Travel Out Loud

Upcoming Year

Katie — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:23:53 +0000

This upcoming year is going to be bananas. I think I said something along those lines last year but I’m really feeling 2012. Surely there will be some cool experiences to share so stay tuned.

Here is my current itinerary:
-Ski & Ride Season in Colorado (ongoing)
-SIA Snow Show & Demo Days in Denver and Winter Park, Colorado in January
-Brand ambassador at the Dew Tour in Utah (more on that later) in February
-Meeting in Jacksonville, Florida in February
-Training in Detroit, Michigan in March
-Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in April
-Summer camping trips around Colorado
-Running season
-Directing an international camp for 11yr olds in Colorado (a CISV Village)
-International Meetings in Paris, France in July and August
-Meeting somewhere
-Another meeting somewhere
-Meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio in October
-Ski & Ride Season begins

This is ridiculous. At least 8 flights. This doesn’t even include personal travel. I definitely want to explore the Pacific Northwest some more. It would be cool to check out Seattle or take another trip to Portland, Oregon. If I can find a good flight I’ll check out Vancouver, Canada. There are so many places to go and people to see! Many aimless walks around cities to be had! My life of leisure continues this year so look out world!

The Hazards of my Life

Katie — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:36:28 +0000

Honestly, today is not the first day I’ve googled “Carpal Tunnel.” I can’t have possibly gotten it right? According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, it is defined as

Carpal tunnel syndrome is pressure on the median nerve — the nerve in the wrist that supplies feeling and movement to parts of the hand. It can lead to numbness, tingling, weakness, or muscle damage in the hand and fingers.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001469/

According to this definition, I have it. This is the second time it has happened in my life due to an overuse of iPhone solitaire.

This tells me two things: ONE, I am using my phone way too much. Seriously? It is hurting me. TWO, how privileged am I that I get injured by my phone worth $600 MSRP?

You see, you are supposed to hold it with two hands or like this:

But, I, primate as I am, hold my iPhone like this:

What am I, a dinosaur? Look at the velociraptor grip I have on that thing! In case you’re wondering and haven’t tried it, yes, it is an effective way to play electronic card games. I haven’t played solitare at all today and my right middle finger knuckle still hurts. This hurts when using a laptop mouse or scrolling on a regular mouse. I have little hands so I should be able to hold an iPhone but no, not me. Modern technology might just be out to get us– Siri told me that. She’s in denial about this whole Carpal Tunnel via iPhone thing and said that should couldn’t find any tunnels. Way to dodge the question, girl. Do a quick Google search and you’ll find many people complaining about this happening to them. I thought I’d throw in my experience with it. Follow me on Twitter and I’ll keep you posted.

In case you’re wondering, I have a bandaid on my thumb because I stabbed myself with an industrial size staple while reaching into a cardboard box. It went in pretty far but don’t worry, I’ve avoided stitches with good first aid skills. WAIT! That is a real injury!

My fake injury cancels out my real injury in terms of “all being right in the world,” yes?

First week of the year

Katie — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:37:54 +0000

This first week of 2012 has been a bit boring. It started off with snowboarding in Breckenridge on super thin snow. It was on this day that I saw how much of a banana my Gnu BPro has turned into. It’s so sad. This was a $400ish purchase and it is basically broken. I emailed Gnu and they said that this is regular wear and tear and fine to get warrentied. However, I’m like a month outside of when I bought it and don’t have the receipt. Who keeps receipts? Why should I think my snowboard is going to LOSE ITS CAMBER?! So I can’t do anything about it. After one season, I need another deck.

I cleaned my apartment. I updated my desk area. I worked out. Hung out with a friend. Whole foods has been feeding me all week because I’ve been too lazy to actually walk a few extra blocks to the real grocery store. It hasn’t been about the walk its been about the time and decision making in the store. It seemed like that would be a lot of effort. After being at my parents’ home for a week, suddenly taking care of myself felt like a lot more work.

I played a really awesome word on Words. I took a cool picture.

Or two.

I’m hoping the rest of the year picks up.

New Years Resolutions

Katie — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:05:34 +0000

Every year we all make these resolutions -New Year’s resolutions Hooray!

Last year my resolution was to stop drinking so much coffee. I did. I succeeded. At the end of this year I started drinking more coffee though so maybe I didn’t succeed fully but you know, it was a valiant effort. This year I didn’t know what my resolution should be. After thinking a lot about it I had some help from my Christmas presents. Sure I asked for these things but seeing them altogether made everything clear.

So here is the grand list:
1. Brush up on my French
2. Run more

Yes the list is short but each requires quite a bit of time, energy, commitment, and motivation. I took French in college and was actually pretty good at it. However, in the past few years, I haven’t had the chance to use it and language skills are kind of a “use it or lose it” type of thing. Mainly I’m losing vocabulary. If I try, I can still think and speak in the language but I’ll miss key words that I don’t remember. Because I’m going to Paris this summer, I would really like to converse easily. Parisians love it if you can speak French. Here is where Christmas comes in. I asked for a book or two so I could work on my French but instead of just a book, I got Rosetta Stone! Boom! I’m going to be speaking French again before I know it. Yes it is a little ridiculous but it’s better than fancy jewelry or something–it’s for learning!

Running more is going to be a big one this year too. This past year I didn’t run as much as I have in the past. Living in the mountains definitely worked against me. It’s hard to find motivation when the mountain is calling and none of your friends are ever busy. Plus, with all the snow we got last year, running outside was a wash. In Denver, my friends are busy, I can’t go ride after work, it’s flat, and it is a mild climate. So how do the Christmas presents fit in here? I got running tights, iTunes gift cards, a North Face gift card, and a little running hat. I mean, this is a recipe for success. All I need to do is get out there and do it. Easier said than done.

2012, here we go!

Finally updated my desk area

Katie — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:32:08 +0000

I finally updated my desk area! Hooray! No, there aren’t really new things here but it certainly looks better. I’m planning on displaying my postcards on the wall above the bed. Also, I need to get a chair so I can actually use the desk as it was meant to be used. Any other ideas? Please comment below.

I took the photos with my new Nikon camera. The photos came out really well. The wide angle lens is ridiculous. I can’t wait to get some more shots with it. I’m not used to how bulky it is but the photos are much better than my Casio Exilim.

End of November

Katie — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:13:32 +0000

It is the end of November, er… I mean, Movember. Finally after 3 long weeks, my refridgerater has grown a stashe. Check it out:

Online Discovery

Katie — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:28:07 +0000

I’ve recently found Pinterest, an online bulletin board of sorts where you can “pin” cool, interesting, or stylish things you find on the internet. Not only that but you can follow and “re-pin” things your friends post too. I’ve found it is really helpful for keeping links together– rather than emailing it to myself. Usually when I do this, I don’t fully delve into the site and eventually I lose it. Pinterest is the online equivalent to clipping out your favorite articles from magazines. So far I have boards (i.e. catagories) of snowboarding, my style, for the new apartment, products, and ideas and causes. I imagine these will expand and I’ll create new boards in the future as I continue to use the site.