Wanderlust Diaries: 2015 Wrap Up

As previously mentioned, I was fortunate enough to do a TON of traveling this year - basically a trip every other month. In this first installment of the Wanderlust Diaries, I'll briefly talk about the amazing trips I took in 2015 and what each meant to me!

January: Portland, OR/University of Portland Pilots Dance Team
After a very interesting start to the year, I was able to take a short trip with my one of my best friends to surprise our college dance team girls at one of their games! Although it was just for 3 days, it was much needed and being back in NoPo was a warm homecoming welcome.

March: Teach For America's Native Alliance Initiative
When my life started to go south, I was fortunate to be able to reconnect with some of my closest Native teaching friends and find rejuvenation through TFA's Native Alliance Initiative Summit in New Mexico. We visited cultural sites, shared our different cultural protocol with each other, and had hard discussions about the future of Native education. This trip put me back in the right frame of mind to finish out the rest of the school year.

June: LA with #thebaes
For some very necessary girl time, I went to LA to see my best friends and reestablish some semblance of joy in my life. Little did I know that this trip would not only give me some much needed bff time, but it would also bring Sienna back into my life. When one door closes...

Aug: New Beginnings in New Mexico
I surprised Sienna with a trip to visit her in New Mexico for a few days in late August, and it brought me so much happiness to see the kind of relationship that we were going to have. Long distance has been rough, but I know in a few short months it will all be worth it.

October: Soul-Searching In Japan and Korea
Back in March when things weren't so great in Peepsland, my best friend at work sat me down along with her two housemates, and we impulsively bought tickets for 10 days in Japan. I'll talk more about this in another post, but those 10 days (which turned into 6 in Japan, 4 in Korea) brought a level of peace to my life that I thought I had lost forever. I'm so thankful for those memories that the four of us shared and the inside jokes that will last a lifetime.

December: Hilo Family Time
Oh man, it has been SO long since we had a family trip. My family and I spent a little over a week up in Hilo and brought in the new year together looking out over Halema'uma'u Crater at night. We did the normal sightseeking, a TON of hiking, and basically just got to relax in our awesome cabin up in Volcano National Park. It was such an amazing experience, and Hilo was a nice escape from busy Oahu.

Stay tuned for more Wanderlust Diaries updates, including how I planned a 10 day international trip on a second year teacher's salary!

Never stop wandering,