Travel as a Lifestyle

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Skydiving in San Diego Again

I had such a great time skydiving last time that I think I’ll do it again… tomorrow.

Here we go again!

Free French Lessons in San Diego

We’ve been back from France for about a year and a half but I can’t stop thinking about the food, the people, and the language. Some days, when I’m walking around downtown, I hear people speaking French and I try intently to listen in – although I quickly realize I’ve forgotten the language and don’t know what they’re saying. That doesn’t stop me though. I listen anyway.

Then, just the other day, Tilly and I were walking back from Little Italy and saw what looked like a somewhat new French Cafe. The sign is what brought us in though… “Free French Lessons on Saturday and Sunday.” I quickly talked with the owner, who was obviously French, with his outrageous accent and mannerisms. I was secretly hoping he’d be philosophical and dismissive of me, just so I could feel at home again. But even without the smug attitude, it did. It felt like I belonged there again, with their fresh croissants and beautiful language.

I looked forward to trying their baguette and espresso soon.

Today, I went to the lesson, and it was packed. Every seat was full of Americans butchering the French language (Saturdays are for beginners). The teacher was young, but too shy for a somewhat noisy café, so it was difficult to hear him, even though I stood about 3 feet from him. Learning a language without hearing the intricacies is difficult at best.

By the time I got my order in, there were no seats left. So, because of the soft-spoken tutor and the lack of seating, I relegated to have my croissant and iced tea outside in the sun. It was somewhat disheartening not to be inside listening, and besides feeling like I was the bad kid in school who got sent outside the room, I started to think about France again – how I loved it, how I miss it, how we were challenged by our travels there, our friends, and more.

Perhaps I’ll try the advanced class tomorrow instead. Perhaps I’ll be a bit early, just in case. Perhaps I’ll have a wonderfully scented, perfectly tasting, warm baguette and an espresso while I fumble through some “bonjour”s and “Je ne peux pas croire que c’est pas le beurre!”

Busabout Europe – Traveling Europe

While traveling through Europe we did get a chance to take the bus a few times. On one of our favorite trips, we went (by bus) down the Amalfi Coast in Italy. That was by far the craziest bus ride I’ve ever been on. In other words, if you’re an adrenaline junkie like I am, it was awesome!

Here’s an excerpt of my journal from that day …

We hopped one bus up the hill from the port into the central part of [Sorrento], and then another to take us to Amalfi. If you get car sick, take your meds before this trip. The bus drivers seem insane, but its the only way to travel this coastline, and they are so
calm, jetting around blind corners on one lane roads, honking to give warning to oncoming traffic, with a few thousand foot drop inches away from the tires. It’s a true testament to conditioning, training, and Italian culture all in one hour…

Amalfi was booked up solid so we headed to a place about 1.5km away. It had a great terrace and nice rooms. After naps and showers, we took a bus back to Amalfi and walked around, sampling paninis and taking photos of the huge church which dominates the town square. We took a stroll along the sandy beach and the Sea water was so incredibly warm! I had to restrain Tilly from jumping in fully clothed.

Now, if you were traveling in the United States, I certainly don’t recommend taking a bus. But if you’re going around the Amalfi Coast or other parts of Europe, it’s actually not so bad as long as you’ve got some good scenery and a decent set of traveling companions.

In fact, I just heard about this new travel company called “Busabout” where you can… ahem.. bus about Europe. If we were going to take a bus as one of our primary means of transportation through anywhere in Europe, I’d most likely look these guys up again and give them a shot.

They have all kinds of nice comforts that you don’t normally get on a typical generic bus ride. And, they even take care of your accommodations if you want them to. Plus, just like those big red double decker buses in London, they allow you to do the hop-on, hop-off thing, which is great because then you can stay as long as you like when you find a cool place to hang out and sight see.

Enjoy your traveling lifestyle!

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Disclaimer, we do make money through this travel blog every now and then. One of the ways we do that is by introducing people to new products and services which we think are cool. The company mentioned in this blog – Busabout – is one of those companies, and if one of you readers does book a trip through our links, we’ll get a little commission for it. Don’t worry, you won’t be charged extra, and we don’t promote things we don’t think are worthy of your attention. That’s all.

On another note, I hope you have fun traveling Europe. And if you’d like to be a guest writer here on this blog, feel free to contact us and/or send us a photo of where you are right now. We’d love to live vicariously through those of you who are currently traveling through Europe… even if it’s by bus. :)

Reuniting with High School

We took a couple trips to Washington this summer.  The first trip was for my *gulp* 10-year high school reunion.  I always knew that I wanted go to my reunion but I decided to do some informal research to see what other people’s experiences where at their reunions.  The resounding and slightly shocking answer from most people was that they didn’t go.  Either they hated high school so much that they wouldn’t dream of going or they simply didn’t care enough to attend.  The few people that I spoke with that actually attended their reunion said it was awkward and they had a terrible time.  Thanks to my informal research I was now starting to regret my purchase of a plane ticket.

Was high school really that bad for so many people?  I wasn’t the most popular kid.  I wasn’t a cheerleader (they were cool at my school) or super trendy.  I didn’t have a fancy car and I definitely had my awkward moments.  The town I attended high school in was a mostly Dutch community; meaning that I was surrounded by blond-haired-blue-eyed-perfect-skin-long-legged teenagers.  If you know me, you know that I’m short, with brown hair and dark eyes.  I was always overlooked by the boys because I was surrounded by blond bombshell goddesses.  But despite all of that, I had good friends.  Friends that were crazy.  Friends that were adventuresome.  Friends that did what they wanted despite what the world expected of them.  A lot of my friends were girls and a handful of them were guys.  And we had fun.  We would play board games while shoving our faces full of Doritos and Mountain Dew.  We’d sneak out to the woods at night, climb trees and repel to the forest floor.  If it wasn’t raining, we would drag my friends couch and TV out to the backyard and have outdoor movie nights.  We went snowboarding and hung out in coffee shops.  We played at the beaches, the parks, the streets of our neighborhoods.  And nothing mattered because we were carefree and full of life.  And even though the actual time spent in the class rooms and hallways wasn’t always fun, I had good friends.

So I decided to go to my high school reunion.  I haven’t kept in touch with hardly anyone but I still wanted to see them and see how their lives had turned out.  I tried not to have any expectations but I secretly hoped that it would be wonderful.  And I wasn’t disappointed.  It was probably the best reunion anyone has ever had.  Everyone was amazing and friendly and gave hugs out like they were party favors.  People that I hadn’t even spoken with in high school were suddenly dear friends from a long lost life.  It was amazing.  We enjoyed cocktails and appetizers, laughed about social hierarchy and stayed out late.  We all went dancing the first night and were out well past 2:00.  The following night was another great evening of meeting spouses and sharing photos.  Not wanting the evening to end, we decided to go sing Karaoke.  New memories were made.  Great memories were made.  I feel sorry for the people that didn’t get the experience I did.  But it makes me so grateful for my high school and the people that shared those four years with me.

Catching our breath

It’s been some time since we’ve updated our blog and I apologize for that.  This year, especially the past two months, have been extremely busy.  I’m just now catching my breath.  Nate and I have been up to a lot this year and I have so many ideas and stories to write about.  I also need to finish writing about our adventures in France and Italy.  Soon, very soon, I promise.

For now I want to leave a link to my cousin, Dana’s, blog.  She’s moving to Haiti in 10 days to work at an orphanage.  It’s been a life long dream to help the poor and poverty striken in 3rd world countries (technically Haiti is a 5th world country) and she’s jumping at the chance.  Dana is an amazing and couragous woman and we will miss her terribly.  Follow her Haitian adventures here: myHeart.

Skydiving in San Diego: 19 Steps

Falling at 135 miles per hour is what some people call a good time.  I apparently am one of those people.  This is a step-by-step introduction as to what sky diving in San Diego, CA, USA was like for me.

For my 32nd birthday Tilly hooked me up with a tandem skydiving jump from 13,000 feet.  In San Diego, that means you get to see across the Mexico border without your life being threatened.  That sounded good to me, so we went for it.

After a few cancellations because of rain and wind, we finally got to jump a few days after my birthday.  My good friend, Rob, went with us and jumped for the first time as well.

Step 1: Sign your life away.

It’s amazing the waivers you have to sign to be able to do this.  After signing all the legaleese which basically says if you die it’s your fault for being an idiot and jumping out of a plane 2 miles above the earth, you get to wait.  They usually do this to make you so that you’ll crap your pants before you get hooked to another person.

Step 2: Watch as others potentially fall to their death.

This step is where the men become boys as we watch the falling bodies from heaven.  You stand there, watching people get thrown from a moving plane and hope that they remembered their parachutes.  It seems like every person who you watch falling (no, not floating) has forgotten to pull the cord and will fall to their imminent death 2 miles below… no wait, only 1 mile now… yup, they’re gonna die.

And just at the last minute (or so it seems), the parachute comes out. Phew.  Well, if they lived, I suppose I could do it.

Step 3: Get into a jumpsuit.

Why? Because in December it actually is kinda cold, even in San Diego.  I actually wore gloves.  And let me tell you, brrrrrr… my hands could have been stuck in the snow for an hour bare for all I knew by the time we were done.  Oh, and these jump suits are pretty, too.  Hott I tell ya.

Step 4: Do what the instructor tells you.

This is the part where you go through extensive training before you jump.  It goes something like this:

Instructor: Ok you pee-ons, get on the ground and give me 20 push ups.

** Everybody hits the deck **

Instructor: Jeeze you guys are gullible. Ok, but seriously, get on the ground and pull your legs back and your head back so just your stomach is touching the ground.

** We all try, but those of us over 30 snap hips and rotator cuffs **

Students: *Grunts*

Instructor: Next up for you Nancies is some Yoga lessons.

As we all pretend we can pull our legs back farther than they really go and fake that it’s not killing us, the instructor tells us we’re done.  Now that we’ve had our yearly workout of all of 17 and half seconds, we’re just about ready to go.

I think they do this part just to humiliate everyone.  It looks like you’re having sex with the ground, but hey, you’re gonna die, remember?  So whatever.

Step 5: Wait around nervously for the plane to land.

Step 6: Get in the airplane.

Now, if you’re anything like Rob, you’ll forget your goggles at this point.  I don’t really suggest doing that, but Rob rides motorcycles and pretends he’s not a girly man like the rest of us.  His instructor brought him a pair, but I think Rob just threw them off his head as soon as he jumped to prove that he is a man.

So, we get in the airplane and hang out. This is where you make as many cliche and nervous jokes that you can about being killed today.

The pilot does some awesome trick where he goes completely vertical but you stick to the seat like velcro hanging on for dear life.  I mean, if you’re gonna go, you’d rather be pushed out, right?  Not just fall out.  Hey pilot. This has nothing to do with you, ok?

Step 7: Pee your pants. (You should have already crapped in Step 2.)

Step 8: Get comfy with  your skydiving instructor.

Remember where he tore your pride down?  Yea, well, it’s about to get worse.  You sit on your instructor’s lap, hoping he’s just not that in to you.  He clips about 127 metal clips from your back to his chest.  At least it sounds like that.  I am assuming it’s only one because if he doesn’t like your breath or something… just eat a tic tac before you get to this step.

Step 9: Watch the camera person fling themselves James Bond-like out the door and hang onto the plane.

During this step, just focus on that camera and how amazing it is that that person is hanging onto a plane at 13k feet in the air because the moment you don’t, you’re going to lose more bodily fluids.  I looked down for about 1/2 second and just about threw up.  Don’t look down.  Camera guy or horizon.  Camera guy or horizon.  Just keep telling yourself that.

Step 10: Get lobbed out the door.

They tell you in your 30 seconds of training that you’re going to rock back and forth two times and then go on the 3rd.  That seems simple and pretty intuitive. Everything you do is on the 3rd one.  You will somehow forget how to count to 3 and get chucked out the door flipping around, seeing the underside of the plane you just left.

Step 11: Freak out.

Step 12: Try to remember your sex with the ground training.

If you don’t do this step, your instructor will knock you out cold.  Don’t flail your arms about. Do the sex with the ground thing and hold tight.

Step 13: Breathe.

This one is tricky.  I’m not sure how many of you have ever gone 135 mph, but that alone is freaky.  If you want to try something fun, try sticking your head out the window like a dog and breathe in.  Just don’t do this on a gravel road or while you are the one driving, but, that’s what it feels like.

Step 14: Relax and enjoy the flight.

This is the funnest part.  Everything up to this is humiliating and nerve racking.  But this 90 seconds is worth it all.  Look around, twist and turn, have fun.

Step 15: Get your junk yanked up to your stomach when the dude on your back pulls the ripcord.

‘Nuf said.

Step 16: Have a conversation with the guy who is now your best friend because you’re alive, he’s alive, and you just went through a near-death experience.

Step 17: Land on your feet.

This one is hard because you’re probably shaking and didn’t know it.  But, if I can do it, so can you. Stand up and be counted among the living again. Don’t land on your butt.

Step 18: Go to lunch and when the waitress declares that she’ll be serving you today, exclaim “I don’t care! I just jumped out of a frickin’ plane!”

Step 19: Sleep next week when the adrenaline wears off.

To do this all properly, I highly suggest the very experienced and awesome people at this Skydiving School in San Diego.

Skydiving in San Diego from nate ritter on Vimeo.

Beer Spigots at The Kebab Shop

Ringing in 2009

Whew!  The holidays are now over and I have recovered from our travels up north to see friends and family.  We had a wonderful time catching up with everyone and I cherished every minute spent with my nephew and nieces.  I caught a nasty little cold but I’m finally all better and ready to face the new year head on!

Nate and I are really excited about 2009.  We both have so many goals for this year and even though it’s only 14 days into 2009, we can see some of them taking shape already.  Our goals vary from traveling (obviously) to finances to eating better to education.  Now please take note that these are NOT new year’s resolutions!  These are goals that we set for ourselves, our marriage, and our life.  They’re things we strive for regardless of the time of year or what happens to be trendy and “all the rage”.

This past year was a fun one.  Our major goal was to move to France which technically we accomplished… if only for a few months!  But we also did so many other things that I don’t want to forget:

• We went to spring training for the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners in Arizona
• We took a boat to Catalina Island off the coast of Orange County
• We saw our first Cirque du Soleil show in Del Mar
• We spent a weekend in Vegas (seriously, what’s the draw? Hated it!)
• Took a road trip along the west coast… Mexico to Canada… in our Mini Cooper
• Nate went skydiving for his 32nd birthday
• Did the usual Southern California day trips: Disneyland, California Adventures, Sea World and the San Diego Zoo.

It was a great year but I’m hoping this year will be full of more “permanent” opportunities such as buying a home (after the market levels out) and building our retirement accounts.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and happy new year to all of you!

(And don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about my Europe Journal.  I’ll post the next entry soon.)

Last day in London

May 25, 2008 – Sunday: London

We accidentally slept in until 1:30!  I guess we are both still recovering from jet lag.  We didn’t have much planned for the day so it’s not that big of a deal but it’s our last day in London and I still wanted to squeeze in as much as possible.  Nate wanted to go to Hyde Park and see if we could catch the action at Speaker’s Corner.  So after we got up and got ready we headed to Victoria Station to catch the 4 different tubes that would get us to the park.  We stopped at the Marble Arch first and took some photos.  The Marble Arch is where people have been executed for hundred’s of years (luckily not anymore).  Before the prisoner was killed they had a chance to say anything they wanted before they were beheaded or hanged.  Hence what turned into Speaker’s Corner.  So every Sunday afternoon the corner is full of people speaking their mind.  Today was no different.  The people that want to speak (or yell) set up a little box or stepladder to stand on and usually they set up a sign or banner of the topic/view/religion/whatever that they want to talk about.  It seems like it usually ends up being a debate (or yelling match) between the speaker and the crowd. Most people were debating about religion or politics.  Some people give out brochures on different views or organizations to join and some were even giving out free hugs!  It was fun to be among the yelling and shouting people and share in a tradition hundred’s of years old. After the fun at the park we headed to a cafe, had a late lunch and read for the rest of the afternoon.

We’re now sitting in the salon (aka sitting room) of our hotel.  I’m writing and Nate’s emailing and researching cell phones for use in Europe.  We leave for Nice, France tomorrow morning and have to leave the hotel at 2:45am!  We have to catch the 3:15am train to Gaetwich Airport to catch our flight at 6:30am.  If I had known how early we had to leave the hotel, I would have booked a later flight!  We’re both a bit foggy still and I don’t think tomorrow’s going to make it any better.

Cheers!

A Palace, a Tower and a glass of wine

May 24, 2008 – Saturday : London

Today was much more laid back compared to yesterday.  We slept in a little, had some breakfast at our hotel and then walked to Buckingham Palace.  The changing of the guard happened at 11:20 and even though we got there at 11:00 it was already crazy.  There were people everywhere!  It was insane.  Police on horses were keeping the crowds in check.  There was a parade with a band, there was yelling and saluting and then the guards just stood there…. DOING NOTHING!  How boring!  Why is this such a big deal?  Why do so many people get there hours ahead of time to watch guards walking in and then standing?  Nate and I kept waiting around thinking that there’s gotta be more to this thing than just standing.  But there wasn’t, so we left.

We decided to head to the Tower of London.  The tubes (subways) between the Palace and the Tower were shut down for repairs so we had to walk.  On the map it didn’t look too far but it took us almost two hours to get there.  Even though it took so long, it was an unexpectedly beautiful day and it was a wonderful opportunity to get some great pictures.  We explored alleys, took pictures of architecture and enjoyed a cappuccino and tomato sandwich in the shadow of an old church.

The Tower of London has been a backdrop to many of the novels I have read about London’s history.  I am absolutely fascinated by England’s history, especially the 1500’s during the time of King Henry VIII.  It was surreal to be there.  It not at all what I expected it to be like.  In fact, I was having a hard time even remembering the history and stories because it just didn’t fit with what my imagination had thought up.  There was a guard/tour guide that gave us a tour of the grounds and told us a lot of history of each place inside the walls.  It was great to have him tell us the stories and refresh my memory.  The Palace, also known as the White Tower, is not as palace-like or grand as I would have thought.  The grounds weren’t pretty and it was extremely small compared to what my imagination had painted.  The Bloody Tower wasn’t any bigger than a 2-story Starbucks and didn’t have an extensive history like I thought it would.  The only things that I thought were somewhat fitting to what I had imagined was the chapel and the house that King Henry VIII built for Anne Boleyn.  When I walked into the chapel I felt like I was entering history.  Even the air and the sunlight streaming through the slits in the stone walls felt ancient.  Anne Boleyn’s house was off to the west of the palace built in a quaint cottage style that she loved so much.  Anne was executed on the green in front of her home and next to the ancient chapel for treason against the king (although it was most likely the king’s madness that drove him to declare her death sentence).  They have built a memorial where she was executed and it takes my breath away when I look around me and realize that these buildings where the last thing she saw before she was killed.

I had a wonderful time wandering through the grounds and touring the Palace.  Kings, Queens, knights, commoners, lords, ladies, prisoners and executioners have all walked upon this dirt.  Have looked at this view.  Have touched these walls.  It was a very moving experience for me and I’m so glad I got to see it for myself.

After our time at the Tower we hopped on a bus (instead of walking back) and headed for Victoria Station.  Nate has a business contact in London, Ande, and we met up with him at the station.  We walked around some of the neighborhoods and ended up at a fancy little restaurant in Chelsea.  I ordered Ahi tuna and a glass of wine.  While Nate and Ande talked business and computers, I relaxed and reflected on our life these past couple weeks.  I’m loving this time but I’m really aprehensive about living in France.  I keep thinking about it and how we don’t know the language.  We don’t know the culture.  We don’t know anyone.  Sometimes I think we are absolutely crazy and other times I’m impressed by our adventuresome spirit.  I know that total immersion into a culture and a languare is the best way but the fact that we don’t know anyone terrifies me.  It’s not like we’re going to be living with a host family that will help us.  It’s not like when I lived in Sweden and was surounded by people that were in the same boat as me.  It’s just me and Nate and no one else. I’m going to be relying on him like never before as he helps me step out of my comfort zone.

Recent travels

• Skydiving in San Diego Again
• Free French Lessons in San Diego
• Busabout Europe – Traveling Europe
• Reuniting with High School
• Catching our breath

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