2014...A Part of Growing Up

2014 has been one hell of a ride.  I have grown so much this year and experienced some of the best and most difficult times.  If there's one theme to this year, it has been adaptation.  I've learned that our lives aren't supposed to be perfect.  We are meant to ride the hills and the valleys, learn to accept change, and take an active part in shaping our own lives.  2014 was all about balance- friends, training, family, fun, and the pressure of figuring out what I will be doing in the next 6 months.  Finishing my undergraduate time at the University of Arizona came way too quickly.  Although I've known for a while that I would be finishing college in 3.5 years, it's hard to prepare yourself for the change that ensues after graduation.  If there's one thing that's been more apparent to me these past couple of weeks, it's that I need to stop waiting for the future to come, because as these past months have shown me, time goes by all too quickly.  I realized that I spend time waiting for my future, waiting for the next big race, waiting for the next 'big' thing.  This waiting is a time thief, and although the future isn't clear, I know that time will bring incredible highs and lows, and it will shape my future.  

After spending a summer in Europe I realized just how quickly you forget the seemingly insignificant memories and experiences, so I started this blog.  With 2014 coming to an end, I wanted to remember what made this year one of the best of my life.  


In 20 years, when I look back on this year I'm going to remember the good and the not so good.

The not so good- Moving into a house that breaks almost monthly (dishwasher, AC, sink....), getting fired form Dirtbags in the same day(yep, it's possible), my first real bike crash, and run crash.., getting on the wrong train, missing the right train, seeing my grandmother struggle with Alzheimer's but admiring her ability to always remember her family, and losing my grandfather in March.  My grandad was always so proud of all of his grandkids for graduating college, and I wanted nothing more than to call him and tell him "I did it!"  Although he isn't here, I know he's looking down and smiling at my family as we're all getting out and following our dreams.  

 The good- My first time at disney land(and spending 15 hours there), living in Kappa with 85 other girls for one last semester, signing the lease for our first house in the Caddyshack with 5 of my best friends, being elected as President of TriCats, waitressing at Dirtbags Bar, getting to know Jimmy Riccitello and Doug Friman as the new coaches for TriCats(and realizing just how lucky we are to have them, Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time ever during the best Spring Break trip with the team, turning 21 with my best friend Rosie and getting Iced 6(or 7?) times in one day, training over 5,000 miles this year, watching TriCats become one of the best Triathlon teams in the country at USATCN 2014(and looking forward to seeing even more improvement in 2015!), riding 140 miles with two incredible athletes and women, crying my eyes out during senior year recruitment when we all realized that our time at Arizona was coming to an end, Spending a week on homecoming court with some of University of Arizona's finest, Spending a betchy burque weekender in Albuquerque with my roommates for the Balloon Fiesta, Vegas, Vegas, Vegas, Spending a day in my brothers shoes and trying out downhill MTB, learning to cook healthy italian food from the 3 most adorable old Italian women, drinking Jameson in Ireland, riding bikes in France with Jimmy, canyoning in Switzerland, wine tasting in tuscany, getting lost doing all of those things, and finally finishing my undergraduate degree at the University of Arizona in 3.5 years with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.  

I'm looking forward to the change that is to come in 2015!  Although I don't quite know where I'm going, I know that I have control of my future.  I look forward to growing the relationships that I have and meeting new people along the way.  Cheers to the new year! 

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

―Hunter S. Thompson

Wrong, lost, confused, stranded, but always happy.

"The world is a maze, and the only way I managed to find myself is by getting lost"

http://youtu.be/GG16CDNC0qA

As I'm getting back into the swing of workouts, planning my last year at U of A, and spending a little time at home, I realized just how much traveling taught me, and how much I took away from the my eurotrip.  I got lost in 5 countries, figured it out, and had a damn good time doing it.  Here's a look at the cliches that you hear about travel that I found to be true.  

Fun fact- umbrellas still work like this

1) When things don't go the way you planned- roll with it!  We always joked that we were constantly wrong, lost, and confused, but we were always happy.  The last few months have proved that one being that anything that can go wrong, will.  The trevi fountain will be as dry as the state of Arizona, you will be put on a train that splits in half without being told, the buses/trains/planes will go on strike, you will eat every last emergency cliff bar, your shoe will split when you arrive at the club, air conditioning will break, hot water runs out, and getting lost becomes more comfortable than knowing where you are.   Embrace being lost, because you will be 90% of the time and you shouldn't be in a hurry anyway!  Here's a few of my favorite mishaps of the trip, that actually turned out to be pretty funny.

Literally struggling on a bus

Can't check into the hotel for 3 hours...we'll
just have
a picnic on this bench

If you don't have bug
repellant...this works too 

This is what the end of a
24 hour travel day looks like.
3 girls, 6 large bags, 1 overstuffed
elevator.

2) The world isn't as scary as people say it is.  I think we all grow up with a kind of fear of what we don't know.  We grow up with rules and curfews and boundaries on everything we do.   Taken and Hostel aren't likely to happen.  People aren't all evil, and it's okay to be on your own without fearing every unknown.  It's refreshing to go somewhere where you can set your own boundaries. 

3) My favorite part about going so many places was just meeting people.  There are way too many stories to tell, and way too many people that made my trip amazing.  I found myself saying "Nice to meet you" way too frequently, and actually meaning it.   Generosity is a real thing, and not every local hates you, you don't have to speak the language to be respected, and cultural stereotypes aren't always correct(except the one that says most Italian guys are aggressive- that's pretty on point).  I could go on and on about each of the incredible people that I ran into on my trip.  From hanging out for 10 minutes waiting for a bus, talking for hours on a plane, or giving me a ride from the airport to my hotel.  It's amazing how all of these strangers became lifelong friends. 

4) You're constantly trying new things.  I'm not kidding when I say that I conquered just about every fear that I had on this trip- including, but not limited to public transportation, seafood, and heights.  From eating seafood(and a fish eye), to jumping, sliding, hanging, and repelling into the Grimsel Canyon, to taking every form of public transportation known to man, I can honestly say that I went past my comfort zone.  I learned to say 'yes' to everything- foreign foods, adventures, and cultural things like swimming without a bikini top, eating cheese as a meal, dancing until 6am, and drinking Guinness beer.  

 

5) I learned more from this trip than I could have ever learned in any college class.  The most valuable thing I took away from this trip was a sense of independence.  Some days I would wake up and not know where exactly I'd be sleeping that night.  The best part about it is that I was okay with that! I also spent a lot of time by myself, which I was also completely okay with.  Even when I was by myself, I never felt lonely. I realized that I'm a lot more resourceful than I thought I was because I was basically forced to be.  No one was going to usher me from point A to point B.  You can't be static when you're traveling.  You're constantly thinking of what you're going to do and how you're going to get there.

 

"Often times, we can be so set in our ways that we forget just how many possibilities life holds in store for us."