Change.

I have been thinking a lot about the meaning of change.

As some of you may know, I have moved many times in my short life. It has become accustom to my lifestyle that I must frequently find change in my life.

You can honestly plant me in a new city or town and I will be content. I will find a way to call that place home. I have done it many times and it is all too possible; you just have to work for it. Buy me a one way ticket and I would be fine not coming home to my belongings. In life, I have collected memories more than things. That being because I have moved so many times, that I cannot keep holding on to little knit-knacks and items that are not easily transportable. The "things" I do hold onto, I deeply treasure, I appreciate and value. I have earned what is mine and no one has helped me get this far.

I have been thinking more and more about my future. In one year, where will I be? I know I won't be in California. I will be living in a different country. Someone told me the other day, "...but, Jill, you need to have a plan." I beg to differ because I honestly cannot plan my future for one year. I wing a lot of everything that goes on in my life, I make wise decisions and just hope for the best. If something is not meant to be, then so be it. If it happens, it happens. Life will go on.

Let it be told that though I have had little direction from family or any adults, I am confident in saying that I can easily work and live independently and solve issues by myself. I am capable of anything, as long as I am focused on what I want. I believe that everyone is capable of doing what they love or capable of going on that one dream vacation you frequently ponder about, but many people do not follow through with it because they think it really is impossible. Truth is, it is possible!

After paying the high California rent and bills, I feel like I make so little at work. I have never been one that travels because I am rich. People have told me, "you're so lucky to go on all these trips" but they can feel as "lucky" if they put their mind to it. Though I have my rent and bills, I put aside a little cash every paycheck and make sure I have savings. It may not seem like a lot but knowing the way I travel, I can make it last. Yes, of course it would be lovely to splurge and stay in 5 star resorts, but I can also travel around on a budget and enjoy myself just as much!

In the end, I would like to think that I can use my frequent change to my advantage. Some people have never moved in their lives, and that's okay (I think?) but I enjoy moving and experiencing the unknown. It keeps life more fun.

Life is sometimes better upside down!

DON’T DATE A GIRL WHO TRAVELS

The girl who wrote this rocks!

Credit: http://www.lovethesearch.com/2013/05/dont-date-girl-who-travels.html

She’s the one with the messy unkempt hair colored by the sun. Her skin is now far from fair like it once was. Not even sun kissed. It’s burnt with multiple tan lines, wounds and bites here and there.  But for every flaw on her skin, she has an interesting story to tell.

Don't date a girl who travels. She is hard to please. The usual dinner-movie date at the mall will suck the life out of her. Her soul craves for new experiences and adventures. She will be unimpressed with your new car and your expensive watch. She would rather climb a rock or jump out of an airplane than hear you brag about it.

Don’t date a girl who travels because she will bug you to book a flight every time there’s an airline seat sale. She wont party at Republiq. And she will never pay over $100 for Avicii because she knows that one weekend of clubbing is equivalent to one week somewhere far more exciting.

Chances are, she can't hold a steady job. Or she’s probably daydreaming about quitting. She doesn’t want to keep working her ass off for someone else’s dream.She has her own and is working towards it. She is a freelancer. She makes money from designing, writing, photography or something that requires creativity and imagination. Don't waste her time complaining about your boring job. 

Don't date a girl who travels. She might have wasted her college degree and switched careers entirely. She is now a dive instructor or a yoga teacher. She’s not sure when the next paycheck is coming. But she doesn’t work like a robot all day, she goes out and takes what life has to offer and challenges you to do the same.

Don’t date a girl who travels for she has chosen a life of uncertainty. She doesn’t have a plan or a permanent address. She goes with the flow and follows her heart. She dances to the beat of her own drum. She doesn’t wear a watch. Her days are ruled by the sun and the moon. When the waves are calling, life stops and she will be oblivious to everything else for a moment. But she has learned that the most important thing in life isn’t surfing.

Don’t date a girl who travels as she tends to speak her mind. She will never try to impress your parents or friends. She knows respect, but isn’t afraid to hold a debate about global issues or social responsibility.

She will never need you. She knows how to pitch a tent and screw her own fins without your help. She cooks well and doesn’t need you to pay for her meals. She is too independent and wont care whether you travel with her or not. She will forget to check in with you when she arrives at her destination. She’s busy living in the present. She talks to strangers. She will meet many interesting, like-minded people from around the world who share her passion and dreams. She will be bored with you.

So never date a girl who travels unless you can keep up with her. And if you unintentionally fall in love with one, don’t you dare keep her. Let her go.

Italia 2014!

Better late than never, some would say.

I recently took a trip to Italy over my birthday. Six months prior, it was kind of booked on a whim as I did not have much time to think if I should book the flight or not. It was literally a once-in-a-lifetime price that was too hard to pass up: $250 round trip from USA to Italy. I'm there. I didn't know if I would be able to get anyone to come with, but I knew I was on my way! Luckily, I have the most amazing cousin and also on a whim, she took her credit card out and booked it with me! I think it's safe to say it was by far the best trip I have ever been on - it was only a week, which is no where near enough time to see all of Italy, but we accomplished so much within the time period that we were there.

My journey started a bit before my cousin, Emily. It started in San Diego with a layover in Phoenix. From there, I took the red-eye to JFK. Since our international flight didn't leave until 5:00pm, I opted to hang out in the airport all day (12 hours). It sounds torturous but personally, I love being in airports, as much as they can lack great food. I was dead tired and I still had another night to fly but I found a bright spot to have some less than mediocre food and watched the airplanes take off.

It was around 2:00pm when Emily was finally dropped off and I knew it was all about to start. I was so surprised on how well she packed, she had packed less than me which is pretty difficult to surpass!

We finally were off to our next layover; Toronto, Canada. Lucky for me, my cell phone plan had free international texting which was a lifesaver because Emily did not have any service once we left the United States. When I was in Morocco and Spain a couple years ago, I did not have the same plan so it was a little tricky getting around and staying in communication with friends and family.

By the time we reached Toronto, it was dinner time. We bought a bottle of wine and greek food. We laughed and laughed and killed the time pretty quickly. Off we went!

Now boarding: Toronto to Milano. This was it! Our trip! We had been waiting for so long! To me, part of the excitement of a trip is building your way up to the vary moment. Planning, driving to the airport, and taking off.

The next morning, we landed in Milano. Given that many international airports are, well, let's say, travel-friendly for international arrivals, it was easy to navigate with all of the English signs. We took the train to the closest stop to our hostel in downtown Milano. Going on 2-3 days of no sleep, I was becoming a zombie, but I knew I couldn't sleep and waste much time.

I know there are a lot of hidden gems throughout Milano, but as I have heard before arriving, Milano is one place that would be safe to skip for any future Italian trip.

Our hostel was great, service was superb and our next day was off to Venice, Italia! I used to live right near Venice, California so it was so exciting to see the real thing! The train ride was gorgeous; about two hours. We finally arrived in Venice, and with our heavy backpacks, we ventured over to our hostel, which was about a mile or two in walking distance. Cars don't exist there because, as many of you should know, there are too many canals. The primary way of transportation is your two legs. The second option would be the ferry or boat rides. Turns out, the touristy gondola rides were 80-100 euro so we passed that one up.

Emily and I walked a ton throughout Venice. We got lost, we took pictures, we bought souvenirs, we found bars, we made friends, we walked some more and the night was always young.

Due to the short amount of time we had in such an amazing country, the next day we were off to Florence. What a stunning city. We did not get to see everything but we saw a good majority. That evening and the following evening we had stayed at Emily's friends apartment. The city was too pretty to waste time sleeping so we pretty much stayed up both nights, met more friends and explored under the city lights. Life was grande. The second day we explored the leather markets, bought too much leather after being a tad bit too hungover, oh, and I should mention it was my birthday in Florence. Emily and I stumbled upon an amazing restaurant and we enjoy dinner along with Tiramisu with candles!

Side note: I make it a point to plan an awesome trip over my birthday and have been doing so for the last 6 years. It never fails. You don't have to plan some party or worry about who is going to show up. You indulge yourself in the new city or town you are visiting, have a nice dinner and continue to experience what life has to offer.

Knowing that Venice and Florence were by far our favorite places so far, we knew what was ahead. We purposely booked our last night in Cinque Terre, Italy's west coast, north of Amalfi coast.

I stumbled upon an apartment for one night on TripAdvisor before we set sail to Italy. I felt confident in booking this accomodation because the owner used to live in Los Angeles and also went to UCSD which is about a mile away from me! Small world.

If I were to briefly explain Cinque Terre, I would say that it is a little slice of Heaven. We arrived on a damp day with a light rain shower in the afternoon. We weren't bummed, as it gave off this amazing vibe: we were literally in a rain forest with birds chatting and the aroma from all the plants and flowers was something I've never experienced. We were overlooking a stunning cliff, drinking wine and attempting to practice our Italian with a Native. That conversation didn't go over too well, but we were able to get some laughs in!

The next day was sunny and beautiful. Cinque Terre means 5 villages so, what better way to start the day than going to each village, which is in hiking distance. We hiked to all 5 villages, while most people do not get to experience each once in such a short amount of time. We figured since we were there, we might as well go all out! Once we arrived at the last village, Monterosso, we stayed awhile on the rocky beach and took in the view. I found rocks and seaglass, we laid in the sun and we then took the train back to the first village where our belongings were, Riomaggiore. After making a pit stop, we took a night ride back to Milano, where our hearts began to sink because we didn't want to leave Italy.

Mind you, as a lover for travel, I always had Italy in the back of my mind but I never knew I would be going there so soon. To be honest, I never really knew much about the country other than the main cities and Tuscany, but it's very safe to say that I cannot wait to go back. I want to explore more and more countries but I would be okay with visiting Italy more than once. When I go back, I would probably start in Florence or Rome and explore the southern areas, including Naples, Amalfi Coast and Sicily. If I allowed myself enough time, I would even consider the little islands off of Italy like Sardinia.

Below you can find a few photos from our trip. In closing, I have to say that Italy is a MUST. It's different in person, pictures don't do it justice, you have to go!

Train ride from Venice to Florence. 

Traveling keeps me sane.

Monterosso, Cinque Terre, Italia

Part of our hiking trail in Cinque Terre

Just an "average" view.

Duomo di Milano 

Riomaggiore!

Florence, Italia

View from the cliffs in Cinque Terre.

View from Rialto Bridge, Venice, Italy

Be free.

We accept the love we think we deserve.

-Perks of Being A Wallflower

Don't settle for something mediocre. 

Or, ordinary.

Don't be indifferent.

Don't beat yourself up.

Don't pretend it's okay.

That's not what you deserve. 

Be significant. 

Stand out.

Shine.

Be inspired.

Pretend you're first class mail.

You're a priority.

That's what you deserve.

 

Women Hold up Half The Sky

I wrote this for extra credit in my English class. I find it super interesting and motivating:

    After visiting the Women Hold Up Half The Sky exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center, it is easily noticed that girls and women are treated extremely different throughout the world. Being in a safe environment and receiving the healthcare when needed is definitely not something every country can say they have the benefit in having so.
     More than 60 million women who should still be alive today are defined as “missing” because of the violence or other forms of gender discrimination. A woman dies every ninety seconds due to complications during childbirth. One example is when a woman, by the name of Delfina, went into the hospital in her home country, Bolivia, to seek medical attention during her pregnancy. She went quite regularly but when she was given medication for high blood pressure, the access to doctors became limited. After six months, she visited the hospital again after attaining a headache. It was too late. She was diagnosed with eclampsia. Delfina fell into a coma and baby daughter died three days later. This is a somewhat rare disease that is mostly found in pregnant women and suffer from high blood pressure. If the doctors were more proactive in assisting with this medical issue, it could have been treated properly and the lives of these innocent souls could have been saved. This is a fine example of how many women are treated due to the lack of guidance found within the health-system.
     Around the world, a total of 1.4 billion people live on less than $1.25 a day. An additional 1.5 billion people live on less than $2 a day and when combined, this is almost half of the world's population. Sixty percent of the poorest people on the planet are female. But when women and girls are given the opportunity, they have been known to become powerful and ambitious for change in society. When women participate in the economy, the household incomes increase, making it possible to invest in health care, better foods, education, and organizing a better foundation for social changes. For example, Goretti was given a $2.00 microloan from CARE's economic empowerment program. She was able to earn $7.50 on her potato crop. Goretti returned the loan which cost her $2.30, and is then used for another woman within Goretti's association. The remainder portion of Goretti's earnings were used to buy bananas to start her banana beer business. From CARE's program, 17,000,000 people were able to increase their household incomes. Educating girls has been recognized as one of the most effective ways to fight poverty.
     Not all women are given this opportunity, and suffer from violence. Nicolas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, authors of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, traveled to eastern Congo and asked to speak to a rape victim within a campground full of displaced people. One victim was brought over. But, to ensure her privacy, she was taken to a tree away from the other people, but after ten minutes of chatting with the victim, a long line of women formed nearby. “What are you all doing here?” the woman asked. “We're all rape victims,” explained the woman in front. “We're all waiting to tell our stories, too.”
     Many women have little control and want their word out so people from around the world are educated with their story. Being recognized is something that many women lack and to speak freely is so inspirational. When visiting the exhibit, the opportunity was given to donate either shelter, food, or clothing to any country in the world on the provided iPads. Although it may seem like a small impact on such a large issue, it quickly adds up from all the visitors and gives girls and women a second chance.

True, yes.

take me home to LA

9/20/10, 8:57pm Mountain Standard Time:

I'm boarding the train back home to Los Angeles
I requested the window seat even though its dark out
Because as we all know the advantage of looking out the window
And having something to lean on especially when you're traveling alone
And can't lean on a stranger for support...

Its almost a full moon so I can see the clouds and the shadows of the trees
Its dark in this cabin
Everyone is sleeping except my seat mate
She's from Finland
I told her to bring back two cups from the lounge area
But she brought one
That's a sign that she isn't going to be drinking with me
I have wine that someone has to drink
Why not? I'm on my 2nd cup.

I'm listening to Bon Iver on my iPod
This band is my favorite
And sets the perfect mood
For this quiet, mellow, relaxed train ride

I'm literally probably the only one out of my 600 friends on Facebook
Riding a train right now
I'm in the middle of no where in Arizona
I think this ride is going down to Phoenix

Ahhhhh, Bon Iver, why are you so good?
I've been listening to you all week.
And sadly, my week is over

I had the perfect most relaxed trip
And probably the hardest laughs I've had in months
My mom and I are so looney and funny when were together
We made faces all week at each other and took pictures of ourselves
Rather than the sunset of the Grand Canyon
We felt like we were in a funeral
It was so quiet during sunset
Except us
But we didn't care

I wish we lived closer to one another
We have the best times
And she's my best friend
But distance only makes you closer
So when we meet again, we'll have more to share
And more laughs

I have pictures that Facebook will never see
But when I'm down, I'll have pictures to browse through
And just laugh at our craziness.

It's 11pm and I still have 9 hours to go
I'm gonna try and rest my head
Sleeping like a noodley noodle is not very comfy
But I love the feeling of traveling
Even if its back home
And back to work
:(

"Hand In My Pocket"

This song...I was listening on my way to work today...and actually listened to the lyrics for once...and realized that it sounds a lot like me and I dig the lyrics a lot.

I'm broke but I'm happy
I'm poor but I'm kind
I'm short but I'm healthy, yeah
I'm high but I'm grounded
I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed
I'm lost but I'm hopeful baby
What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving a high five
I feel drunk but I'm sober
I'm young and I'm underpaid
I'm tired but I'm working, yeah
I care but I'm restless
I'm here but I'm really gone
I'm wrong and I'm sorry baby

What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be quite alright
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flicking a cigarette
And what it all comes down to
Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving the peace sign
I'm free but I'm focused
I'm green but I'm wise
I'm hard but I'm friendly baby
I'm sad but I'm laughing
I'm brave but I'm chickenshit
I'm sick but I'm pretty baby

And what it all boils down to
Is that no one's really got it figured out just yet
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is playing the piano
And what it all comes down to my friends
Is that everything's just fine fine fine
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is hailing a taxi cab