Last year was my first really big trip and it was out of the country. It really set the groundwork for all my future trips. I was by myself and seeing all new places for the first time. That was a trip was the time of my life and will never be topped. However, being able to go away for two weeks and travel the United States and a bit of Canada this summer did just fine and I still had an incredible time. Below is a bit of an overview of the last two weeks. Pacific Northwest +San Fran by the numbers if you will...
13: Number of days traveled
2: Number of countries traveled (United State and Canada)
3: Number of states visited (Oregon, Washington, California)
8: Cities visited (Portland, Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Vancouver, San Francisco, Sausalito, Palo Alto, Berkley)
5: Number of hotels stayed in
3: Number of Bolt bus rides taken (Portland to Seattle, Seattle to Vancouver and back)
3: Number of plane rides taken (NYC to Portland, Seattle to San Francisco, San Francisco to Newark)
4: Number of boat rides taken (To and from... Bainbridge Island, Alcatraz, Sausalito, Granville island)
14.6: Average Miles walked per day (Thanks to my FitBit for keeping track of all of this!)
19.1: Highest number of miles I walked in one day (second highest was 18.31)
4: Number of times I hand washed my laundry
0: Number of outfits I repeated
4: People that I knew that I saw while away (3 intentional all in the same day and one I randomly ran into. All in SF)
3: Number of college campuses visited (University of Portland, University of California-Berkeley, Stanford)
1: Number of celeb sightings (Matt Roloff in Seattle)
0: Number of rainy days out of 13. I was super lucky for the amazing weather I had in each place.
2: Public markets visited (on Granville Island and at Pike Place)
3: Famous mountains seen from a far (Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, Mt. Ranier)
5: Times I went to Target
3: Number of cities run in (Portland, Seattle, San Francisco)
2: Number of times I rode a bike (SoulCycle San Francisco, Renting bikes in Vancouver)
2: Real World houses seen (Portland and Seattle. I didn't bother looking for the recent San Fran one.)
Things I lost count of: Number of Homeless people seen
Favorite City: Vancouver
Favorite Sight: It was a tie between Alcatraz and Stanford University
Things I learned:
- My map reading skills have improved since last year in Europe. I am more confident in finding places by myself
- In N Out isn't as good as Shake Shack.
- There is very little diversity in the cities I visited. A majority of the people I saw were either white or Asian. There was very few of any other ethnicity
Things I was reminded of:
- I still love staying in a hotel room by myself
- I am a super efficience traveler, seeing as much as I can in a short amount of time. I move quickly.
- Going for a run in a "foreign-to-me city is a great way to get the lay of the land and see things you may not normally see.
- I really want to buy a bike...and a boat!
Overall, this was another fantastic trip in the books. I am super grateful to have the time, the funds, and the desire to be able to travel like this. Seeing new places and exploring the US and beyond is something I want to continue doing. Visiting places I've read about and seen in TV and the movies a million times is just so awesome to me.
I want to be able to plan a big trip each summer if possible. Next summer I'm thinking Spain, Prague, and Greece if I can. I don't know if I'll go the tour route or go at it solo (or a combo of both!), but I know I want to go! I continue to have the travel bug and I just want to see as much as I can, while I can. These kind of trips not only open my eyes to what's out there beyond Chicago and New York but also helps build my confidence, my independence, and my sense of self. That is priceless.
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