Zaha Hadid's MAXXI

Last week the world suddenly lost Zaha Hadid. She was a talented inspiration to women, architects, Middle Easterners and so many more. I first encountered her work through my partner who is an architect and alert to all things important and cool ;) in the design world. I was impressed after seeing her work, but even more so when I learned she was the first woman to earn a Pritzker prize- the highest honor in the architecture world. As a professional woman also in a male-dominated field, I am aware of the many battles, big and small, we fight on a daily basis. With that in mind I want to make a small tribute to Zaha Hadid, someone I consider a role model for her dedication to her work and relentless aspiration for greatness. This is a photo story of my visit to Hadid's MAXXI (Museo nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo) in Rome last summer.

It was a scorching day when Adham (my partner) and I made the long and convoluted trip from the city center to this museum, but it was more than worth it and ended up being one of my favorite places in all of Italy.

The cafe where we had lunch was nice, but what made it so special was the lovely and hospitable attendant Wardan. I feel I could write an entire post about how incredible he was to us and how he made our experience 10 times more memorable, but for now just know that he is excellent at what he does and what he shared with us about his life was very inspiring. Thank you so much Wardan, you are always welcome in our home when you visit NYC!

The building itself is breathtaking, the exhibits were all incredibly relevant and engaging, and each of the gallery spaces surprised me with its originality and beauty. Not a single space felt like the one before, it was almost like being in a new museum with the transition of each space.

Thank you Ms. Hadid, for the experience and for the inspiration.

brux

Sisters Runaway to Costa Rica

Spring has finally sprung in NYC and yet all I can think about is a getaway. About this time of year two Spring seasons ago my sister and I went on our very first trip together. We went to Costa Rica and it was incredible...

Olivia (above) has always been the wild one out of the two of us. She can be disorganized at times, spontaneous and full of creativity. All the energy she doesn't waste on worrying about things (like having her passport days before our trip) she spends on caring for others and being what everyone who knows her would describe as the most compassionate and amazing friend.

I, on the other hand, worry about everything. I plan and over plan in attempt to make my life smoother, and never learn you can never plan for everything, like forgetting your passport in a hostel safe as I actually did on this trip!

Olivia and I spent about 2 weeks backpacking it in Costa Rica, a rare opportunity that only manifested because we both happened to be in school at the time, her in undergrad and me back for grad school. We landed in San Jose, her from Washington DC and me from NYC, and somehow we met with perfect timing in the passport line despite having no real plan or way to communicate once in country. Once oriented we were off to find our way to what would be an awesome hostel with the nicest people and excellent pancakes.

On our first full day we were eager to get out of the city of San Jose and make it to one of the tropical beaches we'd been adoring online for months. We walked from our hostel to the city center, soaking in the old European-style buildings along the way. We made it to a bus terminal in a seedy part of town that would take us to Puntarenas where we would catch a ferry and continue on to Montezuma.

It wasn't until sundown that we arrived in Montezuma which allowed us to enjoy the most incredible sunset on the water. From there we went door to door until we found a hostel with an available private room to stash our packs while we looked for a dinner spot.

After an incredible seafood platter dinner right on the beach, a couple of drinks and a good nights rest we were ready to explore this small town on the Gulf Coast of the country. We wandered the town and rocky beaches and later decided to "hike" the Montezuma Falls.

What began as a leisurely hike became and intensive climb to the top of four tiered waterfalls. Once at the top we lounged on the rocks and waded a bit until some Italians convinced me to cannonball from a rope swing into the pool of water. Olivia was smart and skipped the swing, but maybe it was my leap that got one of the Italians to invite us their pasta dinner at the hostel next to ours that night.

Montezuma Falls

The following day we took a small tour boat out to Isla Tortuga for a barbecue and snorkeling. The island was small and quiet with the whitest sand and most aquamarine water we had ever seen. We spent the entire day in awe, going to and fro from our shaded spots on the sand to the warm clear water.

The next day we explored some more and enjoyed the beach until it came time to head to our next destination, the Costa Rican rainforest. We spent 2 days in Monteverde where we ate in a treehouse, ziplined across the rainforest canopy and did some much needed laundry. We decided to cut our time there short in exchange for more beach time, this time on the Caribbean coast.

By the time we reached Puerto Viejo Olivia and I were totally in love with Costa Rica and plotting ways to stay forever...

It wasn't until we made the long walk to Punta Uva that we really understood just how magical Costa Rica is. Although said to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the country, Punta Uva was relatively desolate the morning we arrived. The beaches were undisturbed and the palms were picture perfect. Olivia and I could barely believe such a place existed.

We spent hours here until our stomachs demanded our attention, and then we made our way back to town. First walking and getting caught in a morning shower, then sharing a cab with hotel-less strangers and finally reaching a roadside cafe of sorts where we shared our meal with an adopted pup of the hour (Costa Rica has so many dogs, we made more canine friends than human ones on this trip!).

Our last days were spent exploring other beaches, Like the black sandy Playa Negra, and the many shops around town until we had to head back to San Jose and ace the inevitable return home.

I somehow envy myself each time I look back on this trip. The places we saw were incredible, but even more so exploring it with my sister is what I truly treasure. We learned so much about one another and relied on each other more than ever before. Naturally, there were a couple of quarrels but far less than I expected! And yet we could have had 10x more fights and it still would have been an amazing trip.

I love you Olivia! When's our next sister vacation?!

A Layover in Copenhagen

Last summer, on our way back from a whirlwind of a European adventure, my numero uno travel partner and I stopped in Copenhagen for lunch and a bit of farewell sightseeing...

As we like to recount "we had breakfast in Rome, Lunch in Copenhagen and dinner in NYC." After successfully making our way from the airport to the Kongens Nytorv metro stop, we stumbled upon Storkespringvandet (Stork Fountain) and Europa Cafe 1989 our lunch spot of choice.

We enjoyed a seriously delicious new-nordic lunch by a window that opened to the square. The restaurant was such a lovely space where we listened to the live musician playing outside. After lunch we headed over to the iconic Nyhavn area of the city.

Nyhavn was our first glimpse of the infamous Copenhagen canals. We wandered along the water, admiring the brightly colored buildings against the gloomy sky until we reached the Inderhavnen, or the inner harbor.

After a bit more walking we popped back on the metro to check out some modern Danish architecture and neighborhoods before heading back to the airport.

All in all it was a few hours well spent in Denmark's capital before bidding adieu to Europe!

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The of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

I love the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I think one of the greatest assets of living in a big city like New York is the access to institutions like these, so I try to visit the Met specifically at least 2 times a year. Last week was one of those visits and I decided to document my favorite places in this massive museum.

THE TEMPLE OF DENDUR

I think most people are completely in love with this Egyptian temple and the wall of windows that light it. I personally love to sit near the reflecting pool and at this time of year I could see the colorful fall foliage of Central Park.

THE AMERICAN WING

I love the American Wing on the first floor and Mezzanine. I think I have a thing for great windows and this atrium definitely has that.

THE EUROPEAN SCULPTURE HALL

My favorite place to go and people watch, after sculpture watching of course.  It's guaranteed you're going to spot someone with their sketchbook, the trick is to see what they are sketching.

QUIET WATER FEATURES

I love the Patti Cadby Birch court and appreciated the true art, craftsmanship and detail even more after seeing this video of the making of the Moroccan space.

A newer favorite is Water Stone by Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi. If you are lucky and you visit on a quiet day you can listen to the water and be transported to the wilderness.

ASTOR COURT

Possibly one of the most shocking galleries is that of Astor Court. It truly transports me to ancient China. I also love the skylight that makes this tucked away space feel like it is outside.

The Met is truly magical place packed with beautiful art and history. These are just a few of my favorite places and I realize after writing this that these favorite places don't correspond to my favorite styles of art or periods of history. Just goes to show how a museum can really help you broaden your horizons.

The Best Travel Apps

As glamorous travel is, if we are honest with ourselves travel is stressful. From planning, to just getting around in a new place a vacation can quickly turn into a hustle. I believe travel should be made as simple as possible. From road trips to going abroad these are the apps I trust to take some of the guesswork out of my adventure.

Getting There

TripIt  TripIt is a very popular app that organizes your trip by allowing you to forward your emailed plane itineraries, car reservations and hotel booking and it automatically chronologically organizes it.

App in the Air App in the air is very similar to trip it and actually can sync information from it, but I prefer its interface. It provides great user added tips for airports and alerts you of time estimations for check-in, security, passport lines. Also it send reminders about boarding, take off and landing and best of all it works offline while taking you in flight. I find this particularly helpful when crossing many timezones or meeting people on other flights.

Passbook  I underrated passbook for far too long. Passbook can organize your flight tickets, accommodations and passes to other attractions in one place, only thing is that it is only available on Apple iOS products I believe.

Airbnb  The airbnb app has a great interface and is the number one way to keep your airbnb bookings organized plus communicate with your hosts and leave your reviews after your stay.

Getting Around

Google Maps  Google maps is probably my number 1 app to have. In some locations you can get your location whether you have data on or not. I also like to create a map for each destination and save locations of all the places I am interested in seeing so if I happen to be in the area I can just pop over and be more spontaneous with my sightseeing.

Google Translate  Google translate has come a long way since my college level french class. While it may have failed me back then, it is now equipped to read a menu or sign using your camera and translate on screen for you!

Speak & Translate  This is a new discovery I made recently and although there is a free option with a limited number of daily translations, I purchased the full version. This app is great if you are in a serious translation pinch, it supports almost all languages you’ll run into and listens then speaks the translation for you.

Official Metro Maps  When looking for a good metro map, find one that works offline or I like to screenshot the map lines I plan on using for the day.

Rail Planner Rail planner and other transportation itinerary apps have saved my skin, especially when traveling around places where english (my native language) isn’t spoken readily and trains are inconsistent (I’m talking to you Italy).

Uber  In case of emergency I like to have uber installed. You can find uber in many countries and is great if you are in a pinch and can’t find or don’t trust local taxis

Seeing Stuff

Trip Advisor  I love trip advisor and their mobile app, although at times difficult to navigate, is still great to scout out user approved places at your destination.

Triposo This series of apps has location specific guides for places worldwide and although I haven’t used them on my trips first glance they look super useful and I plan to revisit on my next adventure.

Official City Guides  Lots of big cities produce their own tourism apps and make them openly available. I relied on these in Barcelona, Rome, Athens and Cinque Terre and not only do they include information on attractions and history on the city, but often times offline maps, transportation information and booking tips.

Museum Guides  Many national and popular museums have their own free apps to help you create your own self-guided tours.

2016 Travel Resolutions

2015 was a challenging and beautiful year filled with huge life transitions and tons of personal growth for me. As I reflect and set my goals for next year I have decided to make concrete travel determinations in hopes of deepening those experiences even more.

See more of the United States

This year I want to focus more on exploring my own back yard and my country. Although I have seen much of the East coast, I have only been to the West coast once and haven't seen any of the mid or southwest! Now that my sister is out west I am very motivated to see more. 2016 California road trip? I hope so!

Pack even lighter

I have gotten really good at packing light, but think I can do even better. I want get my usually crammed carry one to one at least 30% empty to make my trips even easier. I also have a goal of not purchasing any new clothes for my next trip. I usually keep a strict travel budget but always seen to "need" a new dress, bikini or travel pillow. This year I will make do with the plenty that I have!

Automatic monthly travel savings

I want to start a annual savings specifically dedicated for travel. I am hoping I can dedicate some of the bucks I shell out in take out and miscellaneous purchases to this fund to help me always prioritize travel in my life. I mean if this is a bank account set aside for it, it must be serious right?

Mail all postcards before coming home

I have a super bad habit of getting postcards for my loved ones, and even stamps but forgetting to mail them while I am traveling! It's pretty silly actually, I just get so swept up in my trip that I forget. But from now on I want to make the time to drop my family a line and surprise them with a beautiful card.

Keep a travel journal

I have never been much of a journaler, but I want to start jotting down my experiences. Often I will come home and many stories or feelings will feel far away after just a couple weeks but these little moments are worth hanging onto. These are the moments shaping my life and pushing me to appreciate the everyday and that might be something I would like to go back and read someday.

Take a family trip

Two years ago my sister and I went to Costa Rica, and although I have had many amazing trips this was probably the most transformative for a relationship. She and I saw each other with new eyes, learned to trust one another in a strange place and gained more respect for one another. This year I want to be sure to travel with my immediate family and grow our relationships while having a blast.

5 Winter Holiday Destination Ideas

It's the most wonderful time of the year and all I can think about is having a winter adventure. Whether you want to get away for the December holidays or to escape the cold (which has yet to arrive for me in New York City) after, these are five options I am currently weighing.

Big City Romance

I love cities, especially during the holidays when they are glittering with lights. New York, London, Paris, seeing people bundled up in the cold taking an afternoon coffee or tea is so romantic and magical in my opinion.

Warm Getaway

Although cities are at their sexiest in the winter, maybe a one of the chilly ones mentioned above aren't your style. Escape the stress of the holidays and pressure of the new year with a tropical getaway! I am personally looking at you Carribean Isles, but the great thing about this beautiful Earth of ours is that no matter where you live the equator isn't too far away.

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Off the Grid Cabin

Sometimes all you need is a little peace and quiet. Gather your closest friends and head for the woods. I am envisioning a trunk full of wine and a suitcase full of PJs and sweaters.

Cozy Bed & Breakfast

If roughing it in the middle of nowhere gives you too many horror movie vibes, maybe a quaint B&B is better for you. Lock yourself away in another world, explore a town you've never visited. and if you are up for it, don't ask for the wifi code during your stay.

Quiet Staycation

And possibly my favorite this time of year, a staycation. But if you do this one, you have to do it right. Set up your away messages, plan out the menu and a couple of activities, and most importantly reject any guilt that comes from avoiding chores, friends and all obligations! After all this time of year can be hectic and often I forget to budget in a bit of self-care time in between all the planning and giving and family-time so why not schedule some in after?

How to Manage a Cold While Traveling

My biggest fear while traveling is getting sick before departure, my next biggest, getting sick while on the road! But worry no more, catching a bug doesn't have to be a trip-ruiner anymore. This summer I caught a nasty cold somewhere in between Greece and Italy and through the sneezes and sniffles I was pretty distressed that my trip was ruined. Maybe a little dramatic, but what's worse than being bed-ridden when you're supposed to be soaking in paradise??? Well I am happy to say my trip wasn't ruined and I picked up a few tricks to combat that energy-sucking cold that I can not pass along.

Rest Up

I know, who wants to rest while on an adventure, not I. But as Grandma has probably told you a thousand times, rest is what the body needs to bounce back faster. I suggest starting your day a little later, going to bed earlier and slipping in nap where you can. While in Italy I recovered on the rocky beaches of Riomaggiore to dose up on vitamin D and rest my way to health. Not a bad way to nurse yourself.

Eat Well and Regularly

Maybe it is only me, but when I am exploring a new place I sometimes forget to eat! But pushing or skipping meals when your immune system is down is not an option. Be sure to eat regularly and well, getting lots of vitamin rich foods into your diet. I also tend to avoid too much caffeine and excessive sugars to prevent sugar highs and caffeine crashes and keep fruit with me instead.

Supplement and Medicate Lightly

Finally, quicken your recovery with medicine, but nothing too heavy because you still want to have a memory of your vacation when you get home! For sinus and chest congestion I like to have olbas oil and/or Vicks VapoRub to open up my airway. I also find chewable vitamin C supplements and Advil are a must to strengthen immunity and ease aches. This app is super helpful for purchasing the meds you need in other languages.

Now that I have written this I hope you never ever need to heed this advice and enjoy your next adventure in full health!

2 Days in London

London has come to be one of my favorite cities. This year I could spare just two days there but managed to fill it with many new experiences. Read on to see all of the new places I discovered!

Day 1

After a perfect english breakfast at Laveli my good friend (and host) Charu and I headed to the Embankment area. We walked over the Thames and headed to Tate Museum of Modern Art.

Tate Modern & Borough Market

Once we explored many of the Tate exhibits, had an espresso on the balcony and admired more views of the city from the terraza, we made our way to Borough Market. The outdoor market smelled incredible. Shops with every imaginable type of food was packed into the street market located (partially) under London Bridge; Charu and I succumbed to a baklava vendor with more varieties than I ever knew existed.

Cocktail Hour at the Shard

Instead of heading up to the observation deck of the Shard, we decided to have a pre-dinner cocktail at Oblix. The views were stunning and we found the perfect spot at a window in the lounge to enjoy a glass of wine.

After a very happy hour Charu led me to Oxford Street and down a little alley that surprisingly opened up onto St. Christopher's Place where we had a Turkish dinner at Sofra.

Day 2

My second day in the city was one of exploring East London. First stop, Spitafields Market.

Spitalfields Market

A live band lured us right to the indoor-outdoor marketplace packed with vendors and people. The market itself reminded me very much of tourist traps you find in New York, but of course as a tourist it was fun perusing the handcrafted items at each stall. After exhausting the shops for entertainment we explored deeper into what I have come to think of as the Brooklyn of London.

We continued the day by getting lost in little lanes and discovering vintage shops. A major highlight was finding a fish and chips place that serves saveloy, my hard-to-find favorite from childhood. After giddily ordering from Poppies, we took our meal to "the sitting room" hidden within the 106 Commercial Street market and sipped on canned gin and tonic while overlooking the shoppers.

106 Commercial Street

Brick Lane & Shoreditch

After lunch we continued our day of getting lost in the shops and stalls along brick lane. Later we drooled over Dark Sugars truffles and made the hard decision of picking a few before heading to Shoreditch High Street and caught a bus that would take us back to the tube.

To Airbnb or Not to Airbnb?

Short answer, yes, to Airbnb. Hotels and other accommodations can get expensive, especially when traveling for an extended period of time. Thankfully the sharing economy has welcomed solutions to this problem in the form of platforms like Airbnb. But once you start to do your research on it, you will certainly come across some of the horror story that will deter you so here are my tips for booking and staying in an Airbnb. Here are some of my tips for successfully booking an Airbnb stay to ensure a great experience.

Know thyself

In order to decide whether Airbnb is for you or not you must know thyself, and be completely honest here. It is tempting to convince yourself that you will be comfortable with Airbnb-ing to save a pretty penny on accommodations but that savings is not a worth it if its going to spoil your adventure. So first ask yourself the hard questions, “Am I okay staying in someone’s home with them? Am I comfortable enough to potentially spend some of my time socializing with strangers? And will I still be happy without all of the amenities of a hotel on my vacation?” If you are the type who isn’t as comfortable around strangers Airbnb may not be for you. There are some options for studios or apartment rentals but depending on location these will be more expensive then your average private room. Some Airbnb hosts like to entertain their guests and it’s hard to say “no, thank you” when you’re in the room next door. I haven’t encountered this myself but know people who have and if you aren’t interested in socializing then you should have an escape plan ready. And finally, if you are used to the amenities and pristine presentation of hotels you may not like bed and breakfast vibes most Airbnb homes give off.

Amenities I look for in an Airbnb rental:

• A private bedroom
• Air conditioning (if traveling in warm months)
• Private bathroom
• Detailed pictures of the room and common spaces
• Close to public transportation
• In a safe neighborhood
• On a lower level or access to an elevator
• More than one electrical outlet in the bedroom
• If towels are provided

Do your due diligence

It can be super overwhelming researching and booking an Airbnb home. Depending on where you are traveling to you probably have loads of options in your price range and they all have a mix of good, bad and mediocre reviews. Start by narrowing down based on price, availability for your dates and amenities, then the number of reviews. The more reviews the better because you know the host is experienced. After that I then start looking at ratings, the higher the better of course, but I also look at the recent reviews, if those are high then you're pretty much golden. Finally read the rules thoroughly and for good measure read any recent average or less than average reviews to catch red flags. Once you rule out the incompatible spaces you should have a decent selection to reach out to.

Be transparent

Some Airbnb homes can be booked immediately and others you have to make a request and be approved by your host. When writing to your host, be completely clear and honest with your plans. Are you looking for somewhere you can cook, double check that is okay. Do you need to be walking distance to the city center, confirm that is possible. Will you be meeting a friends who may need to crash, mention that too. Only you know what you need while travelling, maybe you just need a place to lay your head but it doesn't hurt to give more information than too little and have a poor experience.

The Traveler's Holiday Gift Guide

The holidays are upon us and I am planning on giving gifts that encourage exploration. Here are my favorite items from this year that have either inspired or enhanced my travels:

Holiday Gifts for Explorers

1. Passport Wallet, This is Ground $90
2. Instant Camera, Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic $135
3. Travel Planner, Moleskine Travel Journal $23
4. Packing Cubes, Muji Packing Cubes $5-$15
5. Comfortable and Compact Headphones, Urbanears In-ear Headphones $40
6. Sunglasses for all seasons,Warby Parker Madison $100
7. Subscription to a travel magazine, Afar, Conde Nast Traveller, Suitcase $12-$30
8. Insulated Canteen, Klean Kanteen $35

Why You Can Afford to Travel

I used to think I could never budget in travel (especially out of the country) into my life. But I have come to realize even the tightest budget usually has some wiggle room. This of course doesn't apply to everyone's circumstance, but I assume if you are reading this you are like me and have an income and financial responsibilities that seem to leave you with little space for much else, but chances are you do. Here is how I found that extra space and why you can probably afford to travel after all.

Those new shoes in your cart are probably not essential.

My favorite trick when saving up for a trip is the "those boots are 3 nice dinners in Rome" trick. Imagining myself in Rome eating fresh pasta wins out over another pair of black ankle boots every time. Once I got serious about my travel goals my impulse to buy a new coat every season or own four slightly different black blazers felt frivolous. And it expanded past my closet, my late night Amazon orders became more methodical and I felt more in control of my wallet. I didn't feel like I was sacrificing either (my biggest fear in budgeting) I felt like I was investing in something much bigger. And in the end could see that cutting back on shopping made space in my life for experiences and true value.

There is cash in your closet.

There is probably cash in your closet, or garage or under you bed. When I am saving for a trip I take the opportunity to purge the excess in my life. As I am spending less on the miscellaneous I am also auditing anything "extra" that I don't use or need anymore. I try to sell these "extras" online (usually clothing), and what I don't sell I donate because after all I just recognized that I don't need it. I would never recommend booking a trip and then selling all of your material belongings, not for a casual vacation anyway, but I have always been refreshed to come home after an amazing trip to a decluttered home. It has served me as a blank slate on which to implement all of my new post-vacation inspiration.

Your Seamless app is overused.

I have found the only truly maleable part of my budget is what I spend on food. In part, because of where I live (New York City) and my lifestyle (fairly busy and on the go) my food budget has tended to go uncalculated and as a result be very inflated. Once I started tracking my food purchases I realized that I eat out a lot more than I thought, I eat way more candy and desserts than I knew, and my groceries often go unused and wasted (totally unacceptable). It took a lot of planning, but I have been able to slash my take-out/order-in habit by more than half and barely throw away anything in my fridge anymore. Do the math yourself, that $5 coffee everyday if cut down to just a few days a week is almost a $1000 plane ticket each year. Or your $12 work-day lunch is $240 for the month, pack a lunch every other day and you have a night in a nice hotel or a few days in an airbnb. Makes a home brew and bagged lunch seem more appealing right?

Travel isn't as expensive as you think.

You may not believe me, but it really is not. All things are relative. I used to think in order to go abroad I would need loads of cash, I mean just having hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars upfront for a ticket is pretty intimidating. But getting there is often the most expensive part of travel, I assure you. Of course it all depends on the type of trip you are looking for. I tend to travel like a local for shorter periods of time. I don't like to leave the country if I don't have at least a week to spare, but never travel for more than a month (by week three I am usually missing my routine at home). By "traveling like a local" I mean that I eat out but not at expensive touristy places every night. I visit attractions but avoid touristy package deals and opt for curating my own experience. And I don't shop for souvenirs or the like while away. When keeping to these rules I tend to stay at or under my daily budget at home so that lodging and my flight are my only additional expenses.

6 Hours in Reykjavik

This Summer I chose an extended stopover in Iceland and ventured out for six hours to explore it's largest city, Reykjavik.

Despite the chill in the air, the foreboding clouds, and the fact that my body was still at 1am local time I thoroughly enjoyed the first stop on my European adventure! I am completely inspired to make it back to Iceland soon to see all of the natural wonders it has to offer.

Prikid Restaurant

Prikid

My first priority was breakfast (more so coffee) and I was happy to find Prikid was open and had seats available downstairs. I totally indulged in a breakfast of champions while gazing out of a window with sill lined in old magazines. Prikid has the cluttered charm of a place thats been around for a while, which is why I don't doubt it's claim one bit that it is the oldest restaurant in Reykjavik.

Harpa Concert Hall

After my belly was full and my body was warm I began my aimless wander. I walked down to the port and over to the famed Harpa Concert Hall (Icelandic Opera). It was so stunning I actually forgot to take many pictures of it! The massive glass structure reminded me of the children's book Rainbow Fish.

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My feet also took me to some slightly smaller and less shiny houses as well.

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Hallgrimskirkja Church

I walked my way back through the heart of town and followed the rainbow-paved road to the iconic cathedral Hallgrimskirkja.

I took the slow elevator up the clock tower and I was stunned by this amazing view of the Icelandic capital.

After admiring the city and a rainy jaunt in a statue garden across from the cathedral, I rushed back to the bus that would shuttle me back to the airport for my next destination, London!

Why Experiences are Better than Things

I have a hard time riding in glass elevators at the mall, and when I was 6 years old I broke into hysterics in the crown of the Statue of Liberty at the thought of looking out. I have a serious fear of heights, but last year in the middle of the Costa Rican jungle my sister encouraged me to jump off of a swinging bridge like Tarzan and bungee hundreds of feet to safety. The entire day zip-lining was a huge accomplishment for me but the Tarzan Swing was going too far. But something about being abroad took me out of myself and when Olivia asked me if I would regret not trying it I thought I just might and so I went for it and still feel proud to this day that I did it.I'm not saying you need to jump off of bridges in foreign lands (I mean I would probably never do it again as I screamed and held my eyes tight for the whole 10 seconds in the air!) but I do believe leaving your comfort zone allows you to learn things about yourself that you might not at home. I learned that day I am more courageous than I thought, and that I trust my sister wayyy more than I thought, an invaluable lesson learned for me.

Facing Fears and Walking to the End of the Swinging Bridge

I choose experiences over things because no pair of shoes or gadget has exposed more of myself to me. And by no means have I given up all material items, but when it comes down toit I choose the promise of a moment and memory over the new addition to my wealth of things.

Another reason I stand by the motto “seek moments not things” is because I find that “things” have this funny way of holding me back from the moments. If its not the direct financial investment, it manifests indirectly. Whether it is the car payment from the nicer new car, or the burden of credit cards, or even significantly overpacking because I couldn’t choose what to take (true story, it sucked lugging a 50lb suitcase and carry-on across 3 countries for a month), the stuff in my life tended to creep into my consciousness leaving little room for experiences. I lusted after items outside of myself instead of enriching my life with things I could carry with me forever. Yet when I would make it away for my stuff filled apartment I wasn’t thinking about the new Vitamix I wanted nor did I miss the 10 blazers left at home in my closet. When I realized this my perspective had finally shifted and I found stashing away money wasn’t as difficult as before. I saw it as an investment in adventure, because unlike Carrie Bradshaw I don’t want to be the old lady who lived in her shoes, I want to be the woman who travelled the world.

For me, life is about finding your happy balance. I find my balance requires more memories, more learning, and more experiences than things. Value-creating moments with myself and people I care about.