 |
| Gullfoss, Iceland. |
Today's the last day of 2018. It was a pretty good year.... I think. Even though I’m fairly content with the way the year turned out, I can’t shake the feeling that I didn't do all I wanted to do—or all that I could've done this year. For example, last year I resolved to run a 5K, and I did. This year, I made no inroads into my 2018 goal of learning to jump rope. I fell short of my financial performance for the year; stock performance was downright abysmal.
This year's theme song is Locked in A Cage by Brick + Mortar. In general, 2018 has been more of an slow-and-steady, test-the-waters kind of year than a kick-ass-and-be-awesome one. I can’t complain though.
It’s been a fantastic year for travel. 2018 was the first full year at my current job, and it was chock full of exciting work-related travel. I even achieved Marriott Silver Elite (the hard way), and could've easily reached Gold Elite status had I been more diligent. It’s nothing to write home about, but a personal accomplishment nonetheless.
In January, my first flight of the year was out of DCA to Chicago for the 2018 AHR Expo. I ended up spending most of the trip catching up with ex-coworkers (from both my previous jobs), eating steak, and sightseeing. Apple Michigan Ave is one of my new favorite Apple stores.
In February, I discovered that there has been a Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken near me for so many years. So I went one night, and it was awesome. I went to San Antonio for work-related meetings in early February and mid-March. I decided then that if I had to go to San Antonio so frequently, I might as well extend the trip to make time for sightseeing.
In late March, I was in Jacksonville for a project and made time to check out the beach and zoo. A few weeks later in April, Taylor and I took a weekend trip to Pittsburgh to see the National Aviary and eat at Primanti Bros. On the way back east, we made a stop at Fallingwater, but unfortunately didn't make it in time to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial in Stoystown, PA.
In May, Avengers: Infinity War happened! Enough said.
I went to San Antonio yet again for a work trip, followed by a family vacation to New Orleans. Saw some gators, visited the National WWII Museum, and drove across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (a bucket list item!).
I was in Biloxi, Mississippi for work mid-June, which was the first time I saw the Gulf Coast. A coworker and I found time to drive across the border to Mobile just so we can say we did, since it'd be both our first time in Alabama. Thus completes my list of states visited in the Southeast. (Incidentally, I have yet to visit Vermont or Rhode Island in the Northeast... smh.)
 |
States I've been (including airports), 2018.
|
In August, I was down in Tampa with a coworker to check on the construction progress of one of our projects. Although it was a project I didn't design but inherited, this was the first greenfield building construction of my career. It was great.
Also in August, Kelsey and I decided to visit Iceland for about a week. Although our planning and getting plane tickets happened only three weeks prior to the trip (expensive tickets!), Iceland turned out to be one of the best vacations of my life [so far]! No flat tire in our shitty little Suzuki! It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I think I found my "spirit"-country in Iceland—it is rainy, cold, and gray. I loved it. The nature and wilderness was so accessible and breathtaking. But being in between the seasons, we missed the chance to see summertime puffins and we were too early to see the Northern Lights; I'll have to go back. What more could I say? Being city-dwellers, we were way outside our comfort-zone in Iceland, but it was worth it. Undoubtedly, it is the land of legend, epic waterfalls, sheep, glaciers, black sand, icebergs, whales, rainbows, and double rainbows. I used Iceland as a great excuse to get back in to photography, however briefly. I ended up spending dollars on a new travel tripod and a $1000 camera lens just for the trip. I also ended up buying a new Dell XPS desktop to post-process the approximately 7,000 photos I took... go figure. My Iceland album here.
In September, I was in Jacksonville for a one-day emergency project meeting. It was not a fun trip.
In October, I was back in San Antonio for week-long training, which was surprisingly useful and productive. I attended a Spurs game, where parking cost three times more than the game ticket. This was the trip where I decided to actually stay a bit longer in Texas to venture out to the rest of the Texas Triangle, starting with a weekend getaway to Austin. I drove a Camaro SS rental, visited the LBJ Presidential Library, and visited some family. In Austin, I went to a Waffle House for the first time. It was phenomenal!
In December, I was back in San Antonio yet again, and again for training. After visiting Austin last time, I decided to visit Houston this time. I got to drive a Dodge Challenger for the weekend. The Space Center was excellent, but I didn't like the vibe of Houston and I hope to never have to go there again. Sorry.
Summary from all the traveling in 2018:
- Visited San Antonio five times this year.
- Went home to Brooklyn nine times this year.
- New states visited: Mississippi, Alabama.
- New country visited: Iceland.
- New airports visited: JAX, TPA, GPT, KEF, AUS, DAL, HOU.
- New airline flown: Icelandair.
The SPC3SHP crossed 100,000 miles on September 30. I'm going to wrap up the year having added only about 14,100 miles this year, for a five-year lifetime total of about 103,700 miles. The current commute is nowhere near what it used to be. But I'm still hoping to make 200,000 miles with the SPC3SHP one day. Also, after so much trial and error, I've inadvertently become an expert at doing brake replacements and diagnosing tire and wheel noise.
Phew. What a year this has been. I learned to get outside my comfort zone in so many ways. I learned to better balance moving forward while remembering the past. I also binge watched all nine seasons of The Office for the first time, in under two months. I can say with certainty that this was the year when I started not to constantly worry about what other people think of me. It is quite liberating. I also decided that I've been in my studio apartment for far too long (three jobs over seven years!). I am lining myself up to buy a house in 2019. Maybe I'll finally get around to learning to jump rope too.
Happy New Year.
P.S. After sampling so much ramen this year—see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11—I still think Daikaya in Chinatown is the best.
P.P.S. Last year, I got the idea to do a Year in Pixels from Instagram. Thought it was cool. So here it is:
 |
| Year in Pixels, 2018. |