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24 Hours in Budapest

August 22, 2018 No Comments
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    About Me

    I'm Kelly- A human who adores travel, new experiences, planet Earth, self-love, and love of others.

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  • When I was younger, I loved Christmas. Everything about it was magical to me, the lights, the songs, the food. 🔹 I used to think about getting married in my church during Christmas, surrounded by soft white lights and Christmas trees. And of course, it would snow. 🔹 Then, I went through a really hard time one Christmas. And for years I hated the holidays. The expectations, the rush, the number in my bank account as I tried to buy gifts. And I shunned the holiday. Refusing to take part in those holiday traditions. 🔹 But, last year, I did something wonderful, something that I hope is a new tradition: I went to the Christmas markets in Germany. 🔹 I felt like a kid again. The smells of cinnamon and gluwine and gingerbread was intoxicating. The garlands and lights and ornaments sparked. And I fell back in love (or at least like) with the season. 🔹 I returned to Germany this year, to Berlin, to check out more markets. Even though the markets in Munich were a bit more beautiful, I still adored my time in Berlin. 🔹 I realized life is a series of seasons. Sometimes, you may like certain things, and sometimes not. You’ll go through ups and downs. And you’ll constantly be surprised. ♥️
  • Every time I take photos, I always look for the ones I’m skinniest in to post on social media. 🔹 I’ve struggled with my weight my whole life. And I’ve talked about my weight journey, and losing weight in Thailand at a fitness camp on my blog, theheartofatraveler.com. But, something that I haven’t shared, and that I need to talk about, is gaining the weight back. 🔹 I plan to write a whole blog post on it soon. I first really started to notice the weight creeping up in Peru. I looked at pictures and thought “this looks like the old me.” It made me so sad, and I was so frustrated and angry that I allowed myself to be back here again. 🔹 But, then I remembered, I’m in Peru. I have my eyes to see all of this around me, I have legs to hike around Cusco and explore. 🔹 And I remembered to be thankful. This is me. I’ll never be a size 2, or 6, heck, I may never be a size 12 again, but I’m me. And I’m learning to love me at every shape, and every weight. 🔹 When I look at this photo, I first remember that beautiful day walking around Barranco in Lima, admiring the street art, and drinking coffee at that cute cafe. I remember that morning, and how happy I was in that moment. And, I choose to love me, the person who got on that flight, put on her shoes, and went out to explore the world.
  • I’ve never been much of a shopper. But when I travel, I love looking at the handmade goods that each country has to offer. 🔹 I know lots of people don’t like souvenirs, but I love them. They remind me of everywhere I’ve been. It’s like taking a little bit of your vacation home with you. 🔹 My favorite souvenirs include a rug and tapestry from Peru, a wood carving from Thailand,and a Turkish lamp from Istanbul. They make my house homey and remind me of different places. 🔹 I also collect magnets for my fridge and postcards that I turn into wall art. 🔹 What’s your favorite souvenir?
  • Traveling makes me smile. 🔹 When I post pictures on social media of my trips, my co-workers always tell me, “Kelly, you smile so much when traveling. It’s a different kind of smile than normal. You can tell that you’re radiantly happy.” 🔹 And when I look at photos, they’re right. I’m incandescently happy. I soak up new places and cultures and people and sights. These are the things that make me excited. 🔹 I believe all people should find that thing that makes them excited, that makes them extra happy, that makes them smile extra big. 🔹
  • Sometimes your dreams don’t come in convenient packages. 🔹 Sometimes, your dreams are fulfilled in ways you don’t expect. 🔹 Since I was 18 years old, I knew I wanted to travel. I wanted to travel as much as I could. But, I didn’t know how to make that dream a reality. 🔹 I didn’t know what my dream would look like. I’ve spent years saving money to go on one big trip a year, pinching pennies as a teacher, working two, sometimes three jobs, making sacrifices, giving up on so much so I could live my dream. 🔹 And then, I was hired as a #rampagent . And just like that, the world opened up to me. On my two-year anniversary of getting hired, I wanted to write this to tell you not to give up on your dreams. 🔹 The realization of my dream doesn’t look like what I thought it would. I still work really hard, but I get to travel so much more. And I’m so thankful. 🔹 Never give up on your dreams!
  • I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw a video that caught my eye. 🔹 The video featured a woman who used her phone and microphones to record the vibrations and sounds that sunflowers make. 🔹 The video's description explains that plants "talk" to each other and warn each other of danger. 🔹 Now, I'm not sure if the video is a hoax or not, but when I listened to the sounds that the sunflowers made, it seemed like a noise that I had heard before. It was a sound that reminded me of secluded, wild places, and the delight and magic of childhood. 🔹 There are a few places in the world that I've heard and felt the sounds of the plants and earth about me-New Zealand, the Scottish highlands, and Peru just to name a few. 🔹 I love how wide, majestic landscapes call on something proverbial, something deeply rooted in our bones and souls, something that we don't understand, but recognize in ourselves and in nature. Something beautiful. 🔹 So even if those sunflower sounds aren't real, I know that something in me can hear those beautiful sounds of the flowers and the trees, the mountains and the seas, and that they call to my soul. 🔹 Video of the sunflowers below. 🔹 http://thewildchild.co.za/woman-records-the-voice-of-a-sunflower-it-sounds-like-music-from-another-dimension/
  • How many people have read/are reading #thesubtleartofnotgivingafuck? ▪️ Here’s my favorite line so far, “Because when you give too many fucks—when you give a fuck about everyone and everything—you will feel that you’re entitled to be comfortable and happy at all times, that everything is supposed to be just exactly the way you want it to be. This is a sickness and will eat you alive. You will see every adversity as an injustice, every challenge as a failure, every inconvenience as a personal slight, every disagreement as a betrayal. You will be confined to your own petty, skull sized cell burning with entitlement and bluster...” ▪️ Oh man, @markmansonnet hit me right in my ‘justice for all’ libra heart. I care about everything!!! I care about what my boss and school thinks of me. I care about what my kids whisper about me behind my back. I care about what I look like. I care about all the horrible things that happen in the world. I care when a car drives dangerously around me. I care when people don’t pay their taxes. I care when people don’t pull their fare share. And you know what, I do more and strive more and give more to everyone because I care. ▪️ So yea, I care about everything. And I do try and do everything I can-because of that caring. And I do expect, as a result, the world to be fair, not even perfect, just fair. But that’s not reality. And I end up disappointed, angry, and sad. ▪️ My friend says fair is for Ferris wheels and funnel cake. Life’s not fair. And instead of striving to be happy or think positively, or try so hard to fix everything or look perfect or act perfect, why don’t we just stop caring? ▪️ Why don’t we not give a fuck about every single little thing in our lives? ▪️My goal for this week is to stop caring about a few things that I’ve been stressing about for too long... I’m just walking away from some stuff in my life, waving bye-bye! ▪️ #nofucksgiven

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