Oklahoma I get pulled over on a Sunday afternoon for doing 77 in a 70. I honestly wasn’t aware of my speed because it was an open road and because my Dad and I were singing along to the Aida soundtrack on the top of our lungs. I was so upset about the ticket, but my Dad comforted me and made me feel better, he always did. After the casino, we came back to my apartment, rearranged furniture, and just hung out.

I didn’t want him to leave. I had a sinking feeling about everything. That was the day he told me he was getting gastric bypass over a lap band. I wasn’t a fan of his decision to have either surgery, particularly not gastric bypass. He was 6'2 and 300-325 pounds MAYBE. He has lost 100 pounds through diet and exercise when I was in high school and he kept it off for 8 years before quickly gaining it back after he retired. I was disappointed that he was resorting to surgery. He had been talking about lap band for 6 months and talked to many doctors, went to consults etc. Then within a week of his surgery, his doctor talks him into gastric bypass.

His surgery was Thursday, a week before Thanksgiving. 3 days later that Sunday morning, November 18, 2017, my phone rings at 6:30am. I knew before I answered the phone that he was dead. He was still in the hospital and he essentially bled out internally. A blood transfusion and proper care could have saved his life. I was 2.5 hours away in North Texas not having been fully informed or able to fully comprehend post-op complications and too naive to realize I needed to come down. No twentysomething really thinks their Dad is going to die. I had just spent the prior Sunday with him and was scheduled to come down to Dallas Tuesday for the night before flying to NY for Thanksgiving.

I was devastated, I still am. My whole entire world forever changed. Everything about that day and the weeks and months that followed, including a failed wrongful death lawsuit due to the Texas good old boys club, was a nightmare. I sometimes wish I could “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” much of it.

He was 58, I was 24, and my sister was not quite 22. None of us were ready for him to be gone forever. My sister and I had already lost him once in 1998 when my parents separated and he moved out. To quote a friend who wrote about her Dad on his one year anniversary “I feel both lucky to have had my dad for so many years and angry that he was taken from me when I and he were too young. If I know anything better today than I did last year, it is exactly how complicated and messy life and death and grief are.”

My story is a complicated one on many levels. It’s a lot to bear, especially around the Holidays. Family drama and a Mother that I have a terrible relationship with makes things extra hard. There is no winning with her ever, my Dad was one of the few who really understood. I miss having him on my team. The sad reality is the 11 years that he’s been gone have also led to the 11 worst years in my relationship with my mom. A relationship that was rocky to begin with due to her alcoholism and emotional abuse.

The complications of life and death and grief were something I wasn’t expecting and it really causes tremendous pain. However, out of tragedy, I was finally able to find the motivation to get healthy and fit. I did the work, no shortcuts, no fad diets, and most importantly no surgery.

To quote a message from another friend years ago, about losing her mom, "Sometimes it takes the death of a loved one to wake us up. I consider that a lasting gift from my parent.” I found such comfort and hope in those words. My Daddy didn’t need that surgery and didn’t need to die. Sadly he did, but I refuse to let my weight control my life. I also couldn’t have his death be in vain. So in 2010, I started running, I took charge of my health. I also started fundraising for Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2) since most people who have lost loved ones find solace in charity work and there wasn’t a community for my loss out there. So I adopted David Cook’s charity of choice since watching American Idol during those dark months that followed helped me get through each week.

And here I am 11 years later and in the best shape of my life thus far. I thank my Dad for that lasting gift no matter how painful it’s been. I only wish he was here to see me now and the wonderful all-around person I am today.

I’ll leave you with this. One quote I remember my Dad telling to me in a time of struggle in my life was, “Plant your own garden instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.” That quote has meant so much to me over the years. YOU only have one life and YOU need to make the most of out of, right now.

Love you Daddy.

RDJ 4/25/49-11/18/07

[hqtbells-blog]

↳ INSTAGRAM: @SleepintheGardn uploaded a photo.

Today, I am the little mermaid and nobody can tell me otherwise. Fiji, you are stunning. 

↳ ❤️ 140k 💬 399

[frontiervolunteering]

How Public Perceptions Of Hostels Have Changed

Hostels – A Changed Industry ‘Youth hostels’ have always existed since 1912 playing second fiddle to hotels due to their lack of luxuries. Although they struggled to appeal to the masses hostels have always been popular among backpackers because of their cheap, no hassle accommodation. Since 1912 the term ‘youth hostel’ has become obsolete and outdated. Today hostels have re-established themselves as serious contenders for budget travellers. Most travellers will compromise on cheap accommodation if it allows them to stay on the road for longer. Hostels have long been associated with unsanitary, grungy backpackers seeking refuge. Now these institutions are flipping the script, many offering a luxurious and inexpensive alternative to hotels. Over the last 5 years hostels have really transformed the backpacking game. Hostels have become more organised and business focused, adhering to stricter regulations in terms of hygiene and amenities. Major players already existent in the hospitality industry have invested, bringing their marketing and business expertise to rival the hotel industry. The travel bug has revolutionised the hospitality industry, with millennials prioritising social interactions and shared adventures with newfound friends over expensive hotel suites. In a new study 9 out of 10 hostels are now equipped with private rooms. The report also found that 72% of US backpackers travel solo, seeking social connections and that hostel travellers are likely to spend more on trips. Hostels have become serious competitors for hotels with many such as YHA, Base and Nomads operating as chains.

Ottawa Jail Hostel is indeed a former prison. The accommodation includes a tour full of spooky stories.

My Personal Experience of Hostels

As a backpacker I was naïve to the progression and quality of hostels in the 21st Century. During the summer of 2016 to the spring of 2017, I spent 10 months traversing the globe.  As I was planning the first leg of my trip I enlisted the assistance of my now ex-girlfriend who when I told her I was planning to travel for 10 months and stay at hotels, looked at me dumbfounded.   A totally logistical reaction but mildly patronising. My perception of hostels was one shared with many virgin backpackers as cheap, grungy and unhygienic but through first-hand experience and her guidance this negative attitude soon vanished. Whilst every hostel you visit won’t drip luxury and glamour (because they are hostels at the end of the day) thousands can offer a more comfortable and inexpensive way of traveling than previously thought. I was flabbergasted by the array of amenities and facilities on offer. Services to rival some boutique hotels. Such as free WIFI, bars (sometimes with free drinks tokens), safes, free bike hire, cooking facilities and some now even include swimming pools and fitness centres. If you’re backpacking what more do you need? As a single backpacker or traveling with company, hostels offer something that is incomparable to hotels - this being a pure, unadulterated immersion into culture and diversity. These structures create encounters, environments, and engagement that harbour cultural interactions between travellers.  

With its temple-like appearance, the Azores Youth hostel makes you feel like you've already started your sitheghtseeing tour without leaving the accommodation.

Hostels provide an environment where backpackers from all multi-cultural backgrounds can congregate in large groups, something that I had previously not been fortunate enough to witness. Interactions may vary from playing cards, watching a movie or sharing a drink. The majority of hostel-goers share the same wanderlust and excitement to travel and sample a culture alien to their own.  Therefore I found people that stayed in hostels to be a lot more approachable, friendly and more interesting to talk to compared to a hotel or local bar from your hometown. This might sound obvious I know but it may surprise you. For me hostel life creates an atmosphere of unity and comradery. This might be a refreshing sight if you’ve been travelling with the same person for an extended length of time or if your interests are different, as there are plenty of people to interact with where you may share a mutual interest. Having spoken to multiple friends undergoing a similar experience they have shared this attitude.  If you are open to socialising with other travellers the sheer abundance of cultural diversity may provide you with fresh cultural insights. Although you both may be thousands of miles from ‘home’ you undoubtedly share one common interest which is to travel. The stories and experiences you share will develop into lifelong memories long after you both depart and lead your separate lives. Successful conversers may even be given open invitations to visit in the future. Or the really lucky ones may begin a new romance.  At the end of the day it’s always cool to tell your friends you now have a network of friendships that span the globe. Some of whom you may talk to more regularly than people from home. So if hostel life is something that you think you can handle and you can happily live out of your rucksack, then what are you waiting for?! Don’t bother spending unnecessary money on mini bars and room service; exchange it for rounds of pool and skydiving!

By Matt Couldwell - Online Media Intern

Frontier runs conservation, development, teaching and adventure travel projects in over 50 countries worldwide - so join us and explore the world!

[theredheadstory]

Hello 2018 (and all the EXCITING things happening)

Wow, hi there, 2018. Not even a full week into this new year and I can already say: full force and quite some big changes. 

I was meaning to write my 2017 recap but since I ended up being knocked out by the flu starting mid last week, I considered sleep and chicken noodle soup essential for recovery (granted, I wasn’t myself at all, so I wouldn't have wanted to read a blog post by myself written during this “sick” time). 

So, instead of reminiscing about the past year, I am looking ahead on 2018 and wanted to give you a quick update on what’s to come, what you can expect. 

Here’s a quick overview. 

CHURCH WEDDING

Here I am, (almost) back to normal (health) and literally having butterflies in my stomach because we’re only 10 days out until the church bells ring! Yay, yay, and YAY!! The moment girls dream of: walking down the aisle in the most special of dresses. It’s almost here and it hit me today. 

My parents fly in tomorrow and I am stinking excited. Also, some of my best German friends will be stateside for a while and celebrating with us. It’s going to be a crazy few weeks but SO much fun. Celebrating our love and beginning of a lifetime together with our best people from near and far will be priceless. 

(At some point, I will dedicate a whole post to Rickey and I’s unconventional international couple love story.)

TRAVELS

Hopefully, our first trip this year will be no later than mid-February, out to Arizona. Ever since I went to Phoenix for the very first time (don’t even get me started on Sedona - gorgeous) I, for some reason, got super hooked on this state. I just love the vibes and honestly, I could totally imagine living there. You never know. Rickey and I, more or less seriously, talk about buying a condo out there. Who knows. Maybe this is the year.

Also, I would love to finally make it to the Grand Canyon and hit a couple more National Parks. 

Germany, of course, needs to be squeezed in this year also. We kind of promised my granny that we were going to come visit this summer. 

PERSONAL/PROFESSIONAL GROWTH 

One big change is that I have decided to go full force for this blog business here and put a lot more time into both this, and into growing as a (semi-)professional writer. I have realized throughout the past years - with writing gigs here and there -, that there is a great potential for me but I need to have more time that I can invest in growing this travel and lifestyle writing business of mine, that is so near and dear to my heart. I have grown a lot when it comes to writing technique, clients, and the type of writing I like to do. I realized, that this is what fulfills me the most; it’s not just my creative outlet, it’s an actual passion. 

In that process, I have been doing a lot of reflection work, thinking about where I personally and professionally want to be in life, what fulfills me, what drives me, what I really need to live the happiest of lives. This was a total game changer and might manifest in 2018 and help me build this life I truly am excited to live to the fullest. 

BRANDING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

With that being said...

I know, I know, this little pathetic and outdated blog space doesn’t really cut it when striving for actual business growth, I am well aware of that. But, as I have mentioned here and there, The Redhead Story is currently undergoing a major brand and website makeover. I am working with a coach, a designer and developer to make this space professional, beautiful - simply a cozy, feel-good hideaway for all those wanderlusters and coziness freaks out there (just like myself). 

Trust me, this is a huge project and has been going on for a while now, in the invisible background. But I have seen sneak peaks of design, logos and illustrations before and I cannot tell you just HOW FREAKING AWESOME this space will be. Forget this blog; The Redhead Story by Julia Bell will simply be wonderful - and I have to thank the amazing people of the Better Business Babe at that point, for getting me in the right mindset and making my dream of taking this blog a great step further reality. 

I am kind of taking the leap here, but I have always been one to say that change  is good, even though I don’t necessarily know what the outcome is. With faith and dedication, something good, one way or another, will happen. I just never want to ask myself “What if?”. 

I cannot wait for the launch of The Redhead Story (currently planned for mid- February ish) and sharing the results with you. Stay tuned as we are getting closer! Literally everything will change. 

So, short but sweet and a quick overview of what to expect. I just want to do a happy dance right now because I just have all the endorphins throwing a party. 

Thank you for being a part of this wonderful journey!

What are your big plans for 2018?

[redsoapbox]

MY ALBUMS OF 2019

Redsoapbox is five years old this weekend, during which time I have blogged over 150 reviews/interviews/opinion pieces. Many of these, together with my work for Wales Arts Review, New Sound Wales, Buzz magazine and From the Margins, make up the bulk of my debut collection Pop Hack. A revised and updated version, for the first time in print form, will be available by Christmas ( Watch out for updates on the blog). One of the annual features that I’ve most enjoyed compiling is my choice of Album of the Year and it’s that time of year once again folks. Before revealing this year’s shortlist (as has become the custom, the winner will be announced as the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve!) here are the previous recipients of the award.

2015  -  Trouble In Mind: Jodie Marie

2016  -  You Can’t Go Back if There’s Nothing To Go Back To - Richmond   Fontaine

2017 -    Zero Moon - David Corley

2018 -    Asking For Trouble - Dan Bettridge 

So, it’s delicately poised at  Wales 2 the Rest of the World 2. Here’s my 2019 shortlist -

Fontaines DC:  Dogrel

‘Dublin in the rain is mine / a pregnant city with a catholic mind’. And so begins Dogrel, the irresistible debut from young tyros Fontaines DC. Frontman Grian Chatten, his rebel yell influenced by the cities rich literary tradition and the dramatic song staging of Shane MacGowan, throw’s a flurry of big punches early on in a successful attempt at shock and awe. “Big”, “Sha Sha Sha” and “Too Real” are all thundering tunes that rattle your cage. The first time you play this record, it’s possible to believe that you’re listening to an all-time great album unfold in real-time. Ultimately, though, Dogrel burns itself out before the close, but there’s no doubting it remains a powerful debut and a certain contender for album of the year.

The Delines:  The Imperial

Hot on the heels of their critically acclaimed debut Colfax (2014), Willy Valutin and his country-soul combo issued a limited-edition bonus album Scenic Sessions (2015), the unexpected result of a summer recording session initially booked with the sole intention of cutting the group’s next single. The band had already set aside a dozen or so songs for their second album proper, which was scheduled for release in 2016, when fate took a hand. The band was halfway through recording their new album when singer Amy Boone was knocked down outside a convenience store in Austin and seriously injured. It suddenly looked as if Scenic Sessions, once intended as little more than a superior stop-gap, would become the final chapter in the Delines story.

One thing was sure, there was never any possibility of Vlautin drafting in a new singer. The Richmond Fontaine frontman had only formed The Delines in the first place as a vehicle for working with Boone, delighting in the qualities she brought to her interpretations of his downhearted ballads. With his alt-country outfit Richmond Fontaine officially disbanded, Vlautin concentrated on re-working his latest novel, counting down the days until his friend was ready to return to the studio. Thankfully, after nine surgeries, Boone was able to re-join the band and work re-started on The Imperial. It was, of course, well worth the wait - The Imperial is an impeccable collection of heart-breaking character studies, Boone’s well-worn, country-soul whisper vividly bringing to life the despondent tales of Vlautin’s three-time losers. “Cheer up, Charley”, “Holly the Hustle” and “Eddie & Polly” are stand-out vignettes, but there is no filler here. The Imperial is a solid gold comeback.

Armstrong - Under Blue Skies

I reviewed this sublime re-issue on TBM/Country Mile (with no less than 8 extra tracks!) for New Sound Wales. You can read it here - www.newsoundwales.com/cd-reviews/armstrong-under-blue-skies/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ochnWdLJN3Q

Night Flight: Night Flight*

Night Flight’s debut album, notwithstanding a terrific review in PopMatters, seems to have gone somewhat under the radar, which is a deep disappointment given that it’s an outstanding piece of work. The band wisely used their two excellent pop/rock EPs Wanderlust (2017) and Carousel (2018) as a departure point for an elegant and emotional debut that is best heard with the lights turned down low and a whiskey chaser near to hand. Although sometimes compared to Elbow, Night Flight are more akin to a seventies soft-rock band. Their beautiful new single “Mexico” makes you believe that AOR can be king again in the 2020s.

* the loophole I’m using to include the album is that although it was available to stream in December 2018 it wasn’t released on CD until this January. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuOk2Wgr_KM

Swimming Tapes: Morningside

I’m sorely tempted to just write see Night Flight above and save on the man-hours! In fact, London’s Swimming Tapes’ beautifully manicured dream-pop, particularly on tracks like “Passing Ships” and current single “Mirador”, positions the band somewhere between The Beach Boys and Real Estate in the great scheme of things. There are, however, comparisons to be made with Night Flight – the classic songwriting, rooted in pop’s pre-punk past, for one, the fine-grained musicianship, another. I saw them play a wonderful set at Swn in October (as I did Night Flight the year before) before a smallish crowd. The times will change, though, and the race is on to see which of these bands plays a stadium tour first.

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

Purple Mountains: Purple Mountains

Back in 2009, David Berman singer/songwriter with cult Americana outfit Silver Jews pulled the plug on his critically acclaimed band after twenty long years and six assured albums. Nothing very strange in that, you may think: Bands run their course, musical differences set in and people fall out. Except in Berman’s case, there was an altogether more unusual motivation for his walking away from the music business. Posting on the group’s message board, Berman “confessed” to the fact that he was the son of the union-busting lobbyist Rick Berman, a man dubbed by CBS’ 60 Minutes programme as “Dr. Evil”, due to a career spent representing the likes of big tobacco. The singer described his father as a ‘despicable man, a human molester and a scoundrel’, declaring that he’d previously thought that the band could provide ‘a refuge away from his world’. He jokingly promised to turn his hand to ‘screenwriting or muckraking’.

Except it was anything but a laughing matter though, as the opening track “That’s Just The Way That I Feel”, from Purple Mountains memoiristic debut makes painfully clear – ‘Course I’ve been humbled by the void / Much of my faith has been destroyed / I’ve been forced to watch my foes enjoy / Ceaseless feasts of schadenfreude’. Berman had long been battling depression and the album’s lead single “All My Happiness Is Gone” painted an even bleaker picture of Berman’s state of mind – ‘Lately, I make strangers wherever I go / Some of them were people I was once happy to know… I confess I’m barely hanging on’.

Tragically, David Berman was unable to hang on to life. He was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment this summer, three days before Purple Mountains were due to embark on a scheduled tour of North America. The medical examiner’s verdict: suicide.

Does it matter in the end that Berman’s last work and testimony represents a career-high, or that his music as a whole will survive until the time comes when our species is swept back into the sea? It’s worth calling attention, however, to Berman’s thoughts on his last communication with us - ‘Mine is not a cry for help, but an offer to provide a kind of it’.  

Silent Forum  - Everything Solved At Once

The long-awaited debut album from blog favourites Silent Forum is an absolute stormer. A full review can be read at https://www.walesartsreview.org/ 

You can also read my brand new interview with the band at

www.newsoundwales.com/interviews/silent-forum/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U92eAaNr04

Peter Bruntnell: King of Madrid

Peter Bruntnell has been around a long time with, depending on how you figure it, somewhere between 10 and 14 albums to his name. I can’t claim, though, to have ever heard a Bruntnell record (although there is a possibility of having chanced upon a track on an Uncut freebie down the years) until this year’s sublime “King of Madrid”. And even that was a fluke! As a Juror for the Welsh Music Prize (WMP), I get to listen to any albums released through the qualifying period by Welsh artists, and Bruntnell’s album appeared, along with eighty or so others, on the 2019 longlist. It didn’t take me more than a track or two to realise that I was listening to an album that might be the AOTY, never mind Welsh AOTY. The opening track, the soaring, six and a half-minute sweetener, “Broken Wing”, is a master class in songwriting and the album as a whole reveals a true craftsman working at his absolute peak.  

You might be wondering, given the glowing recommendation above, why there was no sign of King of Madrid on the recently announced WMP shortlist. It turned out that Uncut magazine’s claim that Bruntnell was born in Wales, made when nominating his Nos Da Comrade (2016) as their Americana AOTM, was, sadly, incorrect. Bruntnell, as you might have guessed from that album’s title, had spent much of his life in Wales, but having been born in New Zealand and residing now in Devon, he was not eligible for the honour this time around. The silver lining for me, of course, was that an artist that I’d missed out on for many years was finally on my radar. Make sure he’s on yours!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUi1oxhlr6U&list=RD_AXJlX0zPZs&index=2

The Murder Capital: When I Have Fears

The Guardian may describe Dublin’s finest as purveyors of art-punk (and there is certainly no denying the force of nature that is “More is Less” or Feeling Fades”) but for me, The Murder Capital’s atmospheric debut is a cast-iron case of Indie-Noir. When I Have Fears is hugely impacted by the suicide of a close friend (an official band statement confirms that every lyric on the album relates in one way or another to that terrible event) and singer/songwriter James McGovern should be saluted for somehow navigating his way through unbearable pain to deliver a singularly devastating record. What also impresses about When I Have Fears, is that it’s in no hurry to get from A to B – some tracks weigh in at nearly seven, slow-paced minutes. This doesn’t always work, but I applaud the grand ambition at play here. The album finishes big, too, with both “How The Streets Adore Me Now” and, particularly, “Love, Love, Love”, which wouldn’t be out of place on Joy Division’s Closer, being colossal tracks which signpost the band’s extraordinary potential. 

Oblong: Hollalluog

Llanelli’s bilingual post-punk trio Oblong may well be the most underrated band in the U.K. Their debut album Brilliant…Gwd (2016) was fast and furious from start to finish, with one melodic masterpiece following another. Incredibly, they repeated the trick on Hollalluog (which translates as almighty) with storming tunes like “Giro Day” and “Light Sleeper”, both contenders for track of the year. And yet they still failed to secure themselves a slot on the shortlist for the 2019 Welsh Music Prize. If you do nothing else after reading this AOTY list, give this band a fair hearing, you won’t be disappointed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsLW0ZAgVVQ&t=114s

Amy Speace - Me And The Ghost Of Charlemagne

When you’re described by Folk Radio as ‘one of the great contemporary Americana singer-songwriters’ and when the much-admired Mary Gaulthier claims that your work has reached ‘a level of absolute mastery’ then you can’t just put out an album once a year for the sake of it -  you have a certain reputation, a standard of excellence to maintain. Just as well then that Speace’s latest album more than lives up to the hype. Produced by Neilson Hubbard, featuring regular collaborators Kris Donegan and Will Kimbrough on guitars and Eamon McLoughlin on violin, Me And The Ghost Of Charlemagne is a beautifully crafted, tenderly sung record that, thanks to Speaces’ lyrical dexterity, always hits home. Stylistically, Speace has much in common with the legendary Mary Chapin Carpenter, especially in terms of song texture/structure and vocal tone, as can be heard on the wistful title track below. It’s an album rich with new material, but the cover of Ben Glover’s “Kindness”, rightly held back to the close, will not soon be forgotten.  

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

Liz Brasher -  Painted Image 

North Carolina’s Liz Brasher is a marketing department's dream - a star in the making from the moment you see her. More important than how many units you can shift (someone fetch the smelling salts for the a&r reps) is, of course, the quality of the music itself. Brasher’s 2018 Outcast EP left no-one in doubt as to her potential, but the guitar-toting chanteuse has really delivered the goods on her debut album. Gospel, soul, country, pop and blues are all combined to memorable effect on Painted Image. A stellar career awaits. 

[kinkystel3031-blog]

What's taking place for summer 2017

Started by Robert Redford inside 1978, the Sundance Film Festival had been created to suit your current needs to obtain a lot more filmmakers to become in any place to Utah. Practically 40 a long time later, Sundance hasnt just attracted a complete lot much more filmmakers for you to Utah, nevertheless it will be the actual largest impartial film festival inside your U.S. too as only the Cannes Film Festival throughout France could compare inside scale. 1000's of actors, directors, producers, screenwriters, also as celebrities boost the particular danger for trip to scenic Park Region every January to become able to watch the certain premier connected using their own films also as gather collectively as contemporaries. Downtown Mainstreet inside Park area transforms from the quiet artsy getaway into a modern hang-out location with regard to ten times of film screenings, concerts, parties, as well as seminars. in the event which you must adopt an escape from all the movie viewing along with must stretch your current legs for just regarding any bit, you're only minutes via striking the world-class slopes which usually hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. Discover more. Jam Cruise 15 Miami, Florida January 20-25, 2017 Jam Cruise 15 2017 - Greatest Events USA Jam Cruise can easily find yourself being the one-of-a-kind songs as well as vacation encounter featuring five times of songs aboard a new lavish cruise ship, the particular specific Norwegian Pearl. Correct now inside its 15th sailing, Jam Cruise offers exploded right in to a coveted destination along together with a yearly retreat along with regard in order to both audio lovers as well as artists alike. along With multiple venues in regards for you to the ship, around-the-clock onboard music, port stops throughout stunning tropical locations, as well like a number of concerning the coolest fans around the planet, its an easy job to discover the factor in which makes Jam Cruise thus distinctive together with special. each and every 12 months may be a manufacturer new adventure! 2017s lineup consists of Your Real Original Meters, Moe, Griz, Galactic, in add-on to Karl Densons Tiny Universe. Jam Cruise can be certainly one of the particular very unique in supplement to entertaining filled ways to feel the audio festival - therefore signal up these times for your vacation festival! Discover more. Key West Meals & Wine Festival Key West, Florida January 25-29, 2017 Key West meals & Wine Festival 2017 - very Greatest Events USA Is there almost any better mix than consuming a new selection of shrimp, sipping a number of wine, also as relaxing in regards for you to the heat beach subsequent to grow to end up being able to be able to clear blue h2o - virtually all inside the guts involving winter? Its period to adopt the rest inside the cold town offices as well as create your path down south for that Crucial West Meals & Wine Festival wherever you will expertise any number of wine a new food themed events showcasing a brand name new diverse selection of wines and inventive cuisine. throughout the real four day festival, you will discover more than 30 unique events like waterfront tasting, winemaker/chef collaborations, together with neighborhood funky events which active an authentic taste connected using Crucial West. your festival attracts 1000s of culinary explorers via round the nation which escape winter months so as in order to delight his or her senses. understand more. Top Events inside February 2017 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival Moscow, Idaho February 23-25, 2017 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival - best Events USA Since your 1960s, the actual specific School of Idaho Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival could be among your current largest as well as oldest educational jazz festivals within the world. together Together With more than 400 student performances, the actual dozen world-class jazz artists as well as almost one hundred workshops, clinics and also unique exhibits, the actual Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival honors the real music, dance and excellent popularity with regard to jazz songs and also one of its almost all honored artists, Lionel Hampton. understand more. Wanderlust Oahu, Hawaii February 23-26 Wanderlust Oahu 2017 - very best Events USA Wanderlust could be described as a week-long transformational retreat which brings along with each and each some other world-class teachers, tastemakers, and within addition experts inside mindful living inside a fun-filled, imaginative environment. Via Wanderlust, the particular real goal can be to find the actual accurate north. correct north will be not just a final destination: its a new path, any kind of journey, as well as any yearning to end up being able to grow to be able to be able to verify out as well as connect for your lifes purpose. Pick your personal individual adventure only coming from in which event along with alternatives including multi-level yoga in add-on to meditation sessions, mouthwatering organic together with entire foods, heart-pumping music, inspiring lectures also as workshops, along with boundary-pushing actions for example bike tours, horseback riding, eco kayaking. Find your current accurate north coming from Wanderlust 2017. Comprehend more. Mardi Gras New Orleans, Louisiana February 28, 2017 Mardi Gras 2017 - Greatest Events USA Mardi Gras surely requires the certain king cake with regard to that offers to end up being able to grow in order to be amongst possibly probably the particular most particular as well as steady party events within the United States. Whenever you are directly in to partying, revelling, and also merely creating a care-free superb time, Mardi Gras could become the huge event together with regard for you to you. Yes, Carnival will be celebrated throughout many countries and inside addition cities throughout your real world, however Mardi Gras inside New Orleans is actually really the merely real festival involving its kind inside the US. Celebrate Physique Excess Fat Tuesday through throwing inside a number of beads, dressing up (or down) inside costume, along with watching the actual real Parade roll upon through your famous French Quarter involving New Orleans. This is but 1 event which usually everybody must have inside their particular bucket list. understand more. Top Events throughout March 2017 The Lantern Fest Dallas, Texas March 4th, 2017 Lantern Fest 2017 - greatest Events USA By now, you're specific to have found out with regards to Lantern Festivals taking place all via Southeast Asia, some associated using the largest occurring inside Thailand, Taiwan, and in addition China. although anybody can be probably not necessarily inside a new place to give the a vacation in Thailand for you to go to your Lantern Festival, you'll be in virtually any place in order to delay because involving it in order to come to an individual personally using your Lantern Festival! each and also every year, the actual actual Lantern Fest travels using your Usa in order in order to cities close to one to have to anyone personally personally the particular actually distinctive experience. at every event, hundreds and also a significant range of lanterns obtain lit too as slowly contemplate off for the air. you wont expertise virtually any festival really such since the Lantern Festival. Realize more. Iditarod Anchorage, Alaska March 4-19, 2017 Iditarod 2017 - Extremely Very Best Events USA Dubbed as The last fantastic Race, Iditarod is really a dog sled race which usually will take spot each and also every March throughout Alaska. Your Own race addresses 1,049 miles since Alaska continues for you to be the particular real 49th state inside the particular US. Mushers alongside making use regarding their dogs journey the particular particular trail through Anchorage to Nome inside your cold Alaskan snow, bracing fierce winds and hefty snow. Nonetheless if you dont think about standing around within the snow waiting for any dog sled to pass through a person by merely sounds for example your current cup concerning tea, an individual may take component inside your celebrations occurring about Anchorage also as Nome such as the certain Awards Banquet as well as the IditaRider Meet & Greet and also Pizza Lunch. in the event that you are seeking by having an event that will truly always be one-of-a-kind, dont overlook Iditarod, because there is certainly actually little else for example it. Discover more. Hamilton New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago March ten - December 30, 2017 Hamilton - Greatest Events USA Hamilton: As a new Famous Musical is the Broadway play in which has taken the stage simply by simply storm. Tickets have been promoting for nearly just about any thousand bucks upon reselling sites, nevertheless now, Hamilton is going regarding tour. thus should you havent had your possiblity to create it out to turn out to end up being able to be in any position to new York in order to decide it live, Hamilton will be coming for you to wind up getting able to any city throughout your own location beginning inside 2017. The Actual Certain musical itself is planning to be about the lifestyle concerning American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton determined to produce his mark about the new nation as hungry along with ambitious when he is. George Washington, Eliza Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and also Aaron Burr just regarding all produce their particular mark on this astonishing new musical exploration in the political mastermind. discover more. Holi Festival connected together with Colors Spanish Fork, Utah March 25 & 26, 2017 Holi Festival regarding Colors 2017 - Greatest Evnets USA The Holi Festival involving Colors inside Spanish Fork, Utah will find yourself becoming the largest Holi celebration within the united States - with every single other with tens connected along with 1000s associated with attendees showing approximately douse one another inside color! Inside India, Holi announces the arrival associated along with spring also as the passing of winter. Your Own festival breathes an atmosphere involving social merriment every nook in supplement to corner presents the particular colorful sight! each along with every half-hour, everyone else gathers together to always be able in order to toss their very own colors up within the air for you to create a large cloud involving colour a person are able for you to become able to definitely discover via miles away. In the particular event that any person havent left your certain festival covered within color, anyone havent celebrated right. Discover more. Top Events in April 2017 Masters Golfing Tournament Augusta, Georgia April 4-10, 2017 The Masters golf - Really Greatest Events USA You might by absolutely no means make oneself an infamous green jacket, however you can easily have the tradition regarding this deep rooted tournament throughout its 83rd twelve months at the Augusta National Golfing Club. Sports-lovers location this tournament inside the your surface with the their bucket list, and furthermore you ought to too. between your conventional par-3 contest, the particular real (generally) stunning weather as well as gorgeous program theres silly in order in order to not require this event within your 2017 calendar. discover more. Coachella Coachella Valley, California April 14-16 & 21-23, 2017 Coachella 2017 - very best Events USA When an individual think about Coachella, an individual think of the heat California nights, the crazy weekend party, in add-on to listening for the most famous artists together with bands the total planet offers to offer. yet something you could not just take straight into consideration just the maximum amount of can be when Coachella is not only any music festival, but could additionally end up being an arts festival. anyone undoubtedly get seen your iconic images of your giant caterpillar or even butterfly which create Coachella artistic and artistic inside a way not 1 other event could compare. There are 2 various weekends relating to Coachella this year, consequently inside the massive event you can not ensure it is 1 weekend, an individual tend to become inside a new situation to make the particular other. understand more. The Boston Marathon Boston, Massachusetts April 17, 2017 Boston Marathon 2017 - best Events USA The Boston Marathon is the marathon of most marathons within the United States. Each year, 1000s of avid, world-class runners race multiple marathons hoping for you to grow in order to be in any place to qualify for your Boston Marathon, but merely for that reason many improve the specific danger with regard to cut. Olympic runners through most a lot more than the particular planet compete within the particular Boston Marathon, completing the race throughout jaw-dropping occasions on certainly one of the actual worlds fastest courses. in the event that the individual aren't a fresh runner rivalling within the race, you are able to stand about the attributes cheering in regards to the runners while they pass by, or perhaps run in the 5k, Invitational Mile, or even Relay Challenge! Comprehend more. Tribeca Film Festival New York, New York April 19-30, 2017 Tribeca Film Festival 2017 - Greatest Events USA Need an excuse to become in a situation to experience the rich culture The Particular Large Apple town features to become able to offer? The Particular Real Tribeca Film Festival is absolutely a new platform pertaining to creators as well as community members to consider straight into account how film, culture, and also artwork affect the particular planet in inclusion to city where we live. This certain event will host 500+ film screenings, 222 filmmakers, along with additionally over 30 virtual reality tasks to consider part in. discover more. TED 2017 Vancouver, British Columbia April 24-28, 2017 TED 2017 - Greatest Events USA If you have at any time located your self inside a never-ending loop associated together with watching TED Talks like us, you may wish to check with going to their really own conference this year. Any time you're likely to a few TED conference expended per week amongst life-changing speakers in that an individual simply listen to new ideas, technologies, music, comedy acts and also more. These types of kinds regarding conferences include artwork exhibits, dinners, events along with wellness actions just like running as well as yoga. Only Just Take per week concerning oneself and join this years TED 2017 conference. discover more. Eeyore's Birthday Party Austin, Texas April 29, 2017 Eeyores Birthday Party 2017 - Greatest Events USA Every yr in your plan associated with the past weekend connected using April, people of Austin bond using regard to amongst one within the most special attractions with the entire yr so as to be able to celebrate Eeyores birthday. This specific certain family-friendly festival will take location annually inside Pease District Park and features remain acoustic music, all-day drumming circles, games also as colorful maypoles. Costumes are usually generally strongly encouraged in the lovable Winnie-the-Pooh characters party! Realize more. The Wonderful American Foodie Fest Las Vegas, Nevada April 2017 The excellent American Foodie Fest - Greatest Events USA This could be the only event inside western America inside spots you can obtain the very best meals trucks, vendors, along with specialty meals just regarding all in one location. using 50 plus meals trucks that will drive inside from just concerning all more than America, Foodie Fest will most likely be 2017s nearly all delicious event. be The component Associated With the 50,000+ attendees all through Vegas to eat unwanted weight within delicious meals this April. Discover more. Top Events inside might 2017 Tulip Time Holland, Michigan May 6-14, 2017 Tulip occasion 2017 - very best Events USA As surely since sunlight rises every morning, every spring you know the certain capital regarding scotland- Holland, Michigan is actually planning to become an amazing sight as 4.5 million tulips burst forth also as bloom! Your Own city, named following a Tulip Richesse within the world, celebrates its Dutch heritage as well as culture along with food, music, 1,500 wooden clogs, alongside having an extraordinary selection of tulips! you Will really feel just like you have travelled more than the pond to end up being able to continually be able to outdated period associated with time Holland as you celebrate this event throughout Holland, Michigan. Discover more. Tour associated with California California May 11-20, 2017 Tour concerning California 2017 - very Very Best Events USA The Tour involving California is actually genuinely a new Tour de France-style cycling highway race which will challenges your worlds leading expert cycling teams in order for you to compete collectively the demanding plan by which traverses a new enormous assortment associated with miles concerning Californias iconic highways, byways as well as coastlines each along with every spring. the Specific greatest cycling teams originating from in regards to be able to the planet meet up to become able to compete inside the Tour involving California including Olympic medalists, Tour de France contenders together with world Champions. in case you are any cycler, the cycling enthusiast, too as just an expertise collector, the actual Tour of California may often be as close to since it's going to obtain in order to watching your own Tour de France. Discover more. The Preakness Stakes Baltimore, Maryland May 20, 2017 The Preakness Stakes 2017 - Extremely Greatest Events USA Held concerning the third Saturday throughout May Well each along with every year, the particular Preakness Stakes is really the actual subsequent jewel of the Triple Crown. as the Kentucky Derby kicks off your own horse racing excitement - the actual Preakness Stakes is actually by which in turn your ambitions of your Triple Crown champion are generally made. This certain selecting race is likely to be held merely a handful of brief weeks following your Kentucky Derby along with 3 weeks in advance concerning the particular Belmont Stakes. yet this event can be not merely within regards for the horses - its with regards in order to obtaining dressed up, putting upon your personal hat, drinking the happy couple drinks, also as fraternizing in the club. Any person wish to generate particular to demonstrate up plenty early in order that do you would like to can simply have the total expertise through Your particular Preakness Stakes. learn more. Sasquatch! Songs Festival The Gorge, Washington May 26-28 Sasquatch! music Festival 2017 - Greatest Events USA The audio festival season kicks off each year a lot more than Memorial Day Weekend making use of Sasquatch! songs Festival in The Actual particular Gorge Ampitheater. All-star lineups play throughout the ranges as Sasquatch! Using Regard For You To three days, each night attendees return using their tents in order for you to camp out using their friends. yet if camping is not actually your personal personal thing, nevertheless you'll still want to go to Sasquatch! for you to call from your preferred artists play, you might be usually able to signal up to your luxurious glamping options. you Will still be inside the tent, nevertheless you'll get your own bed, electricity, heat, and also pillows so in which anyone may jam to become capable of songs inside the ultimate comfort. Preserve your own skill out regarding this many years lineup, as it might you must be your greatest yet. understand more. Spoleto Festival USA Charleston, South Carolina May 26 - June 11, 2017 Spoleto Festival USA - best Events USA For 17 times along with nights each along with every spring, Spoleto Festival USA fills Charleston, South Carolinas historic theaters, churches, along with outdoor areas utilizing performances by means of renowned artists too as emerging performers all through opera; theater; dance; and within addition chamber, symphonic, choral, and also jazz music. today approaching its 41st season, Spoleto Festival USA will be internationally acknowledged as Americas premier executing arts festival. When youre interested inside the particular doing arts, this truly is your festival concerning you. Discover more. Top Events all through June 2017 North American Sand Soccer Tournament Virginia Beach, Virginia June 9-11, 2017 North American Sand Soccer Tournament If an individual such as the beach, along with adore playing soccer, dont forget to become able to wind up getting capable of sign-up to take portion inside the North American Sand Soccer Tournament. Any time there is just no Globe Cup also as Euro Cup to maintain anybody glued for your television screen, depart the specific house thus hitting your current beaches as teams gather for you to encounter with regard to one to get the certain cup! Your Certain NASSC may find yourself being the worlds largest amateur beach soccer festival - stretching greater than twenty blocks and also a lot much more than 9,500 contributors rivalling for that cash prize! Enjoy your real June sun and examine a couple of world-class beach soccer! understand more. EDC Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada June 16-18, 2017 EDC Vegas 2017 - very best Events USA The greatest dance audio festival inside the particular US - the particular actual Electric Daisy Carnival - brings inside the worlds greatest DJs, more than 300,000 spectators, plus a lot a lot more glow stick and also artwork fixtures when compared together with you can count - almost all held within your worlds greatest party money connected with scotland- Las Vegas. Every year, people display as much as seem in the giant metal art, 3D superstructures, dance inside your glow inside your darkish environment, along with listen in direction of your worlds many famous DJs. Encounter the particular heat with the 21st EDC las Vegas entirely force this year! discover more. Food & Wine Classic throughout Aspen Aspen, Colorado June 16-18, 2017 Food & Wine Classic inside Aspen 2017 - very Very Best Events USA Each year, your own world's many accomplished winemakers, celebrity chefs, and within addition culinary experts bond in one breathtaking setting, your actual food & Wine Classic inside Aspen. Don't miss the opportunity to experience the pinnacle involving fine taste, mingle along with stars, and relish the pleasure-packed weekend from your base involving spectacular Aspen Mountain. Comprehend more. Top Events throughout July 2017 Summerfest Milwaukee, Wisconsin June - July 2017 Summerfest 2017 Welcome in order to always be in any situation to Americas largest songs festival: 11 days, 11 stages, more than 800 acts, 1,000 performances, in add-on to almost 900,000 associated with one's closest friends. Set across the stunning shores associated with Lake Michigan, Summerfest provides the backdrop for your songs industrys hottest stars, emerging talent, together with neighborhood favorites in order to create unforgettable are living songs experiences within the world-class festival setting. Any Person dont must miss out on Summerfest 2017 as it is planning to be your greatest yr yet as Summerfest celebrates its 50th year! Comprehend more. Fair St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri July 2-4, 2017 Fair St. Louis 2017 In America, there is zero greater cause for you to throw a brand name new party rather than celebrate your current freedom and also independence regarding the actual united states of america we are living in, also as nobody throws a better 4th related using July party in contrast so as for the money of scotland- St. Louis. Hundreds involving thousands of attendees visit pay focus to always be able to great music, play within the loved ones Festive Zone, ride about the zip range as well as human slingshot, along with of course, watch your particular spectacular firework display. Fair St. Louis can be Americas greatest Birthday Party, and you dont need to miss it. Comprehend more. Taste involving Chicago Chicago, Illinois July 5-9, 2017 Taste regarding Chicago 2017 - Extremely Greatest Events USA Labeled because the nations largest premier outdoor meals festival, the Taste associated with Chicago showcases your diversity of the Windy Citys dining community. Your Own event features your smorgasbord within the citys favorite dining areas in supplement to hip, new up-and coming restaurants. absolutely no issue what type of meals you are craving, you may be positive to find it inside the Taste concerning Chicago, as well as meals you have certainly not heard about before. The person may order a standard deep-dish pizza, your polish dog, order new modern american cuisine, also as taste biological materials regarding food items by approach of each too as every continent. anyone dont want to overlook this annual event, which in turn produces more than any million people each as well as every year. Thus arrive hungry after which leave happy at the Taste relating to Chicago. Comprehend more. Santa Fe International Folk Artwork Market Santa Fe, New Mexico July 14 - 16, 2017 Santa Fe International Folk Artwork Marketplace 2017 - Greatest Events USA The Santa Fe International Folk art Market had been voted the actual Greatest Artwork Festival within your united States Relating To America by simply merely USA Today. each as well as every year, the market hosts artists by method of around the planet and also over 20,000 guests reach go by means of the art and revel in international meals along with music. not necessarily simply that, nevertheless this event impacts higher compared to lives in the spectators whom arrived at visit. Your Own artists which demonstrate up with collect 90% involving his or her earnings, providing these individuals the chance to serve as catalysts regarding positive social alter inside their particular communities simply by merely improving employment, healthcare, education, along with well-being. Realize more. Northern Nights songs Festival Piercy, California July 14-16, 2017 Northern Nights audio Festival - Greatest Events USA If an individual enjoy camping, swimming, hanging out within the wilderness, and playing a new array of sweet tunes, Northern Nights Audio Festival could be the perfect songs festival concerning you. Imagine hearing your favorite band play go on stage whilst anyone chill within your tube inside your river or even camping together with just concerning all involving involving your own pals inside the couple of regarding Americas the vast majority of scenic countryside. Northern Nights music Festival will possibly be Americas boutique camping festival. Acquire ready for any weekend connected with camping, floating your actual river, too as partying alongside with your buddies just about all night long! learn more. Frontier Days Cheyenne, Wyoming July 21-31, 2017 Frontier days - Really Very Best Events USA Take a stride again inside for you to the wild wild west in Cheyennes Frontier Days. Since 1897, Cheyenne features celebrated its Outdated West roots by utilizing this eye-popping festival. The Actual particular centerpiece may get to be the worlds largest outdoor rodeo. Complementing the actual real day-to-day rodeo motion tend to be behind-the-chutes tours, trick riding and a wild-horse race. Just About Any Native American Village, any vintage frontier town, your saloon, dancing, a chuck wagon cook-off, pancake breakfasts also as an artwork demonstrate carry by way of your current frontier theme. Rounding out the actual plan certainly are typically any carnival midway, an air show, top-name entertainment, skilled bull riding shows along with numerous parades which will consist of antique carriages along with automobiles. discover more. Molokai two Oahu Paddleboard globe Championships Oahu, Hawaii July 30, 2017 Molokai a pair of Oahu Paddleboard Globe Championship - greatest Events USA Grab your very own personal boards, hit your beach, and also acquire your current wet suits upon to your Molokai a pair of Oahu Paddleboard Globe Championships! every year, the practically most notable paddleboarders inside the particular globe gather so as in order to race 32 miles through Kalua Koi on Molokai for the beach inside the Maunalua Bay Beach Park bath home upon Oahu. the Real race provides probably your real roughest plan with regard to individuals in supplement to intense fun pertaining for you to everybody participating, in add-on to can be truly the hit collectively using every contestants as well as spectators alike. Comprehend more. Top Events within August 2017 Maine Lobster Festival Rockland, Maine August 2-6, 2017 Maine Lobster Festival - very Greatest Events USA When any person think about Maine, your initial what to pop inside your thoughts are generally generally stunning coastlines, lighthouses, as well as delicious, red lobsters - and also a person wouldnt grow for you to be wrong. Maine is actually nationally in add-on to internationally identified to become the state that produces virtually any couple of of, normally the very best lobster inside the world. Dating back again to grow in order to be able to 1947, the particular real Maine Lobster Festival continues to end up being able to be a yearly tradition in Rockland bringing throughout 1000s of visitors annually for you to test and throughout addition taste your specific freshest lobster around. therefore whenever you obtain planning your present Maine vacation concerning this summer, create positive to always https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/68603600-parentsneedspeed be able to find yourself becoming able to program it round your Maine Lobster Festival. Comprehend more. Iowa State Fair Des Moines, Iowa August 10-20, 2017 Iowa State Fair - Greatest Events USA The Iowa State Fair will be one of your own largest state fairs inside the united States attracting greater than the particular usual million individuals via just regarding almost all more than the total world annually, its a new proud salute towards the states extremely very finest in agriculture, industry, entertainment too as achievement. In Which may become the appropriate heartbeat within the Midwest, unequaled and unduplicated as well as an event which is going to be experienced simply by all. Discover more. Outside Lands San Francisco, California August 11-13, 2017 Outside Lands 2017 - very Greatest Events USA Come alongside too as stay outside with Ranger Dave coming from Outside Lands 2017! Every August, San Franciscos Golden Gate Park transforms inside to a otherworldly celebration relating to music, food, wine, beer, artwork together with comedy. the actual lineup concerning 2017 features but being announced, even so significant headliners through 2016 included Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Lionel Richie, Lana Del Rey, J.Cole, Sufjan Stevens, likelihood your Rapper, Beach House, also as more! In your event that you are a songs junkie, Outside Lands requirements in order to turn out in order to be inside your bucket list of audio festivals in order to be able to attend inside 2017. Realize more. Best Inside Your West Nugget Rib Cook-Off Sparks, Nevada August 30 - September 4, 2017 Best within the West Nugget Rib Cook-off 2017 - Extremely Very Best Events USA The greatest within Your West Nugget Rib Cook-Off will possibly be Americas biggest and greatest free-entry barbecue festival! you Will take portion all through countrys extremely greatest grilling competition, situated in the Nugget Casino Resort within Sparks, Nevada. Any couple Of dozen inside the worlds leading bbq competitors serve up a lot a lot a lot more than 240,000 kilos involving ribs pertaining to countless a huge number of hungry event-goers upon Victorian Square. In Supplement To as being the bonus, admission, parking, shuttles, along with entertainment will almost often be free! Consequently if you are looking for a amount of excellent barbecue this summer, guide a trip to the Greatest Inside Your West Nugget Rib Cook-Off. understand more. Top Events inside September 2017 New York Method Week New York, New York September 7-14, 2017 New York manner Week (NYFW) 2017 - greatest Events USA Twice any kind of year, your actual way globe turns its concentrate on The Actual huge Apple for you to become able to begin for you to determine the new collections within the worlds very best designers. Runway right after runway can be packed with models donning your styles by which the world is planning to be wearing in the real program associated with regarding that next 6 months. However, the actual particular runways arent the only devote spots you could consider part in Ny Way Week. Merely With Regards To Almost All week lengthy pop-up shops, runway studios, soirees, parties, together with exhibitions fill your own town - many of those absolve for you to attend. Thus within the event a person can not score the ticket in the particular direction of the actual show, dont fret - there is certainly certainly even now plenty of ways to suit the needs to end up being able to be able to definitely participate. A New Individual might even spot Anna Wintour strolling proper straight in in order to a show! Comprehend more. Oktober Zinzinnati Cincinnati, Ohio September 15-17, 2017 Oktoberfest Zinzinnati 2017 - very best Events USA Every September, downtown Cincinnati turns towards the nations largest Oktoberfest celebration, drawing inside a crowd associated with 500,000. Your Own celebration kicks off using the annual operating inside the Wieners, 1 hundred dachshunds donned throughout hot dog bun costumes race down the road becoming crowned the champion. There can be certainly plenty of food and within addition consume to maintain your own foodie satisfied and also entertained the complete weekend via Beer Stein Races also as Beer Barrel Rolls with regard to one to bouncing within the actual worlds largest chicken dance. Realize more. New York City Pizza Run New York, New York September 2017 New York Pizza operate 2017 - Greatest Events USA There are usually a fresh handful of fairly inventive 5ks which in turn occur every year around the US, yet where or else could anyone achievable host your pizza function besides the Large Apple City? Famous regarding its significant assortment involving pizza parlors, the Large Apple Metropolis hosts your particular Pizza operate each along with every September. The Actual actual NYC Pizza operate is actually truly the challenge by simply which usually contributors aim for you to finish a brand new a pair of mile run although stopping to eat 3 slices of pizza from checkpoints all through the actual actual course. Inside any food obsessed metropolis exactly where folks in many cases are around the run, assembling an event which in turn usually pays tribute to a handful of in the citys many defining characteristics seemed just similar to a new no-brainer. seize your appetite also as operating shoes also as dont miss the particular real NYC Pizza operate this fall! learn more. Top Events inside October 2017 Great American Beer Festival Denver, Colorado October 5-7, 2017 The excellent American Beer Festival 2017 - greatest Events USA Watchout Oktoberfest, theres a fresh beer festival inside town. the genuinely Amazing American Beer Festival will end up becoming the premier US beer festival along with competition. Each As Well As Every year, your Superb American Beer Festival represents the real largest collection involving US beer actually served, inside the format of one's public tasting event in addition an exclusive competition. Inside a range of some other words, it indicates which will you have use of your new large quantity of excellent beer by means of just regarding all throughout your country. certainly Not merely that, but you can simply meet as well as chat to the real brewers of one's new favorite craft beer whilst a person snack upon cheeses where take place to be in a new position being paired perfectly using just with regards to every 1 associated with the beers. Oh, along with will we mention which additionally you locate for you to always be seen up throughout crazy costumes? consequently come out, try a new domestic beer, and see why America has got the very best craft brewing marketplace in the world. understand more. Austin town Limits Austin, Texas October 6-8 & 13-15, 2017 Austin area Boundaries 2017 - Greatest Events USA Austin City limits will be continuing regarding one to develop getting amongst Americas greatest audio festivals. 2017s festival will feature 2 weekends relating to lineups, eight stages, more than 110 bands, artwork markets, telephone charging stations, also as theyve brought in certain delicious festival food. Inside the center regarding Austin, TX, this festival will take greater than Zilker Park to obtain a convenient alternative connected along with camping, as well as snagging expensive hotels inside the particular city. Any time you're looking for your ultimate songs fest knowledge about 2017, this could be your own spot for you. Discover more. Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Albuquerque, New Mexico October 7-15, 2017 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - best Events USA The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta will be really any world-renowned attraction and also destination pertaining to become able to kids of most ages. Pertaining To Always Be Able To nine days all through October, the particular certain New Mexico skies are typically painted as hundreds of balloons lift off originating from Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta Park. absolutely Nothing rivals the effectiveness of Mass Ascension within crisp early mornings as these graceful giants leave the bottom to become able to adopt their particular location inside your cerulean desert sky. Using Regard For You To ballooning fans worldwide, the particular certain Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta can be really the pilgrimage. There's some thing regarding all to enjoy: whimsical particular styles filled with equal elements associated with hot air too as wonder, as well as Balloon Glows which in turn produce any magical night landscape regarding spectators to end up being able to wander. Zero create a fresh difference whom you are, your own Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta will depart any person awestruck and throughout addition seeking more. Discover more. Highball Halloween Columbus, Ohio October 20-21, 2017 Highball Halloween 2017 - very best Events USA Get ready pertaining to in which nations nearly just about all elaborate Halloween costume party from Highball Halloween! This specific particular isn't any ordinary costume party, it may always be the sole Halloween event exactly where couture meets costumes. This yearly event bridges runway style using the actual culture in the Brief North Arts District in Columbus, Ohio. in HighBall Halloween, you may well always be what you wear. Just what as quickly as began as becoming a 1 night event inside 2008, features turned into a wild weekend regarding Halloween entertaining featuring the road party, remain art, electrifying stage performances, a manufacturer new public costume contest, and also regarding course, the particular actual feature event, the actual Battelle Costume Couture manner Show. Discover more. Formula one United States Involving America associated with America Grand Prix Austin, Texas October 20-22, 2017 Formula 1 Usa involving America Grand Prix Without a manufacturer new doubt, method one racing will possibly be the particular worlds the vast majority of exciting, glamorous, demanding in add-on to prestigious motor racing series, plus it will turn out in order to be probably the particular most favored annual sporting series worldwide. By Approach Of Monaco to always be able to often be in a position to Austin, these top-tier drivers carry their particular cars within inclusion to their skills they tend to become driving a car in direction of the particular real drivers Championship. Now, using a fresh monitor built in 2012 close to Austin, method one makes once a new year visit for the money city since the eighteenth race relating to season, the race which in turn could determined the actual particular hotly-contested drivers Championship. anyone dont wish to miss this chance to get to be the part of background witness the actual actual greatest drivers within the planet race it out in regards for you to the 3.4 mile track! understand more. Fantasy Fest Key West, Florida October 21-30, 2017 Fantasy Fest 2017 - Greatest Events USA Fantasy Fest will possibly be a yearly 10-day party inside paradise regarding grown-ups. Began within 1979 by way of a tiny team related together with Crucial West locals, your party was developed regarding one to bring visitors towards the actual island together with an amount find yourself getting a new typically quite, lovely season. That worked. Fantasy Fest has exploded each along with every yr since its inception and also could be furthermore now the particular wildest extravaganza around! Fun-loving revelers coming from around the globe deliver their creativity in supplement to imaginations simply because they will descend upon important West annually in October along with regard in order to ten times filled with costuming, parades, libations, too as excitement! Fantasy Fest is actually really just similar to a mix involving Burning Man, Mardi Gras, as well as Cosplay most brought collectively in a perfect location. Discover more. Village Halloween Parade New York, New York October 31, 2017 Village Halloween Parade 2017 - very best Events USA New York town is actually mindful of the particular way to celebrate Halloween. each year, the particular real metropolis shuts down 6th Ave therefore the actual costumed members could show off their costumes to the residents with the city by which never sleeps. the Real Village Halloween Parade will wind up becoming the nations practically just about all wildly inventive public participatory event, along with a big amount involving New Yorkers marching down 6th Ave of their costumes. within order for you to get to become the section of your current parade members ought to end up being able to be wearing costumes. The theme pertaining to 2017 is truly but being announced, thus stayed tuned! yet this year, an individual will not must miss the particular possibility to turn out in order to be apart involving this Halloween celebration! Dress up, as well as acquire ready in order for you to march collectively facet a large assortment of puppets, bands, dancers, and artists! understand more. Top Events inside November 2017 Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade New York, New York November 23, 2017 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - very best Events USA Before America begins its yearly feast and in addition settles inside in order to be able to watch some football, almost all eyes flip for you to new York area as well as the classic Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. you Will discover giant balloons, marching bands, floats, celebrities, dancers, along using a lot much more as involving this yearly tradition. However as entertaining because it would always be to be able to watch your certain parade via your own home, nothing might match watching the actual specific parade all through person. For That Reason prior to always be able to choosing to select for you to go along with acquire the actual yearly fill involving turkey, enjoy one of Americas almost most beloved traditions, too as just just take within all the sights also as sounds that tend being included with it! learn more. Festival regarding Lights Riverside, California November 25th - January 7th, 2017 Festival concerning Lights 2017 - Greatest Events USA For 24 a new extended period The Mission Inn Resort & Well Being spa get introduced your 1000s of lights in supplement to multiple events such as the Switch-On Ceremony, Santa Claus, Horse Carriages along with Entertaining. in the actual real event that you need to encounter probably your most dazzling holiday spectacle south of the North Pole, this really is the destination to be. And, inside the wedding you'll end up being in any position to not really make it outside in order in order to Riverside, California dont worry, they've got reside webcams generate only for you. a Individual can certainly view reside stream with the lights and use through their website linked above! Discover more.

[chocolate-brownies]

At the age of 33, I was diagnosed with Barrett’s Esophagus Disease. Even as a health coach and wellness enthusiast, I literally had no idea what it was. It took a while to really grasp it, but in short, Barrett’s is caused by chronic acid reflux, and the condition predisposes those affected by it to esophageal cancer. When I got the news, I was terrified and overwhelmed. Despite having been sick for nine months, I wasn’t even slightly relieved to receive this diagnosis. I thought any news would feel like good news, but this was foreign—and let’s be real: We tend to fear things we don’t understand. My first reaction was denial: But wait! I’m a yogi, and a runner and surely those things are enough to combat all of the damage I’ve done to my body over the years! But it wasn’t. I’ll be living with a precancerous condition and taking medication for the rest of my life.

Step 1: Taking Responsibility

In my younger years, I was very fiery and ambitious (not always in the best ways). For whatever reason, I didn’t really get that I needed to reel it in as I got older. I worked hard and played hard in high school, college, and beyond. I said yes to literally everything, which resulted in a lot of stress on my body and my mind. The years between 2014 and 2017 were especially intense. I met the love of my life, a man I am thrilled to now call my husband. Fast forward about six months, and my company was acquired, which was great, but stressful—new job, new boss, new workflow, new office. Six months after that, I got engaged, and we immediately started planning our wedding. I should mention that said wedding was to occur in eight short months, on the opposite side of the country (I don’t recommend this!).

Around this time, I started really feeling anxious and I lost track of what was important. I stopped getting my period (which is still missing, sadly), and it became really uncomfortable for me to eat. I lost a lot of weight. The hardest part of this story to tell, to really write about, is that I have a history of extreme food restriction (in high school I was anorexic for about a year, weighing in around 88 pounds), and these patterns were resurfacing. In hindsight, my disordered eating probably contributed the most to this whole situation, and I truly believe that receiving this diagnosis was the only thing that could possibly get me to finally make peace with those issues. I hid behind my seemingly “healthy” habits for so long, but eventually, my body couldn’t take it anymore. It broke.

Step 2: Recognition of Patterns

I should have stopped. I should have slowed down, postponed the wedding, taken care of myself, but I didn’t want to let anyone down, so I kept going. I was so sick on my honeymoon I may as well have not even been there, and I was there… in the South of France, and in Paris! This should have been the happiest time of my life, but I felt awful. However, I was determined to power through, put on a happy face and push myself to the point of extreme pain. Surely I would reach the other side of this soon.

Four months after we returned from our honeymoon, my husband I started the process of buying a home. If you’ve ever purchased real estate in Los Angeles, well, you get it. I was so ill from stress by the end of that process that my husband had to handle all of the paperwork for us. I was sick more often than I was well.

I had a brief moment of almost normalcy after we had settled into the new house. It was a relief, I mean, I’m good now, right? Enough change. I started feeling better for a while, but it didn’t last long, and eventually I needed some answers.

Photo by Anthony Tran

Step 3: Admitting a Problem

The reason I went in for an endoscopy in the first place was because after a year of feeling continuously really, really sick, I had had enough. I would lie on the floor at night sobbing, saying over and over, “I just want my life back.” I had totally lost the excited, happy, energetic person I used to be. I was ill. By now I had lost so much weight, and was starting to have weird aversions to food. I ate very little during the day (because eating hurts a lot when you have Barrett’s), and at night I would drink just enough wine to make it tolerable for me to consume an average sized meal. Essentially, my coping mechanism for all of the pain I would experience during eating, was to do very little of it. I was starving myself, partially because I needed to in order to manage the pain physically, and partially because I, quite frankly, was still anorexic.

I made an appointment with a Gastroenterologist because it got to a point where I was throwing up almost everything I ate. I thought I has IBS, colitis, or something “manageable.” When my diagnosis came in, I freaked out, because I had no idea what I was dealing with, but ultimately, this illness was a gift. It was just what I needed in order to finally start rebuilding my life.

Step 4: Rebuilding

I learned that the way I had been eating (mostly paleo and moderate dairy) was the worst thing I could do for acid reflux, and started feeding myself in a totally different way. Small meals throughout the day, lots of veggies and low-acid fruits, lean protein (chicken and fish mostly), and pretty much stopped drinking wine (a glass here and there is tolerable for me now). I saw a psychiatrist and started working through my stress issues. I learned the importance of self-care, and finally started practicing what I had been preaching for so many years. I started sleeping for the first time in over a year. If I had waited much longer, the outcome could have been much worse. I would have been in a more advanced stage of this disease.

Within two months of starting my medication (yes, I now have to take medication for the rest of my life) I felt so much better. I didn’t get the old me back, but what I got is better. I’m happy. I’m relaxed. I love my work and I feel that I am contributing to my company in a more productive way than I was when I was overcome with anxiety and running on empty. Everything in my married life has changed, from what and where we eat, to our morning and evening routines; even the way we treat and live in our home. It’s all for the better. I am slowly recovering from my anorexia, and I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. My hope is that someday, with the help of my acupuncturist and doctors, I’ll start having periods again.

Words of Advice

In June, I had my follow up endoscopy, and it showed no changes for the worse. I can now go on with my (new, modified) life for the next two years before I need to get another test. It’s OK to turn to Western medicine when we really need it. But I can assure you, if I start feeling unwell before that, I won’t push down the pain, I will ask for help.

I wanted to share my story, mainly, because there is always a silver lining, and I encourage you to find it. The lesson here is simple: Listen. Slow Down. Ask for Help. Love Yourself—for real. Never give up on yourself, and always advocate for your health, because no one else can do it for you.

—

Michaela is a certified holistic health and lifestyle coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, and a registered yoga teacher. She lives in Los Angeles, CA, where she work as the Account Director for Integrated Partnerships at Wanderlust. In addition to her dedicated yoga practice, Michaela loves music, travel, cooking and eating healthy food (of course), and spending time with her family and friends. 

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[styleandglory]

What's occurring for summer 2017

Started via Robert Redford inside 1978, the particular particular Sundance Film Festival was produced to become able to have a lot more filmmakers to become able to Utah. practically 40 many years later, Sundance hasnt just attracted far more filmmakers in order to find yourself becoming in any situation to Utah, nevertheless it will always be your largest independent film festival within the U.S. as well as just the Cannes Film Festival in France can simply compare within scale. 1000's involving actors, directors, producers, screenwriters, as well as celebrities result throughout the trip to scenic Park City every January to continually be able to watch your real premier associated with their extremely own films in inclusion to gather together with every each other as contemporaries. Downtown Mainstreet inside Park Region transforms from the quiet artsy getaway into a modern hang-out area pertaining to ten times of film screenings, concerts, parties, in addition to seminars. in the event that you'll require to take some slack originating from almost all concerning your movie viewing and also must stretch your present legs for nearly any bit, you are merely minutes via hitting the world-class slopes where hosted the actual particular 2002 Winter Olympics. learn more. Jam Cruise 15 Miami, Florida January 20-25, 2017 Jam Cruise 15 2017 - best Events USA Jam Cruise is actually genuinely the one-of-a-kind songs as well as vacation encounter featuring 5 times associated with songs aboard a luxurious cruise ship, your own Norwegian Pearl. today inside its 15th sailing, Jam Cruise features exploded right straight into a coveted destination along along using a yearly retreat using regard to both songs lovers also as artists alike. along With multiple venues concerning the ship, around-the-clock onboard music, port stops inside lovely tropical locations, together using a selection of the coolest fans round the planet, its simple to observe why is Jam Cruise consequently unique together with special. Every As Well As Each twelve months can be a fresh adventure! 2017s lineup includes the Real Original Meters, Moe, Griz, Galactic, and throughout addition Karl Densons Tiny Universe. Jam Cruise will be amongst probably the most particular and also fun filled solutions to encounter a fresh songs festival - as a result signal up these days for that vacation festival! understand more. Key West food & Wine Festival Key West, Florida January 25-29, 2017 Key West meals & Wine Festival 2017 - Extremely Greatest Events USA Is there any sort of much better mix as compared to consuming a couple of shrimp, sipping a few wine, as well as relaxing in regards in order to the heat beach subsequent in order in order to obvious blue h2o - just concerning almost all inside the center involving winter? It can be occasion to adopt an escape from your cold metropolis offices and also assist help to make your way down south in the direction of the Essential West food & Wine Festival precisely in that you will encounter a new team associated with wine any food themed events showcasing a fresh diverse selection of wines as well as inventive cuisine. All Through your 4 day festival, there are more than 30 special attractions such as waterfront tasting, winemaker/chef collaborations, and also neighborhood funky events that will present an authentic taste related with Crucial West. The Particular Real festival attracts 1000s regarding culinary explorers coming from across the country which escape winter months being able to delight their extremely own senses. understand more. Top Events inside February 2017 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival Moscow, Idaho February 23-25, 2017 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival - Extremely best Events USA Since your actual 1960s, your particular University connected using Idaho Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival is among the specific largest and oldest educational jazz festivals inside your world. using greater than 400 student performances, any dozen world-class jazz artists as well as almost 100 workshops, clinics and throughout addition particular exhibits, your particular Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival honors the particular real music, dance and inside addition status jazz audio also as certainly 1 associated with its many honored artists, Lionel Hampton. Comprehend more. Wanderlust Oahu, Hawaii February 23-26 Wanderlust Oahu 2017 - Greatest Events USA Wanderlust is actually a week-long transformational retreat in which can simply deliver with each other world-class teachers, tastemakers, too as experts throughout mindful living in the fun-filled, imaginative environment. Within Wanderlust, the aim can be really to end up being able to locate your own accurate north. Accurate north may be not actually a final destination: its the path, your journey, plus a new yearning in order for you to explore also as connect for the lifes purpose. Select your personal adventure merely via which event in add-on to alternatives which range via multi-level yoga and throughout addition meditation sessions, mouthwatering organic along with entire foods, heart-pumping music, inspiring lectures in add-on to workshops, too as boundary-pushing actions which includes bike tours, horseback riding, eco kayaking. locate your present accurate north along with Wanderlust 2017. Discover more. Mardi Gras New Orleans, Louisiana February 28, 2017 Mardi Gras 2017 - Greatest Events USA Mardi Gras surely takes your current king cake for your purpose features to be able to grow to be amongst the most distinctive together with continuous party events in the United States. in the real event which you may be straight into partying, revelling, and merely creating a care-free excellent time, Mardi Gras may become the large event using regard to you. Yes, Carnival will most likely be celebrated inside many countries in addition to cities throughout your world, nevertheless Mardi Gras all through New Orleans can be the sole festival related using its kind inside your US. Celebrate body Excess Fat Tuesday simply by merely throwing upon a few beads, dressing up (or down) within costume, as well as watching the actual specific Parade roll upon by way of your famous French Quarter associated together with New Orleans. This kind of is a event which everybody must have concerning their particular bucket list. Discover more. Top Events throughout March 2017 The Lantern Fest Dallas, Texas March 4th, 2017 Lantern Fest 2017 - Greatest Events USA By now, you may be particular to get found out with regards to Lantern Festivals occurring throughout Southeast Asia, some related with most the largest using location inside Thailand, Taiwan, and also China. Though anyone may certainly not be effective at pay the visit to Thailand in order for you to visit the actual particular Lantern Festival, you tend to be able to wait around regarding this for you to become able to occur for you with almost all the Lantern Festival! each year, the actual Lantern Fest travels through your united States in order to wind up becoming capable of cities close to one to hold to you a manufacturer new really distinctive experience. Using every event, hundreds as well as 1000s associated with lanterns acquire lit also as steadily just take off inside to suit your needs for the air. Any person will not encounter virtually any festival extremely just just like the Lantern Festival. Discover more. Iditarod Anchorage, Alaska March 4-19, 2017 Iditarod 2017 - very Greatest Events USA Dubbed as The Final Superb Race, Iditarod may end up becoming any dog sled race that takes spot each along with every March inside Alaska. The Actual Specific race handles 1,049 miles since Alaska wound up becoming the actual 49th state within the US. Mushers along with their dogs journey the particular trail coming from Anchorage regarding one to Nome inside the cold Alaskan snow, bracing fierce winds and inside addition hefty snow. However in the wedding you dont feel standing about in the snow waiting to have a dog sled for you to offer you simply by sounds like your cup related along with tea, an individual usually takes component in the celebrations occurring around Anchorage as well as Nome which includes the particular certain Awards Banquet too because the IditaRider Meet & Greet together with Pizza Lunch. When you're seeking to get an event that will genuinely turn out to be one-of-a-kind, dont shed out about Iditarod, since there is certainly genuinely little else just like it. Discover more. Hamilton New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago March 10 - December 30, 2017 Hamilton - Greatest Events USA Hamilton: an American Musical could end up being your Broadway play which usually has received requires place simply by storm. Tickets are usually previously marketing for nearly a fresh thousand money in reselling sites, but now, Hamilton should go regarding tour. Consequently if you havent had the possibility to make it out to become able to the Large Apple to see it live, Hamilton is heading in order to be coming to become able to become able to a city in your present area beginning within 2017. your musical itself can take regards for you personally to the existence associated with American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton established to generate his mark in regards for you to the new nation as hungry as well as ambitious because he is. George Washington, Eliza Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, in add-on to Aaron Burr virtually all produce their mark about this astonishing new musical exploration of the political mastermind. Discover more. Holi Festival concerning Colors Spanish Fork, Utah March 25 & 26, 2017 Holi Festival Connected with Colors 2017 - very best Evnets USA The Holi Festival regarding Colors throughout Spanish Fork, Utah will be the largest Holi celebration in the Usa - along with tens involving 1000s associated with attendees showing as significantly as douse one another in color! throughout India, Holi announces the arrival concerning spring and also furthermore the passing associated using winter. The Particular Certain festival breathes an atmosphere connected along with social merriment every nook as well as corner presents a manufacturer new colorful sight! each half-hour, all others gathers collectively to end up being able to often be in any position to toss their certain colors up inside the environment to create a large cloud involving colour an individual can see originating from miles away. In case a new person havent left your own festival covered inside color, you havent celebrated right. discover more. Top Events inside April 2017 Masters golf Tournament Augusta, Georgia April 4-10, 2017 The Masters golf - Greatest Events USA You may never help help to make your self an infamous green jacket, however, anyone may go by simply method of the tradition involving this deep rooted tournament throughout its 83rd yr at the Augusta National golf Club. Sports-lovers put this tournament with just about all the best their bucket list, and furthermore you must too. Inside Among the particular classic par-3 contest, the particular (generally) lovely weather in supplement to gorgeous golf course theres silly to turn out to become able to be capable of n't require this event within your 2017 calendar. learn more. Coachella Coachella Valley, California April 14-16 & 21-23, 2017 Coachella 2017 - Really Greatest Events USA When a person imagine about Coachella, you think involving the heat California nights, a fresh crazy weekend party, and also listening to the the vast majority of famous artists and bands your planet provides to be able for you to offer. Nevertheless some thing may very well certainly not take in to consideration the maximum quantity of is how Coachella is not merely a new audio festival, nonetheless could be an arts festival. Any Person no doubt possess seen your own iconic images in the giant caterpillar or perhaps butterfly which help help to make Coachella artistic and also artistic inside the approach hardly virtually any other event can easily compare. An Individual will discover 2 different weekends concerning Coachella this year, for that reason in case you can not make it one weekend, you can finish up capable of result all through the actual other. Discover more. The Boston Marathon Boston, Massachusetts April 17, 2017 Boston Marathon 2017 - very best Events USA The Boston Marathon will always be the particular marathon associated with marathons inside the particular United States. every year, 1000s associated with avid, world-class runners race multiple marathons hoping for you to qualify for that Boston Marathon, yet just so many boost the certain danger with regard to cut. Olympic runners originating from almost all more than the whole planet compete within the Boston Marathon, completing your race inside jaw-dropping occasions regarding certainly one of the actual worlds fastest courses. Any time an individual are not a fresh runner contending inside your race, you may be typically inside a situation to face about the facets cheering on the runners as they pass by, also as operate inside the actual 5k, Invitational Mile, or perhaps Relay Challenge! learn more. Tribeca Film Festival New York, New York April 19-30, 2017 Tribeca Film Festival 2017 - Greatest Events USA Need an excuse to become capable of feel the rich culture Ny Region provides so as to offer? the actual Tribeca Film Festival could end up becoming any platform pertaining to creators as well as neighborhood members to consider directly into account about how precisely film, culture, in add-on to artwork affect the actual planet and metropolis exactly where we live. This specific particular event will host 500+ film screenings, 222 filmmakers, as well as over 30 virtual reality projects to adopt component in. Realize more. TED 2017 Vancouver, British Columbia April 24-28, 2017 TED 2017 - Extremely Greatest Events USA If you've whenever a person want discovered yourself all through a new limitless loop associated along with watching TED Talks like us, an individual should take a look at planning in order to his or her conference this year. Whilst you opt for you to visit some TED conference you may spend per week amongst life-changing speakers where you listen to new ideas, technologies, music, comedy acts and in addition more. These kinds of type of conferences likewise include artwork exhibits, dinners, events and also wellness activities such as operating as well as yoga. consider weekly with regard for you to oneself as well as subscribe to this years TED 2017 conference. understand more. Eeyore's Birthday Party Austin, Texas April 29, 2017 Eeyores Birthday Party 2017 - Greatest Events USA Every yr during the final weekend connected with April, the folks regarding Austin get together using regard for you to certainly among most likely the particular actual most special attractions with the entire yr with regard to you to be able to definitely celebrate Eeyores birthday. This kind of family-friendly festival needs place annually inside Pease District Park also as features are generally living acoustic music, all-day drumming circles, video games and inside addition colorful maypoles. Costumes tend to be strongly encouraged in the lovable Winnie-the-Pooh characters party! understand more. The Great American Foodie Fest Las Vegas, Nevada April 2017 The fantastic American Foodie Fest - Really Greatest Events USA This is the simply real event inside western America in which you are able to discover the actual really best meals trucks, vendors, and specialty foods nearly all in one location. Making Use Of 50 meals trucks that will drive all through via just about all over America, Foodie Fest is likely to be 2017s nearly all delicious event. Function As The portion Associated With the particular real 50,000+ attendees inside las Vegas you may eat your weight inside delicious foods this April. Discover more. Top Events inside Could 2017 Tulip Time Holland, Michigan May 6-14, 2017 Tulip period 2017 - Extremely Greatest Events USA As surely because the sun's rays rises each and also every and each morning, every in add-on to each spring an individual understand the specific town associated with Holland, Michigan will likely be an incredible sight as 4.5 million tulips burst forth and within addition bloom! the Real city, named following your Tulip money in the world, celebrates its Dutch heritage and also culture together with food, music, 1,500 wooden clogs, along with an incredible range of tulips! youll experience just like youve travelled throughout the actual pond regarding one to prior moment Holland whilst you celebrate this event within Holland, Michigan. understand more. Tour related using California California May 11-20, 2017 Tour involving California 2017 - best Events USA The Tour involving California can easily find yourself being any Tour de France-style cycling road race that will challenges the worlds top skilled cycling teams to turn out in order to be able to compete together your demanding plan which in turn traverses countless miles related using Californias iconic highways, byways and coastlines every spring. your very greatest cycling teams via about the entire world get together for you to compete within the actual Tour involving California for example Olympic medalists, Tour de France contenders and also Globe Champions. If you're any cycler, a new cycling enthusiast, or perhaps just an expertise collector, your Tour involving California will be genuinely as close to since it's going to obtain for you for you to definitely watching your current Tour de France. Realize more. The Preakness Stakes Baltimore, Maryland May 20, 2017 The Preakness Stakes 2017 - very Greatest Events USA Held on the third Saturday within Could each and also every year, your Preakness Stakes can be the next jewel using the Triple Crown. although your Kentucky Derby kicks off your horse racing excitement - the actual real Preakness Stakes is planning to be by which in turn the desires in the Triple Crown champion are usually made. This specific certain determining race is actually really held just a number of brief weeks following your Kentucky Derby and within addition 3 weeks prior to always be able towards the Belmont Stakes. yet this event will be not merely within regards towards the horses - its using regards to getting dressed up, putting about your personal hat, drinking a new couple drinks, as well as fraternizing in the club. Anybody want to generate positive to exhibit up plenty early which usually signifies an individual might have the complete encounter in the Preakness Stakes. Discover more. Sasquatch! Songs Festival The Gorge, Washington May 26-28 Sasquatch! songs Festival 2017 - very Very Best Events USA The songs festival season kicks off each yr a lot much more than Memorial Day Weekend using Sasquatch! music Festival in the Gorge Ampitheater. All-star lineups take component in the levels as Sasquatch! Pertaining to 3 days, and also every along with every night attendees return using their tents for one to camp out utilizing his or her friends. Nevertheless if camping isnt really your personal thing, however, anyone even now need to demonstrate up with Sasquatch! To Always Be Able In Order To contact from your favorite artists play, you are able to signal up for your luxurious glamping options. you Will nevertheless be inside the tent, but you may get your current personal bed, electricity, heat, as well as pillows which signifies you could jam in order to audio inside your ultimate comfort. Preserve your skills out for this many years lineup, since it may you would like to become able to be your specific very best yet. Discover more. Spoleto Festival USA Charleston, South Carolina May 26 - June 11, 2017 Spoleto Festival USA - Greatest Events USA For 17 times along with nights each spring, Spoleto Festival USA fills Charleston, South Carolinas historic theaters, churches, in add-on to outdoor spaces collectively with performances via renowned artists furthermore as emerging performers inside opera; theater; dance; along with chamber, symphonic, choral, as well as jazz music. Currently approaching its 41st season, Spoleto Festival USA will be internationally acknowledged as Americas premier performing arts festival. When youre interested inside your carrying out arts, this could be the actual festival with regard to be able to you. understand more. Top Events inside June 2017 North American Sand Soccer Tournament Virginia Beach, Virginia June 9-11, 2017 North American Sand Soccer Tournament If you adore your beach, also as enjoy playing soccer, dont forget in order to become able to sign-up to take element inside the North American Sand Soccer Tournament. Anytime there's absolutely no Globe Cup as well as possibly Euro Cup to help keep anyone glued to your television screen, go outside striking the actual actual beaches as teams gather to play for you to acquire the particular actual cup! The Actual actual NASSC will get to be the worlds largest amateur beach soccer festival - stretching more than 20 blocks and more than 9,500 members contending with regard to in which cash prize! Enjoy your own June sun and examine numerous world-class beach soccer! learn more. EDC Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada June 16-18, 2017 EDC Vegas 2017 - Greatest Events USA The greatest dance audio festival within your US - the Electric Daisy Carnival - brings inside the worlds greatest DJs, higher compared to 300,000 spectators, plus much more glow stick along with artwork fixtures in comparison for you can easily count - just about all held within the worlds greatest party city of Las Vegas. every year, folks demonstrate up to seem in the giant metal art, 3D superstructures, dance inside the glow inside your darkish environment, together with listen towards the worlds most famous DJs. experience the heat of the 21st EDC Nevada completely force this year! Discover more. Food & Wine Classic within Aspen Aspen, Colorado June 16-18, 2017 Food & Wine Classic inside Aspen 2017 - Greatest Events USA Each year, the world's most accomplished winemakers, celebrity chefs, as well as culinary experts bond in a breathtaking setting, the particular particular Meals & Wine Classic within Aspen. Don't miss the chance to go via the pinnacle of excellent taste, mingle collectively with stars, along with revel in a new pleasure-packed weekend using the bottom regarding spectacular Aspen Mountain. discover more. Top Events all through July 2017 Summerfest Milwaukee, Wisconsin June - July 2017 Summerfest 2017 Welcome in order to Americas largest audio festival: 11 days, 11 stages, more than 800 acts, 1,000 performances, as well as practically 900,000 of one's closest friends. Set across the lovely shores relating to Lake Michigan, Summerfest provides the actual particular backdrop for that songs industrys hottest stars, emerging talent, in add-on to close by favorites to produce unforgettable remain audio experiences inside a world-class festival setting. you dont wish to shed out upon Summerfest 2017 since it is heading to become able to be the biggest yr yet as Summerfest celebrates its 50th year! discover more. Fair St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri July 2-4, 2017 Fair St. Louis 2017 In America, there's simply no higher purpose pertaining to you to toss the particular party rather than celebrate your current freedom in inclusion to independence relating for you to the usa we reside in, together with nobody throws the a fantastic deal much better 4th associated with July party compared for you personally to the capital associated with scotland- St. Louis. Hundreds concerning a substantial amount involving attendees visit pay fascination to great music, play within the Members In The Family Festive Zone, ride about the zip collection also as human slingshot, and involving course, watch the actual spectacular firework display. Fair St. Louis could be Americas Greatest Birthday Party, and a person also dont need to miss it. discover more. Taste regarding Chicago Chicago, Illinois July 5-9, 2017 Taste connected with Chicago 2017 - very best Events USA Labeled since the nations largest premier outdoor meals festival, your current Taste regarding Chicago showcases the actual diversity with the Windy Citys dining community. the big event features a new smorgasbord out involving your citys favorite dining spots and inside addition hip, new up-and coming restaurants. Zero issue what sort relating to meals you're craving, you're particular to find it within the Taste associated with Chicago, also as food items youve by zero means learned about before. you might order a conventional deep-dish pizza, any kind of polish dog, order newer as well as a lot more effective modern american cuisine, or perhaps taste biological supplies associated with meals via each too as each continent. The Individual dont have to lose out upon this annual event, which usually subsequently brings in the lot greater than your million folks each as well as every and within addition each year. therefore occur hungry simply by leaving happy at the Taste involving Chicago. learn more. Santa Fe International Folk Artwork Market Santa Fe, New Mexico July 14 - 16, 2017 Santa Fe International Folk Artwork industry 2017 - greatest Events USA The Santa Fe International Folk artwork Marketplace may be voted the certain greatest Artwork Festival in the united States simply by USA Today. every year, the marketplace hosts artists coming from around the world and also furthermore more than 20,000 guests arrived at feel the artwork and luxuriate in international meals together with music. Certainly Not Truly merely that, yet this event impacts a complete lot a lot more than the lives with most the spectators which reach visit. Your actual artists whom present up from get maintain of 90% related using their specific earnings, providing these your opportunity serve as catalysts together with regard to always be able to positive social modify inside their communities via improving employment, healthcare, education, also as well-being. understand more. Northern Nights music Festival Piercy, California July 14-16, 2017 Northern Nights Songs Festival - Really best Events USA If anyone enjoy camping, swimming, hanging out inside the particular wilderness, in addition to hearing several sweet tunes, Northern Nights Songs Festival may always be the perfect audio festival pertaining to you. Picture playing your chosen band play carry on stage whilst you chill inside your tube inside your river as well as camping using the vast majority of involving your pals in the few concerning Americas many scenic countryside. Northern Nights Audio Festival is going to be Americas boutique camping festival. Obtain ready to obtain a weekend involving camping, floating the actual river, in inclusion to partying along together with your pals just about almost all night long! learn more. Frontier Days Cheyenne, Wyoming July 21-31, 2017 Frontier times - Greatest Events USA Take a stride back again into the wild wild west at Cheyennes Frontier Days. Since 1897, Cheyenne features celebrated its Outdated West roots using this eye-popping festival. the actual centerpiece may be the worlds largest outdoor rodeo. Complementing your specific daily rodeo action are usually behind-the-chutes tours, trick riding additionally the wild-horse race. The Particular Native American Village, a vintage frontier town, a brand new saloon, dancing, a new chuck wagon cook-off, pancake breakfasts also as an art display have through the particular real frontier theme. Rounding out the particular real plan certainly tend to be typically a carnival midway, an air show, top-name entertainment, expert bull riding exhibits as well as numerous parades which will contain antique carriages in addition to automobiles. Discover more. Molokai two Oahu Paddleboard world Championships Oahu, Hawaii July 30, 2017 Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard world Championship - Greatest Events USA Grab your existing boards, hit the actual beach, along with acquire your own wet suits on for the Molokai a couple of Oahu Paddleboard world Championships! each along with every year, the very best paddleboarders within the globe gather to race 32 miles via Kalua Koi inside Molokai towards the beach at the Maunalua Bay Beach Park bath residence throughout Oahu. the particular race provides probably the real roughest plan relating to contributors as well as intense entertaining along with regard in order to everybody participating, and within addition can become a hit with every single other with both contestants too as spectators alike. understand more. Top Events throughout August 2017 Maine Lobster Festival Rockland, Maine August 2-6, 2017 Maine Lobster Festival - Greatest Events USA When you imagine concerning Maine, the initial what issues to pop to become able to your mind are stunning coastlines, lighthouses, as well as delicious, red lobsters - and also a person wouldnt end up getting wrong. Maine is planning to be nationally as well as internationally recognized if you're the state which brings in any kind of few of, or even the particular actual greatest lobster inside the world. Dating back again pertaining to you to 1947, your real Maine Lobster Festival will carry on to always be able to become once a new year tradition throughout Rockland bringing throughout a big number of guests annually to always be able to test along with taste the real freshest lobster around. Consequently when you get planning your current Maine vacation for this summer, create positive for you to definitely program it across the Maine Lobster Festival. discover more. Iowa State Fair Des Moines, Iowa August 10-20, 2017 Iowa State Fair - best Events USA The Iowa State Fair will be one of the actual specific largest state fairs within the united States attracting greater compared to a brand name new million folks by means of almost all a lot a lot more than the entire world annually, its any proud salute in the particular direction of the actual states really very very very best in agriculture, industry, entertainment and also achievement. The Particular thought will find yourself becoming the actual accurate heartbeat with the Midwest, unequaled as well as unduplicated as well as an event which should become experienced by simply all. Discover more. Outside Lands San Francisco, California August 11-13, 2017 Outside Lands 2017 - best Events USA Come alongside along with are living outside together with Ranger Dave within Outside Lands 2017! each August, San Franciscos Golden Gate Park transforms straight into an otherworldly celebration involving music, food, wine, beer, artwork along with comedy. Your Current lineup along with http://www.purevolume.com/listeners/homeiswhatyoumakeit/posts/6583947/Travel+Mugs+And+Kosher+Cakes+Essential+Packing+For+Holiday+Tour regard to be able to 2017 features but to become announced, nonetheless main headliners from 2016 included Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Lionel Richie, Lana Del Rey, J.Cole, Sufjan Stevens, Chance your current Rapper, Beach House, along with more! Inside case you might be any audio junkie, Outside Lands wants for you to become about your personal personal bucket set of songs festivals to exhibit up at inside 2017. understand more. Best Inside The Particular West Nugget Rib Cook-Off Sparks, Nevada August 30 - September 4, 2017 Best inside your West Nugget Rib Cook-off 2017 - Extremely Greatest Events USA The Greatest inside The Particular West Nugget Rib Cook-Off will be Americas greatest and also finest free-entry barbecue festival! youll contemplate component all through countrys greatest grilling competition, positioned in the Nugget Casino Resort within Sparks, Nevada. a pair of dozen of the worlds leading bbq competitors serve up a whole lot a lot more than 240,000 kilos involving ribs using regard for you to countless 1000s associated with hungry event-goers in Victorian Square. Together With as receiving any bonus, admission, parking, shuttles, as well as entertainment will always be free! Thus in the big event you tend to be seeking for any selection of excellent barbecue this summer, e-book a visit to the Greatest Inside The Actual West Nugget Rib Cook-Off. understand more. Top Events inside September 2017 New York Trend Week New York, New York September 7-14, 2017 New York Way Week (NYFW) 2017 - Really best Events USA Twice a year, your fashion globe turns its attention to Ny so as to start for you to see the new collections from your worlds really very best designers. Runway correct following runway is filled up with models donning your styles which will the planet is planning to be wearing all through for your subsequent six months. However, your specific runways aren't the particular just real location in locations you could consider component in new York style Week. Simply about all week extended pop-up shops, runway studios, soirees, parties, and in addition exhibitions fill the particular certain location - many of those absolve to become able to attend. Thus in your event you could not necessarily score a fresh ticket towards the show, dont fret - there's even now plenty with the real means using regard to 1 in order to participate. Anybody could even spot Anna Wintour strolling inside regarding you to any show! Comprehend more. Oktober Zinzinnati Cincinnati, Ohio September 15-17, 2017 Oktoberfest Zinzinnati 2017 - very best Events USA Every September, downtown Cincinnati turns to the nations largest Oktoberfest celebration, drawing inside a huge group associated with 500,000. your celebration kicks off making use of your annual running using the Wieners, one hundred dachshunds donned throughout hot dog bun costumes race down the road being crowned your champion. There's plenty concerning food and within addition consume so as in order to maintain the foodie happy along with entertained the entire weekend via Beer Stein Races and Beer Barrel Rolls to become able to bouncing within your worlds largest chicken dance. Discover more. New York City Pizza Run New York, New York September 2017 New York Pizza Run 2017 - Greatest Events USA There are a couple of relatively inventive 5ks where occur annually round your US, nevertheless exactly where else could a person achievable host the particular particular pizza operate besides The Particular huge Apple City? Famous with regard to become able to its big assortment involving pizza parlors, Ny Metropolis hosts the Pizza run each as well as each as well as every September. Your Current NYC Pizza operate could be described as a challenge by which in turn members aim for you to accomplish the two mile run whilst stopping you may eat three slices related along with pizza within checkpoints throughout the particular real course. All Through a meals obsessed metropolis exactly where individuals are always concerning the run, piecing together an event which in turn pays tribute to some variety with the citys many defining characteristics seemed just just like a no-brainer. seize your appetite in addition to operating shoes as well as dont miss the actual specific NYC Pizza operate this fall! Realize more. Top Events throughout October 2017 Great American Beer Festival Denver, Colorado October 5-7, 2017 The Outstanding American Beer Festival 2017 - very best Events USA Watchout Oktoberfest, theres a new beer festival within town. the actual Excellent American Beer Festival may always be the premier US beer festival along with competition. Each As Well As Every And Within Addition every year, the truly amazing American Beer Festival represents your largest collection associated with US beer whenever an individual want served, inside the particular format of the public tasting event additionally an exclusive competition. Inside various other words, it means that you've technique plethora involving excellent beer through just regarding just about all over your country. Certainly Not Truly simply that, however, you may meet and also chat in the actual direction of the particular real brewers associated with one's new favorite craft beer whilst a person snack concerning cheeses by which happen in order to be paired perfectly utilizing the particular beers. Oh, and also do we mention which you in addition obtain to end up being seen up all through crazy costumes? Consequently come out, try a fresh domestic beer, for you to realise why America provides got the extremely very best craft brewing business within the world. learn more. Austin city Limits Austin, Texas October 6-8 & 13-15, 2017 Austin Metropolis Limitations 2017 - very Very Best Events USA Austin City limitations is continuing to be able to grow getting among Americas greatest songs festivals. 2017s festival will feature 2 weekends associated using lineups, eight stages, more than 110 bands, artwork markets, phone charging stations, and also theyve brought in the few delicious festival food. Inside the guts regarding Austin, TX, this festival will take greater than Zilker Park for a convenient choice associated along with camping, or perhaps possibly snagging an accommodation in the city. When youre browsing for that ultimate music fest experience with 2017, this genuinely may always be the spot for you. understand more. Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Albuquerque, New Mexico October 7-15, 2017 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - Greatest Events USA The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta can still be considered a world-renowned attraction as well as destination relating to kids of most ages. with regard to nine times inside October, the certain New Mexico skies are generally generally painted like a huge choice regarding balloons lift off by method of Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta Park. absolutely Nothing rivals the effectiveness of Mass Ascension upon crisp early mornings because these graceful giants leave a floor to consider their particular specific place inside your cerulean desert sky. Concerning ballooning fans worldwide, your Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta can be considered a pilgrimage. There's something with regard to almost all to become able to end up getting able to enjoy: whimsical unique designs filled track of equal places involving hot air along with wonder, and in addition Balloon Glows where develop a new magical night landscape along with regard in order to spectators in order to wander. absolutely No issue that team an individual are, the actual certain Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta will depart the individual awestruck along with seeking more. Discover more. Highball Halloween Columbus, Ohio October 20-21, 2017 Highball Halloween 2017 - Extremely Very Best Events USA Get ready for that nations nearly all elaborate Halloween costume party within Highball Halloween! This specific particular is not any kind of ordinary costume party, it's the just real Halloween event in which couture meets costumes. This specific particular yearly event bridges runway sort effortlessly the actual culture in the Brief North Arts District within Columbus, Ohio. Together With HighBall Halloween, an individual may well always be all you wear. Merely what when started off as getting a one night event within 2008, provides turned in to some wild weekend involving Halloween enjoyable featuring the road party, reside art, electrifying stage performances, a new public costume contest, along with relating to course, your particular feature event, the Battelle Costume Couture Trend Show. understand more. Formula 1 Usa Involving America Grand Prix Austin, Texas October 20-22, 2017 Formula one Usa Grand Prix Without any doubt, system one racing might wind up being the particular worlds many exciting, glamorous, demanding as well as prestigious motor racing series, also it will find yourself becoming probably your most well-known annual sporting series worldwide. Via Monaco for you to become able to Austin, these top-tier drivers deliver their cars in addition to their abilities to operate a vehicle in direction with the particular drivers Championship. Now, having a new monitor integrated 2012 near Austin, method one is actually a yearly visit in direction of the capital metropolis since the particular eighteenth race associated along with season, a manufacturer new race in which could established the hotly-contested drivers Championship. An Individual dont wish to always be able to miss this chance to grow for you to be just about any section of qualifications and witness your actual very greatest drivers inside the globe race it out in regards in order to the 3.4 mile track! understand more. Fantasy Fest Key West, Florida October 21-30, 2017 Fantasy Fest 2017 - Greatest Events USA Fantasy Fest can be really an annual 10-day party inside paradise concerning grown-ups. Began within 1979 by a tiny group involving Crucial West locals, the particular party had been developed with regard to you to bring friends to the island with what will be the typically quite, stunning season. This worked. Fantasy Fest can be continuing to develop each and also every yr since its inception and is also now the particular wildest extravaganza around! Fun-loving revelers by means of round your globe bring his or her creativity too as imaginations as they descend upon Crucial West annually within October concerning ten days filled up with costuming, parades, libations, and also excitement! Fantasy Fest is really like a mix involving Burning Man, Mardi Gras, and also Cosplay almost all brought along with each various other inside a new single perfect location. Discover more. Village Halloween Parade New York, New York October 31, 2017 Village Halloween Parade 2017 - Greatest Events USA New York area can be aware of how to celebrate Halloween. Each Along With Every and Also Each year, your metropolis shuts down 6th Ave therefore the costumed members may flaunt his or her costumes for the residents with almost all the area by which in absolutely not a way sleeps. the actual Village Halloween Parade might often be your nations almost most wildly imaginative public participatory event, with thousands of New Yorkers marching down 6th Ave inside their costumes. Inside order getting a a element with the actual parade contributors ought to be wearing costumes. The Particular actual theme relating to 2017 could be however in order to turn out to become able to be announced, consequently stayed tuned! yet this year, anybody wont wish to end up being able to miss the possibility to become apart involving this Halloween celebration! Dress up, and acquire ready to become able to march collectively facet a massive selection of puppets, bands, dancers, and also artists! Comprehend more. Top Events within November 2017 Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade New York, New York November 23, 2017 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - greatest Events USA Before America begins its yearly feast too as settles throughout to always be able in order to watch a quantity of football, virtually all eyes flip to grow for you to be capable of Ny town as well as additionally your classic Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. You'll notice giant balloons, marching bands, floats, celebrities, dancers, along along with a lot much more as connected using this yearly tradition. but as enjoyable since it could always be to watch your own parade via your own home, practically nothing might match watching the certain parade within person. so just before find yourself getting capable of selecting to go and acquire your own yearly fill connected using turkey, enjoy certainly certainly one of Americas practically all beloved traditions, along with contemplate within every one related using the sights along with sounds in which arrive using it! Discover more. Festival related using Lights Riverside, California November 25th - January 7th, 2017 Festival regarding Lights 2017 - very Very Best Events USA For 24 many years The Particular Real Mission Inn resort & day spa have got proven the 1000s associated with lights together with multiple events such because the Switch-On Ceremony, Santa Claus, Horse Carriages together with Entertaining. In your event that you would like for you to encounter probably the particular actual most dazzling holiday spectacle south with the North Pole, this truly is the destination in order to be. And, if you can easily not really allow it to be out for you to often be able to Riverside, California dont worry, they've are generally living webcams create simply for you. you can view live stream with the lights in inclusion to exercise by means of their website linked above! learn more.

[riverheadbooks]

READER HOROSCOPES FOR JANUARY 2017

As the planet spins on, so the pages turn

 CAPRICORN

Hello and very happy new year, beautiful Capricorn! I hope you're basking in the glow of the past few weeks (the end of 2016 worked out quite well for you, you can admit it) instead of succumbing to the societal pressure to make lists of resolutions. Is it good to have goals to work towards? Of course! But don't drive yourself crazy trying to change every other part of your personality in order to fulfill some imaginary “new year, new me” quota. Think about your life right now: what are you thankful for? What have you been blessed with? Once you've made that list, then think about which areas could use some growth. Take inspiration from the heroine of your lucky book this month: a woman who capitalized on her talents and used them to go after the life she truly wanted. She had some rough beginnings, but she didn't let the more difficult aspects of her life bog her down or overwhelm her progress. Take courage - 2017 is blank slate, a song just waiting to be written. Grab your pen and your guitar and get to work!

LUCKY BOOK: Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

 AQUARIUS

Every dog has its day, and this month, gentle Aquarius, is yours. After the manic pace of the holidays - that persisted right up until the new year - it's time to slow way down and catch your breath. If you're feeling like you've got a couple screws loose, trust those instincts; you probably do! Use this time of renewal and new beginnings to attend to yourself in the way you've been longing to: return those phone calls and emails, complete the projects you left undone, systematically tie up any loose ends that have been keeping you up at night. Most importantly, do these things at the most leisurely pace you can muster. Disconnect from the frenetic pace of your social media feeds - you'll be shocked at how much more clear and rested you'll feel when you stop the mindless scrolling. Does the thought of going analog make you itch? Let your lucky book this month be your guide: follow the stories of several Americans doing their best to live more authentic lives: not necessarily by leaving technology behind, but by doing what they can, bit by bit, to simplify the way they approach their daily existence. Breathe deep, take in the beauty surrounding you, and use each morning as a fresh start.

LUCKY BOOK: The Unsettlers by Mark Sundeen

 PISCES

Quite the socialite, aren’t you, popular Pisces? You’re starting the year off surrounded by a community of family, friends, and admirers, happy as a clam. Well, perhaps a bit harried, too. But in the best way! Even though you have to get really creative in your responses to invitations (Why double date when you can quadruple date?) you’re feeling all the love the universe has to give right now, and now you want to give some of it back. How will you channel this benevolent energy? The main character of your lucky book used his creative powers to create political cartoons that rocked his entire nation - with consequences that far surpassed his expectations. When you have any kind of platform, taking a strong political stance is always a calculated risk - but is usually well worth the effort. Take advantage of the attention you're getting, and think about how to best use it for good. You never know just how influential your words - or actions - may be.

LUCKY BOOK: Reputations by Juan Gabriel Vásquez

 ARIES

Balance, Aries, it's all about balance. In addition to a lucky book, you get a key word this month, too. Think of the next few weeks as gently flowing waves, and you're rising and falling with the tide. You're not doing any heavy lifting this month, so unclench and relax. The beginning of a new year often brings enormous pressure to transform into a brand new iteration of yourself that you probably feel little to no connection too. So why that disconnect? Imbalance. (Told you.) Bringing baggage from 2016 into the light of a new year - whether it be emotional, physical, psychological - is guaranteed to throw you off and have you losing the game before you get a chance to start playing. Take a step back and examine your priorities: how are you feeling about your career? Your relationships? Your home? Yourself? Do the necessary work of dotting I’s and crossing T’s that you've been neglecting, and then you can truly begin on a clean slate. Your lucky book this month is a mind-bending exploration of our perception of reality - time, space, physics. All of the things we know of, but struggle to explain; that we trust, but can rarely see. All of the disparate pieces that somehow hold together the very fabric of our existence...all connected through a most complex and delicate balance.

LUCKY BOOK: Reality Is Not What it Seems by Carlo Rovelli (1/24)

 TAURUS

Auf wiedersehen and bon voyage, Taurus! You're grabbing 2017 by the horns and shaking it - that is to say, you aren't taking any winter blues lying down. No, you're throwing your sunscreen and phone charger in a weekender bag and peacing out (and who can blame you?). A giant dose of wanderlust at the very top of a new year can do wonders for expanding your knowledge, refreshing your worldview, and giving a much-needed jolt to both empathy and creativity, which often go hand-in-hand. How would we learn authentically about other people’s lives and experiences if we stayed cloistered within our hometowns, unwilling to venture out and be an outsider in a new place? The protagonist of your lucky book this month shares your desire for traveling beyond the comfortable or familiar: she goes to a Middle Eastern country in search of an ancient text, but ends up discovering so much more. Witness to an incredible love story, mounting political tension, and a family’s struggle to navigate their country’s increasingly precarious hold on peace, she discovers what it means to be a stranger in a land that is physically and culturally different even as her emotional attachment grows ever stronger. In the midst of your adventures, don’t miss your chance to make a deep connection with what may at first feel strange or foreign. You’ll be all the richer for it.

LUCKY BOOK: A Word for Love by Emily Robbins (1/17)

 GEMINI

Feeling a bit touched out, Gem? We all have those days. Err...months. No judgment, seriously. Coming right out of the holiday season, where it seems like everywhere you turn, there’s another nosy relative, ugly sweater party obligation, or guilt-inducing ad, it’s no wonder you are desperately seeking a room of your own. Consider this your pass to embrace the hermit you’ve been trying to suppress all November and December! You are welcome. Use this time to think about boundaries: have you been careful with who you allow into your space, whether it be physical, mental, or emotional? Have your loved ones been mindful of your needs? There is no shame in being exactly who you are, despite what the people around you (and on your feed) might feel about it. The beginning of the year can be tough - the pressure to change can feel more like a burden, particularly when the exhaustion of the weeks past doesn’t actually melt at the stroke of midnight on January 1, like the world would have you think. Stand firm in who you are, what you need, and what you enjoy - and don’t be afraid to turn your back on whoever makes you feel as if you are inadequate. When you’re curled up under a warm blanket and blissfully ignoring the world outside, you’ll want a copy of your lucky book: a beautifully heartbreaking true-life account about a young man who was made to feel ashamed of who he truly was, and his journey to radical self-love. Despite all odds, and despite hate masquerading as righteousness, he found the courage and strength to say yes to himself, and overcome a lifetime of no. Now that’s a story worth snuggling up to.

LUCKY BOOK: Boy Erased by Garrard Conley

CANCER

It takes two, baby!!! Cancer, take a minute to make sure your phone isn’t in airplane mode and that you’ve got your notifications ON, because this is your month for partnerships! Maybe you need a cuddle partner for the cold winter months - or if you’re in warmer climes, a buddy to hit the hiking trails or In-N-Out with. Either way, the stars have decreed that the going will be easy in terms of of establishing and/or strengthening connections with the ones you’d like to get a little closer to this month. But that doesn’t mean that you can sit back with your arms crossed and expect love or companionship to find you: it’s all in your ability to recognize what’s in front of you, and perhaps even what’s been in front of you for some time. It’s in your willingness to open yourself up to possibilities you may have previously thought impossible. No woman is an island - or, at least, shouldn’t be for too long. Your lucky book is testament to that fact. Isolation and loneliness can be incredibly damaging over time, and should not be equated with strength of character or some kind of emotional fortitude. Nadia had to learn this lesson, however slowly or painfully, and ultimately, learned and grew from her connections with other people - despite, and in some cases, because of her missteps. Growth is change, and change sometimes hurts. But taking the first step is more than worth it, as any character in your lucky book would tell you. Consider the possibilities, and embrace them! Life is too short to go it alone.

LUCKY BOOK: The Mothers by Brit Bennett

 LEO

Aaaaaand...ONE and TWO and THREE and FOUR! You’re high kicking and downward dog-ing your way into 2017, and good for you! We’re in the dead of winter and that’s normally the signal for morose hibernation and comfort snacking, so be proud of your strength of will in such trying times. Keep yourself well hydrated, stock up on a healthy munchies, get plenty of rest. And, most importantly, don’t give in to the temptation to subscribe to the latest fad diet or Instagram fitness craze. You know what feels right for your body, and trying to fit into anyone else’s standards of beauty or fitness is just a long, slippery slope to dissatisfaction and depression. At this point in your life, whatever point that may be, you know that embracing your inner strength and resolve is what makes you feel truly empowered. It’s incredibly easy to lose sight of that strength on a daily - and sometimes hourly - basis. But as long as you continue exercising your body and mind (you know that level of discipline you have accounts for some serious mental heavy lifting, right?) you’re golden. You’re creating the life that you want, rather than just existing. And the quickest way out of or away from any rut - whether it be a “midlife crisis” or simply an awful week - is to live with purpose, with intention. To approach each crossroads as a fresh beginning rather than an inevitably unfulfilling choice. Grab your lucky book this month for a wellspring of insight and inspiration for any day when putting on your running shoes feels completely insurmountable. You’ll be back on the track in no time.

LUCKY BOOK: Life Reimagined by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

 VIRGO

Well, Virgo, it may be cool outside, but you are HOT. We aren’t sure what exactly it is, but you’re making heads turn all month, and good luck keeping your weekend evenings free - you’re the belle of the ball, so don’t be surprised by all the requests to hit the dance floor! Enjoy yourself, but this won’t be all fun and games - expect some serious relationship vibes to find their way to you and whichever sweetie has been on your mind for some time. The time is now, no day but today - what’s your move going to be? Coupled Virgos, a monumental next step could be coming - you know exactly what I’m talking about - while single Virgos, have your defenses at the ready. Heady romance and passion are all well and good, but beware the untimely return of a former lover. Take any mysterious reappearance as a sign - to run! Don’t be wooed by the same mind games that you escaped from once already. Your lucky book has enough of those already. Haunting, breathtaking, and utterly captivating, you’ll tear through this small book and be left completely on edge and completely stunned. Nothing like some healthy fear to counterbalance a bit of amorous passion, right Virgo? This will be a thrilling month indeed.

LUCKY BOOK: Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

 LIBRA

Oh, lovely Libra. The holiday season is enjoyable, sure, with all of shiny bells and baubles, and goodwill to all men. But the unrelenting busy-ness can be a bit much, so you aren’t too mournful in saying goodbye to the madness for another year. So, onto much more satisfying things: your warm bed. Your cozy apartment. An intimate group of friends and family, just sharing snacks, telling jokes, and watching movies without any of the frenzy that typically bleeds into similar get-togethers in November or December. If you’re feeling like a homebody, that’s completely fine, because you love your home and are proud to be in it, and so are the loved ones you invite into your space. That warm glow of comfort and friendship - it’s completely irreplaceable, isn’t it? This month, you share a lot in common with the title character in your lucky book - a comparison you may find unusual, but stick around. This is American history like you’ve never experienced it before, although the character in question is actually French. That’s right, General Lafayette, that dashing, daring, revolution-loving soldier may have fought battles and navigated thorny political conspiracies, which you will probably never be called upon to do - but at the heart of his tale lies the impact he made not just on history, but on the people who surrounded him. His friends. His admirers. The people who he could kick up his feet and shoot the breeze with. It’s easy to forget that historical figures had inner lives that so resembled ours - so this month, bask in the knowledge that you and General Lafayette could both appreciate the simple pleasures of spending time with good company. La vie est belle, non?

LUCKY BOOK: Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell

 SCORPIO

Whew, Scorpio! Have you slowed down since the ball dropped on January 1? You’re a whirling dervish this month, spinning from one activity to the next, accepting as many invitations and lunch dates and dinner gates and hangout plans as your poor little calendar can hold. Not to knock your hustle - you’re feeling the energy that comes from a fresh new start, and your “new year, new you” vigor is unstoppable. After all, community is crucial, your networking is working, and you certainly don’t have time to waste! But to that point, take a second every now and then to double check your daily agenda - double-booking can happen all too easily. Barring that, go on and live your life in glorious, unfettered splendor. You’re embodying the spirit of your lucky book this month, which explains why untidiness and sprawl is actually integral to the way our minds function, and can lead to innovation and creativity. Is your room a mild disaster area because you’re too busy to put your things away? Fine! Is your desk strewn with papers and post-its? Great! You’re subconsciously keeping yourself engaged, attuned to unusual patterns, and primed for new ideas. 2017 is already your year, Scorpio - and you haven’t even made your bed yet. If you want to rub it in your mother’s face, just don’t tell her we sent you.

LUCKY BOOK: Messy by Tim Harford

 SAGITTARIUS

Wow, Sagittarius, you’re looking quite large and in charge. You’ve got a swagger in your step and twinkle in your eye - as focused as the archer for which you’re named. Yes, you made a list of resolutions, and what of it? You’re not the kind of person to abandon them after two weeks, no ma’am. Setting manageable, yet ambitious goals for yourself is a wholly affirming exercise: it inspires reflection on what’s been working for you so far, and helps you dream of what you’d like to accomplish next. You’re feeling totally grounded and in control this month, Sag, so this work is both essential and instinctual. Be sure to think through all of the logistics of each goal: what resources are required to make them a reality? Who might you need to rely on for help? How much time will you give yourself to achieve each step? You’re thinking like a visionary, so it’s only right that your lucky book this month be a sparkling how-to guide for the creative, forward-thinking soul. Take it from an expert: the power of soulfulness and positivity cannot be understated. But they don’t come naturally, no matter how good you may be feeling right now, in the second week of the new year. Put in the practice now to make these values a habit, and watch how your vision boards manifest in 2017. You got this!

LUCKY BOOK: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

[accuhunt]

How I Managed to Pay Off 26000$ of Student Loan: Candid Tips for Freelancers and Travel Bloggers!

Over six years ago, when I quit my 9-to-5 corporate job in Singapore, I tried not to dwell upon the 26,000$ student debt hanging above my head. In order to finance my college education in Singapore, I had taken a massive loan, and had until 2030 to pay it off.

Yet there I was, quitting a well-paying steady job to experiment with a life of travel, freelancing and blogging. The day I sent in my resignation, I promised myself two things:

One, that I would do what it takes to earn enough money to pay my loan instalments – a minimum of 200$ per month. I wouldn’t borrow money or dig into my backup savings as far as I could help it.

Two, that if by age 35, I still hadn’t paid it off, I would swallow my dreams, head back into the corporate world and work my butt off to repay the loan.

Although I broke my first promise a couple of times by digging into my savings, I didn’t have to wait till 35 to reconsider the second one (phew). In 2017, over six years after quitting my full time job, I managed to pay off the entire goddamn loan – while freelancing, blogging and travelling around the world.

Here are some lessons I learnt along the way; candid tips that I hope will give perspective to fellow freelancers and travel bloggers in similarly challenging times:

1) Believe in yourself and stop working for peanuts

Learning along the way in my outdoor offices – this one in Coorg.

When I first began freelancing, I was writing travel stories for as little as 500 rupees (less than 10$). I had no contacts in the industry, no idea of freelancing rates and no confidence in myself to deliver a decent travel piece. But with time, I built each of these.

Once my travel writing portfolio expanded to include BBC Travel and National Geographic Traveller, I decided to walk away from work that neither excites me nor compensates me enough to be worth my time and effort. Unfortunately there are no standard industry rates for freelancers / travel bloggers, so my formula is simple: for how long can a piece of work fund my travels? My goal is to earn a month’s worth of expenses for a week’s worth of work. It’s a personal thing and must evolve with the quality of work.

Many freelancers complain about poor rates, but end up accepting the same gigs anyway. We’re certain to lose some opportunities when we hold our ground in a negotiation, but it’s the only way to seek out better paying opportunities, deliver higher quality work and strike a satisfying work-travel / life balance.

Also read: Practical Tips to Break Into Freelance Travel Writing

2) We only get a few chances: Professionalism matters more than we think

Life of a digital nomad – in the Bavarian Alps.

I remember the months I could barely scrape up enough money to pay my monthly loan instalments. I remember sleepless nights of pitching and sending proposals, not knowing where my next assignment might come from.

So when I scored a 3-month social media and writing gig, I knew I had to do everything to keep it. Working virtually, I learnt early on the importance of being professional and timely in my communication, deliverables and deadlines. So what if I was a one-woman show with my own blog and social media to manage, simultaneous work deadlines and an insatiable wanderlust? I gradually managed to turn two short gigs into year-long projects that steadily enabled me to increase my monthly loan repayments.

I’ve heard companies lament how they’ve burnt their hands with freelancers, and tourism boards disappointed by bloggers who don’t deliver on their promises. Remember that it’s a small industry and word gets around fast. Right from the first email and deadline, we’re being judged on our professionalism. And cliched though it sounds, under-promising and over-delivering is always a good mantra to hold yourself to.

Also read: So You Want to Start a Travel Blog?

3) Freelancers need a forced savings plan too

Spending on experiences that matter… but saving too.

Like every freelancer and travel blogger, I hate late payments from clients, but I secretly think of them as forced savings. I’m pretty casual about spending what I earn on travelling, so it takes no time for my account to go from six digits to three – and the only way I survive is through forced savings.

In my corporate days in Singapore, a portion of my salary was deducted and transferred into a provident fund account. After I quit, I tried to keep that habit – transferring 30-40% of what I earned on a big project into a fixed deposit or second savings account. Ultimately, all that saved money helped me pay off the last big chunk of my loan at one go – phew.

Also read: Things I Wish I Knew Before I Quit My Job to Travel

4) Stop feeling insecure about losing a free trip to another blogger/freelancer

Inspiration to create inspiring travel content.

I came face to face with a dilemma that every travel blogger (and these days, Instagrammer) faces at some point: to accept a free press trip to somewhere exotic, or not. Back in 2011, at my first travel blogging conference outside India, I was surprised to learn that some prominent travel bloggers were charging a fee to join press trips. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Besides the fact that creating truly inspiring travel content online is a time and effort intensive job, it also leads to direct revenue for the brand or tourism board involved – and I know because many of my readers write to me to say my stories from a destination made them travel there.

I’ve been part of multiple blogging trips now where it’s turned out that I’m one of the only ones getting paid – and not necessarily because my content is better or my reach greater, but because I’m willing to walk away. I’ve also been dropped from many campaigns because I’ve walked away in a negotiation – and I think that’s okay.

Truth is, if we are confident we create innovative content and influence our readers’ decisions, we need to realise and monetise the value of our work.

Also read: How to Earn Money While Travelling

5) Sell your work, but not your soul

Contemplating dilemmas in northern Copenhagen.

I started travel blogging for two reasons: One, I didn’t want to forget the incredible stories and small acts of kindness I came across on the road. And two, I wanted to encourage my readers to think differently about life and travel. The only way I can continue doing both is by staying true to myself – and there are plenty of dilemmas every day.

I struggle to stuff my blogposts with keywords that google wants; I struggle to write posts that people search for (like how to do Europe in 5 days – sorry, no one can “do” Europe in 5 days); I struggle to promote things that I don’t genuinely believe in (no thank you L’Oréal, I can’t support animal testing).

And so be it. I tell myself that the offers will come and go, the money will come and go, but my writing will stay. This blog will stay. And (hopefully) you guys, my readers, will stay… and that’s what matters. Because without my audience, my blog is nothing.

Also read: How Croatia Compelled Me to Rethink Travel Blogging

6) Let’s not try to be superheroes: Learn to delegate

Doing the digital nomad thing in Chiang Mai.

The biggest lesson I learnt from running my travel startup India Untravelled, was to delegate to the right people. It’s something I still struggle with, but I’ve been learning – to split my work (and pay) with other freelancers when my plate is too full, and to gradually grow my team at The Shooting Star. By delegating things that need fresh eyes, are time-consuming and just don’t interest me (hello, google analytics), I’ve been able to free space and time for things I care about and to work on passion projects.

By investing in talented individuals, I’m not only looking at my own work with a fresh lens, but also learning more about running a business, diversifying my income sources and gaining plenty of “me-time” along the way.

Also read: Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning’s End

7) Naysayers be damned: Turn off the negativity

Turning off the negativity in Guatemala <3

Ignore the naysayers – that’s the best advice I got when I first took the plunge to quit my job. Maybe I’d make it somewhere in life, maybe I wouldn’t; maybe I’d be able to pay off my loan before 35, maybe I wouldn’t. But the worst thing I could do is fill my mind with all the doubts people had about my choices.

I’ve come to believe that our lives are often a self-fulfilling prophecy; the more positively we think of the future, the better it tends to be. And even if the future isn’t going to be that great, why ruin our present with negative thoughts?

All those years ago, the idea of paying a huge loan through an unsteady freelancing and travel blogging income seemed rather impractical, but I convinced myself that I’ll find a way. After all, what fun is a practical life with no big dreams and no impossible challenges to overcome?

Also read: How I’m Funding My Adventures Around the World Through Travel Blogging

What are your biggest challenges as a freelancer or travel blogger?

Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to follow my travel adventures around the world!

ALSO READ: Why Long Term Travel is More Like Real Life and Less Like Instagram Advice for the Young and Penniless Who Want to Travel Confessions of an Indian Travel Blogger

How I Managed to Pay Off 26000$ of Student Loan: Candid Tips for Freelancers and Travel Bloggers! published first on https://airriflelab.tumblr.com

[rajachellappan]

An Escapade Bike Trip Through The Nilgiris

The Stunning Nilgiris

When was the last time you had a plan to go on a road trip and you had to cancel it just because the odds were not in your favor? Well, this is my travelogue about the daring bike trip I took from Chennai breaking all the odds through the hills of Nilgiris which turned out to be one of the most memorable journey of my life - A bike trip that I planned just 12 hours before.

Day Zero: To Go or Not To Go

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”

It was just another regular day on the twenty-third of June 2017, as I sat staring at my desktop in my office, my heart filled with an unknown melancholy. I asked myself - When was the last time I did a bike trip? It had been over a couple of years since I last went on a long distance bike trip ever since I graduated from college and joined this IT corporate job. My daily routine for the past two years had been just work, eat and sleep. I have done nothing for my insatiable wanderlust. I knew at that moment that my spirit craved for more adventure and I had to do this trip now, or else I would be trapped in this white cubicle cage forever.

Luckily, it was a long weekend in Chennai, India as Ramzan fell on the twenty-sixth of June 2017 and I got a good three days for a long bike trip. But, then came the next question - Where should I go? Hill Stations are my favorites and the first set of places that popped into my mind were Ooty, Coorg, and Munnar. I had been to Ooty before on a bike trip and that was an unexpected trip when I went to meet my friend in Bangalore. It was just a one day trip but I really fell in love with the curvy roads and weather of Ooty. So, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for me to explore more of Ooty and it’s surrounding hills.

Day Zero: Finding The Partner In Ride

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.”

– Tim Cahill

I always love solo rides rather than a group rides but I had one problem for this trip, I did not have enough time for planning a solo ride and moreover, I had serviced my bike three weeks ago which is always a risk when you are going on a long distance journey like this. I needed a partner for my trip - another Biker with a bike.

I wasted no time as it was already half past six in the evening. I started pinging and calling all my friends who were in Chennai and around. I got rejections after rejections as most of them told that I am crazy or it was too late for a bike trip. I felt a small inkling in my heart that this trip is not going to happen and I have to wait for the next opportunity. But, the wanderlust in me kept me going for other options. I went through all my contacts once again and then one name heeded me - Praveen Co.

That is not a company but my cousin, Praveen. When I read the name, I realized that he recently moved to Chennai from Cochin. He had been asking me for a bike trip for a long time and I immediately contacted him to tell about my plan. To my excitement, he was very much interested to join me for the trip but he had one problem, he wanted to check his bike with the mechanic to make sure that his bike is in good condition for a long trip. So, he asked me some time to confirm. After nearly thirty minutes of suspense, he finally confirmed to join. I was jumping in joy that this trip is finally happening.

Screenshot of our Whatsapp chat

Day One: The Journey Begins

“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.”

– Tony Robbins

We planned for a start time at four in the morning but then we faced the first challenge of our journey - it was raining heavily in Chennai all through the night. We had engaged all our protection against the monsoon rains of the western ghats and this rain in Chennai only prepared us for the more to come throughout our journey.

My cousin reached my home in his Royal Enfield Bullet Standard 350cc at four and I took out my KTM 390 Duke outside. We started fastening our luggage using bungee ropes onto the Bullet since it had a good pillion space and can load heavyweight. We then enveloped the whole back of the Bullet with my Grand i10 Car Cover to protect our luggage from getting wet. Once it was completed, we fully geared up with our Jacket, Elbow & Knee guards and Helmet. We had already filled our bike’s fuel tank to the full the previous night, so we were all set for our long bike trip.

We began our journey on the Grand Southern Trunk road around half past four and we decided to take the route Chennai - Viluppurum - Salem - Erode - Mettupalayam - Ooty.

Our Journey Map

We decided to have some ground rules for the trip like turning on our headlights full beam throughout the trip so that we can stick together, maintain around 80 Km/h in the highways and each one takes the lead position every thirty minutes alternatively.

We hurdled through the rains and the moving traffic of South Chennai to complete our first phase of the trip till Viluppurum covering a distance of 168 Km. We reached Viluppurum around forty past eight and we took our first break. The rain had finally stopped and the Sun was rising above the black clouds.

The first picture of our bike trip at Viluppurum

After ten minutes of much-needed break for us and our bikes, we continued to proceed to our next phase - Salem.

Day One: The First Halt And The Man in White

“If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but by all means keep moving.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

We reached Ulundurpet after thirty minutes into our second phase and from here we had to take the Salem Highway towards the west. Salem Highway is a two-lane highway and it is one of the best roads to travel as the roads are very straight for many kilometers. So, we started to speed up to compensate the time we lost in our first phase. We were over 100 Km/h and were having so much fun riding the bike. Like people always say - Happiness is short-lived, Praveen’s bike engine suddenly stopped running and this brought us to our first Halt.

It was a 90′s model Bullet and it had no fuel gauge or self-start. We tried to start by kick-starting the bike for like fifteen minutes but we failed miserably. We started inspecting the bike for any faults. We then came to a conclusion that the bike must have got heated up since we were riding around 100 km/h. We kick started the bike again after leaving for fifteen minutes to cool down but we failed again. We were stranded in the middle of the highway in the hot sun clueless of what to do next.

The Adamant bike

Out of nowhere a Man wearing a white shirt and white dhoti riding a Bullet stopped in front of us and enquired. We explained him everything and he started inspecting the bike. He tried to kick-start the bike again after cleaning the Spark Plug and Fuel line, with some initial hiccups the bike finally ignited with a big roar and it filled our heart with joy. The Man in White advised us to go with him to check the bike from a mechanic he knows and we agreed to it.

On the backdrops of Yercaud Hills

The Man in White took us to his village Chinnasalem through scenic agricultural fields in the backdrops of Yercaud Hills. We reached the Mechanic shop which was a very old shop and looked like it has been there for more than thirty years. The whole shop was filled with Royal Enfield bikes from the 80′s to the newest and we knew we were in the right place thanks to the Man in White. The Mechanic after some careful inspections gave us the analysis of the bike. The good news was that the bike is in all good condition and we can continue our journey without any trouble. But the bad news was that the bike did not start because it was low on fuel and the bike’s engine is drinking too much of fuel. It was a really happy news for us because we initially thought of going back home but the Man in White and the Mechanic saved our Bike Trip.

The Man in White was a well-known guy in the village and he knows many people in and around the Salem District. He and all the people around him were surprised to know that we were traveling from Chennai to Ooty and they were so excited for us like as if we were going to the Moon. The Man in White did not allow us to pay any money for the service. He also shared his mobile number and told us that we can contact him for any help in our journey as he knows many people from Salem to Ooty.

We continued our journey after bidding goodbye and thanking The Man in White, the Mechanic and all the people who gave us snacks and tea.

Day One: Riding The Life On The Edge

“Through travel, I first became aware of the outside world; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it.” – Eudora Welty 

The clock struck twelve and we had almost lost two hours in the second phase of our trip. We maintained a steady speed of 80 Km/h and took regular fuel breaks as we bypassed the City of Salem. Taking any risks from here was like digging our own graves. From here we had to take the Salem - Kochi Highway and we were moving towards the south once again. Thus, began our third phase of the trip towards - Erode.

One of the most important parts of a bike trip is not only having a regular break for the bikes but also breaks to refuel ourselves. The highway till Salem was very dry and we were drained out by the Hot Sun. We were hungry and wanted to eat something good for the lunch as we had to skip our breakfast due to the whole second phase saga. As we were approaching the end of our third phase, we reached the City of Erode and this brought us to our much-needed lunch break. We stopped by a decent looking restaurant near the Tollgate in the outskirts of the city. I usually do not eat a lot when I am traveling but that day I changed my mind and I was eating like I am never going to see food again.

After a good meal and a rest for forty minutes, we resumed our trip at around two.  God finally showed mercy on us as the weather was much calmer than before and I was able to see much greener surroundings on our way to our fourth phase towards the foothills of Mettupalayam. As we were riding slowly with a full tummy and cool breeze on the highway, we started feeling drowsy and we agreed to take a catnap. So, we started looking for a safe place to nap on the sides of the highway. Finally, after a careful hunt we found a peaceful bus stop in nowhere and in no time we crashed down. We had a good nap for thirty long minutes before we prepared ourselves for the next part of our journey and we decided not to take any more long breaks as we wanted to climb Ooty before the sunset.

Taking a catnap in a bus stop

As we were nearing the Textile capital of India - Tiruppur, we had to take a road to Avinashi which leads to Mettupalayam but unfortunately, we missed the road and traveled four Kilometers from the diversion as there were no proper signboards. We went through village roads and caught up with the road to Avinashi. After crossing Avinashi, we started getting our first glimpse of the Blue Hills of Nilgiris. We knew the hills were calling us to hurry up as we could see the black clouds approaching in the background.

The road to Mettupalayam

Black Clouds approaching the Nilgiris

The road to Mettupalayam was smooth and beautiful to ride so we speeded up. The closer we reached, the sky turned darker towards the foothills. So, we stopped by on the side of the road to wear our raincoats over our jackets as a double protection from the rain and the cold weather of the Nilgiris. The heavens opened up and we felt the first raindrops of monsoon as we reached the foothill of Mettupalayam - the gateway to Nilgiris.

The first raindrops of Monsoon

The second phase of our trip had pushed us to the grounds and now we were riding like a phoenix born again from its own ashes just hoping nothing worse happens from hereon.

Day One: Duke and Bullet Went Up The Hill

“Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing.” ― Barry Finlay, Kilimanjaro and Beyond

Our beloved friends on the way to Coonoor

The time was five and we had good hopes of completing the final leg of the trip before the sunset. The roads started elevating when we crossed Mettupalayam and in no time we were above the grounds climbing our first hill in our trip on the way to beautiful Coonoor. The sky got darker, the rain got heavier, the temperature got colder and the road got curvier as we started to climb the hill. We also met many of our beloved friends of the hills - Monkeys, which did put a smile on our face after all the things we went through the day. We reached Coonoor in around fifty minutes and from there we were able to see the hills of Ooty above. I wondered, exactly twenty fours ago I was staring at my desktop and now here I am staring at the beauty of Nilgiris. We had come so far hurdling so many obstacles and I realized at that moment that now our only way is up and there is no going back.

Scenic view of Ooty from Coonoor

The Sun gave the last kiss to the Earth for the day and twilight fell on the hills as we traveled another forty minutes carefully to reach our final destination of the day - Ooty. Ooty served as the summer capital of the Madras Presidency during the British Raj. It indeed was a wise decision to take despite its location in the tropics, in contrast with most of South India, Ooty generally features mild conditions throughout the year. To our surprise, the Ooty was way too crowded than ever which made us realize that we were not alone and many people have got away from the cities to utilize the long Ramzan weekend. We had traveled nearly fifteen hours from Chennai and it was the time for us to call it a day. We started looking for a room to stay but we failed. I tried contacting my Sister and other friends whether we could find any place to stay. My Sister found us a resort but it was almost forty kilometers from Ooty in Mudumalai National Park and we thought it was not a good idea to travel at that time. So, we kept searching for places and only to find rooms that were either very expensive or dirty.

Ooty welcomed us with a rainbow

We finally found a room near the Botanical Gardens and it was not actually a hotel but a beautiful house. The room was very clean and the cost was inexpensive but the only problem we saw was the guys in the other rooms were drinking and smoking weed. We thought that they might cause some inconvenience to us. But, the owner was a Malayali from Kerala and he seemed to be cool so we agreed to stay there. We unpacked our luggage and settled in the room around eight. After freshening up and changing our clothes, we headed out for a walk to find a good restaurant to have our dinner. We found this place called Shinkow’s Chinese Restaurant after walking for nearly twenty minutes in the freezing weather. The ambiance of the restaurant was really good and we settled down quickly to order our dinner. We ordered Hot and Sour Chicken Soup, Veg. Hakka Noodles and Momo. We were more than happy with the quality of food they served us.

Dinner at Shinkow’s Chinese Restaurant

We headed back to the room after having a great dinner. It was a beautiful silent walk on the streets below the starry night as all the shops in Ooty close early. We reached our room and crashed into our bed around ten in the night as we needed a good sound sleep before another long day of our trip in the Nilgiris.

Day Two: That Day After Everyday

“Look deep into nature, and you will understand everything better.” - Albert Einstein

Morning view from our room

How beautiful life would be every day when you open your eyes in the morning to a scenic hill view and hear the beautiful chirps of nature.  Every problem we face in our lives would diminish and this will give us the positive energy to tackle our problem. I felt like I had accomplished Nirvana far far away from the city life and I asked myself - Why do we humans had to destroy the nature around us and push this flora and fauna to be endangered? I felt ashamed of being a part of it. Every human who destroys the nature should remember one thing - we have not come into this world but have come out of this world. We have already destroyed enough to see the consequences and now it is our duty to help it restore.

Water droplet on a leaf at Ooty Tea Gardens

We woke up around eight in the morning but we were unable to get out of the blankets as the temperature was freezing cold. We somehow got up from the bed as it was the time for us to do some adventures in the wilderness. I quickly took shower in the cold water since someone advised me long ago that the only way to tackle the cold is by taking a cold shower and she was right, it really helped me cope with the weather. We then quickly got dressed up and started our preparation for the exploration. The Bullet drank too much fuel the previous day, so we took a wise move to take only my Duke as we had no heavy luggage to carry. Moreover, Duke has a more powerful engine and has Metzeler tyres which are really good for wet mountain roads.

We locked our luggage inside the room and took our important stuff like Wallet, Nikon D5300 DSLR, Raincoats, and all our documents in a backpack. We started from the room around nine and we first headed to have our breakfast nearby. We found a good Kerala restaurant and had Appam and Kadala Curry. We resumed our journey after drinking a hot and tasty Ooty Tea. We had come a long way not to visit some botanical gardens or a boathouse but to explore the wilderness of the Nilgiris. So we quickly set out to find the Ooty - Gudalur road which is known for the famous Shooting spot of Ooty, The Pykara Falls and many scenic places along the route which leads to Mudumalai National Park - One of the largest Tiger Reserve in India. We had no difficulty in finding the road as there were many signboards all around Ooty and in no time we were far away from the crowded places to the beautiful forests of Nilgiris.

Day Two: The Devil, The Dog And The Falls

“Go out, go out I beg of you     And taste the beauty of the wild.     Behold the miracle of the earth     With all the wonder of a child.”  

-Edna Jaques

Climbing to the slippery Wenlock Down Shooting Spot

Thirty minutes into the ride we reached Wenlock Down Shooting Spot, this place has been featured in many movies. The place was very crowded as we expected and the road leading to the place was jammed with vehicles. We were lucky enough to be on a bike that we could easily surpass this jam to reach the entrance and now came the problem of the parking. The road was very narrow and there was not enough space on the sides to park as heavy buses also transmit through this route. We somehow found an electricity pole on the side of the road and there was a small grass hump next to it which had enough space to park our bike. We then went to the entrance and got the entry tickets to the spot. We need to climb a steep slope to reach the top of the spot and this slope is very slippery. During rain, this place is filled with mist and it is very dangerous to climb up and hence this place is also known as Devil’s Dome. After a struggle, we finally reached the top of the dome and it was a breathless view from here as we could see the whole of Ooty and its surrounding hills. We took some beautiful pictures and video of the place. There was nothing much to do so we left the place early.

View from the top of Wenlock Down Shooting Spot

Emerald Lake from Wenlock Down Shooting Spot

After another twenty-five minutes of the ride, we reached the famous Pykara Falls. This Falls is considered sacred by the Todas - the tribal community of the Nilgiris. From the road, we had to walk around fifteen minutes to reach the Falls as vehicles were not allowed inside. The path to the Falls is very beautiful and there are many steep slopes where you have to climb harder. If you are a walker from a city that's tough for you. When we reached the falls we were very disappointed as there was no water in the Falls 😟.

The Pykara Waterfalls

We walked back from the falls and by the time we reached back we were hungry, so we decided to eat corn. While we were eating the corn we were welcomed by a Terrier breed dog. Tha dog was very cute and it had very mesmerizing golden eyes. We bid goodbye to the dog and left the place after playing with the dog for some time.

Our new friend

We then continued to travel in the Ooty - Gudalur road visiting many beautiful and scenic places like the Open Horse Field, Lakes, Tea Gardens, Needle View Point and the Pine Forest along the way.

Open Horse Field on the way to Gudalur

Walking through the Ooty Tea Gardens

A lonely house is seen from Needle Point View

Day Two: Escape To The God’s Own Country

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot

Pleasing Pine Forests of Gudalur

As soon as we crossed the Pine Forest the road started descending and we soon found ourselves in the Gudalur Valley at the other end of the Nilgiris. Gudalur is located at the interjunction of three South Indian States - Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala, where if you go to the north from here you will reach Karnataka and if you go to the west or south from here you will reach Kerala all in an equidistant of few kilometers. The time was half past three when we reached Gudalur. Our initial plan was to go back to Ooty when we reach Gudalur, but I had some other idea.

Open Football ground on our way to Gudalur 

For me, visiting a hill station is not completed unless I see some beautiful waterfalls. I always wanted to visit the famous Soochipara Waterfalls in Wayanad District of Kerala which was approximately 72 Km from Gudalur. When I checked my Google Maps for the time to reach, I was disappointed as it showed approximately two and half hours and that will be around six by the time we reach there. And six is pretty dark in this region and I knew people won’t be allowed to see the waterfalls after dark. But, I didn’t want to go back so I tried looking for the nearest waterfalls from Gudalur and then I found this place - Chethalayam Waterfalls which was 56 Km away from Gudalur and time to reach was one and half hours which looked very much possible to get at least a glimpse of the Falls. The Falls is located 20 Km North of Sultan Bathery in Wayanad District. So, my Cousin agreed with me and we soon headed our way to Wayanad District.

We thought we had seen the most beautiful part of Nilgiris in Ooty and its surrounding hills but we were totally wrong. The road which was leading to Wayanad had the most beautiful scenic views we had seen in our whole trip. The weather was much cooler and the whole place was surrounded by Tea Estates for kilometers. It started drizzling and the roads were steeper and curvier than ever - the fun of riding a bike in roads like this is unexplainable. After forty minutes of flying high in the road, we soon crossed the border from Tamil Nadu to God’s Own Country. We didn’t need any signboards or GPS to know but we could feel it in the air and that's the beauty of Kerala.  Kerala doesn’t need any introduction as it is one of the most beautiful states in India, It is not only beautiful in its landscapes and nature but also because people of different religions live in harmony. We had finally come back to our home - Ente Keralam.

Barely after crossing the border, we had to enter the Tiger Reserve forest of Mudumalai. I had traveled through this region many times - when I traveled from Bangalore to Ooty, Chennai to Wayanad and Bangalore to Kozhikode. So, I was well aware of this region and it had become a second nature to me.  Once you enter the forest you will not be able to see any humans or vehicles and you are all on your own in the jungle. The forest is usually very dark and you can sometimes hear the sound of animals or you can even spot wild animals. Luckily we had to travel only five kilometers to cross the forest and reach one of the oldest regions in India - Wayanad.

Tea plantations in the Wayanad District

Twenty more minutes after entering Wayanad District we reached Sultan Bathery - the largest City in the district of Wayanad. From here we had to travel north towards Pulpally. We were not able to see any proper signboards to reach Chethalayam Waterfalls so we followed Google Maps. It started raining heavily while we were riding on this route hence we stopped on the side of the road and waited for the rain to get over. This is quite common in this region and it rains most time of the year. Soon we found the road which leads to Chethalayam from the main road. 

St.Thomas Cathedral in Sultan Bathery

As we rode, the road got narrower and we passed through a small village. The road soon got disappeared and we were now riding on wet trails. We reached the end of the trail only to find a gate closed. One of the most trusted mobile networks failed us at that place and we were out of network. We went to a small tea shop near the gate to inquire about the falls. The Chaiwala told us that the visiting the Falls is banned recently by the forest officials. We were very dejected to hear about it and we were about to leave the place. The Chaiwala called us again and informed that we can go on foot but we need to be careful by not getting caught by the officials. I and my cousin agreed to check the falls on foot. We then parked the bike and went towards the gate.  

Day Two: Lost In The Jungle

“Half the fun of Travel is the esthetic of Lostness.” - Ray Badbury

Wet trails of Chethalayam

The gate to the falls was not so tall and there was a small gap next to the gate for a person to cross. So we crossed the gate and started walking. We walked like for ten minutes and we were surrounded by dense forest. The time was half-past five and the twilight had already fallen. The trail got darker and it started drizzling. We were walking like a walk in the park until we started hearing sounds in the bushes and animals running very far away. I thought to myself, two days ago I craved for some adventure and yesterday at the same time was lost in the beauty of Ooty. Now, I find myself walking deep into a forest far far away from my home in Chennai, far far away from my belongings in Ooty and far far away from my Bike. Now our casual walk turned into a watch every step walk.

Spot the Deer

We were not sure how far was the Falls and there was no sign of it. The trails started dividing, one was going up and the other was going down. We followed our instincts and continued to walk.  We had walked almost twenty minutes into the forest until we realized that we were lost. We stopped for a moment and started looking for some clues. We were able to hear the sound of water very nearby and we were so excited. As we started walking towards the sound of water, I suddenly saw a huge rock in the bush and started wondering what is this huge rock doing in the middle of a forest. Only then I realized that it was not a rock and I caught hold of my cousin’s hand. And told him - Stop! There is an Elephant in the Bush.

The Lone Tusker which looks like a huge rock

The Elephant was facing the other side and was eating the bush which made a sound like water and it was just twenty meters away from us. We were frozen for a moment looking at the Elephant and started walking back slowly one step at a time. Someone had told me a long time ago that a lonely Elephant is more dangerous than a parade. After some careful steps we were far away from the elephant and then we started picking up our speed. I tried to check my mobile for direction, still there was no network but fortunately, the offline maps were working. Little did we know that we took the wrong trail and we had crossed the borders from Kerala to Bandipur National Park in Karnataka. We started walking back quickly with the help of compass in the Google Maps. After walking another twenty minutes we almost reached the gate and we started seeing more of Elephant on both sides of the trail but they were very far from us.

The Happy Elephant

By the time we reached the gate, it was already dark. We wasted no time and left the place. We soon reached back to Sultan Bathery and the time was forty past six. We didn’t eat anything from the morning and had skipped the lunch. So we decided to eat and found a good restaurant in Kalpetta few kilometers in the west of Sultan Bathery. The taste of the food was really good and we felt like we were eating home food. We both filled our tummy and we were surprised to see the bill it was just seventy-five rupees - the cost of one Masala Dosa we had in the morning. We then did some shopping and filled our bags full of Kerala Banana Chips and Black Halva as my mom loves it.

Day Two: The Second Halt And The Elephant Migration

“Those who cannot be aggressive are hunted down while they shiver and hide because the night is dark.” ― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, In the Forests of the Night

The time was half past seven and we were 110 Km far away from Ooty. We had no plans of staying back and moreover our belongings were in the room. We started our way back after filling fuel to the full tank and covering ourselves with raincoats as it usually rains heavily in the night. We knew it was not easy to ride in the night but it was worse than what we imagined. There were no lights on the road and it was super dark so I had to open my visor to see the road more clearly. Another major problem we faced was large swarms of insects on the road which was hitting my eyes and it started burning my eyes. I had to take several stops to clean my eyes with water. I somehow managed to ride the bike. We were eighty kilometers away from Ooty when I spotted an interesting shop which was selling bird’s nests made out of coconut’s shell. We stopped and spent some time looking at the nests. After we came from the shop, I tried to start my bike but only to fail. And this brought us to the second halt of our trip.

We were puzzled about whats wrong with the bike as everything seemed to be fine and there was a very little chance of battery being down. 390 Duke does not have any kickstart option and the only way to start the bike other than self-start was to push start the bike. Since we were on a hill it was very easy for me to push the bike on my own. I tried to push start two-three times but I failed again. I had almost come four hundred meters away by pushing the bike downhill. We both were stranded on the road yet again thinking what to do next.

Screenshot taken from a footage of the night trip

We met a Guy with a FZ bike near a shop and asked his help to tow the bike for a push start. He checked the bike once and told us that he will go and bring a mechanic he knows from the village as it does not look like a battery problem. We were waiting on the road for fifteen minutes with a half hope that he would return. He finally returned with a Mechanic and the Mechanic started looking into the bike. After the inspection, the mechanic told the spark plug must have fried up and it needs to be replaced. To that, I replied him that I had changed it just three weeks back and there is no way it could have been damaged. The Mechanic then told us to wait till in the morning to open and check the bike. Staying back would cost us more trouble so we asked the Mechanic to do something that the bike can go till Ooty. So he opened the bike and removed the spark plug to clean. After careful cleaning, he put it back and started the bike and it failed again. He then kept the bike’s gear in neutral and started the bike. YES! the bike started finally.  He then asked me to ride and check if everything was normal. I rode and then found that the bike was starting only in neutral and that's where the problem was. KTM Bike’s Panel is programmed to take precautionary measurements like the bike won’t start when the side stand is on or when the bike is in gear. So, the possible problem was somewhere in the clutch cable but we were good to go as the bike can be started in neutral.

We thanked the Guy and the Mechanic. The Mechanic also shared his number in case we had any trouble along the way. Suddenly, we saw a large number of people riding in bikes and were passing by us in excitement. The Guy asked a biker what is going on to which they informed that are going to see Elephants crossing the road not very far away from us. The Guy then told us that it was the season of Elephant Migration and it was very dangerous to ride in the night. I and my cousin knew that we cannot stay back at any cost so we told them we had to leave. So they advised us to follow any large vehicle for our own safety to which we agreed. We waited for some time and finally a mini truck passed by us. We wasted no time and followed it.

The time was exactly ten when we caught up with the mini truck and we were still sixty kilometers away from Ooty. The mini truck was going at a speed of 30 Km/h and we had to go at the same speed as we did not want to take any more risk. The mini truck was the only vehicle we saw in the rest of the whole trip till Ooty. It was a slow and calm trip along the route and the stars were the only brightest things we could see. We finally reached our room around half past midnight and we crashed down to our bed in no time.

Day Three:  Bidding GoodBye To The Hills

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

The previous day was a very tough day for us and we had pushed our limits beyond our imagination. We woke up in the morning like we had woken up from an adventurous dream.  I was finally feeling self-satisfied. I was a different person when I was sitting in front of the desktop at my office and now I am completely a different one.

Blending with nature

We got ready by half past nine and we started fastening our luggage to the Bullet. The owner came to us to inquire about the previous night and we explained him everything. He was shocked to know that we had gone to Kerala and came back in the night. By then a Guy overheard our conversation who was staying in the next room of ours, came to us and asked more about our trip. He was also excited about our whole trip. He informed us that he was a Businessman from Indira Nagar in Bangalore and asked us to visit his estate in Chikmagalur, Karnataka sometime. We thanked him after taking his visiting card. We soon checked out our room and left the place.

Our final picture at Ooty

Visiting a Hill Station is not completed without shopping some Tea, Spices, Herbs, and Chocolates. So we first headed to the Ooty Market and started our shopping. We had bought around six different variety of Chocolates, two types of Ooty Tea, most of the important spices and herbs, and variety of Oils.  Our luggage had increased almost thirty percent and I had to carry some of the loads. The time was quarter past ten when we bid goodbye to Ooty and started our trip back home.

Greeny Tea Plantations at Coonoor

Failed Shah Rukh Khan pose

The sun was very bright and there were no clouds when we started descending from Ooty. There was no much traffic and we had so much fun riding downhill as it is much easier to ride down than up. We were already very late from Ooty so we started speeding up and in no time we reached Mettupalayam to take a Coconut Drink break.

Energizing coconut drink

Day Three: The Shortcut To Nowhere

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by.”-Robert Frost

After a much-needed break in the Hot weather, we decided to take a shortcut directly from Mettupalayam to Salem via Gobichettipalayam without passing through the City of Erode which can save us few minutes. The road was passing along the edge of Nilgiris’ hills and therefore we assumed that is much cooler than on the Highways. I kept my smartphone on my Bike Panel so that we follow the maps and not get lost in nowhere. The road was smooth and calm to ride. We went through many beautiful villages and remote locations.

Riding on the beautiful Mettupalayam - Gobichettipalayam road

We wanted to enjoy every moment going back home just like how we did when we started from Chennai. We were very careful for the first two days to go slow and steady. But, this time we were fearless and not worried about anything. We were prepared to face any problem and we knew that there was a solution to everything. Fear is our worst enemy and it will kill us every time when we think about it. We have so much of potential to achieve anything and fear is the only thing which stops us from achieving. So throw away your fears and do what you love because nobody is going to stop you from rocking this world.

Selfie taken at Salem Highway

We rode for three hours continuously and finally stopped to take a lunch break when we reached the City of Salem. I and my cousin decided to eat Dum Biriyani for lunch as it was festive of Ramzan. So we stopped at a restaurant near the highway. The restaurant was having its opening ceremony that day and therefore it caught the attention of many people. We nonetheless went inside and sat quickly to order our food. We ordered Chicken Dum Biriyani, Mutton Pepper fry and Chicken 65 as they were giving special discount for the day. There were many travelers in the restaurants and we spoke about our whole trip to some who asked about us.

Sunset at Salem - Ulundurpet Highway 

Our lunch break was over around three and we started from Salem after eating Kulfi. Salem to Ulundurpet was very dry and was the most boring part of our whole trip. We were riding like a camel walking in the desert. Somehow after two and half hours of a dizzy ride we finally reached Ulundurpet and from there we reached  Viluppuram in another thirty minutes. The time was half past six and we were around 170 Km away from home. I got very bored of the previous route and I didn’t want our rest of the trip way back home be same like that. So I told my Cousin that we will spend some time at Pondicherry and then leave home via the East Coast Road as Pondicherry was very nearby. The distance was almost the same to which my cousin agreed.

Day Three: Au revoir at Pondicherry

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” - T.S. Elliot

We were so lucky to see another rainbow in our trip on the way to Pondicherry

Pondicherry is a Coastal City along the Bay Of Bengal. It is the capital city and the largest city in the Indian union territory of Puducherry. It was colonized by the French during the British Raj. You can feel the French presence even now. Riding along the East Coast Road to Pondicherry is every biker’s dream. So, we very excited and took the road from Viluppuram to Pondicherry.

The road to Pondy is just a single lane road and it goes through villages. The time was half past six when we started and it was already dark. Ten minutes into our ride it started raining heavily so we stopped by a huge tree and resumed after wearing our raincoats. It started raining heavily and therefore we couldn’t ride faster. We reached Pondicherry around eight and headed straight to the beach. We were very hungry so we decided to eat Pizza at Cafe Xtasi. The Cafe was on the rooftop and we got to see a beautiful view of Pondicherry from there. We relaxed at the Promenade Beach after our Dinner for fifteen minutes. The Clock struck nine and we decided to leave from Pondicherry.

Cheese Pizza at Cafe Xtasi

We caught up East Coast Road in no time. East Coast Road is one of the most beautiful beach roads in India. You can see the beautiful Bay of Bengal along the Highway for kilometers. It was also one of the most dangerous roads as people use to drink and drive from Pondicherry. Now, The road is two lane and is much safer to ride. We really had fun riding on this road.

We crossed Mahabalipuram around Eleven and realized that our three long wonderful days of the trip was coming to an end. I started wondering what if I had not planned the trip at all and just had focussed on my work on Friday. In the weekend I would have just sat on my couch watching some Movie or TV Series or may be visited a friend to wish Ramzan. What if I had thought of the plan but canceled just because it was not possible? I learned one thing if something is impossible it does not mean that is not at all possible and if someone tells that we cannot achieve something then we are just fools believing it. We are what we think we are. If you think you are brave then you will be brave and if you think you are a coward then you will be a coward. Don’t let anyone mess with what you are. We have nothing to lose in this world, so be strong and be what you want to be.

I traveled through many roads - Streets, Highways, Unpaved roads, Curvy roads, Off roads unaware of which road I was about to take at a given time. It does not matter which road or route we take, the thing which matters the most at the end is how we took and reached our destination. My roads started becoming familiar and I knew my home was not far away. And I believed in myself that nothing worse could happen to me because even the darkest of the night was by my side.

Au Revoir (Goodbye until we meet again)

[midsummernightsread]

2017 was a year to be reckon with. Beyond the obvious, political environment, on a personal level, on all levels, this year was one that I would prefer to use as a learning lesson. So, just as warning, this will be a long post.

BOOKS, BOOKS & MORE BOOKS

I reached my Goodreads goal of 200 books this year 😀 Super excited about that because not only did I not reach it last year but I hit constant book walls this year. Between books that couldn’t keep my interest, books that did not live up to the hype and my own expectations and finally books that were poorly written, my book year has been full of highs and lows.

However, I did hit some fantastic reads, some good reads and some pretty covers, that I want to share.

Fantastic Reads

Crown Books for Young Readers Published Sept. 12, 2017 384 Pages

Algonquin Young Readers Published Sept. 19, 2017 272 Pages

HarperCollins Published July 25, 2017 288 Pages

Why were these books fantastic reads? They were engaging, diverse, honest and creative. The plot kept me on my toes, the characters had development and growth. The world, in which the story is set, felt real like opening my front door. Some of these reads fed my love of history and mythology, while other fed my love for a sappy love story. Either way, my fantastic reads of 2017 are highly recommended.

Good Reads

Dutton Books for Young Readers Published Sept. 26, 2017

Kodansha Comics Published Oct. 25, 2016 304 Pages

Why were these books good reads? They didn’t hit all of my points previously mentioned in Fantastic reads. But they did keep me engaged for most of the book and I loved the character. Also these good reads, have a very strong foundation and although not 5 Pickles perfect, I am happy to have read them and read the next book in their series if it applies.

Pretty Covers

Algonquin Young Readers Published Sept. 19, 2017 272 Pages

Flatiron Books TBP Jan. 30, 2018 368 Pages

What’s a year in review, if I don’t display some gorgeous covers. Some of these books I have read, while others I have not been able to get to yet. But aren’t they just beautiful to look at!

WHAT TANYA HAS BEEN UP TO THIS YEAR

So as mentioned this year has been a unexpected force that put a lot of things in perspective. Firstly, I was able to visit my husband in Japan for two weeks and I was able to go to Dominican Republic this year as well. Both were amazing and it made me realize how attainable traveling can be, if you put your money in order. Because of these adventures, I have the wanderlust bug and actively planning a bunch of trips for 2018.

On a emotional level, I have been a mess. I have been missing my husband dearly and the toll of living on the other side of the world was heavy. It’s still heavy but it is much more manageable. We made celebrated two anniversaries this year. 6 years when we started dating or when I stopped being a butt and said sure (October 3rd) and 4 years when we said I do (December 6th). I tend to get a bit emotional when its comes to my Husband because when we met when I was emotionally and spiritually in bad shape. He stuck around even when I didn’t want him to. He means a lot to me and I can’t wait until his deployment is over and he is home for good.

On another note, school has been kicking my butt and the back and forth of if I should even keep going with my masters degree has been a unanswered question for months now. I am leaning towards banging out this final year (InshaAllah) but I am just not into this classes like I thought I would be. But I did better this semester, so hopefully I can keep that going.

I struggled a lot with past Tanya and current Tanya. Past Tanya was getting bored and tired of being in the past and wanted to explore some newfound freedoms, while current Tanya is not for that mess. But because of certain life changing decisions it was hard to stop those thoughts and move forward with the obvious right and better choice. Past Tanya has taken a step back and I pray that it will be for good. Because when I say she was a mess…smh just so messy.

I learned that self-care is needed not every once in a while but all the time and that it can take different forms. For me going to the library or bookstore, taking a bath and disconnecting from social media, have been the best methods I have learned and used a lot this year. I am still growing in this area because me and emotions aren’t the best of friends but I am proud of myself. I had less panic attacks than I did in 2016, so that counts right? Lol

On a second note, I saw my first ballet, went to a Harry Potter experience, watch old anime in a movie theater, met new people, started wearing lipstick, won a few arc giveaways and a bunch of other stuff. Although this year had some downs, the highs were highs but most importantly I lived and got to thank God for that everyday.

Social Media

As of today I have the following followers on each channel I run:

Instagram: viewsfromthe_desktop : 78 Followers

WordPress: motif by Tanya : 122 Subscribers 

Twitter: @motifink 408 Followers 

I have been participating in various twitter chats and hash tags. Social media is taking a lot of my time and I had made it my mission that every month, I will take a week vacation from it. However, despite the overload, I have been putting myself and Motif by Tanya out there and it is visible in the increase of followers. I even began writing monthly updates and topic specific blogs. During this year (2017) I forgot how much I enjoy writing and started making time for it despite my growing responsibilities. I love this renewal and in 2018, I tend to work on my writing more.

What Tanya Wants 2018

There are several goals I am reaching for this year, book related and in real life.

Book Goals:

Start posting regularly for Quick Five© interviews

Begin posting The Frustrated Reader© monthly

Clear out my arc queue on Netgalley

Attend book conventions and festivals

Book Con

Bronx Festival

Y’all Fest

Book Expo

Novateen Book Fest

Well Read Black Girl Fest

Begin posting on either Amazon or Goodreads

Start a YouTube channel

Travel Goals:

Baltimore

Bday Cruise

Seattle

Paris

Chicago

Personal Goals:

Pray 5 daily prayers on time

Quran reading

Learn Arabic

Start rockclimbing again

Learn to fence

Learn to bake bread and make a pie from scratch

Volunteer

Learn to drift & drive a stick

Professional Goals:

Begin freelance writing

Move up in my current company

Own a business

What Tanya Wants New Releases: January 2017

Now what can be a end of the year, beginning of the year wrap up without my anticipated reads for January 2017 🙂

I do plan on participating in #unreadshelfproject2018 but with so many new reads I am waiting for this year, I am going to modify my goal. For every 3 tbr books, physical and digital, that I have, I will read one of wants. Sounds fair right 🙂

In Conclusion:

I know that this was a long post and it could have been several posts spaced out during the week but it was great therapy. What is that saying, speak it into existence? Not only am I doing that but praying first and foremost. Is this considered a new year’s resolution? Naw not really. Motif by Tanya is a book review and author interview website but it is also my baby that I put a lot of time in. It’s time to make her stand out and if that means showing a little bit more of me every so so then so be it.

Peace and Blessings, Ya’ll ❤

Year in Review: 2017 2017 was a year to be reckon with. Beyond the obvious, political environment, on a personal level, on all levels, this year was one that I would prefer to use as a learning lesson.

[hqtbells-blog]

lost and found.

TAGGING: Troian Bellisario.

LOCATION: Unknown location in Sydney, Australia.

TIMEFRAME: January 11, 2017. Afternoon.

NOTES: She may not know where she’s going..but you better believe she’ll get there.

Troian was lost.

Not just metaphorically - she was l i t e r a l l y lost.

One of the first things you learn about Troian is her sense of direction is terrible. It’s why she’s never allowed to be in charge of the map; why a GPS was installed inside her car without asking for permission first, and why amateurs get laughed at when they accept Troian’s proposal to drive them home in an area she doesn’t know. It’s horrible; it’s annoying; but it’s one of the many quirks that makes Troian Avery, well..Troian Avery. 

Usually, somebody is there to grab the map out of her hands and firmly guide her along to where she is supposed to be. Today, there was not a single soul around and as Troian stared down at the map, the only appropriate word she could think to mutter was, “Fuck.”

Fuck indeed.

This was how her story ended, huh? Troian Bellisario, left for Australia in early January and was never to be seen again. Legends have it that she’s still wandering through the wild plains there. She’s like Bigfoot - maybe you’ll spot her if you go to her last known location! 

Shaking her head, Troian pulled out her phone and checked the signal. “Shit,” she spoke up again as she realized it was none and that her battery was slowly dying. Don’t panic, Troian. Stay calm. Just because things are suddenly out of your control does not mean that you have to have a melt down and assume the worst and s..pir..a..l..

Hoo, she could go for those shots of tequila she had downed the other night. 

Taking a few deep, even breaths, Troian shoved her phone back in her pocket and glanced around. She didn’t recognize her location but that was okay. She was okay. She was going to walk and eventually, she’d get there. She just had to keep pushing through the unknown. So with that in mind, Troian stepped forward-

-and immediately tripped over a rock.

(Was this a metaphor for her life or what?)

“Ow,” Troian mumbled and sat up, dusting dirt off her jeans. “What was I thinking? This was the dumbest idea I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot of dumb ideas! I’m alone! I’m alone out here! Nobody even knows where I am, I’m in a foreign country with no cellphone signal, and I’m ALONE!”

That last word was screamed, and it echoed around her. Alone. Alone; having no one present. On one’s own.

Troian was..alone.

And that scared her more than she wanted it to. Wasn’t that the whole purpose of this trip? To be alone, and to be okay with being alone? That had been her biggest struggle all of 2016. Troian had felt alone, been alone, and she had hated herself for not feeling okay with it. She had always fought with having the ability to both accept help but not need help. It was the biggest tug of war in her life. As independent as Troian acted, she needed people. She needed them to feel important, to feel strong, to feel validated and she hated that about herself. For the praise of being brave and true and strong lavished upon her, Troian wondered how much of it was still true if she completely lost herself last year. Maybe that had been a Troian months ago, years ago - and maybe she was fixing up the cracked pieces, but there was still so much progress left to go.

Sitting there, in dusty sand, tears streaming down her face, Troian was alone and she had nobody to depend on but herself here.

The harder she cried, the lighter she felt. Pain demanded to be felt. The more she wanted to beg for somebody to pull her back up, the more she determined that she would be the one to pick herself up off the ground and keep moving. Keep going. There was not a cheer squad around her to guide her where she needed to be and Troian had to be okay with that. She had to believe that she could get back to where she had started from without somebody reassuring her that she could.

Because, you see, those are beautiful words but those beautiful words feel hollow if you don’t believe in them yourself. 

Standing up, Troian wiped at her face. “I don’t know where I am, but I’m going to get back to where I started from.”

(Nobody said Troian had to stop being cheesy)

With a few steps, she started. And today, that’s all that matters.

[rachelannc]

2017, you were a beast.

You were a roller coaster of emotions; a constant change of minds, situations and fleeting events; new faces in familiar places; new homes, towns, unspoken words, feelings and some of my greatest and most humbling strides.

For two years prior, I had felt a relentless state of stagnation. The postgrad blues got to me; I fulfilled the barista itch in me only then to hang up the apron; and I finally moved, just like I said I would in 2017.

At the beginning of the year, I told myself I wasn’t going to wait. I’d make the conscious effort to make things happen — all those lofty dreams that were just ideas in my head and things I said I’d do but still hadn’t. There was this burning curiosity in me (and “Signs from the Universe”) to return to Southern California, because I felt I had left this huge network and untapped potential after graduating. I took a 10-day solo getaway trip after quitting my job which was pure confirmation that I had left a home for myself there (and, as much as I loved the Bay Area, finding work up here was hard).

The new year was also when a dear friend told me #boldrachel was coming out.

A moment of pure bliss, positivity and feel-good vibes to bring into the new year. ✨ The greatest thing about a new year is that it allows us to acknowledge our want, need and desire to be better, for ourselves and the world around us. Finally had some time to reflect on my year to create positive shifts in my life (for personal, social and career). As I'm not big on resolutions, how do you all create a game plan for change in your lives? #rachelannc #newyear #2017 #changes #positivity #shifts #blog #wordpress #writers #dreamers #dreams #dreamcatching #feelgood #bliss #health #wellness #mindfulness #shamelessselfie #crossroads #timetobebold Blog post link: https://rachelannc.wordpress.com/2017/01/09/ringing-in-2017-with-a-need-for-change/

A post shared by Rachel Ann Cauilan (@rachelcansea) on Jan 9, 2017 at 7:03pm PST

At the start of 2017, I was beginning to open myself up to a love. It was seven or so months of unexpected talking, meeting and falling for someone whom I never expected to fall for at a time in my life when I wasn’t looking, was only focused on myself and itching for my own personal change.

And when it became so easy and natural and our relationship progressed right before my eyes, I was shocked. My heart was so full. My eyes lit up. I became so smitten that I had to ask myself: Should I keep my cool? Should I stay at a distance? Do I ask where this is going? How did I even begin to like this guy?! (“Love Says, Timing Is Everything”)

But as this uncertain love was unfolding, so was my own growth.

Impromptu road trips. I wonder if I'm just a restless soul or if I'm constantly searching for something I don't even know. ✨ #santamonica #santamonicapier #architecture #park #silhouette #shadow #sunshine #beachside #restless #restlesssoul #wanderlust #ontherun #losangeles #socal #daytrip #roadtripping #baytola #latothebay #alwaysontherun #cravingviewslikethese

A post shared by Rachel Ann Cauilan (@rachelcansea) on Apr 6, 2017 at 3:11pm PDT

March and my birth month turned into this messy acceptance of a relationship that was going nowhere and a career that needed to go somewhere (“Road to 24: Confessions from the Head and the Heart”).

I went gung-ho into my old love of covering concerts and interviewing artists again — the start of weeks and back to back months of concerts and shows as I built up a repertoire of Bay Area concert venues to hit. And while the music journo in me came back again — to which I will admit came from a sense of restlessness to work and chase something I was passionate about again — so did this looming sense of uncertainty and uneasiness that spilled into different areas of my life.

But that isn’t to say 2017 was all a struggle — I had so many happy and exciting moments come to fruition as well. I went on a midweek all-expense Vegas getaway with my bff; made my first Tahoe road trip and saw snow for the first time; committed to my running and made strides in my personal mileage; had my #iceteam; went to 43+ shows in the past year; finally made my move to SoCal on my own; worked a hell of an internship at Kore Asian Media, getting published in our annual magazine “The New Hollywood” and had the opportunity to photoshoot, interview and assist celebrities like Karrueche Tran, Ross Butler, Mitski, Grace Park and Jo Koy; finally met and connected with Apl De Ap after years of Instagram talking; met Naomi Scott… The list goes on and on!

But with all those experiences came my biggest learnings, realizations and reflections into myself.

As much as I was growing, connecting and making strides with my work and career, I felt myself grow more and more out of tune with myself, my heart and even my sanity.

I felt an uneasiness in me. When I wasn’t working, I was too hard on myself and stressed myself out for not being productive or working on something. I also felt isolated and alone apart from my family and no network of friends directly around me. The commutes to work began to drain me as I wasn’t used to spending an entire day at work with another two hours taken out of my day spent on the road. My workout routines began to slip; I put all my energy into my work; and when work was full of concerts, shows and cheap thrills, my creative need felt suffocated. I was reminded of how the artist in me craves expression.

While that whole laundry list of concerns is all first-world problems, I began to see how it grew toxic. I craved connection and sought it out in the one person who I wanted to confide in the most, but still felt I couldn’t for fear of imposing a relationship that I didn’t have; the uncertainty on the status of that relationship began to creep into the uncertainties of my life, work and even a place to stay (I was suddenly forced to find a new place to live in in a matter of weeks).

To put it short, I became a worrywart.

Uneasiness and uncertainty crept into all areas of my life when I just craved one single taste of security in a place, situation and period in my life when everything was uncertain. But, the past six months have been exciting and full of adventures meeting new people, places, making and finding a new home for myself and finding myself faced with new problems and insecurities. In truth, I’m grateful. I’ve found everything is an opportunity for growth and realize my struggles and insecurities that crept up in the year have informed me of my own weaknesses and how to better move forward.

Perspective is power. 🙃 I've been doing some networking lately and one thing I've taken is to always lead a RICH life. When you put too much pressure on one aspect, path or career in your life, you pin your happiness on something out of your control. So lead a life of LOVE. Pursue it fiercely. Pursue it passionately. We owe it to ourselves to be our best selves and find those who can match our frequencies. AND when we come from a place of love, you'll have more to say, more to offer and more to bring to your life, art and others… Just a friendly thought. Happy weekend friends! ♡ . . . #perspective #selfie #smile #shamelessselfie #thoughtoftheday #energy #positivity #happiness #life #love #aboutlastnight #rachelannc

A post shared by Rachel Ann Cauilan (@rachelcansea) on Nov 18, 2017 at 5:51pm PST

What about when it comes to my head? I’m damn proud of myself. I moved, claimed my independence, handled my work and put my all into my job. The fact that I cared so much about the work I did for #UNFO just goes to show how much I love to share the work I do, and how much I take my work to heart.

But what about when it comes to my heart? To be honest, I don’t quite like who I’ve grown into in the latter part of the year. I became an anxious mess, worrying about unnecessary things out of my control, was too hard on myself and expected too much. Heck, it caused me to put a lot of pressure on my loved ones when I really wish I hadn’t — and I may have let those thoughts and emotions get the best of me.

So in hindsight, when it comes to 2018… There’s a lot I wish to change. It’s funny how in the past 24 years of my life, every passing year was full of so much love, gratitude and positivity, and for the first time in my life, I felt this sense of bitterness and urgency — a pressure to make things happen at all means. (And to be quite honest, I’m stubborn as hell. I believe the best in people and won’t give up easily — which may be a good and a bad thing.)

For 2018, it’s all about coming back to myself: to grow more and more into myself each and everyday; to allow the universe to unravel itself and find balance in everything (the give and take, the work and play, the head and the heart); to not chase happiness but be it; to accept all emotions and handle them with acceptance and grace; to do everything with love and openly give that to others; to not accept halfhearted loves or take my own love for granted.

Although that was quite a bit to unload here, it’s always such a joy to share my life, travels, adventures and learnings with you all. I haven’t shared too many of my own personal reflection posts in the past year, but I’ve shared quite a bit of myself through other media and it’s been so humbling to have you guys listen, respond, read and just care after all these years…

So here’s to becoming our best selves: to learn to love ourselves; to have the courage to be our most authentic selves; to open up to love without fear; to let go of the fears that hold us back; to laugh at ourselves a little more; to use social media healthily and wisely; to spend more time talking and less time texting; to find genuine peace with the ways of the world; and just radiate love in every way we can!

Let’s do it. Let’s come back to ourselves in 2018 — out of our heads and into our hearts.

Honesty. December 2017. Photo: Patricia Nguyen

With love, honesty and a lot of hope,

Rachel

Coming to Peace with 2017 2017, you were a beast. You were a roller coaster of emotions; a constant change of minds, situations and fleeting events; new faces in familiar places; new homes, towns, unspoken words, feelings and some of my greatest and most humbling strides.

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: A Second Look at Teju Cole

Teju Cole, “Zürich” (October 2014), archival pigment print, printed 2017, frame size: 19 1/8 x 32 1/2 inches (all images courtesy Steven Kasher Gallery, New York)

I don’t remember ever doing this before. After I finished my review of the exhibition, Teju Cole: Blind Spot and Black Paper, at Steven Kasher (June 15 – August 11, 2017), I felt compelled to write another one. It is not that I was dissatisfied more than usual with what I had written. Writers are always vexed by what they have written. In this case, something else about the works wouldn’t leave me alone. The impetus came from pieces that I did and didn’t write about. I decided to go back to the exhibition and look again. I wanted to figure out what I had not gotten to the first time, and which could not wait.

At the end of the text that he paired with his photograph, “Zurich” (October 2014), Cole wrote:

And I begin to worry that my search for information about these handguns and weapons of war would flag my activity as suspicious to the all-seeing eye of the government. What then is visible?

In an age of surveillance and sanctioned suspicion, Cole’s question kept resurfacing in one form or another whenever my wife, Eve Aschheim, who had seen the show separately, and I talked about it — which we did more than once.  If one wants to know what is visible, there is the lingering realization that something remains invisible.

The reason we kept circling Cole’s question — and all that it implied — is because it stands in counterpoint to what we think about photographs: that they show us everything we need to see; all the information is there on the surface. In fact, this is what we prize about photographs. Like a “Wanted” poster in the local Post Office, they deliver something that needs to be seen and remembered. It is visual testimony, a form of witnessing. Is it necessary to see more than what Robert Frank shows us in his photograph, “Trolley — New Orleans” (1955) or what Diane Arbus does in “Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey” (1967)?

This is one of the historical assumptions that we make about cameras. By possessing the mechanical capacity to record more than we can see with our eyes, we believe that the camera is able to produce an image that embraces everything we need to see. It is a truth-telling instrument, with the photographs offered as incontrovertible proof. The issue is appearances, which we wrongly believe are synonymous with some kind of truth.

Teju Cole, “Zürich” (2014), archival pigment print, printed 2017, frame size: 19 1/8 x 32 1/2 inches

The photograph that brought all these questions, thoughts, and hesitations into focus was another photograph titled “Zurich” (2014). It is of a store window full of globes sitting on shelves, shadows cast over many of them. It must be late in the afternoon, and Cole is standing on the sidewalk looking into the window. While one globe is reflected in the window, a ghostly presence near the middle of the top edge, there is no sign of the photographer. This is the text Cole includes with the photograph:

Kitchen to living room. Bedroom to bathroom. Downstairs to get the mail. House to subway. An evening stroll. You take around 7500 steps each day. If you live to eighty, inshallah, that comes to 200 million steps over the course of your life, a hundred thousand miles. You don’t consider yourself a great walker, but you will have circumnavigated the globe on foot four times over. Downstairs to get the mail. Basement for laundry. Living room to bedroom. Up in the middle of the night for a glass of water. Walking through the darkened house, you suddenly pause.

Cole does not tell us what made him pause or what thought he had at that moment. We are stopped, one might say, in midflight. Whatever conclusion we reach is ours. In the text, as in the photograph, he does not step back.

What am I looking at? I am looking at globes, one of which is topographical. While some look alike, they also look very different, which suggests that each representation is different. The shadows mimic the fact that part of the globe is always facing the sun, and the other part is always facing away. At best, we see only one side, the one facing us, but there is more, isn’t there? The deep shadow, which is the rest of the store, underscores the limitations of our sight, as well as that of the camera’s: It can only see so far. Its vision is stopped by the darkness.

Teju Cole, “Beirut” (May 2016), archival pigment print, printed 2017, frame size: 26 1/8 x 25 1/2 inches

The photograph only shows one side of the globe (or the world we inhabit), while the rest remains unknown and, in this view, unknowable. They are on the other side of the window and cannot be touched. This understanding of our limitation is further inflected by the fact that the globes are different, conveying the likelihood that an ideal representation is impossible. At best, we “will have circumnavigated the globe four times over” by the end of our life. How much of it will we have actually seen and comprehended? I think this sense of limitation, which Cole pushes back against because he is driven by wanderlust and curiosity, imbues the photograph with a state of hyperconsciousness. Is it impossible to see more? What is it that we see? There is the recognition that we do not see more, that the view we have is circumscribed by all sorts of factors that we must be aware of at all times.

The other thing about “Zurich” is the different kinds of time Cole gets into the work. There is the late afternoon light of the moment the photograph was taken. There is the globe and its evocation of the passage of day and night, and, to a lesser degree, of the seasons, and even epochs. Will the boundaries on the globe not change in our lifetime? Are they not changing, even now? There is Cole’s text, which is about chronological time and one’s lifetime. He has woven together different kinds of sequential time. The photograph is not everlasting; its beautifully registered moment does not exist in perpetuity.

Teju Cole, “New York City” (May 2015), archival pigment print, printed 2017, frame size: 26 1/8 x 25 1/2 inches

By bringing together these different embodiments of time, as well as recognizing that a large part of the world he inhabits will always be facing in the other direction, Cole’s photographs recognize that limitation. How much do we, and the camera, actually see? Isn’t focusing on appearance a kind of lying if we do not acknowledge that there is more than what is on the surface? How are we to measure what we have seen? As “Zurich” conveys, mustn’t all our seeing be informed and supplemented by research?

Switzerland may be neutral and even peace loving, but Cole knows that the gun company Sig Sauer originated there. Cole’s photographs are sensitive to the brutal dying that is going on everywhere. He knows that looking is not innocent, and that it will never be. He does not show us the dead and dying — emaciated and tormented faces that we have seen repeatedly to the point that they have become a blur.  He shows us something else — the emotional and physical distances we maintain from suffering as we blithely go through each day. It is called living.

Teju Cole: Blind Spot and Black Paper continues at Steven Kasher (515 West 26th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan) through August 11.

The post A Second Look at Teju Cole appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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