Jamaica Day 2 – Swimming with Dolphins

Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to swim with a dolphin. I lived on the cost when I was little, and seeing them in the water and hearing about all the awesome things that dolphins do for people intrigued me. Hearing about how dolphins let people swim holding on to their flippers, that some dance and sing, and some will even surround humans if a shark is nearby so that they don’t appear like easy prey all caused me to one day want to interact with a dolphin face to face. Luckily for me, I got that opportunity on my second day in Jamaica.

Jamaica First Full Day – Finding the White Witch

Before going to bed yesterday I fully intended on figuring out something fun to do today. Unfortunately, by the time I sat down to make decisions, I was thoroughly exhausted and sleep was inevitable. Instead I slept in and caught up on rest so that I’d be ready to take on the day today. Because no trips off the resort were initially planned for today, I spent the greater part of the afternoon taking part of the free activities offered by the resort.

Jamaica Trip – Arrival Day

 

 

 

 

International travel can be frustrating, to say the least. If you’re new to it, you’ll notice that every single person around you seems to be a seasoned pro, and you’ll feel like you’re the only one who has questions or isn’t sure what to do. I personally hate feeling like I don’t know what I’m doing, so the airport experiences and filling out paperwork for customs was slightly irritating. The date/month/year vs month/date/year thing also kept tripping me up a lot (other things that keep tripping me up – celsius vs fahrenheit, driving on the left side of the road instead of the right, and the currency exchange rate). Overall though, my arrival to Jamaica went smoothly. There is one thing that I’ve learned already though – no matter how light you think you’ve packed, you’ve packed too much. Seeing the amount of bags that others have brought has certainly made me feel better about the size of mine. It’s not even that my bag is that big, but every pound certainly added up as I was lugging it around airports and onto busses.

Last Minute Packing and My First International Flight

Let me start off this post by saying that if the opportunity arises, DO NOT wait until the last second to pack. I’m currently running on approximately 2 and a half hours of sleep, and plenty of red bull and coffee, and I already know that it will have caught up to me by the time my flight lands.

What I’m Bringing for a Week in Jamaica

My first trip out of the country is rapidly approaching (two days to go!), and with that being said, I am going to be completely honest. I am absolutely stressing out. This is my first international trip, and my first big trip as an adult without anyone older than me guiding my way. This will be my first time boarding a plane solo, my first time checking into a hotel by myself, my first time going through customs ever… It’s a big step. One of the biggest factors adding to my stress is packing. Because this is my first big trip, and a trip to somewhere with some serious sun and heat, there were a lot of things that I didn’t have and absolutely needed to get. Combine feeling totally unprepared with working ridiculous hours in preparation for not working for a little over a week, and you’ll understand why I’ve been stressed out and not posting as much. However, I have (almost) everything that I wanted to get, and feel relaxed enough to provide you with my packing list!

Life Cliches

Today’s post is just some short, rather cliche musings on life, so I understand if you skip over it.

Rainy Day Exploring

It has been a rainy and miserable week here in eastern PA. I miss the sun and being able to go on runs without getting covered in mud. I have been going absolutely stir crazy these past few days, and working and being cooped up instead was doing a number on me. Luckily, today I got done from work just in time for there to be a break in the storms. I decided to make the most out of the rain-free hour I had and explore a relatively local dam that I had never been to before.

Down the Shore, Up the Lighthouse

Earlier this week, I had an unexpected day off. With my trip to Jamaica quickly approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to take a day trip to the beach in a desperate attempt at acquiring a tan. I went to a beach that I’ve been visiting every since I was a child, Long Beach Island, New Jersey. It’s a quiet, relatively small island town, filled mostly with families, and the beaches are not usually very crowded. I’ve made countless trips there throughout my lifetime, but I had never actually gotten an opportunity to actually explore. I’ve been gradually working on becoming more independent and doing things that I want to do instead of trying to please others, so during this trip I made sure to explore and do the things that I wanted to do, even with a time constraint.

Ineffable Wanderlust – an Introduction

in·ef·fa·ble – too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words.

wan·der·lust – a strong desire to travel.

 

My bucketlist may or may not contain over 1,500 goals and counting (I know, I know).

Most of these goals involve traveling and experiencing all that life has to offer – I really do not care for missing out on things. Dreams and goals are absolutely necessary things to have in life. However, it seems that when you talk about your dreams and goals, people often try to tell you that they are unobtainable or unrealistic. Perhaps I’m a bit ambitious, but I see absolutely no reason why I should be unable to achieve my goals during my lifetime, provided that I live my life to the fullest. I am currently 20 years old, and there honestly is no better time for me to work towards achieving my dreams than right now. When they say that there is no time like the present, they are absolutely correct. Sure, it’s easy to put things off and find excuses as to why it would be better to wait to do something, but procrastination is (to point out the obvious) a waste of time. The best way to live life is to dive headfirst in and hope that the water is deep enough to swim.

 

If you choose to follow this blog, you should be prepared for the following:

• documentation of the goals I complete on my bucketlist as I complete them
• advice on how to travel the world, achieve goals, be spontaneous, live the life you want, and be happy
• stories and pictures that I accumulate from around the world
• other miscellaneous posts that will realistically range from being deep and philosophical to potentially hilarious