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Not Your Average Gal

Copywriter. Content Creator. Constant Sassypants.

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Archives for June 2015

Fear Disguised as Practicality

June 22, 2015 By Caroline Peterson

feardisguisedaspracticality

There is a wonderful speech Jim Carrey gave at Maharishi University of Management’s graduation. I encourage you to watch it in full, but this particular portion below is quite inspiring. Take a moment to watch:

I’ll wait.

You back?

Good, right?

There are moments in my life where I could have chosen or was well on my way to choosing a more practical path, even if my heart was tugging in a different direction. I vividly remember sitting with my father a couple years after college, going over my finances and budgeting so I could make a down payment on a condo eventually.

“It will be tough. But you’re doing well, kiddo. I’m not worried about you.”

Remember when the economy took a rough tumble? The real estate market crashed. Wall Street threw up over everyone’s stocks. I lost my job. Many people lost their jobs. I could have easily been like so many people, stuck with a mortgage in a shit economy with no hope of selling in the near future.

It was a lucky break. I hadn’t seriously started looking into buying a condo yet when it happened.

Why the heck would I want to do that when I bought my car right after college, instead of leasing, just in case I landed a job abroad and I’d have to break a car lease. Yes, that’s how much I wanted to move back to London after I had my internship there and was forced to come back to the states a broke college grad with an expensive degree to start paying back.

If I couldn’t commit to a 3 year car lease, why the hell would I even look into buying a condo a couple years later then?

Fear.

Fear disguised as practicality.

Real estate was the American Dream. It was what you were supposed to do.

Living abroad again? Where will you settle down if you’re not in the U.S.? What would you do for the holidays? How can you live a fulfilling life without the picket fence and 2.5 kids? Why would you want to do that?

I just knew I did, but the fear of not doing the standard thing tugged at me for a brief moment and I thought I should save for a condo.

Baby Jesus I’m glad it never worked out in hindsight. The universe is such a crazy beast.

My point in all of this is, on many, many different levels society gently whispers and asks you to do the standard thing and if you’re not feeling it, I mean really feeling it…there’s a reason. As Jim Carrey said in that speech, you can still do all the right things, make all the right decisions, provide exactly what is asked of you and you can still get laid off. What a total fucking slap in the face.

You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance at doing what you love.

Do you know how many absurd things I’ve heard in regard to my travels, even this most recent trip coming up?

  • MYANMAR? Why don’t you go somewhere normal?
  • Dogs have rabies there. I hope you don’t come back frothing at the mouth.
  • Southeast Asia again? You guys must really like being weird.
  • You know you could stay home and visit other people instead?
  • You have your whole life to travel. You don’t have to do it now.
  • That seems so extravagant for this point in your life.
  • I wish you wouldn’t go so I don’t have to worry.
  • You must be millionaires. I’d rather spend my money on solid investments.

Thank God we don’t make our travel decisions based on what other people think of us, right?

Hey, buck-o. Same goes for you in any garden-variety decision you may have in your life. There is not one specific path you need to take and settling for the easy way because of money or pressure from the peanut gallery promoting practicality over your own damn way of doing something is just:

fear disguised as practicality.

I’m not saying do anything rash here like jump out of plane without a parachute because that’s a practical thing to wear. That would make you stupid. And dead. I’m saying if people are running their mouths about their own damn fears for you, which are often conveniently disguised as practicality, take it, put it in a little box, wrap a bow on it and toss it under the “Couldn’t Care Less Tree” for someone else to open and carry.

If I listened to every nasty, unsupportive comment said about getting married in England, we wouldn’t have shared a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

If I listened to my grandparents tell me to not build too many castles in the sky, I wouldn’t have taken that life changing internship in London.

If I listened to traditionalists who said we should have a normal wedding registry, we’d never have taken our eye-opening honeymoon to Thailand and Cambodia.

If I listened to Jillian Michaels, I’d have better arms.

Wait a second…

Don’t live your life believing something isn’t possible because it isn’t practical. Conservative choices can still disappoint you.

Dare to ask the universe for what you want. 

Filed Under: Health, Mental Health, Musings, Soapbox

Preparation and Excitement

June 11, 2015 By Caroline Peterson

They say preparing and anticipating for a trip is as exciting as the trip itself. I’m pretty sure TripAdvisor has some legitimate concerns about how often I’ve been logged in. Is there a TripAdvisor Intervention team?

“Dear Caroline, Your addiction to TripAdvisor has affected my life negatively in the following ways…”

These last few months have been incredibly stressful in our household; the culmination being this month with important exams occurring. I’m not sure how to describe medical school to everyone else other than saying it’s a slow form of torture. It’s tough to watch and very often, tough to be a part of.

Perhaps planning has been my outlet? The med school hubster doesn’t have time to help, so it’s been my responsibility and a way to “check out” from the stress. Either way, I think it’s safe to say we are both very happy to see this trip happen at the beginning of July.

Preparation:

– All of our visas for Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia have been approved online and are ready to be stamped once we arrive (pending an in-person approval)
– Extra passport photos printed:

IMG_8303
– Obnoxious To-Do list made

IMG_8312
– Make sure all of my travel docs are printed
-Buy all the last-minute travel size items (P.S.- Have I ever told you my love for travel-size items?!)
– Learn how to use my new GoPro!
– Plan out posts here while I’m gone

 

Excitement:

I very often walk a fine line of having just the right amount planned and not leaving enough time to explore or, you know, relax like normal humans.

I held myself back a couple times while preparing for this trip to not make reservations for every food or walking tour in site. I fully believe they are beneficial to immersing yourself and learning more about cultures. But, while I may struggle with it, I want to be a bit more spontaneous. Some of my favorite memories from Thailand or Cambodia were when we had nothing planned and just explored.

FOMO be dammed, I’m trying to be okay knowing we may not hit every single thing Trip Advisor…advises.

That said, there are some things that needed to be reserved prior to arrival and few things I’m just really looking forward to:

The Flights

kabar

To Hanoi, Vietnam:
We’ll be flying in the Prestige Class of Korean Airlines in their lie-flat beds and they. have. a. bar.

To the U.S.:
We’ll be flying home in First Class on Delta’s upper deck. I’ve always wanted to fly in the upper deck of a 747 and since most are going out of commission, I’m happy I’ll be able to. Plus, lie-flat beds!

 

Vietnam

hk2 hk1

HanoiKids
This student-run organization provides tours around Hanoi and adjusts the half-day or full-day tour depending on what you want to see. The tours are free and used as a way for students to practice their English. How cool, right? I can’t wait for them to tell us the best place to get egg coffee.

Courtesy of Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ha_Long_Bay.jpg
Courtesy of Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ha_Long_Bay.jpg

 

Halong Bay
Not only am I so excited to check this beautiful place off my travel list, but we decided to splurge and reserve a suite on a eco-friendly junk boat overnight. (That’s the local term for the boats.) I’m excited to explore the bay, kayak and take beautiful pictures. Everything I’ve read says you get what you pay for, so I’m hoping that’s true.

 

Myanmar

bagan

Bagan Temples
I just want to hop on an eBike, strap my GoPro on and explore, explore, explore. I’m hoping I don’t have my expectations set too high because this is really what I’m thinking the highlight may be.

 

Cambodia

newhope newhope3

New Hope Cambodia
This NGO provides education, training, housing and health programs for impoverished youth and families. Many of the families cannot afford public school fees, clothes or food and are at-risk for human traffickers. I read about the training restaurant that has lunch and dinner for patrons cooked by students in training. I emailed to inquire more and it looks like we’ll be doing a tour, eating lunch as well as talking to the medical team. Med school hubster is very happy.  (Psst. I am too.) Read more here.

IMG_1572

Tour with Nat
The last time we visited Cambodia, we did a tour of Angkor Wat with a tour guide named Nat. We had such a crazy-fun time that I emailed him recently to see if he’d take us around again, and it looks like he’s available!

 

South Korea

I have zero planned here. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But we only have about 48 hours and to be honest, I just want a video of me dancing to Gangnam Style to send to my dad while we’re staying at the Intercontinental COEX in Gangnam. It’s a favorite song of his. This is a judgement-free zone.

 

So I’d say that aside from some last-minute purchases and fitting everything into a carry-on (imagine me doing the sign of the cross right now and I’m not even Catholic), we’re well on our way to taking off in 3-ish weeks. What do you think of our plans?

 

Filed Under: Asia, Cambodia, Travel, Travel Prep

Happy National Running Day!

June 3, 2015 By Caroline Peterson

Running has always been an integral part of my adult life. It’s my sanity check. It’s my alone time. It has surely provided me so much more than the occasional ache or pain. Whenever I’m on a run and I don’t think I can finish strong, I have to remind myself, “Caroline. You ran 2 freakin’ half-marathons. Get a grip. Now go and rock it out.”

Running does that. It brings out your tough girl or guy mentality and reminds you that you’re strong and capable no matter your speed.

So, in honor of National Running Day, (Yeah, I know. I guess that’s a thing) I’ve put together some of my favorite running quotes.

Let the inspiration seep in, my friends.

running5

This hung above my half-marathon training calendar for months.
This hung above my half-marathon training calendar for months.

running2 running6 running8

And, for laughs…because it’s true.

running7

Filed Under: Health, Running

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