Reunion Trip Plans in Full Force!

It's official, I've been slacking on keeping up with my blog. So I thought I'd start showing a bit more love here now that I'll be travelling once again. I actually never finished by posts from my last trip - look forward to more on Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Slovenia in the coming weeks! Once I catch up I'll start posting on my more current adventures.

At the moment I'm in the middle of this escapade:

DOMESTIC LEG

SF to PDX Roadtrip - July 4^th - July 7^th

Visited family in Eugene & Portland with Dave as co-pilot. Summers are the best in the PNW.

Mt. St Helens Camping - July 7^th – July 10^th
Hiking, campfire singing, kayaking, star gazing and relaxing at Swift Lake with my Mom, Stepfather, Grandma & Aunt!

Seattle, WA - July 10th - 11th
Ami’s first trip to Seattle, Xavier Rudd show & reunion/hosted by the lovely Auzeen.

Glacier, Yellowstone & Tetons National Park Roadtrip - July 11th - 19th
Roadtrip of a lifetime with Ami, Adrian & Ham. We covered a lot of amazing sights in one short week. More photos, lessons learned and our itinerary to come!

NYC - July 22^nd

Quick 8 hour layover to meet up with Erica and explore the city.

It was wonderful to have the time to appreciate my own incredible country. I feel like I naturally always want to get outside of the US borders and forget how many badass places there are to explore here on my own turf!

INTERNATIONAL LEG

FINLAND & ESTONIA – July 23^rd – July 28^th
Visiting a sweet friend that I met in India, Paavo. I’m stoked to see Helsinki & jump on over to Estonia for the day.

SWEDEN – July 28^th – August 1^st
I’ll be staying with one of my favorites, Meredith, and seeing her new life in Stockholm!

GERMANY – August 1^st – August 5^th  
So excited to see Berlin once again, but this time around being hosted by one of my besties Marie. We had a lot of incredible memories in SF this past year and already miss seeing her all the time! I’m also reuniting with another rad travelling chick, Alicia. We met when I stayed with her for a week in S. Korea.

FRANCE & SWITZERLAND – August 5^th – August 13^th  
I’m excited to see the Alsace region of France where Thierry is from. I hear he’ll be the best tour guide around. We met in Guatemala studying Spanish. Will be a fun reunion! Also, possibly bopping over to Switzerland or Germany.

HUNGARY – August 13^th – August 21st
The first part of this trip will be with a whopping 10 of us!!! It was spurred by Marie & I scheming to go to Sziget music festival. We will be checking out that for a couple days and exploring Budapest. Dave and I have a few days to explore more of Hungary – anybody have any tips?

Although this trip is technically a solo undertaking, it's sparked visits with friends I've met from previous travels. It truly is a reunion with all sorts of friends and I'm really excited to reconnect with so many amazing people.

Signing off from a cafe in NYC. Off to Finland tonight!

-Bri

Backpacking in Glacier National Park in Montana. Stunning!!!

Hasta Luego SF, Hello India.

Let's just say the days leading up to my departure were quite hectic - getting my room ready for Kelly (she's subleasing), spending time with friends, wrapping up work, Oh & packing. Here's where I started and clearly had to make some decisions. I swear packing can be the hardest task of all because it's so easy to want to bring everything. Of course I want to leave room for treasures I find along the way.

Luckily I had good friends to help me put things into perspective and leave a few items behind. It was so nice to spend QT with close friends leading up to my trip. I even recorded some short videos on my GoPro...I've been watching all my 'Words of Wisdom' videos. I couldn't quite figure out how to create a video to share with all, either way they've been making me smile.Thank you everyone who came to see me, I felt very loved. 

I love you guys. Sarah & Amy I know you're going to kill me but I couldn't resist haha.

Right before I was heading to the airport, I had Kelly snap a quick photo of my 2nd round with big green! How fun is this side by side.

Left - November 2011, Right - March 2013

After my first leg of this 20 hours of flying I signed up for, I headed into NYC to explore with Adrienne. Even though it was just for the day it was so nice to see Adrienne and break up the flights a bit. Oh definitely forgot to mention this one, guess who has poison oak? Lovely right. I had no idea a backpacking trip 2 weeks ago would have reprecussions for this trip. All in all it's still around and I'm trying to use the hydrocortisone I picked up in New York to stop me from in itching (written as I'm itching my leg). 

Adi and I roaming around the city.

After spending the day in NYC, I hopped on another 'red eye' to Bombay. This one although was 16 hours. I watched a couple moves, passed out and woke up just an hour before landing. Bombay has been a great place to start my India trip. All of the couch surfers I've been meeting up with or staying with been incredibly generous. I'll write more about what I've been up to in Bombay in my next post. Until then, I'll share with you a photo from playing Holi yesterday. Happy Holi!

On The Road Again....

"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." -Miriam Beard

I’m very excited, yet a bit nervous to be heading out on another solo trip. This time I’ll be on the road for about 9 weeks. It was all just an idea I had a few months ago and now my departure is in 16 days!!

The initial driving force behind this trip is Scottie & Em’s wedding in Drubrovnik, Croatia in May. Of course the scheming began....If I’m in Croatia then I should visit Tomo in Slovenia and OH Ami is still in India right? This all led to asking my work if I could take a leave for a couple months. I am blessed to work for a company who truly has a work/life balance. My leave was approved without any resistance. YAY & Thank You to Primitive Logic.

Once my flight was booked through vayama.com it all started to feel real. I highly recommend checking out vayama - they were about $200 less than anywhere else I looked. Only downfall is you don’t get to select your seats when you book your flight. You need to call all the airlines or go to their website to select your seat, but hey that effort was worth saving $200!

Here’s what my March 23rd to June 1st looks like:

NYC for 12 hrs - March 24th
Just enough time to catch up with Adrienne, one of my good friends & old SF roomie! Hoping to pick a good lunch spot and catch up with a few others - Erica, Jessica let me know if you’re around!!

INDIA - March 25th - May 3rd


Where to start. I’m really excited to see India through my own eyes. I’ve heard so many different things from so many people. Thank you to all who’ve given me amazing advice and spent time answering my questions. My brick of a guide book has already many fun notes & recs thanks to Laura! This video above that Sarah S. discovered truly lit me up. What an invigorating culture!

Where exactly I’m going is still up in the air. I know I’ll begin my trip in Bombay & fly out of Dehli, but beyond that here are all my ideas & recommendations I’ve been told: Ajanta/Ellora, Hampi, Goa, Kerala, Madurai, Varanasi, Hardiwar, Rishikesh, Manali, Amristar, Ladakh,  Agra (Taj Mahal), Rajasthan - Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer , Dehli.  DANG, I just rambled that all off by memory, all my research and chats with fellow travellers is helping.

Clearly that is not all possible in 6 weeks though. I do know...

• From my couch surfing interactions, the people are wonderful! From the moment I step in India, I have a warm welcome awaiting me and I’m not even there yet!
• I will wear Saris and embrace the culture
• I’m excited to meet Ami, an ex-Deloitter too, and travel for a bit together
• I will stay in an Ashram along the way and volunteer. Sarah Marino all of the work that you are doing is incredible. Sarah shared this video with me, what a beautiful story. It most definitely started my love affair with India:  

SWITZERLAND - May 3rd - 5th
Krispies you better meet me in Zurich!!!

CROATIA - May 6th - 20th
I’m looking to have at least 2 weeks to explore this beautiful country. EEEE I can’t wait to see the beautiful ocean and witness Scott & Em’s wedding!
Here’s what I have planned: Zagreb → Piltvice National Park → Krka National Park → Split/Hvar → Dubrovnik

BOSNIA &/or MONTENEGRO - May 20th - May 25th
I haven’t done much research yet, so any advice is definitely welcome even though I many not have time for these 2. I’ll be veryclose in Dubrovnik so at least a day trip will have to happen.

SLOVENIA - May 25th - May 31st
I’ll get to spend some time catching up with Tomo who is from here. Tomo and I met on a very very long bus ride from Guatemala to Nicaragua. Looking forward to seeing his country & his life there!

SWITZERLAND - May 31st - June 1st
I’ve heard you’re beautiful, but too pricey for me right now. I’ll probably be spending minimal time in Zurich. I just need to be there in time to catch my flight back to SFO!

I have a subleaser, Kelly, staying in my room - glad that we can help her start her new life in SF. Thank you Amy & Julia for being supportive! My checklist of pre-travel to do’s is getting shorter by the day - mend my tennis’s, get travel meds, find a sturdy day back yadda yadda. Ok maybe the list quite isn't getting shorter, but I’ll get there.

Everything is truly starting to align and fall in place once again. If you’re intentional in your desires you can make it happen. Of course with any desire there is still a lot of energy and work that must be sacrificed for your desire to manifest, but it’s all worth it!

In Love & Light,


Bri

From my trip to Hawaii a couple weeks ago with my mum & gma.

It's ON!

It's finally here. 12 hours until take off to Tokyo! Passport. Camera. Huge ass backpack (see right). Snacks. 2 iPhones without service. Scuba Mask. Steri Pen. My flippy floppies. Stomach full of excitement. check, check and check!

Going away party & How the hell I made this happen post to come....

OMG. Proud. Amazing. Wow. Love. Admire. Jealous. Memories. Awesome.

About a month ago I sent an email to many of my close family and friends about my 5 month adventure I'm about to embark on.  All I can say is WOW. I received responses all across the board. I thought I'd share some of the support, jealousy, awe & love that was sent my way:

That is quite the life changing lineup you have.

I'm so proud of you!

Must send over blog link so we can all live vicariously through you!

I hope to speak in Spanish with you once you come back ;)

This is amazing.

I am so jealous of you -- wish i could just take off and meet you and travel with you.

OH MY GOD. I WANT TO DO ALL OF THAT.

really psyched for you.

And you wonder why there is extreme hatred coming from my direction towards you.... 

Your 5 free months sound so awesome.  I am so happy for you and proud of you.

wow.......I will live vicariously through you! 

OH MY.......my lovely friend!!!!

I'm so proud of you for taking such a leap and venturing out to see so much of the world.

WOW that is so amazing!

3 months in Guatemala.  WOW!  You should be a Mayan by the end of it. 

Have a blast!

You will love Thailand.

You are incredible! This is incredible!! 

OMG.  If I was ever to be jealous of a fellow traveler I think now is the time.

WOW BRI!!!! Enjoy :) Take lots of pics!!

Have fun becoming a travel junkie! 

Send a post card or two, I love getting them :)

Amazing, so excited for you...and of course jealous! 

Seeing the many things you will see will be an eye opener to a lot of different cultures in a short time, the memories will be worth it but do get tons of pictures because as the years go by you may need those to kick start those memories.

AMAZING!!

You are one adventurous girl! So impressed by you.

take me with ya Bri!

If you're interested in looking into travel health insurance..

Wow! THis is soo cool.

Te quiero mucho! Espero que tu viaje es muy divertido!

I love it so proud!!

Wow, I admire you so much!!! 

I am sad, and happy, to report that once the travel bug has bitten you there is no known cure.  Yes said to say, many have tried but to date, still no cure. 

Yay! 

I really want to come to see you.

bri! this is absolutely amazing.

don't forget we want you back here safely so please practice maturity and safety!! There are a lot of crazies all over the world!!

Eat, Love, Pray comes to mind when I just read over your fun, adventurous, at times exhausting travels around the world. 

OMG!!! I'm so jealoussss!!!

This is what I like to see!!! Awesome itinerary, shared it with my roommate this morning and both jaws were left hanging open.

That trip sounds awesome! I'm insanely jealous.

P.S. Expect many more inverted photographs of me....only different backgrounds ;-)

rough sketch of my five month adventure

I am very excited to announce that I'll be taking a five month personal leave of absence from Uncle D (Deloitte) to learn Spanish, travel and open my eyes to life outside of the cubicle.  Although these next five months may worsen my travel bug, I am so thankful that all of this below is really happening!!

What my eyes will soon see.

Dec. 1st: Leave from SFO – whoa.

Dec. 2nd - 9th: Tokyo, Japan - Stay with Yu Tando, yay!

Dec. 9th - 24th: Fly to Indonesia - Meet Adrian Freeberg. Amazing temples, beach, surf, yoga & lots of sunsets

Dec 24th – 31st: Thailand - Meet Sarah Saul. Krabi, Dive Similan Islands & NYE in Phuket!

Jan 1st - 7th:  Cambodia – Angwor Wat & the Capitol

Jan 7th - 12th:  Laos – River Tubing, Monks & Relaxation 

Jan 12th - 20th: Vietnam – City, Gorgeous Bay & Rice Paddies 

Jan 20th: Singapore – Quick one day tour

Jan 21^st – 23rd: Fly back to SF & Regroup - <3

Jan. 23rd: Red eye to Guatemala

Jan 23rd: Take a bus to San Pedro & meet my host family

April: Up in the air – More of Central America??

May 1st: Back to the grind…& life in sf J