As the end of the year approaches, I’ve been going through my many photos as I always do at the end of each year. Google has a sort of “Year in Review” photo feature on one of their photo apps I use and I am struck by just how many places I’ve been able to visit and really explore this year.

I just returned recently from a trip to Colorado to see a friend of mine. They had asked if I would like to come visit when we had spoken in the fall and I think could sense I was in need of a “change of scenery”. I was also looking to continue my on-going travels I had started last year.

A little over a year ago, I set out to start visiting places I had either never been, or to visit friends and family that I’ve been talking about visiting for far too long & either never had, or wanted to go back to now that I was trying to live my “best life”.

I love when people say to me “you look like you’re having a lot of fun right now!!” Because you know what??? I AM!! And I try really hard to be this happy! I had a lot of time where life wasn’t very much fun at all and I was feeling pretty miserable and awful. It’s so wonderful to be enjoying life again and feeling well enough to travel on my own and go visit people. Right now my soul is feeling restored and it’s the best feeling ever.

It really all began when I went to England in the fall of 2016. And it continued as I visited California, Nashville, Montreal, Washington DC, New York City then back to England, Germany (took a slight unintentional detour to Italy) & I ended the summer of 2017 in Austria. Then it was down to North Carolina in the fall and now I’ve just rounded out the year in Colorado.

I’d never been there and jumped at the chance to see a new place and have a good friend show me around. I also realized as soon as I posted where I was going on Facebook, just how many friends I actually have in the State of Colorado and I think I ABSOLUTELY have to plan another trip back there so I can make proper visits to see everyone next time!!

I also can’t recommend enough how awesome it is to have someone show you around “their town or city” or “their State or country”. Whether they grew up there or have just lived there a while, there is nothing like having a personal tour guide around a place. I would certainly try to be the best tour guide I could be when I lived in San Diego so I appreciate the favor being returned enormously!

Emily did it in Washington DC, Vera showed Kym and I around Vienna, and between Naz, Erica, Rachel, Tom & Bridget, I have had the most wonderful personal tour guides of London any girl could ask for. And there are so many more people I am leaving out, (like Maggie & Dave in Derbyshire, Karen in Cambridge and NO ONE does Los Angeles like Kym.) She’ll even hike you up that Hollywood sign & take you to drinks at “The Polo Lounge”!! Talk about a “shee-shee sha-shee” type experience!!

And Ryan did a great job showing me the Rocky Mountains. They did not disappoint and neither did he. Good friends are hard to find so hang on to them with all you have and make sure you take them up on those offers to go visit. It’s a GOOD TIME you absolutely will not regret!!

#getoutside

#travel

#livelifetothefullest

#allgoodthingsarewildandfree