Hope
Gratitude is such a profound feeling. Not only does it feel good in the moment, but it can propel you to want to do things. Maybe to repay your debt of gratitude, take action towards more things to be grateful for, or just live healthier and happier day today.
Read MoreLast week I celebrated 1 year of blogging 🎉
When I started this blog I primarily wanted a place to share my ever increasing archive of photos and maybe share some of my motivations for traveling. But as I began writing over the past year I realized I have a lot more to say about the topic...
Travel is very special to me. It’s not just the excitement of seeing a new place and getting out of the everyday routine, but it is a way for me to appreciate the world around me and learn more about myself. I frequently write about how I have become more aware of my values through going away, but through this blog I realized I can also keep developing those values by incorporating some of my travel habits and perspectives to my every day. A manifestation of that has been what I am calling my new hometown tourist mentality. I live in arguably the greatest city in the world (NYC) and although I have always appreciated that, this past year I have been far more proactive about seeing my surroundings. I feel like this is such a gift that my first year of blogging has given me.
Another gift I have discovered more recently is an entire community of like-minded travelers who inspire me. They offer such great advice and place-based inspiration. Plus when I am not traveling to a new land I can live vicariously through them! That's why in celebration of my blog I want to thank 5 bloggers (of the many) who I admire and, although they probably don't know it, truly motivate me to travel farther and deeper and continue growing here at See Soo Much.
Trisa Taro is the woman behind The Free Passport, originally from Hawaii but a NYC local her blog spans both the light and serious topics around travel. Visit The Free Passport for stunning photography and travel guides, or for thoughtful articles on issues that impact the way we travel. Some of my favorite posts include 3 Ways the U.S. Presidential Election Will Impact the Way You Travel, Photo Diary: Hiking Cinque Terre, and Here's How You Can Turn 10 Days of PTO into 34 Days of Travel in 2016 (sounds interesting right!?)
website | instagram | twitter | facebook | pinterest
The Exploress and founder Nina Grace is all about empowering women to explore the globe while finding beauty in it all. The site just draws you into place you never knew should even be on your bucket list while simultaneously offering truly practical tips for travel. I really love their posts How to Travel Solo with Confidence, 10 Must Pack Tiny Essentials, and The Alaskan Frontier.
website | instagram | twitter | facebook | pinterest
Sea of Atlas is actually a design studio created by the very talented and stylish Brittany Fabello. Her blog covers topics from lifestyle to business, but my absolutely favorite posts are their travel posts. I am smitten with the photography and absolutely love catching her in the travel act on instagram (can we stay insta-stories on fleek?). Be sure to check out A Weekend in Lisbon, Portugal and her entire Amalfi Coast series!
website | instagram | twitter | facebook | pinterest
I have followed The Travelling Light and author Katie McNoulty for quite a while and love the nonchalant and beautiful nature of her content. There is something so cool about everything she does, and now that I follow her insta-stories I am even more inspired! Explore her website by location, I am currently obsessing over her archive of Bali posts (when I am not stalking here current journey in India on social media!).
website | instagram | twitter | facebook | pinterest
We Are Travel Girls (WATG) is a community of female travelers created by Becky van Dijk and Vanessa Rivers. The website is jammed packed with contributed travel tories and advice that serves as a non-stop source of inspiration. Be sure to read the post I contributed as well as follow WATG on instagram for some major wanderlust.
website | instagram | twitter | facebook | pinterest
Thank you to all of you incredible bloggers out there producing great content! I am so inspired by each one of you I encounter!
Which travel blogs are really inspiring you right now or do you have a blog yourself? Leave them in the comments below, I would love to check them out!
Today is my 1 year blog anniversary! I originally began to write a celebratory post about the things I have learned over the past year but that will have to be saved for another day because today I need to discuss something permeating every aspect of my life, including what I write about here.
Yesterday was the 2016 US presidential election and today we got the results.. It has been a precarious couple of years politically but I remained hopeful that we as a country would unite again and make history electing our first female president, as we did in 2008 electing our first black president. But as the whole world knows, that is not what happened. Instead, half of the country decided to go for the isolationist, far more controversial and less qualified candidate. I truly feared this because Donald Trump has repeatedly proven that he is a misogynist, xenophobic, close-minded person with (to put it very generously) a history racist tendencies. As I write this I am holding back a lot of strong words about him right now out of my respect for the office of the President and hope that he will change for the better.
To speak openly, I feel personally hurt right now. Hurt as a woman, as a racial minority, as a religious minority, as someone from an economically disenfranchised class, as a supporter of the LGBT equal rights movement, as a citizen of the country who claims it stands for the equality of all. Hurt that the most qualified woman and devoted civil servant to this country did not win this election. And hurt that our country is so divided and entrenched in a white supremacist and anti-feminist culture that we chose Trump specifically. I woke up this morning unprepared to face the fact that hate won. But despite all of that I am forcing myself to redetermine. Hate won't win. I redetermine to spread love and tolerance. Redetermine to focus on similarities and not differences. Redetermine to come together for the greater good of all society. And redetermine to never give up in the face of defeat.
A friend wrote a very poignant article on how this election impacts the way you travel prior to the election and now on the other side of this election I reflect on some of our vulnerabilities. I am asking myself how we can create a culture in this country to protect against these threats in the future. US citizens, as holders of arguably the most powerful passports and greatest political and economic influencers in the world, I feel have a responsibility to understand (if not see) more of the world. Yes domestic issues are important, but I think a short-sightedness on only our own personal challenges is what allowed so many to become so cynical. So I want to end this post with something a little less complain-y and a bit more motivating...
I write this post not to offend or divide. It is one opinion of millions and I truly believe each person’s opinion and experience is valid. My hope is to just work together toward a loving society that works for all and not just a few.
I would love to hear how others are feeling about this election, in the US and abroad. I want this to be a safe space where we can share, so please keep that in mind if you choose to comment.
