A Trekking Odyssey

Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.  Jack Kerouac      

[atrekkingodyssey]

Carpe Diem, Right?

It’s time to seize the day. To stop sitting around, waiting for life to hand me the good stuff. To stop expecting that if I just do what I think I’m supposed to do, because society has told me so, that I’ll get where I want. Happiness is what we create it to be, what I create it to be.  I’ve been dreaming of traveling since I went to Poland on a bell tour, Sophomore year in high school. Living in…

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[atrekkingodyssey]

To The Stars

I walked into Trinity Church in NYC, not planning to spend much time, fully intending to spend only a few minutes then find a way into the graveyard to say hello to the Hamilton’s and leave. That didn’t happen. Cathedrals are fascinating. Maybe because I grew up in a church group that didn’t have cathedrals.  Sure, there are large Seventh-Day Adventist churches and I’ve been in some but nothing…

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Deciding

I’ve been struggling a lot recently with deciding.  Well I’ve struggled with it for a while, not just recently.  There are things that I’m really good at making decisions for.  At least when it comes to others.  I’m good at being decisive and saying “HA yeah, no don’t be with that guy” and that type of stuff.  Yet when it comes to myself, my decisiveness tends to go down the drain. I think it has…

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[atrekkingodyssey]

It’s Monday.

It's Monday.

[atrekkingodyssey]

Happy Monday

[atrekkingodyssey]

Coffee

Coffee houses are conducive to creativity.  The music, the muted background conversations, the coffee. They provide a feeling of togetherness without having to actually be with be in direct contact with anyone other than the barista taking orders. I’m sitting in the local coffeehouse in Farmington, Maine, named Java Joes.  The radio station is playing classic oldies, vinyls. They have an…

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[atrekkingodyssey]

Moments

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” I’m standing over here in the children’s school (K-6th grade) and checking plicht.  I’m watching some children running around on the gym floor, pushing mattress looking pads and jumping on them and sliding. Moments.  A spot in time when something happens.  Dictionary.com defines a moment as a…

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[atrekkingodyssey]

Florentine Cafe and the Secret of Eating Alone

Florentine Cafe and the Secret of Eating Alone

I wish I could tell you what the secret is to eating alone.  Quite frankly, I haven’t mastered the art after several years of doing it.  Most likely due, in part, to the simple fact that when I do eat alone, I go to the run-of-the-mill fast food joints and avoid anything that seems to fancy. Even when traveling alone, I frequented coffee shops that sell food as a side thought or the local…

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The Beauties of Boston and the Power of Big Magic

The Beauties of Boston and the Power of Big Magic

I’m partial.  Boston is the kind of city that if someone dislikes it, I have a need to spend time in it, loving it to make it feel better.  It’s a city with feeling. From the cobblestone streets on Beacon Hill to the people waiting in line for Mike’s Pastry in the North End.  How someone couldn’t see that the city has its merit’s is beyond me.  But apparently it happens. I recently just finished…

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[atrekkingodyssey]

Theater District

Faneuil Hall

Quincy

Quincy

Quincy Bricks

Quincy Bricks

Quincy

Quincy

Quincy

Quincy

North End

Christopher Columbas Park

Old North Church Memorial

Old North Church

Old North Church

Old North Church

Old North Church

Acorn Street

Acorn Street

Acorn Street

Boston Common

Boston Common

Quincy

Boston

[atrekkingodyssey]

Flight Coffee Co.

If you said that I have a problem with coffee, you’d be right.  Which is why I visited Flight Coffee Co in Dover, a newly opened coffee shop on Central Ave for the first time last week after one of my Starbucks coworkers posted an Instagram picture. This coffee shop looks like it came straight from a combination of a hipster’s brain and a wannabe’s Pinterest board.  Exposed brick, wood panels,…

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[atrekkingodyssey]

New York: Heroes and Villains Fan Fest

New York: Heroes and Villains Fan Fest

It didn’t make sense. At all.  “Why is he declaring a state of emergency? It’s not even snowing!” “Being from California, this doesn’t make sense, even for me. Look, Stephen Amell is saying it’s not snowing.” “I’m going to check Facebook…” “You do that.”  Amber and I sat in our hotel room, patiently waiting for the leaders of Heroes and Villains Fan Fest to post something, anything, about the…

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[afternaomi]

edit // original photo by dustin lee

[deeplifequotes]

The only thing I’m committed to right now is bettering myself.

(via explore-everywhere)

[atrekkingodyssey]

Asking

I’m not good at asking for things. At sitting down and admitting that I need help and assistance.  For one, it makes me feel weak. It screams “you can’t do this by yourself and you said you would!” I don't like the idea that the people I’m asking help from are “judging” me because I’m in a place of “weakness,” of “lesserness.”  

And yet. We are strong when we are weak.  We are strong when we surround ourselves with people we can admit our weaknesses to and who we can go to to get help.  To ask for help. Because we trust them and they trust us.  And they don’t make us feel weak because we’re asking for something.  

Which is why I’ve been having such a conflict asking people to donate money towards my year abroad.  I don’t like the idea of groveling, which isn’t what I’m about nor will do.  But I don't want to be that one person who constantly posts, “begging” for money.  

I am strong when I am weak.  And what ever happens, I am magnificent.  

So donate.  A bit. A smidgen. A lot.  Any amount among there because, you never know.  And I’ll keep you updated, whether or not you donate money.  Because you are also magnificent.  

http://www.gofundme.com/jnstudentmissions

[atrekkingodyssey]

[atrekkingodyssey]