Hello, good evening, and good night!

Where ever you on on this beautiful earth.

It has been a super long time since I’ve come on here and updated you on my life.

You know, all the things that have come to pass, if I’ve managed to achieve any of the goals I placed on myself when I started this blog, etc. 

I just re-read one of my first posts talking about my journey , and I have definitely come some way from when I wrote it.

In fact quite a bit has happened, mostly travel wise.

So we’ll start there.

Life Update! Whats new with blogging, travel and the love life

Travel

This year has been a huge one for travel and it ain’t over yet (keeping my fingers crossed). 

I started off the year with a wedding in the Dominican Republic, which I was happy Le boyfriend was able to attend with me.

We spent an awesome week escaping winter and spending time on the beach, visiting the island a little, and partying it up with the bridal party.

They had family and friends capture the moments of their wedding instead of hiring a photographer which was nice. I sort of became the unofficial wedding photographer with my new google pixel 3 xl and it’s amazing camera.

At least that’s what it felt like, but seriously, the portrait mode on this thing is cray!

I barely even brought out my DSLR camera that week!

After a week in the Dominican, I came home for 2 weeks before setting off to Southeast Asia.

Somehow I caught a virus while in the DR and it ended up causing Vertigo, which is NOT a fun thing to deal with.

My heart seriously goes out to people who suffer from it.

I literally felt like I was on a rocking boat every time I was in an upright position.

It was hoorrible.

It made going to work super hard, but because of the long travel I was about to embark on, additional time off (even for being sick) was simply not an option.

Luckily I got prescribed some good ‘ol drugs that worked hard at riding my body of the nasty virus.

I was feeling about 98% okay by time my long haul flight to Asia rolled around.

Southeast Asia

Asia was a place I’d been dreaming about going to for so long.

After planning for over a year with my closest friends (and some extended ones), we set off on this trip of a lifetime.

We visited Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia in the span on 34 days!

Sometimes I seriously can’t even believe that we made it happen and that we visited all the countries we did.

Luckily I have the pictures, videos, and memories to prove it!

But what’s even better is that I had extended my part of the trip and planned an additional month of travel with Yann.

He flew down and met up with the group in Thailand where we all spent a week together.

When it came time for my friends to fly home, we flew on to Bali, followed by Australia and New Zealand.

Crazy right!

I know!

I literally have thousands and thousands of photos and videos to go through, but I’m excited to edit them and just to relive those amazing months.

Now I used up ALL my vacation time at work and then some, so anymore trips are pretty much out of the question until my year renews in September.

However, I have decided that I want to explore my own Country and the nearby cities and towns a bit more.

I’ve wanted to visit all the cute towns in Europe and in other parts of the world so much but I’ve neglected the ones that are right here. One’s I don’t have to get on a plane to visit. 

How foolish of me *throws hand over my face in horror for dramatic affect*

I’ve begun doing some research and there are several cute towns just a short drive away.

Not to mention there’s lots of beautiful scenery as well.

So while I can’t take a long vacation, I can definitely take a day or two and explore my own province.

I’m totally looking forward to that. 

But let me tell you, when September hits, and my vacation renews, you better believe I will be planning some new trips!

Work

Nothing new here, let’s move on.

Just kidding, work is…well work.

Not much has changed except that I’ve moved to a new department which I think has been good for me.

I was really getting down because I’d been in the same department for about 5 years. (Omg I hadn’t realized it had been that long, ackk)

I worked at the refunds desk and after seeing the same thing over and over and dealing with the same members (like why are you always here returning stuff!), I was tired.

It was also disheartening to see the amount of food and materials going to waste day after day, and I didn’t want to deal with it anymore.

So when the opportunity came to transfer to the tire center department, I thought about it long and hard, ultimately deciding to move over for my peace of mind.

So far it’s been good, a nice change of pace and scenery, but it has its own set of difficulties as well.

We won’t get into all of that (just yet), but for now, I’m happy I made the switch.

Working at Costco has its ups and downs, there’s a lot of benefits, but there are also a lot of drawbacks.

I don’t know if I actually mentioned where I worked before, but here it is!

For someone that is a creative and is so passionate about travel and changing up the day to day, it can be super taxing on the mind and body doing the same thing day after day after damn day.

I’ve been asked to write about it before, and I have actually put a lot of thought into it, so keep your eyes out, there just may be a Costco blog (or series haha) coming around.

The Blog

I spent some time away from the blog, as a lot of distractions kept me busy (mainly family ones).

Over the summer, I’d been working two jobs (a total of 75+ hours a week) and I simply didn’t have the time or the brain power and focus it takes to produce blog posts.

But let me tell you how gooood it felt coming back to it.

Writing and putting my thoughts into words, editing photos and doing what I love to do which is sharing my experiences and travels with you.

The why of why I started this blog hasn’t changed and I am still hoping to inspire you (yes you, my friend) to pursue your goals and dreams of work and travel while I continue to do the same!

Le Love Life

I am happy to say the Franglish relationship that is Shylo and Yann is still going strong.

As I said earlier in the post, Yann came down in January and we flew to the Dominican together.

Although the week went by way too fast (as it always does), it was still an amazing one.  I think more so because he was there with me and I love sharing my experiences with him. *ughh mushy, I know *

Then after a not so brief separation and after spending the month with my friends, Yann flew down to Thailand where we all partied it up together.

I’m using the term “party” very loosely lol, we are not party animals.

We then spent another 4 weeks travelling together and it was AH-mazing.

We became closer and more comfortable as a couple and I believe we found a better understanding of each other as well.

Long distance relationships are really hard, you don’t get to see the other person for extended periods of time and sometimes that can be very taxing and stressful on the relationship.

If future plans for seeing each other aren’t already in place, it can be even more distressing.

After a lot of deliberating and weighing the pros and cons, I’ve  been thinking of making the crazy and wild decision to take the leap and move to France.

Woah, hadn’t made it a public announcement yet, but here it is

I am seriously over the whole seeing each other 2 maybe 3 times a year and then going months without.

Seriously Over it.

Plus I knew if I wanted to see if “we” could really work, we had to be together for an extended period of time and in normal day to day settings.

While I believe that, I am also a firm believer that traveling with your significant other is great for your relationship and you can truly learn about them and see if you are compatible while on the road.

While the prospect of moving to France and being with Yann excites me, I think it is more on the terrifying side.

Leaving my family and friends behind, thinking about finding work and applying for visas and what not is scary business.

Leaving everything I know and am comfortable with is not an easy thing, and I know I really need to muster up the strength and courage it’ll take to make it legit.

I know I have Yann to help me along the way but my heart literally has palpitations when I think of it haha. 

What’s that saying, feel the fear and do it anyways…

Well your girl is feeling the fear, but she is definitely going to try to do it anyway.

I’m so looking forward to being in Europe with my main squeeze and the travel options that we’ll have together.

Europe is definitely going to get touched by me, or I should say us!

So stay tuned, cause I will definitely have some more updates for you.

Until next time, stay blessed ♡

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Live life to the fullest, and focus on the positive

-Matt Cameron

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