Welcome to Friday! Not only is it hard to believe that we’ve reached the end of the week already, but I am also completely dumbfounded that we are in the very last days of July. Where has the summer gone? My next Three Things post will come in August, which seems impossible.
I could take this moment to launch into a very stereotypical white girl squeal of excitement about how close we’re getting to fall, but I will refrain. I’m sure you will get quite enough of my love of soups, boots, jackets, apple cider, and pumpkin baked goods come mid-September. Until then, it’s time to cherish these last couple of months of warm summer weather, trips to the beach, and fresh fruits and veggies.
It’s been a great week! Here’s what I’ve been loving lately:
—
1.) Everest – A Time Lapse Film
Is there anything more breathtaking than a high-definition time lapse of a natural wonder? Everest, the highest mountain on Earth, is the star of this gorgeous two-and-a-half-minute film. It’s a place of harsh and imposing beauty, a mountain that demands respect and awe, and filmmaker Elia Saikaly shows it off to full effect.
I have no bucket list dream of conquering the summit of Everest, but I would love to see the mountain in person and be dumbfounded and humbled by its size and majesty. As I wait for the funds and plans to come together for such a trip, I will scratch my Himalayan itch with videos like these.
2.) Lonely Planet’s 2018 Best in Asia List
A best-of travel list? I’m all over it! It’s no secret that I love Lonely Planet and that their travel guides have helped me plan incredible adventures for almost a decade. They recently released a list of must-see destinations in Asia, and I couldn’t wait to take a look and start dreaming.
One of my favorite things about the list is that it includes a healthy mix of well-known vacation spots like Chiang Mai, Thailand, alongside new, upcoming, and off-the-beaten-path sites such as Uzbekistan or the Western Ghats of India. Stunning photos and videos accompany each of the ten entries, with links to more of LP’s great resources sprinkled helpfully throughout. You can admire, be inspired, and start planning your trip all in one place!
I have two of the ten under my belt thus far… time to figure out which one is next!
3.) Happy birthday, M!
I’m usually not one who shares sugary-sweet posts on social media about my wonderful husband, but as today is M’s birthday I couldn’t write a post about things I’m loving and not mention him.
M and I met in college, where we were both student ambassadors, but we didn’t start dating until a couple of years after we graduated. I was in the middle of my nomadic season of life, spending summers working in Alaska and the Yukon and the off-season backpacking and volunteering around the world. M and I had met a few times to catch up when I was in town, but strangely when we grabbed dinner together one night in October, 2010, something was suddenly very different. We both parted that night with the same question in our heads:
“Was that a date?”
I had already committed to about ten months of travel beginning in January of 2011, but M was willing to take the plunge anyway. We exchanged long emails, occasional GChat sessions, and a couple of Skype dates while I spent the winter backpacking in Southeast Asia. When I left for Alaska in May, my work days as a tour director were long and my time zone was always three to four hours behind his. Nevertheless, M faithfully woke up in the middle of the night every single night for five months so that we could talk. Come fall, he flew out to Las Vegas and spent ten days traveling with my friend Molly and me in the middle of our two month cross-country road trip.
And somewhere along the way, we fell in love.
I moved to the Philadelphia area in the winter of 2012, M proposed in February of 2014, and we got married that October. Now, almost four years into this crazy thing called marriage, I’m exponentially more grateful for him than I ever was before. I can’t imagine a better life partner, or a person with more care, integrity, and loyalty than the man I married. As I said on our wedding day, I better understand the love of Christ because of the way that M loves me. He’s the best person I know, and every day he makes me just a little bit stronger in my faith, my career, and my overall being. I can’t imagine life without him.
We’ll be celebrating M crossing the 32-year mark tonight by seeing Billy Joel at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and then tomorrow we’re off to take in the new Mission Impossible movie in IMAX. It should be a fairly low-key weekend, which is the way M likes it. Plus, we’re gearing up for some big adventures that I can’t wait to share with you!
—
That’s all for this week, friends! Thank you for joining me, and thank you especially for letting me share our love story and gush a bit about this fantastic guy I am lucky to have as a life and travel partner. I hope your weekend finds you similarly blessed and look forward to sharing more with you next week!
XO,
Gwen
—
What have you been loving lately?
What Asian destination is highest on your travel list?
Tell me your love story!
—
Read More:
Did you miss Week 22? Check out what I was loving last week!
The Essential Belize Packing List
10 Things I Will Do on My Next Trip to Iceland
The Essential Belize Packing List
Happy Birthday, M! I loved reading about how you two met and your long distance love story. So cool that you were able to make it work and not have to give up your adventures. Hope you had a great low key birthday weekend!
Thank you! It was a lot of work, and far from easy, but I think living apart for a while can help lay a great foundation for a relationship 🙂 We were just glad that we were able to talk as comfortably in person when the time came as we could through a computer screen!