Starting Out....Miami!

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I suppose as this is my first entry, I'll start at the beginning;

I'm a twenty-two year old who is recently (ish) single, nearly a college graduate (one more internship!), new-found homeowner, loving mother to two cats, full-time (sometimes way over full-time) employee with a crazy itch to travel. I want to see everything and experience what new places and people have to offer.

Feeling tired of constantly telling people of all the traveling I would someday do, I booked a spur-of-the-moment solo trip to Miami about a week before I was scheduled to to fly out. It marked what I hope is the first of many adventures to come.

Ok, I realize you may be rolling your eyes and thinking "Big deal, it's just Miami," but I'm hoping you're more of my my mindset, being that I'm just excited to be traveling at all. You may have noticed the words "new-found homeowner" and "nearly a college graduate," which really translate into 'fairly (read: very) limited budget.' Sure, I have plans for touring the world later in life, but yes, that's going to have to wait for at least a couple of months. Right now, I'm happy to be seeing more of whatever I can.

Miami was new for me, and I had a blast. I booked a four-day, three-night stay a bit north of South Beach. I met some really neat people on the flight down (God, I love flying and airports!) and had a great taxi-ride (the houses were so, so cool) to the hotel. From there, I dropped my luggage off and set out on foot to see all I could possibly see in the time that I had. I hoofed it all over Miami, averaging about 15 miles a day. I loved the Art Deco District, and went there three of the four days I was down there. I had a few meals at some of the different hotels along that strip that were great (just make sure to stay farrrrr away from the ridiculously overpriced drinks!). I also walked the Boardwalk, some of the beaches, around many of the gorgeous and huuuge hotels, and around some of the residential areas. The architecture everywhere I went was awesome- colors, details- so much to take in!

All in all, I had a great time- met some interesting people and got to see something new.

My first adventure behind me, I found a few things;

First of all, when I told people that I was going on a trip, at least 80 percent of the time the response would be "Oh! You're so lucky; I wish I could go on a trip!" Second, everyone was surprised to hear that I was taking the trip alone.

Here's what I think;

First of all, yes, I'm definitely a lucky girl, but that's beside the point (side note: I think that a person's attitude and actions contribute a lot to their "luck"). Whenever someone told me they wished they could take a trip, I'd ask them what was stopping them. I found that the more I talked to people, the more they realized that there's actually not that much stopping them.

As far as traveling alone- I love it. I think that you meet people and see things that you wouldn't notice if you were with someone else. Don't get me wrong- there are definite benefits to traveling with others, too, but traveling alone has its perks. I think a lot of people are intimidated by the idea, but I think it makes the experience much more about the place, and if you take advantage of it, you can have a much 'deeper' (for lack of a better word) vacation.

My hope is that I can inspire others to get out there. If traveling is something you want to do, there are usually no real excuses not to. I hope I can make people realize how easy it really is to do (even on a tight budget!). Too many people spend too much time wishing. As for me, well, I just booked six days in San Francisco...

Until next time, all the best,
Becky

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Comments

[Nerd boy]

AWESOME
That's awesome! I can't wait to see all of the other continents, but until then I'll travel like you. Thanks for being an inspiration!