Sarah la Viajera
Sarah la Viajera

Let’s Talk Goals: 2014 Edition

January 7, 2014SarahAdd comment
Written by Sarah
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Photo from the inside of my Conscious Box (trial)

Well, guys, we are definitely well into 2014 now and I’m already behind in one thing I want to strive to do more of this year: blogging. I’ve been a bit swamped lately working through some plans for the next couple of months, filling out applications and tweaking my resume. (In case you missed what I’m applying for, you can check out my recap post here) I’m once again entirely too busy for my own good but it’s not a bad thing. 2014 was never a year that was on my radar like 2007 (high school graduation), 2010 (semester in Sevilla) or 2011 (college graduation) were but it is going to be a big year for me!

I haven’t always made New Year’s resolutions but I like the reason why we make them: to improve and enrich our lives. I’m very much a self-starting and ambitious (now 25 year old!) woman so setting goals is something that is right up my alley. Some years I have made a list of a dozen resolutions and other years I’ve only made one that encompassed everything I wanted to improve on (and that was set in 2011 with ‘use my time more wisely.’) It’s easy to think about all the things you want to improve or achieve for yourself in a given year but if you don’t take small consistent steps to position yourself where you want to be, it’s highly likely that you won’t achieve the results you want. So, that’s what I’m sticking to this year: taking small steps to achieve my goals and become a little more of the woman God wants me to be.

My fortune on 12-31-13 (New Year’s Eve) at dinner

Life will be throwing me pleasant curves this year but it’s also going to throw some challenges my way. The latter is nothing new though I will still need to prepare for all the good and the bad things that come my way. I don’t put too much stock into fortune cookies but the messages I’ve seen in them before taking big steps in my life have been so accurate it’s ironic. Before I went on my very first mission trip to Baja California, Mexico when I was 17, my family and I went out for lunch at a Chinese restaurant, The fortune I got said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” Ironically, I was leaving for my trip the very next day and, as I was traveling across the country and then some, it was going to be a lot more than 1,000 miles! It’s funny how life sends you messages like that to let you know that you’re moving in the right direction. I’ll be going in the opposite direction geographically this coming fall but it’s not about the destination but rather the journey!

Now, without further ado, here are my main goals for 2014. (Details subject to change as the year goes on.)
 
1. Stay organized.
My room before. There is no after picture….yet.

While my room is currently a bit more organized than the photo above shows, it’s still an absolute disaster. And it’s not just my room but my handbag, planner, desk, email inboxes (yes, that’s plural!), phone, closet, etc…it’s a good thing I don’t have a car because I imagine it would stay messy almost all of the time too! I do work and think best in an organized space but I usually do that at our dining room table or in the living room….away from this. Thankfully I have a steel trap of a mind and hardly miss a planned meeting, call or appointment much. I have been slacking here and there but I am choosing not the repeat the same mistakes of years past. And I have a smartphone with tons of apps to keep myself organized and on-track so there’s no excuse! (After picture coming soon.)

2. DON’T MISS FLIGHTS!
Too bad I didn’t get that stamp BEFORE my flight boarded (May 2013)

One of the most depressing things that happened to me last year was missing my flight to Germany (via Italy) to see a dear friend. I suffered the wrath of Ryanair that I had only heard about through other people and from reading other blogs online. Surely, it couldn’t happen to me! Ah, I digress. It’s a long story that I hashed out in another post (I believe) but it has taught me an important lesson, er lessons. I missed a total of 3 flights and 1 regional bus last year (not to mention countless city buses here in Jacksonville but let’s not go there, haha). It’s not that I’ve become incredibly irresponsible in the last year but rather that I’ve become more daring in my traveling. I often travel alone and with only a carry-on or two for a few days or a week (yes, it’s possible!) so I don’t *need* to arrive at the airport the supposed 2 hours before a flight departs. However, that’s not bad advice to follow. I always plan for the worst but hope for the best so you’d think that mindset would kick in while I’m traveling, right? Well, unfortunately it doesn’t sometimes and I’m embarrassed to admit it. BUT, this year I am striving to fix the problem (read: (time) planning deficiency) and crossing my fingers for absolutely ZERO missed (insert transportation mode here) anything!
3. See more of my own country.

I loving traveling in general but there a few major parts of the country that I have never seen. I know my main goal for this year is to save up money to live abroad but it is possible to travel to different parts of the US (and Florida or Ohio in my case) inexpensively. I have been able to see a couple of big cities through the blessing of long layover (that I chose to have) but I will have to go back and spend more time in those places.
Traveling for me is what shopping is to most women: an experience. I am much more content to spend several days or weeks in one location instead of trying to fit in a trip to a major city in just one weekend. Many students I met while studying abroad would fly to huge cities like London, Paris and Rome for ONLY one weekend because they just wanted to go there, see the sights, buy the souvenirs and then move on to the next city! A lot of them have never gone back to visit Europe, let alone those cities they managed to visit for a minute. If that’s your travel personality and it makes you happy, though, then go for it. I personally wouldn’t be happy with just a weekend in Paris or London. I would rather spend a month or two or three (haha) and get to know everything about the city. I love seeing famous sites in person and taking fun pictures with them in the background, but that’s only a small part of the experience for me. I want to meet local people, find the best restaurants that serve authentic food, get lost and discover unique things about each place on my own. I want to speak (or practice) the language, haggle with shopkeepers for the best bargains and photograph more with my own eye instead of the lens of my camera. I’m what you’d call a take-your-time traveler and I am perfectly fine with taking things slow.
But, speaking of traveling more in my own country – I have some news! My brother and I will be flying to Southern California to visit our grandmother from February 28th – March 8th! She has generously offered to pay our airfare out there and we couldn’t be more excited to go out and visit her! It’s been 6.5 years since I’ve been there (I used to go pretty often before that) and my brother has not been there in over 10 years! This is a big deal for him because California is his birth state and he truly loves being out West. And, what’s more is that we’ll be flying into (and seeing ) Los Angeles (LAX) for the first time in our lives! (Not to mention the Pacific Ocean together too.) If we fly to California, we always flew into the airport that’s in the same county where my grandma lives, so this is huge for us. Anyway, we are really excited to see her plus other family members and the adventures we’ll have. If you’re reading this MaMa, thank you again and we’ll see you in about a month! 🙂
                                                     All of us together at my college graduation in 2011!
 
4. Walk the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James)

I knew several facts about Spain but it wasn’t until my sophomore year in college that I was able to study the country in depth in my Spanish Civilization and Culture class at JU. We learned about all the different regions in Spain and had to do a project on one of them and present various parts of it throughout the semester back in 2008. I somehow ended up with the Andalusian region (Andalucía) but looking back on it, it wasn’t all that surprising that I did. I have been fascinated with the region for some time now but there’s also another part of  the country that I’m dying to explore: Northern Spain. In this class, my professor shared with us how she wants to do the Camino de Santiago with her husband at some point in her life. The way she described what it was like and what you see along the way, left me intrigued. From that moment on, I secretly wished that I could do it too one day. So, why not this year?! Walking the Camino does take a lot of planning and preparation as the original route takes almost a full month to walk! It’s not for the faint of heart but it is something everyone can do if they have a desire to. I am hoping to complete the Camino at the end of this summer. The exact days I will walk it depend on several factors. However, my main purpose for doing it is to experience God’s handy work in the country through nature and the local people. I want this to be a true pilgrimage for myself and I know that I will learn a lot if/when I do it. More details later as they unfold!


5. Build my translation portfolio

The career path I ultimately want to have is to be a Spanish-English translator. One day I’ll throw Portuguese into the mix but I have a lot of room for improvement with that language before I can do that. Anyway, the best way to gain experience in the translation field is to practice, practice, practice! I’m playing around with the idea of creating blog entirely in Spanish but I haven’t sketched out any of the details of what it might look like yet. I have several ideas of the directions it could go but haven’t had the time to sit down and make any decisions.
The important thing is for me to gain experience in translating more things from Spanish to English. Since I didn’t start working on this goal sooner, I will strive to translate at least 200 words a day every day starting next month. Once I create the extra blog (which will probably be done in WordPress), I will share it with you guys! For now, stay tuned for updates on it and please feel free to share any tips or ideas with me if you have experience translating articles and/or documents. 🙂
6. Invest my time, energy and money in other people
If you’re reading this, chances are you have invested your time, energy, resources, words or money into my own life. You’re reading this post so that’s an investment right there! The point is, so many people have played both big and small parts in my successes so far that I want to give back. I don’t know exactly how I will be able to do this but I want to make this a goal for this year. I want to be in a position where I can take someone out to lunch, buy them a cup of coffee (or tea!) or frozen yogurt, help them pay for something they don’t have any money for or simply just to spend time with them and listen to what is going on in their life. Countless people have done these things for me, sometimes repeatedly, and I want to do something for them or someone else.
 One of the ways I want to do this is raise some money for my Camino journey so that I can use that money to pay for other travelers places to stay or meals or drinks. Or buy them another stick, jacket, umbrella, water bottle, etc. when theirs breaks or gets lost. People from all over the world walk the Camino for many different reasons. However, I think the traditional walking to strengthen your faith in God is not as popular as walking it to enjoy nature is. I believe that the journey is more meaningful with the former but that’s just my opinion. The fact that I am fit, young and willing to go on this journey puts me in a position to hopefully do things for the people that I meet along the way. I don’t know how this will all play out but once I get the plans firmed up to go (probably by April), I will create a Go Fund Me campaign to raise money. Keep in touch with me if you’d like to be a part of this or want to share any ideas you might have about how I can be a blessing while on the Camino.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. It’s going to be a full and exciting year! Let’s get started. 🙂

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When I read my very first blog post about the infamous pintxo de champiñón (champi for short) and gamba, I just knew that one day I had to try it. Fast forward 11 years and I did! And now I’m posting about it 2 months later, oops. 😅 Visiting Logroño, located just underneath País Vasco, back in March was a very pleasant surprise. The walkability, large concentration of bars in the city center and the fact that eating was the main focus of our weekend were wonderful. When I was dreaming about trying these absolutely delicious #pintxos all those years ago, I never imagined I would go to Logroño with the person I absolutely love trying new dishes and cuisines with. I never knew how fun going away to such a gastronomic gem of a region like La Rioja 🍷 would be and how eating my way around the town (plus, a little bit of culture and football ⚽️ for him) would be such an adventure. We didn’t make it everywhere we wanted to go so we’ve got yet another list of pintxos to try the next time we visit. 👫💕 Pintxos featured: 1️⃣ Champiñón 🍄 a la plancha con gamba 🍤 - Bar Soriano 2️⃣ Unas patatas bravas increíbles! 🤩 - Bar Jubera 3️⃣ El cojonudo (huevo de cordoniz con chorizo sobre pan) - Bar El Muro Restaurante 4️⃣ Un excelente pintxo de tortilla 🍳🥔“melosa” -La Concordia (Tortillera) 5️⃣ Croquetas de puerro y gamba (yo) y de cachopo (A) -Divina Croqueta 6️⃣ Otro pintxo de gamba y champi - Bar Ángel (mi favorito 😍) 7️⃣ Bocatita de jamón con queso de tetilla 🧀 (a nod to our beloved Galicia) 🤤 - Pata Negra 8️⃣ Tío Agus (un mini bocadillo de carne de cedro adobado con salsa secreta) - Tío Agus Bar Lorenzo 9️⃣ Tarta de queso vasca 😋 - Café Calenda (Calle Portales) 🔟 Brocheta de langostinos a la plancha con aceite de oliva y pimentón de la Vera - La Casita Mesón Bar Side note: it’s really hard to film one handed and try to eat at the same time (see slide #4). Have you been to Logroño before? What were some of your favorite foods/pintxos? 😋🥘🐷🥖⬇️ #callaurel #callelaurellogroño #logroño #pinchos #tapeando #lariojapetece #foodies #larioja
💻🤓✨ Freelancing might look different to you but this small collage of photos is how I see it. You’re never finished making lists and writing down appointments and deadlines into your planner. Not to mention all the forms, folders, zillions of emails and other who knows how many documents you’ll be gathering and holding onto. You vary your workspaces from time to time but it’s easy to get stuck in rut at times especially during these past couple of years when I’ve almost exclusively been working at the same table inside my apartment with no change. • And don’t forget about the outlets from work that you’re going to need to have or cultivate. I’m talking about coping mechanisms, hobbies and interests. And some of those can look like ice cream, chai lattes, lemonade with a spring of mint in the sun, a tinto de verano or a glass of wine or just a good old fashioned cup of tea. And last but not least, you’re going to need some way to relax at the end of the day when you’re trying to turn your brain off from working but you can’t seem to because in the beginning of it all, you can never fully shut off. • This isn’t the full story but it’s a small glimpse into the world of freelancing in #Spain that I’ve experienced thus far. • I am going to be adding a lot more info and posts on freelancing in Spain since I’ve been doing this for a few years now and while it hasn’t been the best experience of my life, it has certainly taught me lots of lessons. I finally feel a bit more grounded and knowledgeable about what it’s all about and what’s required of us (hint: paying a high tax rate even if we don’t work one month! 😭) and I want to pass all this knowledge onto my readers! • I already have one post live and the idea is to publish new posts biweekly on Fridays. So #freelancefriday has made a comeback in my planner! • I’ll be covering both the good and bad sides to freelancing, sharing what I wish I had known before I started back in 2017, how to understand some forms and processes and so much more! • Is there any specific topic within #freelancing that you’d like me to cover? I’m all ears! 👂👩🏻‍💻📚📝🌃
Two weeks ago today, @andrewrgillan and I woke up around 5:30 am, packed the last couple of things into our small bags and headed to the airport for an early morning flight to a place neither of us had ever been to before: 📍Palma de Mallorca! At about 18€ round trip per person (yes, for flights!), going away to a new comunidad in Spain and to the #IslasBaleares for the first time ever was just a hop, skip and a jump away. The perfect short yet adventurous city break that we needed! In fact, we had had the idea to go to Mallorca for a quick weekend getaway on our list since 2020 and so I was thrilled when we could finally go do it. And what’s more, there’s nothing like receiving the gift of a trip and a memorable experience for Valentine’s Day, is there? ❤️ Though it was a whirlwind of a trip (just under 36 hours), I loved everything we saw and ate. And madre mía, did we eat well there! I’ve thanked you many times since but thank you so much for taking me away from everyday life and giving me the chance to explore somewhere new with you, Andrew, just like we’ve dreamed of doing ever since we got married. 🤗💕 From the pictures: landing in Palma de Mallorca, exploring near the marina, taking a siesta in our abnormally large “double bed” (aka two twin beds pushed together 😂), La Rambla, eating tumbet con solomillo, wandering the Catalán and Italian style streets and climbing lots of stairs, seeing the picturesque Sèu de Palma and all the yachts parked in the harbor, eating some of the best tortilla out that I’ve had in a very long time, finally having an #ensaimada from Spain and not a Starbucks in Florida 🙈 and lastly, that view of Palma from the window seat in the back of the plane! 😍 We will be back to explore more of the island as soon as we can plan another trip 😅 but for now, I’ll be reminiscing about everything I saw from my photos. Here’s to more adventures in 2022! 😘
A couple of weeks ago, I turned 3️⃣3️⃣ on December 16th. It’s long since been my favorite day but this year I made a couple of big realizations. As much as I’ve tried to have some sort of birthday dinner or a party when I was younger, I realize that since they haven’t usually worked out save for a handful of times (thanks, Christmas parties, trips and dinners 😅), I don’t really even expect to do something big. A nice, relaxed lunch (which is what we did this year) or dinner with @andrewrgillan, some self-care pampering and cake are all I could really ask for. Or a trip to Sevilla like I did a couple of times a few years ago. 😍🍊💗 Lastly, and this the big one, I think the reason why checking off a big item on my to-do list and marking the occasion are so important to me and why this time of year is more intense for me compared to everyone else, is that the year ends twice for me. First, once I add an extra candle to my cake and second, when the clock strikes 12 on December 31st. Much like it will here soon in the UK. 🇬🇧 It’s really crucial that as we get older, we keep learning more about ourselves and this year I dove deep. Parts of 32 sucked to be honest but other times I felt such joy and accomplishment for the things I’ve done and how I made it through this past year. This year, I’m grateful to be alive and 33 years old. Not everyone makes it this far and that’s a sobering thought. And in the same vein, not everyone who was with me when I was 32 can come with me on my glow up into this next year. Also, let’s not forget, this time last year I had no idea that I’d become a published author halfway through 2021. I can only dream up what I’ll do this year... 🤔😅 (Photos include birthday pics and some of my favorite things: cats, cute things and the gorgeous coastal views of Northern Ireland from this year 😍🌊🐈 ) Happy 2022 everyone! 🥳🥂
There isn’t anywhere else on the Internet where you can get a 125 page e-book that explains in easy-to-read detail on how to get around Madrid via public transportation (Metro, EMT Madrid bus, Cercanías, Metro Ligero, BiciMAD 🚲 and more), figure out what neighborhood you should stay or live in, where to eat, what to do, the off-the-beaten places and hidden gems to visit written from the perspective of a 5-year resident of Madrid herself. Hi 👋🏻, I’ve checked and this type of guide just hasn’t been done before. So if you’re looking to move here or are already here and want to get the most out of what Madrid can offer, I’ve got you covered. Take the stress out of buying tickets and passes, making bus and metro connections, reading maps and learn and enjoy the city like I have for 5 years and counting. I show you how to get a special discount on my book for a limited time only to show you how quick and easy it is. Save 25% until December 1st, 2021 at 11:59pm. Share this with anyone you might know who’d love to get their hands on it or gift it to a transportation lover on your list this Christmas! 🎁 Favorite places featured: 1. Parque de Berlín (neighborhood: Hispanoamérica) 🚇: Concha Espina (Line 9) 2. Puerta de Europa - Parque Cuarto Depósito (neighborhood: Nueva España) 🚇 Plaza de Castilla Line 1, 9, 10 (+bus lines) 3. Hotel Riu Plaza España Rooftop 🌇🏨 (neighborhood: Argüelles) 🚇: Plaza de España Line 3, 10 4. Edificio Metrópolis (neighborhood: Sol/Cortes) 🚇: Banco de España Line 2 What’s your preferred mode of transportation in Madrid or another part of the world? Let me know in the comments!
✨ 7 years in Spain as of September 27th, 2021 ✨ I honestly don’t know where the time has gone since I stepped off the plane in Madrid and then much later on, the bus in a brand new place at the time (A Coruña) but enjoy this flashback of photos from last summer when @andrewrgillan and I finally went back to #Galicia together in August 2020. One of my favorite photos from a pretty awful and chaotic year (2020👀) was taken on the beach in Matosinhos, Portugal (still on the Iberian Peninsula 😉) so I’ve thrown it in for good measure. Swipe til the end to go back to 2014. ¡Happy 7th Spainiversary to me y por muchos más! Please let this be a year where I can visit regions I’m familiar with and a couple I still need to see (País Vasco y Asturias or Canarias, I’m looking at you!) 🎉🇪🇸🥳💃🏻🥂🐙☀️🏝
Happy second anniversary, @andrewrgillan 🥳 I have to be honest these past two years have felt like double the amount of time has passed. Not that it’s difficult to be married to you, just that time has been thrown so out of wack. It speeds by in the blink of an eye and yet it still somehow manages to take its sweet time as the calendar pages painstakingly flip by. There aren’t enough words in the world to describe how I feel about you. 💕 But the second photo in this mini montage is the one I think describes where we’re at at this stage, two years in. We’re setting down roots. Not in a physical sense but where we are in terms of our love for one another. It runs deeper each day and not only have we hit our stride with sharing the same living space together, we complement each other better. I love waking up next to you each morning and laughing with you almost every night just before bed. You are the embodiment of what home feels like in a person. And I’m so glad that I got to experience more of what your home country feels like for you. 💝 From a chance meeting on a rainy night in Northern Spain to reconnecting through an awful situation five years ago next month to falling in love and building a relationship full of mutual trust and love together, day by day, I’m excited to see what this year will hold. #loveyouthemost #medianaranja 🍊 #internationallove
This time last week we were in Northern Ireland on our Gibraltar anniversary and traveling just a wee ways over to the location where we had had our wedding reception. While it was a special and fun day and our marriage legally began on Sept. 2nd, personally we had a few more weeks to go before our official married life. One of the most frustrating things of these last 19 months or so was having to stay put and when it was safe enough only travel locally (as in not leaving the Iberian Peninsula). I often thought of how couples who got married a few years ago or more have been able to go back to the places where they got married and have taken many more anniversary trips. And to think for us, simply having the ceremony and reception and bringing our two worlds together were miracles in and of themselves. It’s easy to fall into those ways of thinking and it is only human to do so. That nagging question of “well, when can we return to one of *our* special spots?” was answered last week when we were able to visit the lovely location where we had our wedding reception on 9/21/2019. The drive out to the forest, the gorgeous fields of dark purple heather (not to mention the sheep that held us up along the way 🐑🚗) and the forest itself were sights to behold. 😍 Stepping inside it and reveling in the greenery felt like I was taking a breath of the cleanest air I’ve breathed in in a very long time. 😌🍃 And don’t let my dress fool you, it was cold inside there too! As if someone had splashed a bucket of cold water on me. 🥶💦 It was a beautiful gift to both reflect on the memories of the past and make new ones at the same place, a couple years later. Swipe through for a few newer pictures from that day in Gibraltar. One of my favorites is the fourth photo because even then we were talking about the books I would write and smiling brightly thinking about the future. How wonderful to have gotten it forever frozen in time. ❤️ I could never have imagined what exactly we were embarking on back in September 2019 but there’s no doubt that I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else other than you, @andrewrgillan, by my side.💗 Happy belated “paperwork” day, mi amor. 💋👫💙💜
I am officially a published author! 🎉📖🥳 On the night of June 1st, I clicked publish on my first ever e-book, a massive 30,00 word, 121 page digital book that I have spent the last 7 months working hard to bring to completion. And it’s finally here! If you can believe it, I had to consolidate all the information I found but still came up with over 100 pages chock full of useful information, historical fun facts, descriptions, tips and links to all of the the transportation websites, articles, maps and much more. Not to mention pro-tips and recommendations you only learn from commuting around the city after almost 5 full years. There is something for everyone: first timers in Madrid, current residents, visitors and tourists, commuters, study abroad students, interns, languages assistants and travelers both young and young at heart. ❤️ But mostly it’s for the people who are or would be completely lost without a guide like this. To me personally, this book is for 21 year old study abroad Sarah who single handedly planned the longest metro trip from the Barajas Airport to the Atocha train station one wintry day in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio while reading her guide book. An actual paperback book with a map of the major metros of #Madrid and Barcelona. My goodness, how far she has come since January 2010. 😅 Madrid is a fantastic city with excellent modes of transportation, a city bike share system and buses that run on both electricity and zero emissions. There are still improvements to be made but I truly do love this city and how I wonderful and freeing it is knowing I don’t need a car to see it. Have you been to #Madrid before? What mode of transportation do you prefer? 🚇🚌🚊🚲 #madridmemata #ilovespain #newbook