That first step was followed by a relaxing three days hanging out in Las Vegas with a truly wonderful woman, my Aunt Maria, eating Vietnamese food, hanging out in the sun and sleeping ridiculous amounts to beat the nasty cold I came down with the day of the first step. Maria is now on a trek deep in Nepal… what a groovy lady. My thoughts and vibes are with you Maria!!!

I then flew to Honolulu, HI where I was lucky enough to be able to crash on the dorm room floor of my good friend and parkour guru, Eli, and his roommate Brandon. We had a good wander about the busy city and watch a spectacularly bright orange sunset over the ocean. Thanks guys!

The following 9 days was spent with Jake (my amazing, wonderful, also quite groovy in a redneck sort of way, hunk of a boyfriend ) traveling along the east coast of Maui. I don’t think I can capture the experience in words so I’ll sum it up by saying it was an adventure full of camping, beach bumming, fruit picking, ukulele playing, star gazing, ocean swimming, sunset watching, sunrise on top of crater watching, people watching, TURTLE watching… a lot of watching… crazy Hana Highway driving, hiking, waterfall searching, more camping, followed by the hardest “I’ll see you later” I think I’ve ever experienced in my life…

I keep reminding myself of my favorite Winnie the Pooh quote “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

And now, I find myself in New Zealand, which is actually 7,855 miles away… with no plan, which I suppose is a new plan, and a whole lotta adventure ahead of me.

To infinity and beyond J