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Manifesting Your Dreams

On By ambertravelingIn Pretty Places, Spirituality, Writings1 Comment

I’m facilitating a writing group called “Manifesting your Dreams.” I create the prompts as well as respond to them. Here is my response to the second prompt.

Writing Prompt: What goals do you have for the next hour? Today? Next week? Next year? Next 10 years? Your life? How will you feel if you accomplish all of your goals? How will you feel if everything changes and you accomplish none of them?

In the next hour I plan to flow, flow, flow. In a few hours I’ll drive my grandma’s clunky old car to my friend’s house, but until then I will do what I feel like. I have some vague goals, such as cooking a yummy lunch and cleaning my room, but in no way am I rushing around to do anything. After traveling for 28 months, I’m so happy to be grounded.

I just went on a run at the beach, did yoga on the sand, doing headstands while admiring the sun glistening off the water and watching the surfers.

I’m home again, and loving life in California. Everything is synchronicity. Living in California where the weather is near perfect every day definitely contributes to my happiness! It would be interesting to see how I feel in a colder climate.

Today, I will collect some lemons and limes from various trees of friends so I can incorporate them into my cleanse. This month I am doing a cleanse with no gluten, no animal products, no alcohol, no added sugar, and no caffeine. I feel great! Next week I plan to do a 24 hour water fast, with no computer or talking. Maybe my voice will come back!

This week I plan to relax as much as possible, and mentally prepare myself to start writing my book. I’m working on some articles for WeSaidGoTravel. I want to make a big calendar with goals on it. I have a creative a space in my living room set up already.

Usually I go to some kind of evening activity, such as meditation, yoga, ultimate frisbee, or swing dancing.

In the next year, I want to write my book, earn a little money, and see my sister in Washington DC. In September my plan is to go back to the Philippines to volunteer for a few months, and then head to Japan to start a 1-year teaching English contract with the JET program. If I’m not accepted into the JET program, I might stick around for Christmas in California again, not sure – but I will head to Japan at some point and to find a job as a teacher. I also go into detail about this on my Bucket List.

All these plans are not set in stone, I’m open to flexibility and new things, nothing is booked. I’m footloose and fancy free, as they say!

I envision my 20’s being all about me, learning and developing my skills, helping others but mostly on improving myself. This means teaching, working for nonprofits, spending time with family and friends, doing what I want, but primarily focusing on Self Love!! No reservations or judgments, I love myself completely.

My 30’s I can see myself starting a non-profit, or going to work for another one. I have a vision of starting a project involving kids, music, and art, like a free community center. It will also offer classes in finance and English, and other practical skills. I might start in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, since I know the place already. My friend suggested I have a base in Australia. Or its possible I will do something with the homeless people in the USA, which is a huge problem in my hometown.

After that, from age 40 to 99, or 115, I want to have a family and continue to help with my nonprofits, but mostly focus on my kids and my family. I think I want to be based in California, close to my parents, but have some other places where I can stay in Asia, like in the Philippines and Indonesia.

It’s a lot of pressure that I put on myself to do these things, and I have to keep reminding myself that if it doesn’t happen that I will still love myself unconditionally. It’s a struggle to balance my drive and my determination with complete acceptance of myself and all my faults and mistakes!

Regardless of my 23 year old mind fighting with my infinite soul, I have a vision of myself on my deathbed. I’m about to die, and I look back at my life with satisfaction and gratitude, knowing that I did my best and made a difference to the world. Most importantly I will look back and smile, knowing that I learned how to love myself fully.

My First Solo Road Trip

On By ambertravelingIn Australia, Backpacking, Couchsurfing, Pretty Places, Writings3 Comments

After traveling for 18 months in New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and Australia, I was feeling pretty homesick, so I went back to visit to my favorite town in the world, Santa Barbara, California. Reuniting with my family and friends after missing two Christmases and two birthdays has made me appreciate how lucky I am to have such a strong support net.

A lot of my friends moved up north, so I decided to take a few weeks to visit them – I checked out Mammoth, Lake Tahoe, Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz.

Kymber and her son Zenley, my couchsurfing hosts
Tahoe
Tahoe
My very first solo road trip, 2 weeks with my grandmas car, this is in Mammoth, self timer photo
Tahoe
Trees
Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe
Paddleboarder on Lake Tahoe
Planting kale with Yassi and her really cute friend 😛
Farm occupation in Berkeley
occupythefarm.org
Skyler at his co-op
Nathan on his mock-up pendulum for his Burning Man project
Julia Pfeiffer State Beach, Big Sur, California. THIS IS MY STATE YO.
Big Sur
Got the views just before the fog rolled in!

After skiing with my dad at Mammoth Mountain, I tried to continue on alone to Lake Tahoe, where I had never been before… but my car broke down! Luckily it only took two days to fix, and I had a nice time in the little town of Mammoth. It was snowing, and being from Southern California I never get to spend much time in the snow. When it stopped raining and snowing I bought some roller blades at the thrift store and skated around the scenic bike path that circles the town.

Zigzagging up the narrow mountain roads on the way to Tahoe, I was glad that it wasn’t snowing! Maybe it was fate that my car broke down, because otherwise I would have been driving those steep and dangerous roads in the snow. Once there, I couchsurfed with an amazing girl named Kymber for a few days, she took me to open mic nights and we even got to go zooming around the lake on her friends’ boat!

After Tahoe, I headed to Berkeley, where I stayed with a high-school buddy Skyler at the Wolf Co-Op. Even though I like the concept of communal living, it was so dirty that I couldn’t see myself living there. The next day we wrote a silly song for Mother’s Day that you can watch here, if you like.

I spent the next night with my college friend Shani, and we went balkan dancing – which is really difficult by the way! The counts of the dance are all on threes, fives, and sevens, and I’m used to swing dancing – which is more based on twos and fours.

I checked out the Berkeley Farm Occupation with my old friend Yassi. A vacant lot owned by the UC is one of the last remaining in the area with good soil, and the university plans to convert it into a parking lot. Berkeley students and community members camped out and converted it into a farm over three days. I was lucky enough to help out while they tilled and planted. This DIY farm is an example of community action in motion. Police and the UC system present an obstacle, with loudspeakers blasting “You are violating the law. Cease and desist!” while farm workers sing to counter the negative noise. Keep informed about the fate of this lot via the link above.

Next I saw another childhood friend, Nathan, who is currently working on a big sculpture for Burning Man – check out his stuff here. He received a grant from Burning Man to create  an interactive giant pendulum which participants can ride on.

Miraculously I navigated the freeways of San Francisco to find my friend Emily from junior high school, who is studying to be a speech pathologist at San Francisco State University. After a day helping her study for finals and pack up her stuff, I drove down Highway 1 to Santa Cruz, where I graduated from a year and a half ago. There I climbed trees and played frisbee, just like old times.

Finally, my mom took the train from Santa Barbara to Salinas, and I picked her up there. We spent the next two nights driving down the coast, reveling in the sights of Big Sur.

Going on a road trip (mostly) by myself was very empowering, as traveling alone always is. I’d recommend it to anyone. I’m proud of myself for navigating the highways armed only with a map – no smartphone or GPS. I only got lost once in Sacramento. Planning and coordinating with people to arrange a place to stay can take time, but it’s definitely worth the hassle when you get there! Thanks to everyone who let me stay with them!