Surfing in Lima

While many people just use Lima as a connection city to Cusco, it has its own gems that are worth spending a couple of days exploring. One of my favorites was surf school. Lima sits atop cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The coast has rolling waves that aren't too big, aren't too small, and are perfect for beginning surfers. Without reservations, we went one afternoon with a dream to surf. Within an hour, Jimmy and I were standing up, haphazardly steering our boards, and riding waves. It was exhilarating! 

Surfing in Lima in 5 easy steps:

1. Go to the coast in Miraflores. It's the part of town that borders the coast and has the best restaurants in town. 

2. Find where the paragliding is. You can see paragliders all along the coast in Miraflores, so find where they take off and land. 

3. From the paragliding location, go north to find the stairs that lead down to the beach. Tents of different surf schools are set up at the bottom of the stairs.

4. Walk around the tents and talk to instructors. Get price quotes and ask to check the equipment. The equipment  included in the price should be a wetsuit, water shoes, and a surf board. 

5. Once you find a competent instructor, a fair price, and equipment in good shape, go surfing! 

For a private lesson lasting an hour and a half, we paid $16 USD per person. We talked to about six different surf schools before finding F Vidalf Surf School. 

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viva south america

14,053 miles by plane, train, bus, boat, taxi, and foot

32 pound pack
28 days

8 cities, towns, or villages 
4 friends

2 countries

endless adventures

Today, I leave for 3 weeks in Peru and 1 week in Brazil. To say I'm thrilled is an understatement. It will be the first time my boyfriend, Jimmy, and I will backpack across a continent together. On the itinerary:

Paragliding

Sand boarding

Dune buggying

Surfing

Hiking

Canyoning

Rafting

Snorkeling 

Diving 

This is truly a trip of a lifetime and a dream come true. Stay tuned for updates along the way!

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three perfect days in chicago -- summer edition

My sweet sister, Cheryl, visited me in Chicago last weekend. For her third annual trip, we were able to focus more on the local Chicago experience. Chicago winters last so long that the city comes alive when there's sunshine! Chicago boasts amazing architecture, a foodie culture, and activities on the lakefront. Not to mention the neighborhoods... Chicago is famous for its unique and diverse neighborhoods. Each one has its own personality, culture, and park.

{Beautiful skyline from the Lincoln Park Zoo}

Friday

• Run on Lake Michigan. Great lakefront trail that travels the length of the city. It's scenic, breezy, and motivational. 
• Art Institute of Chicago, which was recently named the #1 Museum in the World by TripAdvisor. Must go!
• Chicago White Sox game. While the White Sox aren't my first choice of Chicago baseball teams, they were playing the Texas Rangers {Shout out to my home team}. On Mullet Night {It's a thing}. Usually you can find me cheering on the Cubs. 

{I could get used to this mullet}

Saturday

• Shopping in Lincoln Park. Anthropology and Nordstrom Rack on the same street? Yes please.
• North Avenue Beach after strolling through Lincoln Park Zoo. There's something about laying on a beach in the middle of the city. Just don't get into the water--it recently defrosted from our harsh winter. For those of you who don't know, Lincoln Park Zoo is free. And it's great for being a free zoo. It's lovely to stroll through because you don't feel guilty about not seeing everything there is to see since it's free. 
• Picnic + concert at the Ravinia. Out in the Highland Park suburb, this is the music festival that made music festivals a thing. Its perfect for picnics on the lawn, and people take their picnicking seriously. The grounds look like a fairytale, and I must say that we had a magical time. If riding the Metra out to the burbs isn't your thing, there are free concerts in Millennium Park on Mondays and Thursdays at 6:30pm.

 {North Avenue Beach}

{Martin Theater at Ravinia}

Sunday Funday

• Willow Creek Community Church. Wonderful nondenominational church as diverse as the city of Chicago. Their heart is geared toward social justice, not a social club. It's the first church that has felt like home to me. 
• Riding Divvy bikes. For $7/day, these bikes are available for rent at stations all over the city! Get the app to find where to pick one up.
• Taste of Randolph street festival. Once it's warm, Chicago has street festivals every weekend. Check out the schedule and get on it.
• Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier. Touristy, but romantic. What can I say?
• Drinks at the J. Parker. In the trendy Lincoln Hotel, this rooftop bar offers great views, fancy drinks, and a DJ.
• Dinner on the patio at Parson's Chicken and Fish. Set in the hipster Logan Square neighborhood, we saw many hipsters. But hipsters like good food. So I go where they go. Plus, there's ping pong and purple drank while you wait for a table.

While Sunday may have been jam packed, it didn't feel like too much. We rode bikes everywhere we went to avoid traffic. We ate well, drank well, and didn't feel guilty about it {because we rode bikes}.

 {Divvy bikes at City Hall}

{Navy Pier Ferris Wheel}

*Special thanks to Jimmy for being our photographer and chauffeur. We appreciate it!

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rebranding

what to say when you feel old and boring...

Can I go back to college? That's how my blog, Tex and the City, felt. I created the blog when I was 23 to chronicle my adventures gallivanting across Manhattan with my best cowgirls. Sex and the City = Tex and the City. See what I did there? You can reminiscence with me here.

{Better than the real DCC...at least to New Yorkers}

Tex and the City became irrelevant when I moved to Chicago and joined Teach For America. Different city, different people, different life. (Just Google "sexy Chicagoans" and you'll see that there are no Carrie Bradshaws in the Midwest.) My posts became increasingly more depressing and unfocused until I finally gave everybody a break and stopped writing altogether. You're welcome.

but, my passions...

For the past three years I taught in low-income neighborhoods in Chicago while concurrently going to school for a master's degree. I felt overwhelmed and busy. As a byproduct, I fell away from the things I loved so much when I started this blog in 2011. I like writing. And I think I'm good at it. I like photography. And I think I'm okay at it. I like cooking. And I'm working on it. Most of all, I LOVE traveling. And I think I'm fantastic at it! This re-branding is an attempt to mesh my younger, more creative self with my older, more logical self.

{woohoo!}

adventure + samurai = the adventurai 

What does it mean? To live fearlessly and independently. To never lose your sense of wonder. To fiercely follow your dreams. To be open-minded. To make things happen. To question. To love unbiasedly. To really listen and, maybe, gain a new perspective. To be spontaneous. To follow through.

Although I don't embody all of these qualities all of the time, I do on my best days. It makes me feel unstoppable. It makes me feel like an adventurai.

{obligatory introspective photo, Seville, Spain}

How do you mesh your younger and older selves? {comment below}

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Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Personal anguish turned to triumph through a physical feat. Cheryl Strayed lost her mother to cancer and spiraled downward until the only place to go was up. Her up was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail {think west coast Appalachian Trail}. Through the seclusion of the wilderness, the people she met, and the extreme physical excursion of backpacking, she was healed. This story hit a personal cord with me as I've experienced the same fundamental thing. I lost my father to cancer and was healed by raising money for cancer research and riding my bicycle from Texas to Alaska in 2009 {think the longest annual charity bike ride in the world}. It's powerful.

Read while relaxing on the Williams' dock at Logan Martin Lake over MDW. Highly recommended.

"How wild it was, to let it be."

Have you had a Wild experience? {comment below}

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James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl has a way with storytelling, and this book is no different. His magical creativity, rhymes, and wit captivated my students. James goes on one hell of an adventure with some new friends. His young wisdom and positive outlook on life is something we can all learn from.

Read aloud to my second graders. Recommended.

"We are now about to visit the most marvelous places and see the most wonderful things!"

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What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman

If you believe in "doing the thing you're supposed to do in the place you're supposed to do it," if you believe in acting slutty while abroad, and if you believe in travelling in your twenties {or thirties}, then this is the book for you! Sitcom writer, Kristin Newman, gushes about her single girl adventures. Funny at times, sad at times, entertaining all the time.

Borrowed from my travel obsessed friend, Elle, and read on our girls' weekend to Park City. Recommended.

"doing the thing you're supposed to do in the place you're supposed to do it."

When have you done the thing you're supposed to do in the place you're supposed to do it?

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Yes Please by Amy Poehler

After hearing rave reviews, I jumped on the bandwagon. She reads the book herself in the audible version with high energy. I had high hopes and was disappointed. Poehler's memoir dove into the murky waters of being directionless. Yes, it followed her career and relationships, but it jumped around and didn't seem to have a deeper message. At parts, her voice carried a tone of entitlement, which left a bad taste in my mouth. Aside from a few quotable one liners {below} and guest appearances, it wasn't worth the time.  

Jimmy and I listened to the audible version while road tripping to the Grand Canyon. Not recommended.

"It's easier to be brave when you're not alone."

What did you think of Yes Please?

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