#3 of the hmb trips were day trips; 2 of which were with friends for celebratory things

[stonesandswords]

19 days until I go on my last trip of the year

[gonebethebirds]

10 Year Look-Back

1 / 4 / 22

2021 (Age: 29) 

COVID vaccines finally became available.

Carina & I went ocean kayaking in Laguna for her birthday.

In April, for Jesse's birthday, we hiked in Glendora and hung out in his backyard, swimming and having fun with him, Katie, and Anu and Anisha too.

Carina and I got married!! on 5/1/21 (on our 5 year anniversary).

In late May we celebrated our elopement with family on multiple occasions, since everyone had been vaccinated.

In early July, Jimmy & Amber came to visit (Jimmy's 2nd time visiting me in Laguna, 4th time visiting me in SoCal overall). We went and saw Black Widow with them.

Uncle Kim passed away in early July. Dad, Jenn and I flew out for his funeral. It was our first time seeing Massillon family in 18 months.

In mid July we went to Santa Barbara for the weekend, and hung out with Jesse, Katie, Anu, Anisha, Justin and Emily.

In late July/early August, Jesse and I went to Zion again (now round 10) and jet-ski'd at Sand Hollow State Park. We also spent a night in Vegas.

Carina was diagnosed with MS in early August.

On August 21st we spent a day in Malibu with Gal and Parthiv.

In late August we went to Big Bear with Jesse, Katie, Anu, Anisha, Justin and Emily. We brought the dogs, got out on the water in a boat rental, and stayed in a super nice cabin.

In early October I went to visit Giana in Seattle. It was a super fun trip. We also spent a day in Vancouver with Lauren which was awesome. It had been 2 years, 3 months since I had seen Giana. It had been 1 year, 9 months since I had seen Lauren. Stupid COVID.

Jenn announced her third pregnancy. 

Around Nov 7th Carina & I went to Borrego with her family to stay at Jon-Jon's new house. That was a fun weekend.

Jessica Chan moved to Laguna only a few houses away from us.

We went to Ohio for Christmas after skipping 2020 due to COVID. Dad couldn't come due to being sick which we later found out were blood clots.

COVID-19 got even worse (record high numbers by Christmas/ New Year's Eve).

We spent NYE at Jesse & Katie's house in Glendora with the dogs.  

7 Trips:

July (3): Ohio for Kim’s funeral. Santa Barbara weekend. Zion. 

August (1): Big Bear round 5, delayed from 2020. 

October (1): Seattle & Vancouver with Giana and Lauren. 

November (1): Borrego Springs weekend. 

December (1): Massillon for Christmas! 

2020 (Age: 28) 

I spent my 28th birthday in the bay with Carina & friends (Brian, Jimmy, Jessie Campos, Gal, others). We spent a day in HMB with Lauren too.

I worked my final Grammys party at MSK.

COVID-19 exploded into the US and changed life as we knew it.

On the same day that COVID was declared a national emergency, Carina left for her bachelorette weekend in the bay and Jesse and I went to Sequoia where we hiked in the snow. It was super gorgeous.

Westin was born on 4/3/20.

Jesse & Katie moved to Glendora.

There were really, really bad fires.

I worked my last day at MSK on 10/30/20.

Dad moved to Southern California in October/November.

I started at Villa on 11/9/20.

4 Trips:

January (1): Home for my birthday. It was a really fun trip. Got to see LOTS of friends (Brian, Jimmy, Lauren, Nicole Leclaire, Jessie, Chris Tham) and go to HMB, the city, boat rides, Rickshaw, etc. It was really a “home-run” kind of weekend. Fitting too because I didn’t know it would be my 3rd-to-last weekend ever with having a home in the bay. 

March (1): Sequoia National Park with Jesse while Carina was on her Bachelorette trip to Napa. Ironically, this is the weekend that things started to get really crazy with COVID. Sequoia was gorgeous though, covered in snow once we got in far enough. For sure one of our most gorgeous NP trips/hikes.

June (1): the bay for Father’s Day. 

October (1): the bay to pack up the house and move Dad down to SoCal. 

2019 (Age: 27) 

Carina & I got engaged on January 1st in Chicago.

I spent my 27th birthday with my family in Laguna (while also celebrating our engagement).

I went to Atlanta for LMA in April.

Sabrina left MSK in April.

We had Jesse's bachelor party in Zion & Vegas in April.

Endgame came out (which we saw while on Jesse's bachelor party trip).

Jesse & Katie's wedding was in Mexico at the end of May.

Brian & Monique came to visit for the 4th of July. We had people over, and there was an earthquake around that time as well.

Carina & I went to Singapore & Bali at the end of July.

Lauren and I ran the Golden Gate on 9/14/19.

My dad visited SoCal in October. 

Jesse, Anu and I went to Pinnacles National Park in mid-November.

Lauren and I met up for brunch in Oceanside in mid-November.

We had Carina's family over for Thanksgiving. We hosted. It was super cold and rainy. I loved it.

Carina came to Massillon for Christmas for the first time.

News started breaking of COVID-19 in China, though it wasn't of concern in the US yet.

We celebrated NYE in Long Beach on the Queen Mary with Jesse and Katie. We got a hotel room for the night. It was super fun.

12 Trips:

January (1): Chicago with Carina for New Year’s! GOT ENGAGED!!

February (1): New York for work right after Grammys, stayed a couple extra days as Carina was supposed to join but couldn’t due to flight troubles.

April (3): Atlanta for LMA, annual Big Bear trip for Jesse’s birthday, then Jesse’s bachelor party trip at the end of the month which was in Zion then Vegas.

May (2): Home at the beginning of the month to visit Dad, then Ensenada last weekend for Jesse and Katie’s wedding!

June (1): Home at the end of the month with Carina, saw lots of friends.

July (1): Singapore and Bali at the end of the month with Carina! First trip to Asia! Amazing!

August (1): Yellowstone at the end of the month with Dad and Carina! The first time for both of them!

September (1): went to the bay for the weekend for Carina’s launch party. Actually had a super nice time in the city and a full day of walking around and exploring. It was a gorgeous day and one for the books.

December (1): Massillon for Christmas. We canceled Park City as the ski prices and hotel prices got ridiculous.

2018 (Age: 26) 

Mom moved to SoCal on New Year's Day.

I spent my 26th birthday with friends in Laguna.

I bought my Hyundai Sonata.

Kinsley was born on 1/25/18.

I went to New York to work the Grammys, with Lexie as the photographer.

In late February I went to Zion (now round 6) in the snow with Jesse, Anu, and Akshay.

Carina & I went to New Orleans for my conference.

I moved in with Carina in Laguna Beach at the end of April.

Infinity War came out.

Carina & I went to the Caymans with her family at the end of May.

Mom & I went on a trip to New Mexico in September.

I took Carina to homecoming in October. We stayed with Kim & Patty for a night or two. While there, we talked, and basically realized we wanted to get married. I started looking around for rings once we got back.

Stan Lee passed away in November.

I bought Carina's engagement ring.

Carina & I went to Iceland in November with Fiona.

I was going to have my wisdom teeth pulled but then didn't once the surgeon recommended we don't do it.

Carina & I went to Chicago for NYE. I proposed a few hours after midnight!

20 Trips:

January (2): Home for New Year’s with Carina, and New York for Grammys (followed immediately by DC)! New York was basically just hours after Kinsley was born!

February (2): DC for work with Doug, and Zion with Jesse, Anu and Akshay!

March (1): Home/SF with Jesse, Katie and Carina for St. Patrick’s Day!

April (2): New Orleans for LMA with Carina! And annual Big Bear trip for Jesse’s birthday.

May (2): Colorado for a video shoot with Sashi and the Caymans with Carina and her family!

June (2): DC for work with Doug (Capitol Crypto) and Home! (Giants game, big barbecue, pride at the park).

August (3): Zion round 7 with Jesse (Observation Point), home to help dad after surgery, home again for Nicole’s wedding.

September (1): Albuquerque with Mom just for fun!

October (1): Ohio!! OSU and Massillon with Carina (for Homecoming but also a couple days in Massillon to introduce her).

November (2): Zion round 8, with Jesse and Carina (first Angel’s Landing ascent of 2018 and first for Carina in general). And ICELAND!!! Plus home for a day after Iceland as an extended layover.

December (2): Home for Christmas then Massillon for Christmas! (We had light attendance this past year though).

2017 (Age: 25) 

I started off 2017 with a hike with Lauren McBurnie on New Year's Day.

I spent my 25th birthday with Carina in Washington, DC.

Caiba was born on 7/11.

Caiba came home to us (just Carina at the time) on 9/15.

Jesse, Katie, Carina & I went to Zion, Bryce and Arches in March.

I went to Vegas for LMA in April.

Giana & Lauren came to visit in late March.

Carina & I went to Amsterdam & Bruges in July.

Jenn announced her pregnancy.

Carina & I went to Cabo with friends.

I went to the bay with Dan & Chrystal in October.

Lauren came to visit again, for Halloween. She, Carina, Jesse, Katie and I dressed up as the Scooby Doo gang.

Caiba got bit in Borrego during Thanksgiving. Her face was slightly deformed for a month or two.

Leaving Ohio, flights got messed up, which ended up being a blessing as it made me drive from Akron to Cleveland in the snow. It was a really pretty drive.

22 Trips:

January (2): Home for New Year’s, and Washington, DC for my birthday with Carina!

February (1): Arizona road trip (through Page) with Carina.

March (2): Zion, Arches, and Bryce with Jesse, Katie, and Carina! And Vegas for LMA.

April (3): DC & New York for work, Big Bear round 2 for Jesse’s birthday, and the bay with Carina.

May (3): Vegas for Mother’s Day with Jenn, Brian, and Carina, NY & DC for work (again just a month later), and Denver/ The Rockies with Jesse, Katie, and Carina!

June (2): Pismo Beach with Carina and her friends, then Kings Canyon & Sequoia with Jesse (and we saw a bear).

July (2): Amsterdam & Bruges with Carina (what?!) and Santa Barbara with Jesse and Anu.

August (3): The bay for OSU buds, Jenn & Brian’s announcement, and Giana’s going away party. Then Cabo with Carina, Parthiv and his friends, then the bay again for Mom & Dad’s birthdays.

October (2): Zion round 5 with Jesse, and upcoming: the bay with Dan & Chrystal.

November (1): Home for Thanksgiving.

December (1): Massillon for Christmas! (No trip home for Christmas? We might have lumped that into the Thanksgiving visit).

2016 (Age: 24) 

I went to Big Bear for the first time in April with Jesse, Katie and David.

Lexie and I did a road trip to the bay in late April. Jesse and Katie met us there.

Carina & I started dating on May 1.

Jenn got married at the end of May.

Carina and I went to Borrego Springs in early June.

We went to Seattle at the end of June and even spent some time with Anu there.

I went to Scottsdale with Dad right before the 4th of July.

I went to Yellowstone and the Tetons with Jesse right after Scottsdale.

There were bad fires in the summer.

Carina and I spent time in Laguna at the beaches with Clifton, or in Signal Hill at the park or at home watching movies - also with Clifton.

Carina & I went to Banff in September.

I went to OSU for homecoming at the end of September.

Jenn & Brian moved to Riverside around November.

I spent NYE in the bay again.  

19 Trips:  

January (3): Home for New Year’s, Portland with Tina, and Grand Canyon/ Utah with Jesse.

March (2): Joshua Tree with Jesse, and home.

April (3): Austin for LMA, Big Bear for Jesse’s birthday, and home with Jesse, Katie, and Lexie!

May (1): New York City for work right after Jenn’s wedding!

June (2): Borrego Springs with Carina and Seattle with Carina!

July (2): Scottsdale for the 4th and Yellowstone with Jesse!

August (1): Home with Carina.

September (2): Banff (!!!) with Carina and Homecoming at OSU.

October (1): Home to hang with Dad & Mom post-surgery and injury.

November (1): Zion round 3 with Jesse.

December (1): Massillon! [We did our Christmas in Riverside].

2015 (Age: 23) 

I spent my 23rd birthday in Chicago with Giana, Lauren and Janelly.

Jesse and I went to Colorado in February.

Giana & Lauren visited in late March/ early April.

Dad visited in April and we stayed in Laguna Beach.

Jesse and I went to Sedona at the end of April - this marked the beginning of what would become monthly trips and lots of nature-oriented weekends or trips to National Parks.

Jesse, Dan and I went to Seattle at the end of May.

Jesse & I went to Zion in June.

I left M&R and started my job at MSK. My first day at MSK was 7/20/15.

Dan & I moved to Signal Hill in September. Dan still lives there as of this writing (1/4/22). I moved out in April 2018 but more or less kept my room there as I would stay 2 nights a week instead of commuting to Laguna. I paid a partial rent. I stopped doing that and fully cleared my room in October 2019, so I did the partial thing for a year and a half.

I went to OSU for homecoming again in October and visited Massillon as well.

I went to NY for work in October.

I went to Boston in November.

I went to Cabo in November with Dad.

I spent NYE at Giana's in San Bruno with friends.

18 Trips:

January (2): Home for New Year’s, and Chicago with Giana, Janelly, & Lauren.

February (1): Colorado with Jesse.

March (1): Bay Area with Lina.

April (1): Arizona (Sedona & GC NP) with Jesse.

May (1): Seattle with Jesse and Dan.

June (1): Zion [Round 1] with Jesse.

July (2): Rancho Mirage, then Home for a week after M&R/ before MSK.

August (2): Zion Round 2 with Jesse, then the bay for Elyse’s wedding.

September (1): Tennessee with Jesse.

October (2): Homecoming at OSU, then New York City for MSK.

November (2): Boston! And Cabo!

December (2): Home for Christmas and Massillon for Christmas.

2014 (Age: 22)

I spent New Year's in the bay.

I started at M&R on 1/7.

I moved out of Jenn's at the end of January and into Kelvin Court in Irvine.

Dad, Jenn & I went to Catalina in April.

Kassie turned 10 in May.

Kassie died in early June.

I met Dan Hough.

Vita and I broke up two weeks later in June.

Jesse and I went to Rosarito in July.

Jesse and I saw Eminem & Rihanna with Jimmy in August.

I met Anu.

Jesse, And & I went to the bay in August.

I visited OSU for the first time since graduation (in late August).

Dan & I moved from Kelvin Court to San Remo in September.

I went back to OSU in October for homecoming.

Jesse and I went to the bay for Thanksgiving.

Kaitlyn and I went to the M&R holiday party in LA in December.

I got back into running again - a little bit.

I ran my first & only sub-5-minute mile (4:53) on 12/30.

At least 14 trips:

January (1): New Year’s in the bay. 

April (2): Bay Area and Catalina. 

May (1): Bay Area. 

June (1): Bay Area for Kassie. 

July (2): Bay Area for the 4th of July. Rosarito with Jesse. 

August (2): Bay Area with Jesse and Anu. OSU visit. 

October (1): OSU for homecoming. 

November (2): Quick Mexico trip. Bay Area with Jesse for Thanksgiving. 

December (2): Bay Area Christmas weekend. Massillon for Christmas. 

2013 (Age: 21) 

We got a lot of snow in Columbus.

I was initiated into my fraternity. 

I turned 21 in Columbus.

I came home shortly after with friends from OSU.

Dan Liu became my big in February.

I worked on State Tour started starting in June.

I graduated from Ohio State in early August and flew back to the bay where I stayed with my dad for a few weeks while I worked on editing state tour footage.

I moved to Southern California on 8/29/13.

Vita & I were extras in the filming of Batman vs Superman in October.

Jimmy came to visit in late October/ early November.

I got the job at M&R in December.

At least 6 trips:

January (1): Home for my birthday with OSU friends. 

March (1): Home for spring break. 

May (1): Home for a week, late May - early June, before summer classes, state tour, and graduation. 

November (1): Home for Thanksgiving. 

December (2): Home for Christmas. Massillon. 

2012 (Age: 20)

I spent my 20th birthday weekend visiting the bay (from Ohio State).

Ginger turned 10 in March.

Brutal storms hit Columbus at the end of March - a tornado was only a few miles away.

I visited NYC in May with my dorm.

Ginger died in June.

In August I went back to Ohio (from the bay) with Vita and spent a few days at Patty & Kim's. I had to go back early to start work at my new job there and to get the move-in situated with the apartment on Chit. 

I started living off campus with Dan, Parthiv and Ben.

I took Vita to Massillon for Christmas.

At least 12 trips:

January (1): The bay for my birthday. 

March (1): Bay Area for spring break. 

April (1): Chicago with the dorm. 

May (2): Visiting Jenn in SoCal, might have been her USC graduation. NYC with the dorm. 

June (2): The bay for the summer. Disneyland visit (from NorCal). 

August (1): Back to Ohio. 

November (1): Home for Thanksgiving. 

December (2): Home for Christmas. Massillon. 

[gonebethebirds]

March 2020 Travel Update!

Traveling is not really an option right now or for the foreseeable future, so why not look back on my trips taken in the last few years, since that’s been a theme of mine anyway.

2020 (2 Trips Taken, Many Trips Canceled or On Hold)

January (1): Home for my birthday. It was a really fun trip actually. Got to see LOTS of friends (Brian, Jimmy, Lauren, Nicole Leclaire, Jessie, Chris Tham) and go to HMB, the city, boat rides, Rickshaw, etc. It was really a “home-run” kind of weekend.

February (0): None! 

March (1): Sequoia National Park with Jesse while Carina was on her Bachelorette trip to Napa. Ironically, this is the weekend that things started to get really crazy with COVID. Sequoia was gorgeous though, covered in snow once we got in far enough. For sure one of our most gorgeous NP trips/hikes. 

The rest come down to nine trips that are either ticketed, scheduled, or were otherwise supposed to happen, but now we’ll just have to wait and see:

April (2): Big Bear [postponed to July], and New York for work [postponed or canceled].

May (2): Bay Area [for work actually, postponed or canceled] and Caymans in late May [TBD].

June (1): New York for Dan’s wedding [TBD].

July (1): Big Bear, rescheduled from April.

August (1): Bachelor party weekend, likely to San Diego, likely still happening unless things get much worse from here.

September: no travel plans, given our wedding!

October: none

November (1): Honeymoon - details, locations and all plans TBD.

December (1): Likely Massillon, but no plans at this time. Too early.

2019 (12 Trips)

January (1): Chicago with Carina for New Year’s! GOT ENGAGED!!

February (1): New York for work right after Grammys, stayed a couple extra days as Carina was supposed to join but couldn’t due to flight troubles.

March (0)

April (3): Atlanta for LMA, annual Big Bear trip for Jesse’s birthday, then Jesse’s bachelor party trip at the end of the month which was in Zion then Vegas.

May (2): Home at the beginning of the month to visit Dad, then Ensenada last weekend for Jesse and Katie’s wedding!

June (1): Home at the end of the month with Carina, saw lots of friends.

July (1): Singapore and Bali at the end of the month with Carina! First trip to Asia! Amazing!

August (1): Yellowstone at the end of the month with Dad and Carina! The first time for both of them!

September (1): went to the bay for the weekend for Carina’s launch party. Actually had a super nice time in the city and a full day of walking around and exploring. It was a gorgeous day and one for the books.

October( 0): None! But my dad came down to visit which was nice.

November (0): None! Had a lovely, rainy, cold (as it should be) Thanksgiving at home - literally our home, our first time hosting! Carina’s family made it special.

December (1): Massillon for Christmas. We canceled Park City as the ski prices and hotel prices got ridiculous.

2018 (20 Trips)

January (2): Home for New Year’s with Carina, and New York for Grammys (followed immediately by DC)! New York was basically just hours after Kinsley was born!

February (2): DC for work with Doug, and Zion with Jesse, Anu and Akshay!

March (1): Home/SF with Jesse, Katie and Carina for St. Patrick’s Day!

April (2): New Orleans for LMA with Carina! And annual Big Bear trip for Jesse’s birthday.

May (2): Colorado for a video shoot with Sashi and the Caymans with Carina and her family!

June (2): DC for work with Doug (Capitol Crypto) and Home! (Giants game, big barbecue, pride at the park).

July (0):

August (3): Zion round 7 with Jesse (Observation Point), home to help dad after surgery, home again for Nicole’s wedding.

September (1): Albuquerque with Mom just for fun!

October (1): Ohio!! OSU and Massillon with Carina (for Homecoming but also a couple days in Massillon to introduce her).

November (2): Zion round 8, with Jesse and Carina (first Angel’s Landing ascent of 2018 and first for Carina in general). And ICELAND!!! Plus home for a day after Iceland as an extended layover.

December (2): Home for Christmas then Massillon for Christmas! (We had light attendance this past year though).

2017 (22 Trips)

January (2): Home for New Year’s, and Washington, DC for my birthday with Carina!

February (1): Arizona road trip (through Page) with Carina.

March (2): Zion, Arches, and Bryce with Jesse, Katie, and Carina! And Vegas for LMA.

April (3): DC & New York for work, Big Bear round 2 for Jesse’s birthday, and the bay with Carina.

May (3): Vegas for Mother’s Day with Jenn, Brian, and Carina, NY & DC for work (again just a month later), and Denver/ The Rockies with Jesse, Katie, and Carina!

June (2): Pismo Beach with Carina and her friends, then Kings Canyon & Sequoia with Jesse (and we saw a bear).

July (2): Amsterdam & Bruges with Carina (what?!) and Santa Barbara with Jesse and Anu.

August (3): The bay for OSU buds, Jenn & Brian’s announcement, and Giana’s going away party. Then Cabo with Carina, Parthiv and his friends, then the bay again for Mom & Dad’s birthdays.

September (0): None!

October (2): Zion round 5 with Jesse, and upcoming: the bay with Dan & Chrystal.

November (1): Home for Thanksgiving.

December (1): Massillon for Christmas! (No trip home for Christmas? We might have lumped that into the Thanksgiving visit).

2016 (19 Trips)

January (3): Home for New Year’s, Portland with Tina, and Grand Canyon/ Utah with Jesse.

February (0): None!

March (2): Joshua Tree with Jesse, and home.

April (3): Austin for LMA, Big Bear for Jesse’s birthday, and home with Jesse, Katie, and Lexie!

May (1): New York City for work right after Jenn’s wedding!

June (2): Borrego Springs with Carina and Seattle with Carina!

July (2): Scottsdale for the 4th and Yellowstone with Jesse!

August (1): Home with Carina.

September (2): Banff (!!!) with Carina and Homecoming at OSU.

October (1): Home to hang with Dad & Mom post-surgery and injury.

November (1): Zion round 3 with Jesse.

December (1): Massillon! [We did our Christmas in Riverside].

2015 (18 Trips)

I had set out to travel at least once per calendar month.

January (2): Home for New Year’s, and Chicago with Giana, Janelly, & Lauren.

February (1): Colorado with Jesse.

March (1): Bay Area with Lina.

April (1): Arizona (Sedona & GC NP) with Jesse.

May (1): Seattle with Jesse and Dan.

June (1): Zion [Round 1!] with Jesse.

July (2): Rancho Mirage, then Home for a week after M&R/ before MSK.

August (2): Zion Round 2 with Jesse, then the bay for Elyse’s wedding.

September (1): Tennessee with Jesse.

October (2): Homecoming at OSU, then New York City for MSK.

November (2): Boston! And Cabo!

December (2): Home for Christmas and Massillon for Christmas.