2012 in Review
2012: I am so, very grateful. And here's why...
I started off the year by weaseling my way into a ski trip my dad had planned for himself. He quickly learned that he can't plan cool trips without his pesky daughter interfering, so for the rest of the year, we were pretty tight traveling companions. A quick weekend was spent at the Brighton ski resort in Utah, and then it was back to school for this girl.
Up next? Spring break. While everyone was showing off their hot bods on the beach, my dad and I were bundled up, trying to navigate through a deserted Toronto.
But the ultimate reason for heading to Canada was to check out Niagara Falls, a landmark that patiently sat on both of our traveling list of buckets.
And although it was definitely the off-season at the Falls, we found no crowds, abnormally warm weather, and we only wasted a little bit of money on traumatic tourist traps. It was awesome.
And then summer showed up and the standby gods were on my side for once. Nicole and I were able to non-rev to Spain and spent some quality time with our long-lost friend, Pablo.
So, our little Spanish adventure started in Madrid, with which I fell in love. My ultimate goal now is to live in Spain.
Then we moved north to the breathtaking San Sebastian...
Took a long detour in Biarritz, France, where we received very poor directional advice from a crazy cat lady...
and enjoyed being lost in France for hours...
Spent a beautiful day in Bilbao, checking out the Guggenheim...
And ended our Spanish adventure on a cold, rainy day in Toledo.
So, we conquered Spain in 9 days (and only $600!) and I have never felt so happy.
As I tried to fight my post-travel depression, I jumped on another flight and spent some time in Salt Lake City with some pretty cute cousins.
If these guys don't help travel depression, I don't know what could.
Then June rolled in, and so did my 21st birthday. But it's probably best that I keep those pictures to myself. Right after I recovered from that, I started my Lockheed Martin internship--what a real-world reality check.
All of the sudden it was the 4th of July, so my mom and I decided to escape to Tucson, Arizona, to spend some time with grandma and grandpa.
I rarely get to travel with mom, so this trip was especially special.
Luckily, Lockheed Martin was nice enough to let me take off for a couple of days in mid-July to join my dad on a trip to Santiago, Chile.
This was also my first encounter with business class on a 9-hour flight with my dad as the pilot... and I'm afraid to say I will never be the same.
I ended my most wonderful summer yet at my favorite place in the world...
If you would have told me the things I would do and the places I would go in 2012, I probably wouldn't have believed most of them. 2013 brings about a lot of changes... (I'm sorry, what happened to college? What is this real world everyone speaks of?!) and as much as it makes me cringe to think about all of the unknown and big decisions heading my way, I have confidence that things will keep on keeping on, just the way its supposed to.
But until then, a trip to Saint Maarten is in my very near future. I have been so excited to photograph the planes landing over the beach for years, so this will be a very promising start to 2013.
Cheers!