Life is Good Again

I finally did it.

I opened my wallet, logged on to cheaptickets.com, arranged my flight, and clicked the beautiful blue 'CONFIRM' button that would restore my happiness in an instant. I am going to Puerto Rico!

The separation between travel and I has been bleak. There were many long nights spent lying awake dreaming of travel, dreaming of what I would do when we saw each other again. I imagined myself in the airport and what I'd be wearing when we met. I thought about travel every day. There were moments of watching others in the 'honeymoon' phase of their pre-trip planning, booking backpacking trips around South America, and having fun in the sun in St. Lucia–they all looked so happy.

What about me?! I should be traveling too!

Travel was definitely in the air and I needed to have some of it.

Even the billboards on the side of the road were starting to speak to me. One read: Summer is Coming, Where Are You Going? That's right! Where am I going? Another billboard for Contiki Tours read: Come Travel With Us. Yes Contiki, maybe I will come travel with you. Even the universe wanted to see travel and I reunited. It was time to book a trip.

Seven months of separation was enough.

So travel, here I come. I am ready, I have a new bathing suit, my itinerary is nicely outlined on my shiny new iPhone app, and the Dopplr locator on my blog finally says something other than: Tara is at home in Los Angeles. I am alive!

21 days, 4 hours, and 30 minutes to go...Puerto Rico, I can't wait to see you.

Life is good again.

Through the Window of a Shrimp Truck

My search for a travel friendly, cubicle-free lifestyle ended with a shrimp truck.

Well, not ended exactly, more like made a pit stop.

Yes, a shrimp truck, as in prepare shrimp, cook shrimp, and serve shrimp right from the truck.

I never imagined what I could see from the inside of a restaurant on wheels. Actually, I suppose I never imagined I would ever be inside a restaurant on wheels. But the travel bug makes me do crazy things.

Throughout the bustling and trend-hungry streets of Los Angeles, there is an underground culinary culture that is 'The Food Truck.' And people are serious about their trucks. Really serious.

Edibles from all corners of the world are represented on one truck or another; there is something for every palate. Angelenos use all forms of social media to follow these trucks to the ends of the Earth if need be. All for a chance to quench their thirst for the tasty delights that exist solely on wheels.

From the window of The Shrimp Guys truck, I have seen L.A. I have seen new places. I have seen new people. I have seen a new sense of community and friendship in this culture of trucks and their family of followers. Sure, I have traded in my heels and pencil skirts for sneakers and an apron (which, let's face it, isn't my cutest outfit). And at the end of every day, I return home with the heavy aroma of garlic attached to every ounce of my being, instead of an incessantly ringing blackberry that gives me anxiety and nightmares.

But every day I find a new piece of the puzzle that is Los Angeles. Every day I make new friends in the food truck family, and every day is a new food adventure.

One of the best (and my personal favorite!) ways to experience a culture is to share and enjoy the food of its people. I am tasting my way through the likes of Los Angeles, one scrumptious shrimp plate at a time.

Oh, the things you can see through the window of a shrimp truck.

An Escape From Life As You Know It

Vegas.

In a word: Craziness!

Extended backyard visit #2 (I am really working on this backyard adventure thing)...road trip to Las Vegas!

Aah, Vegas. One of those places that fills the heart with excitement at the sound of the name. Well, either excitement, or worry...depending on what kind of mischief your personal Vegas excursions might entail, but for me, excitement.

A brief glimpse into the life of a Vegas adventure: Decide to go on Thursday. Go to work (or don't...if you're me) Friday–leave work early (or take your time, paint your nails, take a nap, watch a movie) pack, and hit the road. Arrive late. Eat. Change, go out to party. Fun, fun, fun. Eat. Crawl into bed between 5 and 6 am. Saturday–Wake up groggy somewhere around midday. Eat. Gamble/Shop/Pool/Drink, whatever most strikes your fancy. Chill. Eat. Get ready for partying Round Two. Cutest outfit, hit the club. Wait to get in, or if you're fancy...skip the line entirely. Fun, fun, fun. Eat. Crash. Sunday–Wake up extra groggy this time now that two rounds is starting to catch you. Eat. Make the slow and traffic ridden trek home, all the while discussing all the bits and pieces of crazy that took place over the course of the trip, looking at the pictures you probably forgot were taken, and cracking up at the hilarity of it all. And then eat again.

Las Vegas, Nevada may not be one of those typical travel destinations. Not one where you stop to see sights, wear a fanny pack and sneakers (although NO destination could ever find me caught dead dressed like that!) and take pictures of endless structures you will never remember the names of. But it is a vacation for your soul. A place where you can forget that you are unemployed/broke/unhappy/bored/single/married (sad, I know) and everything else that is real, get lost in a jungle of fantasy and lies and enjoy yourself completely for just a few days.

It is a temporary escape from life as you know it.

On the Beaten Path

I said I was setting out to explore my backyard, and I did. I finally went somewhere! Well I guess 385 miles to San Francisco is more like my very extended backyard, but it's still in my state! Half shrouded in fog and almost disappearing completely in parts, the Golden Gate Bridge really is incredible (and not in the opening scene of Full House kind of incredible...the real kind). It. Is. Cold. Even though it's just 52 degrees this marine air makes it feel much chillier as the damp breeze pinches your cheeks and frizzes your hair. Somehow, it's still so romantical up here that couples can't seem to maintain a decent space between themselves. Maybe they are just trying to keep warm. Some exotic Brazilian tourists pose for crazy pictures to take back to friends and family that are missing out on this. A French family stops for photos. The wide-eyed, young daughter is eager to take as many photos as humanly possible..."Maintenant, avec Papa!" One with Daddy now. The whole world passes through here, even if for some it is just on the daily commute home from the grind. Vista Point is cloudy, cold, littered with tourists and we are only here because our exit to the Presidio jumped out of nowhere, and we missed it. Clearly, this is on every tourist's map of things to see in San Francisco, and I sincerely doubt locals ever stop off here on their way to or from anywhere. But it turned out to be a beautiful mistake. This bridge is a truly magnificent structure. And although it always seems more enticing to get 'off the beaten path' and discover something untried, sometimes you need to take a glimpse through the eyes of a visitor in order to experience your own environs. On the beaten path isn't so bad sometimes.

Today, Travel Came to Me

Today I am a traveler, and I haven't even left home! Lines of locals and tourists alike littered the streets trying to get into a street food fair in downtown Los Angeles. I am seeing new parts of my own city. Who knew we had a food fair? I get to eat food ALL day?! Definitely my kind of day. I think this might be a small slice of heaven. Its almost like an assembly of all these different countries got together to share their fabulous food with me (and a thousand other people). They even gave me a passport! So what if it was just a little ticket to get stamped at each place so I could win something? I got to "travel" through the culinary world all in one afternoon. It was enough to satiate my bug, and my appetite for the day. I guess this whole idea of travel being a state of mind and how you can be a traveler in your own home town is true after all. I drive through downtown Los Angeles all the time and curse the horrid drivers and senseless traffic, but today, that same place turned into a little food sanctuary. Travel really is about new experiences. There are things to be discovered right in my backyard, I just have to find them. And considering that my backyard is currently the only place I can afford to go...I will start looking. Travel and I have now been separated for 3 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days (but who's counting?) so I needed this. I know travel and I will be together again soon, but in effort to prevent a severe travel bug induced meltdown, today travel came to me.