European Bucketlist

(updated Jan 2017) I never expected to be a world traveler. If asked growing up if I would like to travel of course I said yes. But at the time, I didn't know what that would mean. I didn't think i would live in Japan and experience such a traditional and unique culture. I didn't think I could love a country more than the country I was from. And I never expected to go to the lands of my ancestors, my Italian heritage and be hours from the lands that my family came from. I never expected to live this kind of life.

But so far I have lived in some wonderful places and in June, I join another to the ranks: Naples. 

I couldn't be more excited about going to Europe next. There is sooo much to do, so much to see! I want to get as excited for Europe as I should be! Not worrying about the PCS, the traveling, the work before and until then! I want to get ready for the next trip of a lifetime! 

My Italian Bucket list 

1) Take a gondola ride in Venice

2) Kiss my husband under the moonlight in the Cinque Terre
3) Watching the sunset off the Amalfi coast
4) a night at the top of the Pavone castle
5) Sail into a bay in Sardinia 
6) Breakfast on the terrace at the Amalfi grand hotel (We did lunch! works for me)
7) Drive an open-top Ferrari
8) ride a scooter

9) Attend an opera under the stars at the Roman arena in Verona
10) Make lasting Italian friends
11) Find my family (or the land that once was my fatherland)
12) Get invited to lunch with a farming family
13) Live one day and/or evening in a piazza
14)Have breakfast at the bar
15) People watch in Italy
16) Join in at the Venice Carnival 
17) Eat real pizza in Naples
18) Eat a real cannoli in Sicily
19) Horseback ride up Mt. Vesuvius
20) Spend an entire day in Pompeii
21) Go to Capri
22) Go to Tuscany

23) See the Vatican
24) Go into the Catacombs
25) Go into the Naples Undergrounds
26) Try Gelato
27) Drink wine in Tuscany
28) Learn Italian (slightly)
29) Take Italian Classes
30) Explore Sicily
31) See Michelangelo's frescos in the sistine chapel
32) Join in Ivrea
33) Attend an Italian soccer game
34) Go to Open Baladin, a bar in Rome
35) Go skiing
36) Go ziplining
37) Go through the Roman Forum
38) Take a train
39) Drink from a water fountain
40) Stay at a B&B
41) Make a wish in Trevi fountain

42) See the Pope
43) Take a picture of the Guards
44) Get a hand-drawn painting (ceramic)
45) Walk around the Trastevere district.
46) Bottle your own wine in Tuscany
47) Stomp wine
48)  Post a letter on Juliet's wall and visit Verona, Italy
49) Boat in the Blue Grotto
50) Visit a castle
51) Sicily: See the mosaics at Villa Romana del Casale
52) Siena, Italy: Attend the medieval-era Palio horse race
53) Put hands in the Mouth of Truth, Rome

54) Visit the Mona Lisa

55) Go shopping in Milan
56) Learn how to Scuba Dive
57) Scuba in the Mediterranean 

58) Create and follow my own walking tour (I found an app for that)
59)Find cannoli's closest to ours
60) Learn how to harvest my own fruits (Plum season is over, Peaches are next!)
61) Go to a nude beach
62) Visit the leaning tower of Pisa

The rest of Europe Bucketlist. To be honest I don't even know where to begin, I want to see it all. As much as I can! Here are just a few I found online:

63) Go to Barcelona, Spain 
64) Connect with my college friends from this side of the world!
65) Go to Spain and connect with my Misawa friends
66) Barcelona: Go on a tapas crawl
67) eat paella



68) Go to Germany and connect with my Misawa friends
69) Go see Auschwitz
70) Go to Oktoberfest
71) Drive Germany's Romantic Road

72) Go to Ireland, Dublin buy some beers
73) Dance in an Irish pub
74) Kiss the Blarney Stone in Ireland

75) Go to Paris
76) Have a 7 course meal in France
77) French kiss on top of the Eiffel Tower
78) picnic in Versailles France
79) eat macaroons

80) Visit the Mona Lisa

81) Go to London
82) Have tea in London
83) See Parlament
84) See Big Ben
85) Watch a soccer game in Manchester


86) See the Colosseum
87) Go to the world's oldest amusement park

88) Go to Greece
89) Visit Athens: View the Parthenon
90) Visit Crete
91) the church of Paraportiani, Mykonos island Greece.
92) Temple of Olympian Zeus, Greece


93) Visit Portugal
94)  See the little mermaid, Copenhagen
95) Visit the Tulips in Amstradam
96) Tour the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia
97) take a dip in the blue lagoon, Iceland
98) Go to the devil valley
99) Hike the Sabin mountains, Latium

 Added in Oct: 
100) Go to Geneva Switzerland
101) Sit on the longest bench
102) See the Jet d'Eau
103) Go up in a cable car up a mountain
104) See a play at the Globe
105) Go to Prague
106) Take part in a festival
107) Go to an Italian wedding (or Romanian)
108) Go to Budapest
109) Eat a Trdelnik (or a Prochaska) Kurtoskalacs
110) Eat Weiner Shnizle 
111) Eat Apple Streusel
112) See the house of terror
113) See a concentration camp
114) See an orchestra in Prague
115) Go on a beer bike
116) Go to Amsterdam
117) Go to the greek islands
118) Go on a boating adventure in the Med
119) Go to Norway
120) Go to Brussels
121) Travel everywhere!

Updated: Japan Bucketlist

I am leaving in less than 2 months. This home away from home has been eye opening. I have made lifelong friends and I have met people who made me a better person. There are places I will never forget, lessons that are etched into my heart and experiences that made me stronger.

When I first moved to Japan, I created a bucketlist. Some of the crazy, very Japanese things I hoped to accomplish while I was here. Now its time to see which of those I have accomplished.

1. See Shinjuku Gyoen. Get lost in nature.
2. Go to an Art Museum.
3. Try clothes on in Japan (Just how small can they be?)
4. Make Sushi
5. Go to a waterpark.
6. Go to Tokyo Disneyland
7. Climb to the top of Mt. Fuji.
8. Sing in a karaoke bar!
9. Do ‘hanami’ (cherry blossom viewing) while in Japan.
10. Stay in a ryokan.
11. Visit the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
12. Go up the Tokyo Tower.
13. Go to a local izakaya. (Dream Bar! Loved it!)
14. Participate in Aomori’s Neputa festival.
15. Visit the Sannai Maruyama site in Aomori.
16. Visit Gappo Park in Aomori.
17. Go up APSAM in Aomori and take an awesome photo of the skyline!
18. Get photos of the cosplayers on Harajuku Bridge. (I did this one half way. I did see Cosplayers but not in Harajuku, I saw them at comiket!)
19. Visit Kabukicho (Tokyo’s red light district).
20. Buy a yukata or kimono.
21. Ride the Yamanote line.
22. Explore Tokyo Narita Airport.
23. Find a really, really interesting toilet.
24. Get a photo in the cherry blossoms.
25. Drink Sake.
26. Drink Chu-Hi.
27. Buy/rent a bicycle
28. Visit Aomori.
29. Visit Hachinohe.
30. Visit Towada
31. Visit Sapporo, land of the beers.
32. Make a lasting friend.
33. Befriend the wildlife.
34. Teach a lesson.
35. Ring a shrine bell and pray.
36. Try a weird flavour of Kit-Kat. (I hear there’s lemonade, watermelon, green tea)
37. Participate in a tea ceremony.
38. Visit Meiji Shrine.
39. Visit a cat cafe
40. Go to a Pokemon Center!
41. Go to Universal Studios.
42. Ride a shinkansen (bullet train).
43. Play Pachinko.
44. Learn how to drive out here.
45. Get a job so I can stay longer and accomplish all of these things.
46. Try all sorts of weird foods
47. Try Japanese Ramen
48. Get in better shape.
49. Go to Sapporo Festival
50. Go to the Nebuta Festival
51. Go to Cherry Blossom Festival
52. Watch a Japanese Baseball game.
53. Go to the Misawa Festivals

I only didn't make it to 11. The one I regret the most is Mt. Fuji. I really wanted to climb that. Maybe I can make a trip there before I go but I doubt it. Besides we are off to Naples, Italy next! Where I will have a longer list and another Mountain I can climb! 

Chopping the lines down.

Do you remember reading in elementary school? Kinder, first, and second.

This is a cat.

The cat can jump.

The cat can crawl.

Oh no! The cat finds a mouse.

The mouse ran away.

Read. Rinse. Repeat.

Stories were easy but god were they boring. Who cares how to read when this is what you are forced to look at?

For me, it changed in third grade. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. It was the first book I ever read that transported me somewhere new. All of a sudden I wasn't reading about a cat but I was a boy deserted and alone. I got lost on the pages and I couldn't find a way to safety. My heart raced, my eyes widened. Was I going to die?

Reading is so much more than looking at the words on the page. But it is about finding a connection. Fearing for your life, losing your love, igniting something inside of you, you never even dreamed of before.

Reading can transport you somewhere knew, think thoughts you never had and create emotions you never would have felt.

The first book that did that was a happy one. I thought they all would be from then on. They weren't. On those manila pages, I lost a father, a brother, a best friend, a lover. I ran away and was a thief, I was the savior and the villian. The saint and the poor. I was the child, the parent, and so much more. I lived a thousand lives in those stories and I have a thousand more to live.

But none opened my eyes as much as the first book ever did. The words transformed from lines on a page to a world I never knew existed.

broken glasses

 It was a typical Saturday afternoon, Ily went shopping to her favorite discount store. The building seemed to be silent as she walked around listening to her Ipod. She searched the racks and pummeled through the store. Payday was yesterday and her eyes were on the prize. She had been working so hard, she had been through so much. She grabbed some makeup, clothes and a couple pairs of glasses. She looked at a brown and black pair. The brown made her face hide and shaped her cheeks nicely. The other looked sharp and gave her an edge. She grabbed them both and headed towards the fitting room with some clothes in her hand.

She tried on the clothes, deciding which new outfits she wanted. She looked at her purchase. Spending 120 dollars was insane in just one day, she thought. I don't have this kind of money to waste. She wanted to believe. I deserve a break she thought as she broke the security tag. Her heart started racing. She didn't even dream of getting caught. She was hiding in a place no cameras could be found. Pay for one, pocket the other. They can't see anyway and its only one little item. They won't miss it.  she thought. It wouldn't be the first time she took something. Candy off the shelves and lipstick from the store. This is roughly the same size and worth a whole lot more.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Corporations don't need that $20 like I do. This store won't notice what they lost until I am gone. One last sharp push and into her purse the glasses drown.

She heads towards the register. The register gets a phone call "One... Just one." is all she hears them say. Are they on to her? If so, is it too late? It's probably nothing. She smiles and pays.

As she leaves the store, she's in her own little world. Freedom. Sunshine. I deserve the break, she thought. The adrenaline was intensifying. She made it and walked towards her car.

Out of no where and somewhere deep behind her. She hears an "Excuse me, Miss?" Ily spun around with a heart sinking jolt. She knew as the nerves and the tears come.

This is the end of freedom and the beginning of the box. All for $20 she could have afforded, all because she broke.  

I will show you the world

If you could travel to any place in the world that you have not been, has a culture you know nothing about, the land is unknown to you and what the people like, would you live there? Where is it?


If I had to pick a place that I didn't know anything about landscape, culture, or interests, I don't think I'd know the name of it either. I don't think I know a place that exists if I don't know any of that information about it. So if that is the question than I chose to look through a world map and find a country I know nothing about.

So let's narrow it down. I would mostly want a safe place but as I don't know what kind of place it will be I will probably follow some categories such as if the neighboring countries are very well known for war than I will not choose it. I would want a warm place, so I will look near the middle of the map. Not the equator persay because I don't want it hot necessarily. But I would look into the middle third of the map lets say.

Starting in Europe: Because for some reason Europe feels very enticing I would feel compelled to start there. Plus if I don't like it at least I will have the opportunity to visit a lot of other places.

First things first, being a teacher I want to visit Finland becasue I want to teach there. Finland is supposed to have the best education system in the world and I would love to see what that looks like. (I don't know if that qualifies as I know too much about it)

I believe Switzerland is the country that stays pretty war free and that makes it safe plus it is next to Italy.

Australia sounds interesting to visit and see what life would be like there. New Zealand and any of the Oceania countries are of interest to me.

If I have to base my ideas off just names without paying attention to war and other things. I like the names Togo, Cyprus, Macedonia.

I had a friend in 5th grade who came from Equador, he was nice so maybe I would like to live there. That is judging a whole country off a person.



So I took it one level further and found a map that I could throw a pretend dart at and decide if I would live there. First I landed on the Alaska- Canada border and although I don't know much extra about those places, the cold defers me. I would live there if I had to but not if I wanted to. Next up was northern Russia, same thing, too cold. And last was Moxico, Angola in Africa and out of those three I would choose that one.


Taking it even another step further and looking at places Mike and I could potentially be stationed at. I would not want to go to: Alaska, Djibouti, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia Cuba, Qatar and Bahrain. However, that being said I know all of these by name. Not necessarily by culture. I know more about the ones I would choose with their culture. So does culture mean more to me than I originally thought? I assume so but that's with stations I want to go to. I don't need to put myself in danger just to be with Mike. I would rather do long distance again than go to these unsafe and bitter cold areas.

Regretted Futures

If you could talk to your future self and ask for guidance what would you ask for?

Regret. What in my life will I regret? It is so easy to be swept away by the positives that sometimes you need to reel yourself back in. I have been out of the country for 3 years. Did I ruin my relationships? I will be out another 3. Will I miss the important birthdays, Christmas' and weddings that make a difference? Am I missing out on relationships with the people I love? Will I regret being a military spouse? Will I regret waiting to have kids? Will my family know my kids? Will I regret becoming a teacher?

Moving to Italy, Getting married, these are exciting worthwhile things! It sounds wonderful! BUT what am I trading for these experiences? My relationships take a toll and will it ever be not worth the cost?


So dear knowledgeable future self,

Is traveling the world worth missing out on so much? Will I still have the same friends and family when I return? Will I ever return? Or could I regret this life I have chose to live?

blizzard

She just escaped a class to help low income students with their homework for free. She was feeling confident, helpful and at peace with the world around her. She had always known that this was her calling. At 14, she knew where he life was going. Or so she thought.

But just like a blizzard, he hit her. There she was daydreaming about all the children she hoped to help some day. When she saw him there outside the YMCA running out of the building as if it was on fire, she froze.

He swayed over to her, with a smirk that said it all. She shook her head as he danced in one swell movement and he swooped down and made a snowball.

She screamed as he threw it, missing on purpose. He gave her just the right amount of time to devise her own plan. Her mittens froze over as she brushed the snow out of her hair. She pelted him in the chest for revenge. They laughed as the fight pursued with trees acting as shields and snow acting as grenades.

As the snow covered their eyes and dug its way into their clothes, it was here in this moment, that it seemed like they saw each other for the first time. They acted like the kids they once were with the emotions they now have.

As she hid around a tree, he trapped her with nowhere to go. Snowball in both hands asking for her to accept defeat. She smirked as the "Never" rolled off her tongue. She was surrounded on every side and instead of backing down, she rose to the call. And just as she expected the snow to come crashing into her, his lips did instead. The tree was like a smoke screen and his breath like a beckoning call.

He embraced her. He kissed her. And in that moment, she fell in love. Together the cold that surrounded them disappeared and all that remained was true love.