travel tip – Darkk Horse Travel

This past month has been a whirlwind, but I’ve found some super amazing finds along the way. So naturally I thought I would share them with you guys, because what else is this blog for than to rant and rave?

R.Riveter: The Hobby

In honor of International Women’s Day, R. Riveter highlighted The Hobby which is my newest bag from them. I’ve already used this bag for multiple outings, and I’m obsessed with the emerald green color of mine. It perfectly matches my Slytherin heart. The Hobby was named after Mrs. Oveta Culp Hobby who was the first secretary of the U.S. Health Department, Education and Welfare, first director of the Women’s Army Corps, and a chairperson of the board of the Houston Post. Basically she was a BAMF.

Koe-Zee Embroidery
I just bought one of these beautiful embroidery hoops and it is just so perfectly perfect. Obviously I bought the one with the middle finger and the roses, but there are a lot more *cough* mild designs as well. What I really love about these designs is that she’s PNW local, and obviously I can’t emphasize supporting local small businesses enough.

Sock Panda (sponsored)

Fun fact: I wear super weird socks with my normally all black/neutral wardrobe pretty much every day. I was super happy that Sock Panda sent me some socks to try out, mainly because I love having fun and weird socks on under my 9-5 business wear, but also because the mission of the company is really cool: For every pair of socks purchased, another pair is given to homeless shelters, low income senior centers, hospitals, and under-privileged classrooms throughout the country. Also, they sent me dinosaur socks and how can you argue with that?

Paper and Slate Candles

So yes, I’m a huge literary nerd (especially classic literature) and when I found out that Paper and Slate was going to be creating candles based off of characters I just about died. Currently I have the Elizabeth Bennet candle, and the Emily Dickenson (my favorite!). I’ll probably end up grabbing another one once these melt into oblivion based off of me burning them nonstop.

Note: You should also check out Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder Mystery Dinner Party…because I love it. Also, The Case of the Guilded Lily. Okay, I’m done.

Arbitrary Muse Comics

I found out about these ladies a couple years ago, and when I saw them at Comic Con this year I knew I needed to buy all of the things. I think I walked away from there with four comics and some other swag. It was awesome. What I love the most about these comics is that they’re inclusive both on the race and sexual spectrum. It really is a breath of fresh air and I couldn’t love their historical take on storytelling any more.

What are you guys currently obsessing over? Let me know in the comments!

I’ll admit it: Growing up, I was the goodie two shoes. I never really got in trouble, I didn’t experiment with illegal things or have dangerous friends. I got straight A’s and never missed a day of school.

In the grand scheme of things, I guess you could say I was a low-key, kind of “boring” kid. I was my high school class speaker, voted “most eligible bachelorette” in college (remind me why this was a thing, SPU?), and never touched alcohol until I was 21 (short-lived, since I stopped drinking at 22).

Why am I telling you this?

Well, the life of a traveler is definitely not a safe one. While on the road I’ve had some pretty scary, sketchy and downright dangerous stuff happen to me. But usually this blog only gets the fluff and smiles of the good days.

So, what turned this girl from yawn to yeeeeessssss? Here’s how it happened.

It all started back in 2013 when I met a boy. Yep. I know.
This boy was very very important to me, but ended up ripping my heart out and basically making me wish I was never alive…but that’s another story.

Anyway, after that experience I realized how much of my life had been about pleasing other people. This was also right about the time I had shaved hair, started getting tattoos and pierced my septum. Was I cool, yet?

But that wasn’t enough. I had wanted to travel to Ireland since I was a little kid. My grandpa is Irish, English and Scottish and I’d grown up associating a good story and a great (albeit corny) laugh with my Irish heritage.

I had basically all but planned the entire trip out in my mind. And I was ready to go. But remember that boy I mentioned earlier? Yeah, you guessed it—he talked me out of going. Not only talked me out, but flat out told me that if I did go he would break up with me. Nice guy, right?

So, naturally, the first thing I did after the *KABOOM* ending of that relationship was to buy a plane ticket. By myself. To Ireland and the UK.

Since that first trip I’ve learned a lot about myself, but one of the biggest things is how much fear held me back from doing a lot of things in my pre-23 year old life. To be clear, there were some benefits to that. I probably wouldn’t have graduated from college without the fear that my mom would kill me if I didn’t (Haha. It’s a joke, mom.).

But when it came down to it, what I wanted for my life, and who I wanted to be, was so dictated by the surrounding fear of not being accepted by those around me that I didn’t even realize I could make independent decisions to make myself happy. It sounds kind of sad, now, but I don’t think I ever considered the fact that I should/could pursue the things that made me happy—even if they didn’t make sense to other people.

To those of you who might be nodding your heads, this one’s for you:

I’ve learned so much more (and grown so much more) by failing royally. Like I mean big-time fails. I mean moving to another country and hating almost every minute of an experience most people dream about, F-A-I-L.

But you know, I smile when I think back on my failures because they’re a reflection of just how far I’ve pushed myself to grow.

What is fear holding you back from?

Maybe it’s travel related (if it is, call me) or maybe it’s just taking a risk to apply to that job, or move to a new place. Do it. Not because you’re going to have a 100% success rate, but because even if you fail you still gain so much. Believe me.

If your heart is pulling (or in my case, dragging) you a certain direction in life, follow it. And those people who threaten to leave or abandon or not support you? Get rid of them. I’m serious. Shake them off, and find your people and a community to support you. Even if it’s an online community or Facebook group or whatever, there are people out there who will support you. I will support you.

So be your crazy self. Take risks, and live your life as fully and completely you. Not because everyone else is taken, but because you are f*cking fabulous (sorry, mom), and why the hell would you want to be anyone else?