Asian Persuasion: South Korea

I'm going to Asia!!

I skipped the details in my previous posts, but here it is: the flavor company back home that I’ve been working various trade shows for the past four years through college heard I was in Australia and offered me to work some expos they have on this side of the world. So on May 9, 2010, I was on my way to an all expense paid trip to Seoul, South Korea, and Shanghai, China.

My first impression of Korea was a barren, gray land full of messy bogs and disgusting riverbeds. It's a good thing I don't judge a book by it's cover.

Korea was awesome! But first, KOREAN AIRLINES is AMAZING!! They feed you Fisher's peanuts endlessly, delicious omelette brekky, unlimited beer and wine no matter what time of the day, and Korean and American dishes alike for lunch/dinner. The ten hour flight from Brisbane flew by in no time between the meals, movies, and book I'm reading (ironically on Chinese murderers and illegal immigration from China).

Breakfast of champions

Everything is so cheapness, the bus from the airport was only $9 USD (over an hour away), snacks under $1, and the most expensive drink at the 7-11 was a $3 USD Corona import. YAY for CHEAP!! I've gotten so used to Australian prices that I forgot other countries aren't as ridiculous.

My first full day, I hiked up the mountain behind the hotel (Grand Hilton). There was exercise equipment strewn about all over the place, and a sweetness Korean looking tower, even a wild cat (looks like a house cat). Even the bugs looked oriental.

I did not enjoy the fish tanks of diseased fish for sale (for dinner) in front of all the restaurants. I felt so sorry for them, they should be swimming in the ocean waiting for me to photograph them. The puffer fish was the worst, his eyes were clouded over and he was swimming completely turned sideways :o( And my octopus friend from Fish Rock Cave...yeah...he was also in front of every restaurant ready to be eaten alive by some silly person. Poor dudes :o(

Seoul Food Show was my first international trade show...it was quite different from those that I've been to in the USA. They were sectioned off by which products people had (in the Korean pavillion), and in the other pavillions, people just grabbed anything they could without even trying to be cordial. The Canadian bakery kept us well fed with brownies that would give my mothers a run for her money (though still no comparison due to completely different ingredients), our neighbor to the left fed us jalapeno pretzels and churros, and I discovered the most amazing coffee bun in the world. I want it back. It's called Rotivill, if you see it, send some my way!!

The show for us went well, I learned a lot from my superior and was able to apply the knowledge I learned there to when I worked alone in China the following week.

I found a waterfall about a 5min jog from the hotel; I even swam laps in the hotel pool.

Speaking of the hotel: I was put on the executive level, which meant internet access in the room, buffet brekky every morning (including omeletes made by chopsticks), and happy hour with hors devoirs every evening (which completed my dinner).

I met some cool business folk in the lounge and went out on the town with them Friday night. We found some cool bars and tried some new drinks.

Saturday, E took us to downtown Seoul and none other than Outback Steakhouse. Oh how I've missed cheese fries with ranch! After linner, they both went back to the hotel and I set out to find a palace and other Korean coolness. I found a river with rocks to cross on running through the middle of the city, decor from the Lotus Lantern Festival, and even was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and get to see the parade (I thought it wasn't until Sunday, that's what I get for not being able to read Korean).

The pictures really say a lot, so I suggest checking out the whole albums listed below. I'm going to try to make a video of all of Korea as well and upload it!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3036490&id=2034929&l=8ae0e028d0

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3040486&id=2034929&l=6d3be13a1e

Living in Surfers Paradise

After Byron and the infamous call from Firmenich, I had a choice, but only a little one due to time constraints, so I kept moving north as planned instead of back to Manly. It was a very difficult decision. I stayed with a CSer (everytime I say that I stayed with a CSer, it means I did a lot of searching and planning to arrange everything prior; I wish it was as easy and carefree as it sounds) in Surfers Paradise. He was very courteous but unfortunately I could not take sleeping on a couch that ended up having a party on it every single night. On more than one occasion I was in pj’s about to go to sleep when he brought home friends and they stayed up drinking and playing games. Once again, past Tasha would have loved this…but I’m present Tasha now and it wasn’t fitting for what I’m looking for. Gazza rescued me and allowed me to stay with him for a week. I had two interviews with marketing companies, got both jobs but only took one of them. It was as an independent contractor, commission based, fundraising for the Heart Research Institute. It was very difficult to learn the sales pitch and perform it effectively. I almost quit on more than one occasion out of pure fear and anxiety. But I stuck with it and overcame the fear, stress, and anxiety, and still ended up hating it. They don’t know it yet, but I’m about to quit. Simultaneously, I have been working promo sales for a tour company. It’s still hard and out of my element, but much more rewarding and less time consuming. I also trust them a lot more than the marketing firm (still trying to figure out how much of a scam they are running there).

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3036483&id=2034929&l=f5467e59b6

The trip to Asia came up quickly! That will be my next post.

Driving and Diving NSW

I met some divers and dove Fairy Bower with them. They invited me on their next trip to South West Rocks, about halfway up the coast to Brisbane. After much delay and more planning, I decided to move to Gold Coast and start working promo jobs, which I knew I could get with no issue. I was in a hurry to start making money, as the trip to Europe was rapidly approaching and flights aren’t cheap. Therefore, I accepted the dive trip to SWR and packed up my things and began the move. The dive at Fish Rock Cave was by far the best dive I have ever done. There were endless amounts of wobbegong sharks, sand tiger sharks, clowfish, turtles, lionfish, etc. In the cave I had to carefully move around a giant loggerhead that was nomming sponges on the narrow section of the cave. Many pictures and a video of this dive. The divers dropped me off at a CSers in Port Macquarie, where I stayed two days before catching a ride with two Americans and a Swiss CSer to Byron Bay. Port Macquarie was quite nice; my host took me to a tidal pool and found an octopus for me. He was truly helpful but unfortunately, it was the first time I’ve truly clashed with a host. I won’t go into detail though, you can write me to ask about the experience if you wish to hear more.

The ride to Byron Bay was uneventful after the initial trauma - they didn’t look up directions to where I was in Port Macquarie even though I asked them to make sure they looked it up because I didn’t know how to give directions and I knew I wouldn’t be able to ask anyone for directions, being as they planned to pick me up at 3am. Sometimes, even as good as I am at foreseeing future troubles, people just don’t listen to me and f it up, no matter how much I try to control the situation and prevent things from occurring. In any case, they didn’t listen to me and I was stuck walking around Port Macquarie at 3am to try to find them. They also didn’t listen when I asked them if it was ok that I had two 20kg suitcases with me (they said yeah sure no problem): there was no room for my stuff and we had to cram everything in, I still don’t know how we fit everything. But after that, we all got along quite well and I look forward to seeing them again in the future. Around 2pm that day, we arrived in Byron Bay. I received a phone call from: take a guess… FIRMENICH! They told me they have a position open for a flavor laboratory position and offered me to come in for an interview. The day I moved away. I’ll tell you what, life has a way of throwing way too many curve balls. I had to make a decision and quickly. I ended up declining the offer, due to the fact that I had just moved from there and the fact that I could not commit a full time position at the time. My business trip to Asia was only two weeks away, and Europe only six weeks away. Meaning that if I got the position, I would work two weeks, be gone two weeks, work two weeks, be gone 4 weeks, then be gone traveling around Australia with my family for 3 weeks before I could settle into a full time position. I explained my predicament to Firmenich and they ended up hiring someone else. Now I just pray that in a few months they have another opening. At this point I still don’t know if I made the right decision…but living a life of “what if” isn’t healthy either.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3029555&id=2034929&l=920a596ab3

I Have a Love

For the next week I stayed with a host in the CBD, toured the city, saw Alice in Wonderland, and felt more lost as the days went on. I did not want to do anything or go anywhere. Neither surfing nor snorkeling had much appeal. I realized that regaining what I had in the past was no longer an option; I had found love and present Tasha could no longer live as past Tasha. It took me much too long to realize and I felt terrible for hurting and deserting Jesse as I did. He is a very understand, caring, and giving man and gave me the time I needed to figure it out. Soon after, we started planning to reunite in Europe; I was to go on the ship with him through Italy, Turkey, the Greek Isles, and Croatia for 24 days, then a week in Paris. More on that later.

The following week I took my resume to over 50 places and made a mess of apartment searching, finding them undesirably full of roaches and dirt, and still twice as expensive as my apartment in Gainesville. After much distress I found the perfect place except that it was a 30 minute walk from town and the beach. Regardless, I figured I could use the exercise and took it. And I found a sick possum and tried to save it but failed. Things started to come into perspective for me and I felt better now that I had a place to call my temporary home. I went on a CSing day trip to Cronulla and Royal National Park and fell in love with a band called Mad Polly: I felt at home on the boat and the water reminding me of the intercoastal waterways of Florida.

Easter weekend I went on a CSing trip to Byron Bay/Gold Coast. I went surfing at The Pass in Byron (but got run over so many times that I got frustrated with the crowd), hiked up the mountain in Burleigh Heads, had more beach BBQs (beach BBQs are huge here in Australia), went to waterfalls, saw the natural arch and glow worm cave, and met a great CSer named Gazza who has since been a true friend and great contact. I also drove on the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road! Very historical moment.

Upon returning to Manly, I still hadn’t had any luck finding a job (one failed trial night down) after a month of arriving in Australia. I started to think maybe I should move when all H-E-double hockey sticks broke loose. I still have no idea what happened, but a roommate moved out and took everything with him…It was a prime time to make the move. Then two things happened. First, I was walking around handing my resume to places when I walked by a building with a Firmenich logo on it. It is one of the biggest flavor companies in the US. I went home and saw that they were in fact the same company, and it was their only location in Australia. Fate that I chose an apartment a 10 minute walk away from it. I took my resume the next day and was given the email and number for the lady in charge of the lab. At the same time, a pet shop called me regarding my resume and I went in for an interview. I got to play with puppies and help give medication to ferrets and chase birds around…they really liked me (the people, not the animals. Well the animals too). Then they called me back and said they didn’t realize my visa only allowed me to work for six months and that they couldn’t take me because of it. Fail. I tried Firmenich every day for two weeks, phone, email, etc, and finally decided that they did not want me.

Arrival and Couchsurfing

I arrived in Sydney around 7am, collected my luggage, went through customs, and found the bus to my hosts house in a suburb called Burwood. The next few days were devoted to familiarizing myself with the country and getting somewhat settled.
For those of you that are not familiar with CSing (couch surfing), it’s an online community of travelers who wish to meet, help, and explore with others. My first hosts in Burwood, Sue and Bill, were incredible and let me stay in their spare room for a week and shared their knowledge and stories of traveling; in return, I provided wine, desserts, my own stories, and other goodies throughout my stay to show my appreciation. In addition to hosting/being hosted, CSing provides forums for people for upcoming events, travel, transportation, local information, advice, etc. So, the second evening in Australia, I went to the CSing monthly event. I met some great people, including locals, Brazilians, Germans, Russians, British, Americans, and so on. A local, Mark, told me he may have an extra ticket to a festival the next day. Having no plans and up for anything, I accepted and ended up going to the biggest electro music fest in the country! I never had a fondness for electro music…but it was definitely a cultural experience to say the least. There were about 20 tents, all with some DJ spinning what sounded to me like the same thing in every one. The day was definitely fun, but I spent most of it being reminded of Jesse and wishing he was there, he would have loved it.

The next few days I attended more CSing events, met more people, and moved from my Burwood hosts to an American host who was living in Manly. I decided to stay in Manly and set out looking for apartments. A CSing trip to Port Stephens popped up and I went. It included a night of bushwalking to a deserted mile long beach where you could see every star in the sky accompanied by a full moon, my introduction to goon (Aussie slang for boxed wine coolers), and good times with eight other CSers. We also went to the sand dunes for sand boarding (which I was terrified of from my fall down the snowy mountain), playing baseball/cricket, camels, body surfing, finding a sharks tooth, playing ultimate Frisbee, hiking, and finding Port Stephens a beautiful spot I will return to.

The trip was so much fun, but as with Future, I wasn’t having as much fun as I thought I would be having. In my three years of planning for this trip to Australia, I planned to not have anyone to miss back home and live a carefree lifestyle, just rolling with the punches (many of my past travels are inhibited when I miss someone back home and just want to go home to be with them again). Jesse changed my plan the day he came down to the Keys for my birthday, I just didn’t realize it yet. As the first two weeks went, I was doing amazing things and trying to enjoy every ounce of it, but I came up short every time. I concluded it was because I was in a relationship. I made the hardest and worst decision, and asked Jesse for a break. It tore him up and inevitably tore me up as well. I was lost, confused, and had even more of a terrible time than before.

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http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3005929&id=2034929&l=d72f64a462

The Big Move

After only 48 hours from returning home from the cruise, already having said goodbye to Grandpa at home, I was checking in my luggage at the Qantas desk at MCO with mom when Uncle Scott showed up to say goodbye. He was able to use his employee powers and get mom to walk me through security to the boarding gate. Thanks again Scott, I miss you and LuLu more than you could imagine. After an hour, my flight was ready to depart and I had to say goodbye to mom. I also called my father, who was away on business, and Kati in Tennessee, and said goodbye to them over the phone. Again the feelings of what I would do if anything happened came over me. I fear it everyday and sometimes think I should stay close to home because of it, but I don’t want to live a cowardly life fearing the loss of loved ones, or death myself. I cannot live that way; no one can, or should. But the thoughts still consume me sometimes, and are the hardest part of saying goodbye.

The flight to LAX was uneventful (good with all flights/rides!). Jason picked me up and we toured Venice and Santa Monica beaches during my seven hour layover. I returned back to the airport and through security with an hour to spare. After having stayed up packing the previous night, I quickly fell asleep. Around 10:20pm, a Qantas employee was shaking me awake, asking if I was going to Sydney. Dazed and confused, I said yes. She informed me that it was last call for boarding: I can’t believe I almost missed my flight! I cannot thank her enough for seeking me out and waking me! As soon as I got on board I fell back asleep, had 3 seats to myself, for over half the journey and watched movies the other half. I actually love long flights: eat, sleep, watch movies, read, play games, etc. It’s the best excuse to be lazy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2992174&id=2034929&l=06cac81385

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The Goodbye Cruise

As the big move to Australia neared, Jesse decided he would also make a living traveling. He resigned from his prestigious engineering job and signed on as guest entertainer on Princess Cruises for a four month contract. He was to embark two weeks before my flight to Sydney. He was able to pull some strings and get me on board for his first sail! The 10 day itinerary included St Kitts, St Lucia, Barbados, Antigua, St Thomas, and Princess Cays.

On February 18th, Jesse’s parents said, “Bon Voyage!” to us and we were on the Atlantic Ocean sailing towards the Eastern Caribbean. The first two days at sea involved us devouring the delicious gourmet meals, exploring the ship, watching movies on the big screen on the top deck, and of course, Skywalker’s Nightclub each night as Jesse entertained the 50+ year old crowd and a small assortment of 20-something year olds.


St Kitts involved a somewhat harrowing taxi ride to a small locals beach, where we found a dog chasing a monkey, great snorkeling with eels, eagle rays, and sea anemones, and $2 St Kitts brewskies. The green-brown mountains plunged into the crystal blue ocean whilst skiffs puttered about. An assortment of sun-kissed tourist wandered around with their cruise ship towels and cameras, as natives attempted to sell everything from fresh aloe juice to hair braiding to pictures with baby monkeys with diapers on.

Of course, each native just happened to “rescue the baby monkey from some environmental hazard and is raising it like one of its own.” Though, I am convinced the little monkeys were captured involuntarily from the mountainside before their mothers could retaliate, and enslaved for individual greed and prosperity. I just hope they are well fed, happy little monkeys, and that when they get too big for tourist photos, they are released into the wilderness to roam free and are able to fend for themselves, including finding food and taunting/running from floppy dogs.

All in all, St Kitts was beautiful and I look forward to revisiting and trying out some diving. At port in St Lucia, we found a touristy type boat tour which took us, with inclusive Piton beer, to a harbor near the Pitons, twin active volcanos. There we were herded to taxi vans and journeyed through lush tropical rainforests to the drive thru volcano. I had originally pictured a classic neon drive-thru Vegas style sign reading “Drive-thru Volcano Here” at the base of a volcano with red hot lava churning at the top and a small tunnel excavated in the side of the rock which you could take your car through. Needless to say, when we pulled aside a barren, boiling sulfur pit with no sign of cooled magma, I was slightly disappointed, but still happy that I was finally seeing an active volcano. The van then took us to a waterfall which was less of a tropical destination and more of a local’s bath house. Upon watching a native scrub his feet with a rock at the base of the falls, we decided against taking a dip. Still, I was pleased to have seen how islanders use their beautiful land. We were then shuttled back to the boat which took us to a small beach surrounded by a flourishing tropical rainforest and no roads in sight. After inquiring at the local dive shop the best place to snorkel, we entered the warm water under a green mountain and were treated to 30 foot visibility and the most beautiful aqua blue-green water I have ever seen. Swarms of baitfish flowed around us as we made our way to a small cave carved out of the cliffs above us. The cave was intimidating at first sight but we quickly realized we were experienced enough on snorkel gear to swim through and were rewarded with schools of cave fish, sea fan walls, and nothing to eat us. We took turns photographing everything we saw, including a lobster-crustacean thing.

Upon returning to the ship, I was met by yet another one of Jesse’s famous surprises. He had managed to book a turtle snorkeling excursion for minimal price the next day in Barbados. I was elated and quickly got my camera ready to go. The islanders were playful and fun: I wouldn’t mind a job on a boat like that! We were taken just offshore to an area of low visibility, but with heaps of hungry turtles. The island men got in the water with us and fed squid to the turtles, keeping their attention (and making for great photos) for nearly an hour before other boats arrived and stole the turtles from us. It was so amazing, though I don’t completely agree with hand feeding endangered creatures. We were moved to a quiet area on the ocean and were fed island punch and Barbados beer while permitted to jump off the bow and swim about. A dance party flowing with rum punch on the return voyage leaves my memory vague other than trying a tamarino ball at port. The video of that is relatively hilarious in my opinion, though Jesse was less than amused at my antics which I quite regret.

In Antigua we decided it was time for SCUBA. We went on a private, one man operation and saw some beautiful reefs, though nothing specifically memorable comes to mind other than a few spotted drums which have become an affection of both Jesse and me. The owner/captain/DM and Jesse made a deal in which Jesse would build the company website in exchange for free dives every time he visited Antigua.

The morning we arrived in St Thomas, I arose early and had a breakfast sandwich (best thing on the ship), excited to catch the ferry to St John. But as with all my travels, things didn’t go quite as planned due to my stinginess and lack of proper planning/research. I get so anxious when I want to be somewhere and can’t get there quickly enough. Regardless, we finally got the 10am ferry to St John, and got a taxi to Leinster Bay. The snorkeling in Leinster Bay around Waterlemon Cay is incredible due to the abundance of sea turtles there. The reef around the cay is flourishing in corals and plants, but somewhat lacking in fish – I have no idea why. In any case, it is one of my favorite spots due to the turtles alone. They are so used to snorkelers that you can get right next to them for great photos. We also saw an eagle ray, many sea cucumbers (Jesse’s favorite of the day), and other odd and end fish and plant species. We had only a short time before needing to get back to the ferry to get to the ship before casting off, and as we were in Leinster Bay (quite far from anything), there were no taxis coming around at 2:15pm.
We started walking and ended up hitchhiking with an older couple, who took us to Trunk Bay where we easily got on a taxi and to the ferry to Red Hook. We had plenty of time to stop in for a drink at Duffy’s; and by a drink, I mean a monkey, a parrot, a race car shot, and some beers ha! PJ, the resident bartender, was there in true form to delight us with all the toys.

Since we decided to go to St John, I didn’t see much of St Thomas this trip, but plan on returning to do some of the diving Jesse now recommends.

Princess Cays was the last stop on the cruise. And it easily had the coldest water I’ve ever experienced in the Caribbean. I did not get in, but Jesse did and said the snorkeling was cool due to a grouper under the dock. We walked through the tide pools, found a deserted section of Bahamian beach, and acquired comical memories.



While the cruise was truly wonderful, each passing day brought on the looming reality of our long term separation. The last night on board was extraordinary, emotional, and distressing. The next day was worse.

Jesse’s father picked us up and took us back to their home in Miami for a delicious breakfast, thanks again Stella and Mark! Shortly after, I drove Jesse back to the ship via a quick stop to purchase his underwater camera.

I never expected to feel such indescribable sentiment of leaving someone as I did that day. It was the most heart wrenching temporary goodbye of my life. The uncertainty of the future, the dread of being apart, and the desire to share all future experiences and adventures flooded my emotions. Questions arose in my head to cause even more anguish. When will we see each other again? Where? What does our future hold? Is it worth the long term separation? Do I need time to grow on my own? What if something happened to him, or me, that resulted in never seeing each other again? I don’t know what I would do, and I still don’t know what I would do. All I know is that I would be lost emotionally, and I hope the day never comes, as anyone does with a loved one.

The drive back home was full of dubious thoughts. And a stop in PSL to visit Erin and eat some nomulous focaccia bread. Saying goodbye to two people in one day…rough.

Upon arriving home, I made the final preparations for the big move. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2990313&id=2034929&l=43353708e8

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Costa Rica

Jesse took me to Costa Rica for my graduation present!
We decided to rent a car and go to a volcano, scuba diving, rainforest, and surfing. Things didn't quite go as planned though. I won't go into too much detail, I will say there were more fails than wins, but any trip with Jesse and to a great destination like Costa Rica is an overall win.

First things first: American Airlines WILL lose your lugguge if traveling out of Miami airport. When we arrived in San Jose, my bag with all my belongings in it wasn't there. We decided that instead of waiting for it to come in the next morning, to just go on as planned and have AA send it to our hostel in La Fortuna. We rented a car (not as cheap as expected) and drove throughout the night in the winding roads up to the Arenal volcano/La Fortuna area. When we arrived, nothing was open...so we slept in the car. Memorable to say the least.

*Lesson: Patience is a virtue. We should have waited for the next morning and got my bag ourselves, and drove during the day. Of course, everything happens for a reason. Had we done an alternative, something even more terrible may have happened such as an accident, so I am at peace with our decision, but in the future I will remember to be more patient*

So the next day I bought a new bathing suit and we decided to go to Baldi Springs, $25 USD for an evening of never ending hot springs, gorgeous rainforest scenery, and a gourmet-buffet all you can eat dinner. The next day we unfortunately couldn't make it to go zip lining...but 'tis how the whole trip went.

We drove to Playa Hermosa to go diving with manta rays. Only, I left my bathing suit in La Fortuna on accident, and by the time I realized it, the room maid had already stolen it. So, when we arrived in Playa Hermosa, we booked our dive boat for the next morning and went into Playa del Coco to look around the town and find yet another bathing suit. While we were walking around (for about an hour, parked behind the police station), some db Costa Rican broke into our rental car and stole my backpack, which had my underwater camera housing, passport, money, and other items, totaling to about $1000 of possessions. Policia are worthless, they in fact may have been the ones that stole it...who knows. I was livid...Jesse didn't know what to do to help...and it was just a terrible experience altogether, I hope none of you ever have to go through that. We got a hotel room, went on our dive without a camera :o(, saw some pretty cool things including a million puffers and some white tip reef sharks, but no mantas and visibility was terrible. I'm going to have to go with: it wasn't worth the drive there.

*Lesson: Always pack a bathing suit in your carry on*

Our plans changed yet again, as now I had no passport, no suitcase, no backpack, no clothes, no makeup, so camera housing, etc. We had to drive to San Jose immediately in order to get to San Jose before the US Embassy closed for the holiday weekend (if we didn't make it, we would have had to miss our flight and wait for the embassy to open). So, a 7 hour drive through rough roads, our rental car BREAKING DOWN, etc, we found ourselves back in scary San Jose, begging the airport people to let us in (it was after hours) and give me my suitcase. Jesse did a great job speaking Spanish and making up a story in which they finally gave me my suitcase. Alas. Luckily, when AA lost my bag, they made a copy of my passport - so now I had a passport copy to give the US embassy, thank goodness for that stroke of luck!

*Lesson: Always travel with a few copies of your passport, placed in separate areas, including one back home with a family member or friend*

The hostel we stayed at was quite decent. We had a police escort to the US embassy, so finding it was easy. Getting the passport also went quite smoothly since I had my flight info, passport copy, photo, etc. Then we quickly drove ourselves to Jaco to visit Jesse's friend, Kip, and do the surfing portion of our trip. Unfortunately, I never made it out to Kip's club because I was exhausty, and I never got to meet Kobi :o( just more things to add to the list of fails. We did get to see wild scarlet maccaws though.

The surf in Playa Hermosa (a different Playa Hermosa) was much too intimidating for me, so I didn't try there. We went to another beach the next day, I did terribly. We went to Jaco, I did terribly. I also believe that's where I swallowed so much contaminated sea water, that I was sick for a week upon arriving back home.

*Lesson: Don't drink Jaco water, even if it's accidental.

We then went to Manuel Antonio, got attacked by awesome monkeys, and played with millions of hermit crabs. It was beautiful and I look forward to returning.

We ended our trip at Dominica, the place that was the whole reason for Jesse taking me to Costa Rica. It was like Jurassic Park...river meets ocean, glassy waves (though I still didn't do well), and incredible sunsets. It was the perfect end to a not-so-perfect trip.

Even through all of the fails, I really enjoyed the trip and love Jesse for taking me <3

For more pics:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=64511637&l=1a908270de&id=2034929

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2968850&id=2034929&l=a5788888e2

I will upload the video I made of the whole trip soon and post that link as well.

Next post will be our cruise around the Caribbean! Cya then.

The Beginning

After much thought and advice, I've decided to start a blog. My family and friends have been encouraging me to keep one on all my travels, so here it goes!

Christmas 2004, my godmother Tina took me to Australia for my high school graduation present/16th birthday present. I immediately fell in love with the country and dreamt of one day studying abroad there. I got into UF, and immediately began planning the trip.


January 2008, I was scheduled to study at UNSW for four months...I was registered for classes, had my apartment picked out on Bondi Beach, had my visa; all I had left to do was pack. Two weeks before my flight, I took a ski trip to Vermont and broke my arm. Fail.

I decided to cancel the study abroad trip due to many reasons, including carrying luggage across the world with one arm, getting medical insurance to cover a doctor in Australia, finding a doctor in Australia, and not being able to surf/swim/dive/do anything while in Australia.

With the help of family and friends, I changed my goal from studying abroad to working abroad. Upon graduating from UF in December 2009, I received my Work and Holiday Visa for Australia and bought a one way ticket to Sydney International.

Little did I know, in addition to Australia, I would be traveling all around the world thanks to unexpected opportunities.

The first adventure started with my graduation present from Jesse, a trip to Costa Rica! Then another unpredicted trip to the Caribbean. I flew to Australia in March and have since visited all over NSW, QLD, and an unexpected business opportunity to South Korea and China. It's only May, many more adventures to come!

I will continue to post my adventures until I catch up to present day!

My next post will be my wins and fails of Costa Rica! As for now, I'm off to venture around Seoul, South Korea. Cheers!