Ahh, November. The month of America’s presidential election. WOW, was this a tough month to get through, or what?! Despite the shocking (and upsetting and scary and alarming and blood-curdling…I could go on) presidential outcome, there were a lot of exciting events that went on, too! Let’s just get right down to it.
Destinations Visited
Sacramento, CA — 18 days
Los Angeles, CA — 2 days
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico — 2 nights
The Highs
This month, I was offered my very first sponsored post! This is a huge achievement in the blogging world! A company actually wanted to pay me to write an article! Finally! And even better, it fit with my brand (and now I use it all the time). If you’d like, you can show me some love by reading the post here : Reviewing The Best Weather App For Travelers And Outdoor Adventurers.
Thanksgiving in Mexico! This month, I worked a 10-day cruise contract from LA to Cabo San Lucas for 2 different overnights there. I had street taco’s for Thanksgiving dinner and went clubbing (solo, like a weirdo) that night. Despite not really being a “clubbing person” and being alone, it was actually a lot of fun! Plus, we had a really great team onboard which included a lot of awesome youth staff that I’ve worked with before on past ships!
This month, I got to dog sit two of my favorite Rover pups! Dog sitting and dog walking through Rover these past few months has been such a blessing in bringing me extra money while also getting my dog-fix! Sign up here if you’d like to earn money by playing with puppies too!
The Lows
In my own personal opinion, the US presidential election was by far the biggest low. I won’t say anymore.
I dealt a lot with a person this month that repeatedly guilt-tripped and manipulated me. What’s worse was I considered this person to be a friend/family member, and I genuinely just wanted to help them out. I’m always giving people the benefit of the doubt and I always try to see all sides of a story or an issue. But sometimes giving in to a toxic friendship or relationship does way more harm than help. I found myself doing constant favors for them and giving so much of my work time up for them, with very little in return. Me working from home was also not being taken seriously, so enough was enough. Know anyone like this? Tell me how you handled it in the comments!
Memorable Food
By far, the most memorable food this month came from The Parlor Ice Cream Puffs in Sacramento, CA. This sweets spot creates eccentric looking desserts that are just way too pretty not to photograph. I don’t feel one bit ashamed for devouring a fatty ice cream-filled donut in 30 seconds flat. See a photo of this beautiful beast below.
Guess who’s back. Back again — the boyfriend and I headed back to T4 TEA FOR U to get bubble tea! Probably the 4th time I’ve been here in the last month or so. #IGot99Problems #ButTryingNewBubbleTeaFlavorsAintOne
And of course, I gotta mention finding delicious street taco’s in Cabo for more than half the price of the touristy restaurants in town. You know its legit when you’re sitting in a plastic chair and it takes at least 10 minutes before anyone waits on you — if anyone waits on you. ;)
Best Wildlife Shot
While walking by the Arts and Crafts Market in Cabo San Lucas, I heard a weird ‘arffing’ noise. This giant a$$ sea lion was just sitting there by the water taxi’s waiting for someone to throw him food! It was really neat to see this guy so closely, but I wish he had a little more fear of humans than he did. This is just another reminder that people shouldn’t be feeding wild animals! Especially not for the sake of tourists.
Most Popular Instagram Shot
Cheers to perseverance! My boyfriend and I had been gifted with a 3-night complimentary stay in North Lake Tahoe in October. I instantly started researching cool hikes in the area and found a neat one that led to the Martis Peak Fire Lookout. We attempted to use the directions I found online, but after over 4 hours of hiking to dead ends in the snow and it nearing sunset, we bailed. The next day we tried again with better directions and it was amazing at how fast and easy it was! We had been SO close! Glad we didn’t completely give up on it!
Posts Written
Shoulder Season Activities in North Lake Tahoe — From a fire tower hike to kayaking crystal clear waters, here are the best shoulder season activities in North Lake Tahoe!
Retrospects : September 2016 — Read on for an overview of my September 2016 destinations and adventures. Also included are my highs, lows, goals accomplished, and more!
Goals Accomplished
This month, I grew my snapchat following (@ajauntwithjoy) by doing two snapchat takeovers! One was for TravelFacts and the other for NomadApp. Both while I was working on the cruise ship and wandering around Cabo. It’s always fun to show you all the ins and outs of cruise crew life and cool destinations!
Goals For Next Month
Now that I’m home from my cruise contract, I’d like to try at least 2 new foodie places here in Sacramento, and go to at least 1 new event. It’ll also be the Christmas season, so I’d like to write a gift guide blog post!
Coming Up…
My family all flies in to visit me! I. AM. SO. EXCITED! With my parents and my sister all still living on the East Coast, it’s been pretty difficult for me to fly back and forth from California to see them, especially over the holidays when flight prices skyrocket. “Thanksmas” couldn’t come soon enough! Stay tuned for our NorCal adventures!
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Comments
November was…interesting, wasn’t it? :P It sounds like you had some great adventures, though! I only drove through Tahoe this past spring, but I want to go back it looks so beautiful! And totally feel you about the toxic friend situation. Something I’ve heard that really resonated with me was that we don’t owe someone else anything, meaning just because they’d prefer we stay the same, we don’t have any obligation to be the same person from one moment to the next. Just because someone has been in our lives for a long time, if they’re no longer supportive, maybe they don’t really need to be a big part of your life. It’s a lesson I learn again and again, because I have a lot of guilt around changing friendships and outgrowing other people.
Exactly!!! I always want to believe the very best of people and I tried to help this person whenever possible because I saw how much they were struggling. But when they constantly asked for favors to get out of those struggles (that they created for themselves time and time again), while giving zero gratitude or respect in return, I knew I had to lay down some boundaries. Which is really really hard for me. I hate confrontation lol. But this toxic friendship situation has certainly increased my own self respect. They say you teach people how to treat you based on how you treat yourself and what you allow them to get away with, and I wasn’t doing a very good job at voicing what was okay and what was not okay.