Author: radish

I’ve loved traveling for as long as I can remember, and I’ve been dreaming of doing a solo trip for a long time. After putting it off for years, this month, I finally did it. I took a trip to Spain by myself.

A bunch of things were imperfect about this trip. Life got in the way of planning, so besides my flight, I didn’t have logistics settled until the day before I left. Because I was booking so last minute, my options were limited. I almost didn’t get the hostel that I really wanted to stay in and trains were more pricey. And then the morning of my flight out, I got incredibly nervous that I was in way too deep and had no idea what I was doing.

But once I got to Spain, everything seemed to fall into place. I landed in Madrid, and then caught a flight to Sevilla, where I spent two nights. I took the train to Granada, spent another two nights there, before heading to Madrid for four nights. I met a friend there, and spent three days exploring the city with her. After she left, I did a quick day trip to Toledo on the fourth day and then caught my flight back to the US.

I enjoyed the entire trip. I had complete liberty to do what I wanted. I could be incredibly selfish about how I spent my time. There was no pressure about expectations. The only person to make decisions was myself, and the only person to please was myself. It was nice to have the mix of solitude during the day and company when I got back to the hostel. I’ve also been casually working on my Spanish for the last few years, and while I’m far from perfect, it was really cool to be able to use what I’ve learned in real life both this time in Spain, and last month in Mexico.

Some things I would do differently next time — I’d love to travel for a longer period of time, but at a slower pace. During this trip, I visited four cities in eight days, which got a bit tiring. I would look up dining etiquette ahead of time. In Spain, people seat themselves at restaurants. I didn’t know this initially and had quite a few awkward situations before I finally figured things out. I also would do more hostels. I’d booked half hostels and half hotels as a failsafe, since it was my first time trying out shared accommodations. I ended up having a great time and meeting some really cool people, and would definitely do it again.

Overall, this solo trip was such a success, and I’m so glad I was finally able to check this off my bucket list.

Things that happened in September:

1. visited Mexico
2. took a trip to upstate New York and did all the fall things
3. started drinking protein shakes
4. got sick twice
5. visited Orlando and went to Disney World

It’s been another busy month and at this point, I’m just waiting the end of October when things calm down and I can finally just breathe again. But I’m having fun and living life and that matters too!

Things that happened in August:

1. reunited with a friend that I hadn’t seen in 5 years
2. saw a Broadway show
3. went home and celebrated a family birthday
4. visited Las Vegas for the first time
5. tried a gymnastics class
6. reunited with another friend that I hadn’t seen in 4 years

It’s been a busy month and I’ve been so tired that I’ve napped like 10 times in the last 3 days. This is all I have the energy to type out right now.

Winning this lottery after months of trying was so, so thrilling. It felt unreal. Let’s walk through it.

Firstly, it felt like the fates willed this to be. I got the notification just when I was about to leave my apartment for work. It was the smallest window of time where I actually had time to act and purchase my discounted ticket before time ran out. And then the ticket date! I won tickets for literally the only day that I would have been able to go in weeks. It was just too much of a coincidence. The Broadway deities had to be smiling upon me. Thank you Broadway deities.

I went after work. It was a hot summer evening, as it has been in New York recently. This also was my first time going to a show by myself, and it felt especially surreal. While the Theater District has its flaws, it can also be so magical. It’s the New York City younger me dreamed of.

The show itself was amazing as well. It didn’t live up to the original cast, but I also didn’t expect it to. It was so dynamic and there was so much movement. The lottery seats are extremely close to the stage, so it was hard to appreciate the intricacies of the choreography, but I really do think it was done well. I think the ensemble was actually my favorite part for this reason. And the close up seats meant that I could really appreciate their expressions and artistry as they moved across the stage.

I don’t know if I’d have bothered to see Hamilton normally, since tickets are so pricey. But for $10? An easy decision and a dream come true.

At the beginning of the year, I started bouldering. I got a membership and a pair of climbing shoes and I set a goal for 2023: to complete a V3. That was six months ago. And this past weekend, I finally completed my first V3.

I’m not a V3 climber by any means. I probably hover closer to a V1, edging towards a V2. The route type also plays a huge factor — I’m better at certain bouldering skills than others. But this achievement made me realise how much I improved in the last 6 months.

I’ve also been reminded of the importance of consistency. In January, going climbing diligently helped me get my first V2. It took another 5 months for me to get my first V3, but I wasn’t going consistently at all during that time. I spent more time regaining strength I’d lost, than making progress. In fact, I’ve made more progress in the last 2-3 weeks than I did in the last 5 months. And it all comes down to consistency.

I’ve also made a few other changes recently. I’ve started prioritizing sleep (an obvious strategy), and dialing back on other things. I stopped forcing myself to exercise on climbing off days. Instead, I started walking to work rather than take the subway — adding up to 50 minutes of low impact exercise each day. I stopped trying to minimize calories, and instead began opting for a protein rich diet, with a focus on whole foods.

And these changes have also helped me at work. I have more energy during the day. I have more mental clarity. I’m more productive. My life feels really balanced right now and I’m excited to continue with it.

May was a weird month. I nearly made a life-changing decision, but then backed out. I committed to a project that I’ve had on my mind for years and discovered… that I really enjoy it. I realised that I’m a little dissatisfied with life right now. Something is missing and figuring out what is top on my summer bucket list (that’s still in progress).

But back to reflections on May. I worked remotely for most of the month. I spent time with family and friends. I went to a concert for the first time. I gained weight. I went for my first run in months. I neglected real life. I got back to real life.

It was an eventful month. Next month is for me. Many of the things I mention are deliberately left vague for the sake of privacy. So all I’m going to say is, I really feel like I’m in a good position to create some great opportunities for myself. I feel like it’s the right time for it. Maybe next month, finally, I’ll have something more concrete to talk about. But I said that last month, so we’ll see!

This month has been busy, but at the same time it feels like I did nothing at all. Let’s see. I went to a museum by myself for the first time. I visited home. I visited a botanical garden. I finished a book finally after two months. I fell so ill that I basically couldn’t work for a full week.

I’m going to chalk April up to kind of a ramp up month. May is a big month. I have two trips and a quick weekend getaway planned. I have ideas for more solo adventures to squeeze in. I’m planning to get back into reading. I’m hoping to gain back the strength I lost while sick. Hopefully next month I have something I feel like talking about besides how annoying this lingering cough is. Onwards.

In February I saw Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. I’d seen the movie once years before, but this was my first time watching the musical and I had high expectations. Unfortunately once the show started, it only took about 20 minutes before I realised I wasn’t a fan.

Actually, I enjoyed many elements of the show. I loved how elaborate the production was — the costumes! The staging! The effects! I loved the music! I loved the almost ridiculous drama of the whole show! But there was one problem: I hated the operatic elements. Which is a bit ironic considering that this whole show revolves around opera. But it was true. I disliked the opera-esque singing. I knew and understood its technical difficulty, but every time it began, I cringed inside. I left the musical excited to listen to the soundtrack, but also fully resolved to skip all the opera.

Imagine my surprise, nearly a month later, when I listened to The Barber of Seville and promptly fell in love.

My dad had recommended this opera for years, but I’d never gotten around to it. One day at work, I needed something to tune out coworkers, but also something that wasn’t in English so that I couldn’t get distracted by lyrics. I also needed something lengthy enough that I could play it ad-free on YouTube Music. The Barber of Seville fit all the criteria. And now, a few weeks later, it’s my go-to background music when I need to focus.

Let me qualify my love for this opera a bit. I don’t know what it’s about. I don’t know a single lyric. I don’t know who composed it. I don’t know its history. I really only know that it’s Italian. And I love it. I love the singing. I love the score. I love the musicality of it all. It’s so pleasing and pretty to listen to and makes me feel light and airy and lively. And that it makes me feel this way even when at my office desk is nothing short of incredible.

One day I’d love to see The Barber of Seville in person. Maybe even in Italy. Maybe I’ll bring my parents and we’ll have a fun night out — an early dinner of pizza followed by our favorite opera, and we’d end the night discussing our thoughts on it while we slowly walk home. One day.

A few posts ago, I mentioned setting over 40 goals for 2023. In January, I was pretty meticulous about working towards the ones I’d planned for Q1. Just a few weeks later, however, I had to reevaluate. I was coming home from work every day, feeling stressed out and tired and overwhelmed. And I constantly felt like I wasn’t able to do what I wanted to, even though I had all these goals I supposedly wanted to accomplish. So I took a step back and narrowed things down to just a few items.

1. Health/Fitness
2. Work
3. Climbing
4. Personal project

I feel a lot better about this. I can focus on using my energy on what’s really important to me. And the best part is, I’m still seeing progress on my other lower priority goals, since I still work on them when I feel like it. This model also helps remind me of what I should be spending time on if I have free time. I’m liking this a lot better, and I’m seeing a ton more progress on my main goals as a result. Huge fan.

Now I’m going to post this and go to sleep (since I prioritized health and all).

Funnily enough, I didn’t realise the Willow of this album was Willow Smith until just now as I sat down to write this post. This album is definitely entirely unlike Whip My Hair, a song that I still genuinely love over a decade later.

So. Coping Mechanism. On the first listen, I strongly disliked it. After a few more listens, that faded to just a slight dislike. And now, after having it on repeat during work for the last two days, I can fairly confidently say that I’m neutral about it. I get what the album is going for, and why people might like it, but it wasn’t for me. Part of the issue was that guitars, drums, and that type of scream-singing all feature pretty heavily on this album, and for me, the last album I listened to — Reason in Decline by Archers of Loaf — just did those better. The other problem was that I wasn’t in the right emotional state for this. I’d probably need to be in a more angsty frame of mind to properly enjoy this.

There are 11 songs. I didn’t particularly like or dislike any of them. Here are the ones I appreciated the most.

WHY?
Favorite lyric: ”I just wanna, I just wanna stop asking myself why… I just gotta, I just gotta stop questioning my life”
I loved all the lyrics that are sung in that… falsetto? Head voice? I’m not exactly sure what the term is. I really liked the chorus especially — the lyrics are pretty and the way they’re sung is is pretty.

ur a stranger
Favorite lyric: “the least you could do is find someone else, the least you could do…
This is the song that made me feel something. It evokes exactly the heartbreak and hurt and loss that the lyrics are about. The betrayal feels tangible. The drums are done well, and surprisingly, I quite liked the interlude with the screaming.