youpi!

In one week and two days I'll be leaving for a much anticipated vacation and I couldn't be any more excited. I promised myself that I would go somewhere, anywhere at least once a year to reboot and refresh from the goings-on of daily life. I hadn't gone anywhere the past couple of years because I was so focused on work, but I really wanted to give myself a break before life becomes hectic again. Plus, traveling shows you that there are so many more possibilities.

Lately, I've been yearning for some major changes, not just in my professional life, but personal as well. I love doing graphic design. I love doing graphic design for a museum. But after six years, staring at a computer screen 40 hours a week might be taking its toll on me. I want to create with my hands. I want to take pieces of wood and build something with it... I've been daydreaming a lot about moving to a small town, building my own cottage + yurt, growing my own gardens and owning a small farm where I provide people in this tiny town with fruits, vegetables, eggs... I've even thought about running away to the French countryside to work at a bakery, even if I was just the person behind the counter, ringing up people's orders and paper bagging their baguettes. Wait, do they even bag baguettes in France? Probably not.

For now, though, a vacation will suffice. I won't be serving food to the French or tending to chickens, but I'll be seeing a whole hell of a lot of nature at a Bad Ass National Fucking Forest... And I will probably get lost trying to get around and that's ok because honestly, there's nowhere else I'd rather be.

(this was taken in Indonesia almost 3 years ago. we hiked up to see Mt. Bromo at 3am.)

oh, deer, gaviota

ugh, before entering the trail to see the wind caves, I saw a warning sign about mountain lions. I decided to go anyway, but not before meeting a man who was reading the same sign and who had recently encountered a mountain lion (while in his vehicle). I told him where I was headed so we hiked up together, but he seemed more afraid than I was. if a man lets you take the lead on a hike where there are mountain lions, that kinda says a lot about him, especially after telling me he wouldn't have hiked it if I wasn't going. yes, he straight out told me that. plus, I tested him. every time I saw a lizard wiggle its way across my path, I would stop and pretend I had seen something amidst the bushes. he would get very quiet. I sensed fear. he tried to play it cool, but so did I. that was a fucked up thing to do on my part, but mountain lions ain't no joke. I wanted to sense how afraid he was to see how alone I was in all this in case we did encounter a mountain lion, not that it was going to make any difference...

we stopped at the wind caves to take some pictures. they were pretty disappointing so I decided to hike farther. I left him behind but kept an eye on him just to see how far up I was going. fear really started to set in on me when I could no longer see him. I hiked back down and saw him waiting at the trailhead. we small talked on the way back to our cars. he got a phone call from his wife asking him to stop at Albertson's on the way back home. I never got his name and he never got mine.

the highlight of this hike: the deer. not only did we spot them on the way up to see the wind caves, but they also reappeared at the trailhead, thumping back to the bushes when they saw us coming. it was the most adorable thing even though they'd probably kick my ass if I tried to give them eskimo kisses.

(i'm still playing around with this mirrorless camera. apparently, i'm not playing around with it enough.

 

gaviota

I failed to mention that I went exploring last weekend, stopping at Summerland, downtown Santa Barbara, and lastly Gaviota. I sort of had a list of places I wanted to visit and kinda had a plan in mind but I've learned that when I plan things out, they never go accordingly, so I just winged it.

I'd wanted to see the wind caves in Gaviota so after a short visit to Summerland and having enjoyed a bagel + soy iced latte in Santa Barbara, I wiped the sweat off my forehead and busted. I don't think I could ever get tired of driving along the coast.

summerland

a cozy little beach town 6 miles south of santa barbara. I was suprised at how unpopulated the beach was. parking is free and there's a barbeque/picnic area separated from the beach with a hill. oh, and it's cleaaaan!

going back this weekend to bask in the last days of summer before fall arrives. i'll be the one doing cartwheels if any of you also happen to be there. winkemoticon.

waiting...

a lot of people spend their whole lives waiting.

there's that saying about how living life to the fullest meant taking risks with the possibilities of regret than the inevitability of regret by not having ever taken risks at all... I'd like to live my life to the fullest but ever since I was a kid, I always said to myself, out of sheer motivation and defiance of fear, that if I hadn't broken a bone, it meant I haven't truly lived life yet.

confession: I have not broken a bone.