July. Halfway through the calendar year but it feels like my new year is just starting. Every adventure and travel chapter in my life feels like a new year or page in the calendar to fill out. Depending on which way you look at it, July was either not exciting on the travel scale because I only moved to San Francisco or was really exciting because I actually moved to San Francisco. You pick.
Here’s what July looked like through my eyes.
I celebrated Independence Day in the US
For the first time in two years, I was actually home for the 4th of July. True to traditional form, I went to a friend’s barbecue. I couldn’t resist eating all the American food I missed while living abroad. There’s not a lot on the food spectrum that I missed about the US…except for barbecues!
The best part about being home for July 4th was spending time with my parents. I know it’s not easy for them when their daughter is off gallivanting around the globe. We set off sparklers (my favorite) and just hung out together. The simple pleasures of being home.
I moved to San Francisco. Kind of.
To say that San Francisco is the only place I really traveled to this month sounds like it wasn’t a lot in comparison to the last two years of my life. It’s actually been a busy and crazy ride. I’m currently staying on my brother-in-law’s air mattress and am living out of a suitcase, though I do miss my backpack. Honestly he’s a saint for putting up with me for this long so far! (G, please don’t evict me).
So why am I here?
I really started to crave stability after a few months of living out of a backpack. I loved almost every minute of backpacking through Latin America, but sometimes not having a home was wearing on me. My blog was taking a serious hit because I wasn’t able to dedicate as much time to it – but honestly, I was having a lot of fun living life to the fullest on the road.
The thing is, I kind of want stability but I kind of don’t know if I’ll ever be able to sit in one place without feeling like I have itchy feet and want to take off. I’m giving it a try for now, though. So San Francisco it is. I’m an east coast girl but I never had intentions of returning to New York City to live or work when I returned from South America. I decided to give San Francisco a try because I have some family and friends out here. With any luck, maybe I’ll land a job I love and I won’t be resisting the urge to jump on a plane to Never-never Land.
San Francisco has been way more exciting than I thought it would be in the beginning. I didn’t realize how many friends I had in the city and I’ve already met so many new interesting people, too. San Francisco might be in the same country as New York, but these cities are so different! I’ve caught up with friends I met traveling, friends from college, and even spent a day drinking some (OK, a lot of) wine in Napa. I really can’t wait to do that again. This new adventure has been off to fun start!
I started working for Wanderful this month!
I’m super excited to be a new social media intern for Wanderful. This female travel community is so empowering and inspirational! I’ve already learned so much in the month I’ve worked for Wanderful and I can’t believe now I’m a part of this amazing organization. I urge you to check out Wanderful if you’re interested in joining a community of fierce, strong women who love to travel!
Looking Ahead
I really miss the craziness of long-term travel. Post-travel blues are real; don’t I know it. Sometimes I see photos of friends, or even people I don’t know on Instagram and I feel plagued with sadness that I’m not out there. Anywhere. Everywhere.
San Francisco is where I’m at for now and I really do love it. I’m focused on seeing how things go here, one day at a time. Six months ago I didn’t really expect to be here; who really knows where I’ll end up in six months. I’m determined not to let the post-travel blues bring me down. I’m still not over my trip, but I’m realizing that it’s better to keep all the special people and places I connected with in my heart while trying look forward, not backward. And there’s so much to look forward to in this new place! That makes me really happy.
Don’t you worry; there’s still a lot more travel writing I have up my sleeve! I have a post I wrote for another website I can’t wait to share with you next month and you can always read about some of my adventures on Go, See, Write. As for Lavi was here., you can look forward to new posts on the Galápagos and Bolivia coming at you this month! Two of my favorites!
