Full Circle – aka What’s New

A decent amount of time has passed since my last update, and while some things have changed significantly since I last wrote, other things have remained constant. For instance, I’ve reached the conclusion that regardless of how many things change in my life, my desire to travel and have new experiences always remains. I’ve begun to think that unending wanderlust is a personality trait that some are simply born with and will never grow out of. If anything, as time as gone on my need to explore has only been exasperated. I’m currently saving and planning for my next trip, which ideally will last a decent amount of time. Honestly, with so much that I want to do and see, determining where to start in my travels is hard. I’ve been spending a lot of time reading Lonely Planet’s Guide to the World which only makes it more difficult to decide where to begin. Some things just don’t change, and my intense wanderlust and inability to make a decision about where to go first are apparently two things that are going to stay stagnant in my life.

Fort Mifflin Ghost Tour

Last night brought me into back into Philly for an activity that is starting to become familiar – a ghost tour. I swear, this isn’t becoming a habit. This particular ghost tour ended up being entirely different than the other ghost tours that I have gone on and posted about. This particular tour took place at Fort Mifflin, a military fort established in 1772 that was used to prevent the British navy from having free reign of the Delaware river during the Revolutionary War. The fort was only actively utilized for military action during the Revolutionary War, however during the Civil War it was used to contain Confederate soldiers who had been captured, as well as Union soldiers and civilian prisoners. The fort is in remarkable condition considering the age of the structure, and it is still in use by the United States Army Corp of Engineers, making it the oldest active military base in the country. Fort Mifflin has been visited by many ghost hunters over the years and has even been featured on various shows.

Saying “Yes” and Positive Thinking – How Does This Relate to Travel?

If you asked me to think long and hard about what my biggest flaw is, I would say that I say no far too often. I tend to be somewhat of an introvert, so when I’m invited out or the opportunity arises to do something that may push me out of my comfort zone, I tend to decline and play it safe rather than take a chance. I have been making an honest effort at saying yes to things more often and to not cancel when I do agree to something, and I have also been working on having more positive thoughts and energy. Part of the reason why I made this blog was to hold myself more accountable in this aspect – if I’m constantly turning down opportunities to do things and go places, I have nothing to blog about, and this blog will end up flopping before it even really gets started. It has been about a month or so since documenting my adventures and travels, and it is honestly great to see how much I’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time, all stemming from actually saying yes and thinking positively. I’ve found that since committing myself to doing more (even if it means pushing myself out of my comfort zone), I’m rapidly crossing things off of my bucketlist and am generally happier. No longer am I the girl who is stressed out from working constantly, saving for nothing in particular and unhappy with life. Since making a conscious effort to say “yes” and think positively, I have long term goals that I am working towards and short terms goals to tie me over until I can achieve the long term ones.

Wanting to Leave Home Doesn’t Make You Weird – Late Night Thoughts on Long Term Travel

No matter where you live in the world, society has certain norms that most people adhere to. In developed countries one of the most widely followed norms is staying in one location and settling down. When I talk to people about wanting to travel, most ask me how long I want to be on the road for and are surprised when I announce that I want to be away for as long as physically possible. Nowadays people are expected to stay in one location and have a stable job and work towards things like owning a good car, big house, and providing for a family. When you aren’t interested in any of these things people, tend to make you feel like you’re weird for not wanting to follow a traditional path in life. I personally am not currently interested in spending thousands of money on an education in the hopes that I can get a job to pay off my debt and one day own nice things. Nice things don’t make me happy, I prefer experiences. Money is important and great to have but at the end of the day the numbers in my bank account don’t make me as happy as the things that I get to do. If you have a desire to pack everything and roam the world, you’re not alone. In this day and age, if you don’t personally know anyone who shares the same want as you it’s easy to reach out on blogs to get in contact with people who share similar interests. If you want to travel long term and the thought of staying in one place for the rest of your life seems dreadful, just know that you’re not weird for feeling that way, no matter how many people seem to tell you otherwise.

Ghosts of Philadelphia – Exploring Eastern State Penitentiary and Old City

After driving through Philly on my way home from the airport, I decided that my next day off would be a wonderful day to actually explore the city on foot. This was my first time actually being able to walk around the city and take in the sights, and it was such a good decision to do so. My travel partner and I decided to start the day off with a tour of Eastern State Penitentiary. Eastern State Penitentiary was a prison that housed some notorious criminals, including Al Capone. While in it’s prime the prison housed and employed many, when it was shut down the structure was left as is and quickly began to decay. Eventually the prison became a U.S. National Historic Landmark, and is currently used as a museum and in the fall, a haunted house attraction. Eastern State Penitentiary is also reportedly haunted, and has been featured on every ghost hunting tv show. Whether the building is really haunted or not is up for debate, although after spending time there during the day, there’s no doubt that it would take a lot of persuasion to get me to stay there overnight.

What I Don’t Like About Bucket Lists

I want to start this off by pointing out the obvious – I have a bucket list, and I am constantly adding to it and crossing things off. That being said, I’m torn on how I feel about the idea of a bucket list. The very name proclaims that it’s a list of items that one wants to complete before kicking the bucket. Bucket lists are essentially a list of things that in theory will lead to a fulfilling life. The problem is, from a fundamental standpoint, I don’t agree with bucket lists.

Jamaica to Philly – Returning Home

As I mentioned before, leaving Jamaica made me sad. I know that this isn’t going to be the last trip that I take though, and at least I can look forward to planning out the details for my next trip.

Jamaica – Last Day in Paradise

Before I even realized it, my last full day in Jamaica was upon me. I’ll be honest, I was sad at the thought of returning home. Going back home meant no more big adventures in immediate future, and it meant returning to work and normalcy. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being stuck doing the same thing day in and day out with no end in sight. On the flight home I signed up for a travel credit card so that I can accrue miles and eventually save on airfare. On my flight in the thought crossed my mind but I decided that it would be unnecessary. I honestly don’t want to use credit cards, so it was no big deal. On my flight home though I realized that if I truly want to continue traveling and exploring and having adventures, I should probably start to actively act towards doing so. So I signed up for a credit card and now that I’m back at work I’ve started to actually put an effort forth towards saving and budgeting for my next trip. I realized that returning home didn’t have to mean putting an end to my adventures, and instead could just serve as a pause between trips.

My last day in Jamaica was spent trying to soak as much in as possible. I went around and took pictures of all of the things that I hadn’t already photographed and I tried to spend as much time near the clear Caribbean water as possible.

Jamaica Day 4 – Climbing Dunn’s River Falls

One thing that everyone I met told me to do while in Jamaica was to climb Dunn’s River Falls. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t going to do it. So many people told me that I had to do it and from the pictures that I saw it seemed like a tourist trap. It seemed too commercialized and didn’t feel like it would be part of an authentic experience of Jamaica. I know how hypocritical that is, especially since I was staying at a resort which is as far from an authentic experience of Jamaica as one can get. My point is, I had absolutely zero interest in doing this. The morning that we were booking the “Let’s go Native” tour from Day 3, we were talking to one of the girls at the front desk as we were paying for the tour. Now, this girl is an absolute sweetheart, so much so that when we left we were sad because we didn’t get to say goodbye to her. That morning she asked us about the tour that we were booking and when we told her she said that we absolutely should give climbing the falls a try, because it seemed like something that we might like. We decided to take her word for it and give it a shot, and we were quite glad that we did so.

Jamaica Day 3 – Cliff Jumping and Jerk Chicken

The third day of the Jamaica trip was a Wednesday, on which the resort offered an interesting sounding tour, titled “let’s go native.” It was basically a tour in which you got to go to different parts of the island, learning about the history and culture of Jamaica as you went. The tour started around 10am and ran until 8:30pm, which I thought would be fine since I’ve certainly had longer days. In reality I left the tour feeling exhausted and ready for a good nights sleep, which isn’t a bad thing at all.