How Saudi Arabia Shaped Me
Happy Labor Day to all the Americans! I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend, I know I am enjoying the 3 day holiday with a lazy weekend at home in Portland.
If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you’ll know somewhat of my background. I was born and raised in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia specifically and while I’ve talked about our life there, how it changed the course of my adult life and my passion to see the world, I’ve not talked much about my life actually there and the lessons I learned there early in my life that have shaped my present.
I recently ran into a couple that is loosely related to Nick’s side of the family that live in Saudi Arabia now, on one of the ARAMCO compounds about an hour away from where I lived as a child. After talking to them and getting to know them, come to find out they know a lot of the same people that I knew growing up, parents of my friends and names they’ve always heard of that were people close to me as a kid. It was refreshing to say the least, to be able to talk to them, to have them know exactly what I was talking about when I was shocked to hear of a new green grass golf course in Dhahran (when I was there, they were only oiled sand), to hear that two of the smaller compounds were totally full with residents and to hear their stories. To have someone know that part of me completely, without even really knowing anything about me personally, is a feeling I haven’t had in a long time. It is rare to speak to someone in my daily life (other than my parents) that knows in depth about that part of my life. It’s hard daily to not be able to show my husband that part of my life, a part that was such a huge reason why I am the way I am now. So when I can share it, when I can let others in just a little on what my childhood was like in the middle of the Middle East, it makes that burden a little easier.
When I look back on my childhood in Saudi Arabia, I remember feeling completely at home, always feeling safe, an idyllic way of life. But as I look back on it now, a full seventeen years this month since we moved back to the States, those memories are still what shape me today and the lessons I learned during my eleven years there are the lessons that I hold with me daily still. So in the midst of so many present uprisings and conflicts in the part of the world that I was born into, I think it’s worth remembering that that part of the world still has lots to teach us as well if we’ll let it.
I didn’t have the typical childhood in some ways, like the fact that we were a world away from our families or that I’ll forever have Dammam, Saudi Arabia as my place of birth in my passport. Like the fact that we went to camel markets on the weekends and I grew up eating schawarmas and drinking Orangina with a label written in Arabic, but my childhood was totally unique. It is something that took me a long time to come to grips with and to embrace, that I was different. That my life was different. That my experiences were different. Moving back to the States was challenging, to leave that unique life behind was really hard but all these years later I realize now that I never really wanted a normal life. I’ve always craved something different, to go against the grain, to choose the life I want and to make it as extraordinary as I can. I realize now that my unique childhood in Saudi Arabia was the start of my path, a unique journey that I’ll always have propelling me forward.
Interested in reading more about my childhood in Saudi Arabia?
See all of my posts on the country!
Travel Tips : Using Credit Cards Points for Travel
A great way to use points for airfare, particularly when you don’t have enough for a full round trip long haul ticket, is to use it on one way flights and pay for the other way on cash. I particularly like the Sapphire card for this purpose. Booking through their portal you can see which airlines will offer rates for one way fares (not all of them do). I usually do the research before hand to see if I can find an inexpensive flight for the other way to pay cash for before I book my one way on points.
For an example of this, on our trip to Spain in March of next year I booked us totally on points for our flight from the US to London (then we’ll jump on an EasyJet flight to Spain) on Air New Zealand. On the way home, I found a cheap flight from London back to the US on Norwegian Air for only $240 per person one way. Which means, we’re both flying to Europe for only about $500 total since we used points on the outbound flight.
This is also a great way to save on flights to and from major airports. For example when we travel abroad, we generally leave from Seattle or LA, so to get from Portland to those airports, I’ll use points to cover those connecting flights from our Alaska account. Generally we never pay for those connecting flights, they are always on points since they are short and don’t require a lot of mileage.
Credit cards points can be great for weekend getaways and can often cover everything you need in a couple days at a location. Particularly in not as popular destinations, you can easily cover a weekend’s hotels, car rental and airfare on points when used properly.
For an example of this, earlier this year Nick and I spent a weekend in New Mexico. We covered our flights, car rental and hotels for the whole weekend on points from our Sapphire card. This is especially easier after you’ve received your sign up bonus points for cards like this or if you’ve stockpiled points for a while, but nevertheless, there are lots of destinations that you can cover with points for a weekend getaway pretty easily.
Road Trip Itinerary through Northern Ireland
Multiple things lately have brought me back to thinking about our trip through Ireland last Fall and I can hardly believe that is was a full nine months ago now. It feels like it was just yesterday we were driving through the green fields of Northern Ireland, eating sticky toffee pudding and taking in the land where my family comes from. So in looking back at our trip, we managed to see a lot of the Nothern Irish landscape as we drove through it. I’ve talked a bit about driving in the UK before but today I’m sharing an itinerary for the perfect road trip through the Eastern side of Northern Ireland.
Where to Stay in Northern Ireland
Finish your day with dinner at the Bushmills Inn before jumping back on the highway towards Belfast. This little gem of a town (famous for its whiskey) houses this adorable little B&B and restaurant. Our meal there was one of the freshest tasting meals I’ve ever had!
Traveling to Northern Ireland?
See all of my posts on the country!
The 5 Hardest Parts of Blogging
Continuing on from yesterday when I talked about my favorite 5 things about blogging, today we’re exploring some of the negatives of this ever changing industry. I’ve been seriously blogging for almost 2 years now (I was blogging long before that but never really did it seriously or to add to my income) and in that time, the blogging environment has changed tremendously. I started from scratch, grew my readership over time without pushing too hard to gain followers and as I mentioned yesterday, this blog is not and never has been my only job, it’s simply a side project I enjoy.
During my time in the blogging world, I’ve come across bullying, criticism and ignorance. I’ve seen bloggers I know and admire be put through the ringer by readers, comments that aren’t meant for anything but to cause harm or exude jealousy and I’ve been there too. The internet is a place that many feel they can say whatever they want without any hint of reality, truth or consequence. It’s always been my belief in the blogging world that I’m not going to agree with everything everyone does or says, but at the end of the day, does a mean, jealous or snotty comment help anyone? No it does not.
And so on that note, there are lots of ways that blogging is hard and that bloggers get hurt in the process. Here are my top 5 hardest parts of blogging from my own experiences.
Perhaps the most vicious part of blogging, people can be just plain mean. Between comments on posts attacking bloggers on auxiliary sites like GOMI and criticism in comments (90% of the time unwarranted), it can be a hard thing to get used to. When someone writes something about you that’s totally untrue but put out there for the world to see, it becomes both uncomfortable and degrading. I’ve started to move forward from this part of blogging (after having it happen to me quite a few times) knowing that the majority of the time, attacks on bloggers have nothing to do with them, but everything to say about the person writing them.
*On another note, constructive criticism in blogging can be quite a good thing and knowing what your readers want or how to make certain things better are always, in my opinion, ok. I love when I hear feedback from readers, but following the golden rule, be nice about it.
The blogging world is full of assumptions. We read someone’s blog and we think we immediately know everything about them. Or we follow them on Instagram and read into things that we see. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of the beast of social media and an online world, but we can also realize as bloggers and readers that what we’re seeing isn’t always the full story. For example, I get the comment all the time, “How do you guys miss so much work to travel?” The whole truth of the matter is that we use our vacation days, the same amount of vacation days that everyone else in the USA gets. We just also use weekends and holidays to supplement our days off. Many times the assumptions we make about people we know online aren’t true at all and it’s worth stopping for a moment and thinking about it, and if you want to know more, just ask.
Blogs are, somewhat misleadingly, incredibly time consuming. And often, readers aren’t ever going to know how much time went into the post they just read. It’s hard as a blogger, who’s put hours into graphics and writing posts to not be able to show off the time it takes and the upkeep that is required if you want your blog to succeed. When new bloggers ask me what is something I would have liked to have known going into this, I always answer that it’s a huge commitment, especially if you’re going to blog seriously.
I mentioned yesterday how rewarding the blogging community is and how many amazing people I’ve met along the way. One downside to this however is distance. There are bloggers, both that I’ve met in person and that I have yet to meet, that I’d love to call and meet up for a cup of coffee. Or times when I’d love to have some of my favorite bloggers closer to where I call home so that those relationships could grow. That’s very rarely the case and for me, it’s something that I think about often.
This industry is complicated and when you first start out, there really is a lot to learn. The truth is though, when it comes to the work it takes to grow your blog, there really is no right or wrong answer. Everyone does it differently and what works for me, might not work for you. But I will say this, blogging is like a race, you need to pace yourself if you’re going to be here for the long haul.
The 5 Best Parts of Blogging
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the state of blogging and particularly just how much it’s changed just in the couple years I’ve been blogging seriously. Blogging is in itself an interesting topic with many and it’s still a very misunderstood art form, one that is recognized by so many but still so many that don’t have either an interest in it or an understanding of it.
Blogging has given me so much over the years but it’s also been harsh at times and made me question lots of things. Today and tomorrow I thought we’d touch on some of the best and worst things about this forum we subscribe to. It’s important for us as bloggers and readers to recognize the pros and cons of this industry, to keep an open mind and most importantly, to remember we’ll all just human on the other end of the screen.
So today, to start, here are my top 5 favorite things about blogging!
The friends I’ve made and the relationships I’ve formed through blogging completely top the list of why I keep going, why I love blogging and why it’s incredibly rewarding. I’ve found people around the world that feel the same way I do on many things, incredible people that are chasing dreams and following their hearts. It’s the times I’ve met up many of my favorite bloggers (such as Lauren, Belinda, Betsy, Nicole and Melissa) in person that show me what an incredible community the blog world is and how many amazing people there are out there.
I’ve always loved writing and began when I was a child writing stories. As I grew up, I tapped into a few other writing facets such as poetry and thought for a while about writing a book. This blog has completely fulfilled me in the sense that I get to sit down every day and write about whatever I want. I love the art of writing and of sharing words to let others in on what I’m thinking or to explain how I feel in certain destinations in the world. Writing is a huge part of why I love blogging and I think it always will be.
I can’t tell you how many doors have been opened to me through blogging. Particularly travel blogging has so many amazing opportunities from the occasional free hotel stay to reviewing amazing travel products. The companies I’ve worked with and the products I’ve had the pleasure of trying out are truly one of my favorite things about this blog. Not that it’s without work, between reviews, planning posts for the exchange of services and all the work that goes into overseeing everything and promoting on social media, it’s definitely not always easy. But at the end of the day, it’s a pretty great part of blogging.
I’d be lying if I said that the small amount of income I make from this blog didn’t add to the pros of blogging. Now to be frankly honest, I really don’t make that much and it’s no where near a steady income stream or a main income source. For me, this blog for now and the foreseeable future is a side project, a “third job” if you will, after my full time design job and my side design business. But $30 or so coming in here and there is definitely a nice perk!
This blog for me is a lot of work and takes a tremendous amount of dedication and perseverance but it’s also incredibly fulfilling for me. I love sitting down and making graphics and writing out posts, coming up with future post ideas and everything else that goes into it. But perhaps the most fulfilling thing about blogging is when you get that positive email from a follower that makes you realize all this is worth it, regardless of some of the negatives that are associated with this industry (more on that to come tomorrow). I’ll always enjoy this space overall because if I know that I’m speaking to just one person out there that values what I’m saying, it’s worth it.
Travel {Photography} Tips : Favorite Mobile Apps for Travel & Photos
For many people mobile phones and tablets have become our digital hub on the go. With each revision, these devices are becoming more and more powerful and useful. When I’m traveling, both near and far, my iPhone and iPad are an essential part of my travel kit that allow me to both stay connected and get stuff done. To stay productive on the road I take advantage of a number of apps and services. I thought I would share a few of my go-to apps today that I use for travel and photography.
*Note: I personally use an iPhone and iPad as my mobile tool of choice. My recommendations will therefore be based on the devices I use. Many of the apps that I am recommending are cross platform compatible, or will have an alternative app that will let you accomplish the same thing on another operating system such as Android.
Instagram
This probably goes without saying but I absolutely love Instagram. I love getting inspiration from the things people post. It could be sharing a neat new restaurant, a behind the scenes look at someone’s job. There’s a ton of creative posts too that inspire me in my photography. When I’m traveling I tend to share a lot of photos so my friends and family can stay connected with us while on the road. You can follow my Instagram feed here.
VSCO Cam
Snapseed
iMoves GPS Tracker
500px
ND Timer
InstaSize
Over
Panasonic Image App
Travel Tips : Travel Disruptions due to Natural Disasters
Sometimes when we travel, plans are disrupted due to mother nature’s plans with things like tornados, tsunamis or hurricanes. It’s often the case that while they can predict these weather patterns to an extent, oftentimes travel plans can be quickly canceled or changed due to whatever ends up happening with storms.
Last weekend when we were headed to Hawaii, hurricane Iselle was on path tracking to majorly hit the Islands, causing wreckage as well as power outages, extreme winds and lots of rain. Hurricane Julio was coming shortly behind that and the forecast for last week in Hawaii was not good to say the least. Our flights also happened to coincide directly on days when each hurricane was supposed to hit, so we worried about flight disruptions or cancelations due to the storms. It actually ended up working out fine and the storms didn’t hit nearly as hard as they had been anticipating, but it’s still good to know what to do in situations with natural disasters and what that means for your travel plans.
If you end up having to change your plans, make sure you think about every plan you will need to change. Hotels, rental cars, restaurant reservations… there can often be a lot of planning that goes into traveling and you’ll need to take that into account. If for some reason those reservations give you a hard time for changing, often if you mention that the airlines are recommending you change, they’ll waive their change fees too.
Hawaii : Sunrise at Waikiki
Continuing on with our Hawaii trip recap posts, we usually only get a day or two in Hawaii when we go for work so we try to make the most of it. Since we were only in Hawaii for the weekend this time (arriving late Friday night and leaving mid day Sunday), we never really got on Hawaii time due to the time difference. That meant that we were up around 5am both days we were there, with ample time before the sun even began to rise. We used that early morning time on Saturday to work and take photos of my projects, but Sunday morning we decided to make the most of being up early and headed down to Waikiki (a quick 10 minute drive from my parents’ house in Manoa). We spent about an hour down there, sitting on the beach and watching the sun rise over the Eastern side of the Island behind the towers of Waikiki and Diamond Head.
We sat near the jetty on the lagoon behind the Hilton Hawaiian Village, a great spot for those of you headed to Waikiki in the future! We took in the colored sky, the cool temperatures and watched the surfers headed out for their morning rides. I always love catching the sunrise in Hawaii, especially when due to the time difference you don’t even have to get up earlier than usual! It was a great quiet morning before heading home on our flight mid-day, ending a busy but successful weekend in the Islands.
Headed to Hawaii?
Check out our Oahu Travel Guide in the Land of Marvels Shop for only $5!
Hawaii : The Windward Side of Oahu
Today I’m getting into our trip recap photos from Hawaii and while our time in the islands wasn’t the typical “paradise” weather, it was a different side of Hawaii that you’ll get to see from our photos due to the hurricanes in the area. I actually love that the photos that Nick captured from this trip to Hawaii turned out stormier, moodier than usual because this is a side of Hawaii that not many think of but that happens quite often as storms roll through.
During our quick weekend jaunt to Oahu last week, we spent the majority of Saturday working (after arriving late Friday night) but by late afternoon we needed a break and had planned dinner with my parents that night. We decided to head over to the windward side of Oahu to show Nick that part of island, which he’d never had a chance to experience before, and to escape the intense humid heat on Southern Oahu due to the hurricanes that had come through a day prior.
The windward side of the Island is on the North Eastern shore of Oahu and tends to be a bit cooler and rainier than the main part of the island including Honolulu. It’s surrounded by lush jagged mountains and jungle like forests, creating a much lusher feel than the likes of Waikiki’s beaches. I’ve always really liked that side of Oahu but never spent that much time there. So this trip we decided to spend the evening in Kaneohe, having dinner at Haleiwa Joe’s, overlooking the mountains and then driving down along the shore and getting some views of the ocean. This side of the island always feels like you’ve escaped somewhere else, leaving Honolulu and city behind and transporting you to a lush rain forest that can sometimes, be all the break you need!
Headed to Hawaii?
Check out our Oahu Travel Guide in the Land of Marvels Shop for only $5!
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