Hola! It’s 2022. It happened. It’s here. How do
you feel? Did you miss me? We have a lot to catch up on.
What’s your 2022 looking like? Any resolutions?
What are your priorities?
My top three priorities are:
1-Making/saving money
2-Work and my business
3-Being healthy
Resolutions:
No candy, snacks, or treats. This means no
desserts, pop, or anything else that can be considered a treat. I think I’m
going to allow the occasional Gatorade in the summer or after some physical exercise.
I will also allow a Red Bull about once a month. I just feel like sugar is too
accessible and tasty so I need a little break and hopefully lose a few kgs. I
figure that if I can go a year without drinking, I can do almost anything. I’m
halfway through a year of no gambling and I’m certainly looking forward to that challenge being completed.
I’m living alone for the first few months of
2022 so that’s a positive thing. I’m hopefully joining an Ottawa lacrosse league
in the spring, turning 36 in May, and trying to figure out life in Canada.
Overall, I think coming back has been a tremendous success and I have no plans
on leaving.
Road trip
It takes 25 hours of driving to get to Florida.
I know that because, at the end of December, I drove my mom’s husband’s car down
to Florida so they can have a car throughout the winter. Why did I offer to do
that drive? I thought about that a lot during my 25-hour journey; not sure I
have an answer other than the fact that I have a lot of free time and I’ve never
been on a massive solo road trip before. I would say it was a success.
Highlights:
Listened to some podcasts and an audiobook
(Circe; not recommended)
Meals and lodging paid for (recommended)
Was getting gas near Washington and I went
inside to get a Red Bull for the trip. Gave the guy cash and he was trying to
give me change. The cash register wasn’t working so he looked at it, slapped it, and said, “Come on Mary!”
Saw my old friend Lu Lui who I worked with in
Shanghai. She lives in South Carolina so I stopped by her town and we ate at a Sonic.
Finally arriving in Florida and enjoying the
25+ heat as opposed to the -25 degrees in Canada’s capital.
The biggest surprise was that I didn’t get lost
once or make a wrong turn on my entire journey to Florida. I would have guessed before starting this trip I would have made at least 5 wrong turns and gotten
lost at least twice so gold star for me.
I also didn’t get pulled over or interact with
any police while I was in America so that’s another big win.
Lowlights:
Almost hit a deer at night in the rain in South
Carolina so dodged a bullet there.
Saw lots of garbage and abandoned cars in the
Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina area.
Not sure I would have been able to drive back;
flying is much faster and convenient so if you ever get the chance to take part
in a massive road trip, my recommendation would be to not have to drive back.
Savannah, Georgia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFQ_GvpzP4w
Savannah was only a three-hour drive from where
my friend lived so I got up early and drove to Savannah. I’ve heard a lot of
good things and wanted to check it out. I had two priorities for the quick
visit before getting back on the road and finishing the drive to Florida. One
was eating at Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMmJWao9mR0
The other was to take a trolley tour of the
city.
Priority one: Due to Covid, they don’t serve
indoors and only let people order takeout. Perfect. I wasn’t trying to get
Covid so this was a positive development. I read that the restaurant opens at
11 but people start lining up before 10:30 because sometimes by 12, they have
run out of food to serve. I’m not a huge morning person but I’ve never had
classic Southern food so I was excited to leave early and head to Mrs. Wilkes
Dining Room. I arrived right around 10:15 which was lots of time to eat, take
the tour and get on my way. Is life this simple folks? Would the world grant me
a problem-free day? Of course not! I parked the car and outside of the
restaurant, a sign read: Due to a family emergency, the restaurant is closed
today.
Of course.
Freaking out in the middle of the street didn’t
seem like a way to avoid police interaction so I drove over to the trolley tour
and started to learn about the history of Savannah. I won’t bore you with everything
the guide told me but I will tell you a few things that stood out for me. If
anything I’m about to write is incorrect, you can blame my trolley guide.
Forest Gump was filmed in Savannah. The scenes
where Tom Hanks talks to strangers as they are waiting for the bus, was filmed
in the Historic District of Savannah. After the film became popular, people
came by see the famous bench. Seeing it wasn’t enough for some people so they
started taking parts of the wooden bench. The bench was then moved inside of a
museum because people are the worst.
-Mary Telfair came from a rich family. She was
engaged but her fiancé left her for her younger sister (classic). She hated
men for the rest of her life. After her death, she left her fortune to the city of
Savannah. Ten years after her death, her family displayed 5 statues of men
outside of her home out of spite.
-Spanish moss trees are everywhere in Savannah. Apparently,
Henry Ford used Spanish moss to stuff the seats of his Model T Fords. They used
to boil the Spanish moss because there is some type of bug that lives in the
moss however Ford stopped boiling the moss that eventually led to bugs ‘disturbing’
drivers all over America. This led to the first-ever car recall.
https://www.hotcars.com/this-was-the-first-automotive-recall-ever/
Jones Street in Savannah was named America’s
most beautiful street
https://savannahfirsttimer.com/jones-street-prettiest-street-in-savannah/
Miami
I didn’t get Covid in Miami so maybe I didn’t
do it right. My plan in July was to watch a Dolphins vs. Patriots game but it
turned out the game was going to essentially be meaningless so I sold my
ticket. However, this did not negatively impact my weekend. I stayed in South
Beach the entire weekend. It’s what you imagine it to be. Super warm,
Cuban vibes, great weather, and lots of very fit-looking people trying to enjoy
the sunshine. I rarely leave a city thinking I could live there but I would
definitely live in Miami in another life. Would for sure go back and encourage
anyone who has any interest to check it out. I quickly walked around Little Havana before flying
back to Canada and it was a real tasty treat. Not a fan of coffee but the Cuban
coffee at The House of Cuban Coffee was unreal. If you can speak Spanish, this
area is for you. I was definitely sad to leave.
Quick hostel story
Long story short, I stayed at a hostel and there
was a guy from Israel in the bed across from me. I wake up in the middle of the
night and he is half on his bed and half on the floor. A bit strange. A few
minutes later, he’s awake but seems like he is sleepwalking or something and he
is just sort of staring at me. This continues for a little while. I look away,
look back at him, he’s still looking at me then looks away. I ask him if he’s
ok. Don’t really get a response. He then gets up, goes to the shower, turns on
the light, and just stands in the shower without the sound of running
water. At this point, there is no way I’m
falling back asleep so I go down to the pool around 2am and feel like it’s
probably safe to go back just before sunrise. I understand why people don’t
stay in hostels.
I wish you a healthy, productive, and entertaining
2022. Adios.
“In all affairs it's a
healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken
for granted.”
Bertrand Russell
