The most I have ever weighed in my life thus far is 230 pounds. Depression, plus not knowing how to be a good vegetarian, plus eating out all the time is bound to lead to one being a chunky chunkerson. I was still overweight in high school, but managed to lose a bit of weight starting in my sophomore year by taking an aerobics type phys ed class three days a week. My junior year I added a job into the mix and continued to lose weight. Hooray!

After high school I moved on to college, as many 18 year olds do, and I got poor. Poor and depressed. Poor, depressed and incredibly busy. I was living off daily 99 cent burritos from Del Taco and sourdough bacon hamburgers without meat from Jack in the Box. I was cashing in all the cans and bottles from beverages consumed in my apartment (I had quite a few roommates in college) to eat and do laundry. It was ridiculous. When I left college I weighed around 140 pounds, and while I still had a ton of fat on my body, I was a size that was ok. I wasn’t happy with it, but I was ok.

After college I moved in with a lovely guy, my first serious serious boyfriend, and proceded to gain about 20 pounds of “happy weight”. Bad bad bad! We started running and exercising and I lost about 10 pounds of it. 150 pounds at 5’4 isn’t too shabby, but it doesn’t look nice on my body. Not nice at all.

My relationship with the fella above didn’t work out, and after 3 years we broke up and, in what some people would consider a flash I started dating someone else and moved to San Francisco. Two and a half years into new relationship I was back up to 195 pounds and mysteriously 2 inches taller? WTF? Who does that? Lots of people, but why why why? Grr!

So this pretty much brings us up to now. Currently I am 174 pounds. The poundage that I have lost between 195 and now has happened for two reasons:

1. I became a vegan and got a bike. Brought me down into the 180s over the course of a year
2. For the last month I’ve been trying really hard to change the way I live my life

Two weeks ago I was 178 pounds, and decided that I am done being this overweight, tired, angsty, depressed, physically unattractive person. I want to feel vibrant, healthy, alive! I want the confidence I had in college. I want to wake up in the morning shooting lightning bolts of joy out my fingers. I want to be a radiant, whimsical reflection of all the wonderful that could be in the world. The body that I am working with is mine, and I love it for all it can do, but It’s not the best that it can be, and I owe myself and my body that.

So, 54 pounds. I can make that happen. I have no choice.

People, life is SO much easier when you embrace and learn to love what the fates and the universe have given you. Ladies and gents, dump the curling irons, the blow driers, hair straighteners, the lye, and the unnatural chemical laced products you’re used to using on a daily basis. Let go of the things you’ve been brainwashed to think you need to look the way society wants you to look. Give yourself a break, even if it’s just a mini one.

Experiencing the world is so much easier when you don’t have these things to worry about, and when you’re used to not using them in your day to day life, they’re that much easier to go without while you’re travelling.

Two or so years ago I went on a month long trip to Denmark (wonderful!) and Sweden (fun!) with a super short stint in Switzerland. At the time I was blow drying and flat ironing my seriously kinky/curly hair everyday, and as you can probably guess, it was hell to deal with. The Danish bathrooms I encountered were not like American bathrooms. They were small, had very little counter space, and were basically a huge shower with a toilet and sink in it. I love them, they capture my wannabe minimalist heart, but they don’t make for easy hair straightening when you’re not used to them (and when you don’t want to be rude and take up the bathroom for 30 minutes). I gave up straightening my hair about a week in and wore hats the whole time. I was so uncomfortable. I felt disheveled, unattractive and just a general mess. Who can enjoy their travels when they feel like that?

Fast forward a couple years and I am so glad to be free of the burden that was straightening my ultra curly hair. Last years travels were here in the states, Portland and Burning Man (both great!), and not having to deal with my hair was fantastic! I took a wide toothed comb, leave in conditioner (to Portland, not Burning Man), a couple clips and a few headbands, that’s it! I’d wake up, shower, rinse my hair, slap on a headband, a clip, and TADA, done!

I believe there’s freedom in acceptance. If your hair is bone straight, frizzy, big, or gloriously kinky and curly, please do what you can to embrace it. You might be pleasantly surprised at how much you grow to love that part of you!

The time has come to have some fun and experience the world! No really, it has.

Each year around November the nomadic passions in me bubble up to the surface and burst out in an explosion of energy. I get so excited about the idea of seeing the world I want to jump out of my skin. I love to plan things and can really get into it.

When the travel bug really digs its teeth in I can’t help but to:

• Frequent outdoor/travel supply stores every other day – As I said, I love to plan things, and looking at all the gear and gadgets helps put me in the “heck yeah, this is going to happen!” mindset, even if I don’t plan on purchasing much of what I look at. I can also see what things might be worth looking into. Is a certain item out of stock every other time I go to the store? Maybe I should research whether it’s worth bringing on my trip.

• Spend hours reading travel/nature blogs and websites – I bookmark all kinds things for future reference in Google Chrome. I feel one of the best ways to learn is through the experience of others. Some articles will come in handy in my future travels, some won’t. Either way I can’t pass up an opportunity to be prepared, it’s a habit I’m trying to ease up on. I like using the bookmark feature Google Chrome because it lets me access them from almost anywhere with an internet connection.

• Bring dozens of travel guides, language dictionaries and history books home from the library at one time – I have absolutely no self control when it comes to books, travel and how-to books especially. I love to have inspirational books on hand for looking through whenever I have a spare moment, which would be always cause I am the king of procrastination.

• Lose myself in movies about far away lands – Documentaries, action flicks, dramas, YouTube clips. Be it reality or fiction, I thoroughly enjoy watching other people living life all over this wonderful world of ours. It’s all good.

It might be the whole “the new year is on its way, the future seems so bright” thing, but I get really really into the travel research towards the end of the year.

And then I don’t go anywhere.

Why? Fear most likely. And procrastination. And a lack of focus, a shortage of money, a fiance who’s not ready to leave the 9 to 5 grind, and a whole slew of other reasons that are just excuses. Hindrances with easy fixes that I keep around so I don’t have to do something that will put me out of my comfort zone.

This year I am growing a set of lady balls and embracing the world of travel and adventure! Will I be doing a whole lot of travelling this year? Probably not seeing I’m am a full time student at two different schools who’s currently looking to be employed somewhere 30 hours per week. I’ll barely have time to sleep, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get in the mindset and start setting things in motion.

I will wander the souk and smell the spices in Merrakech, experience the vegetarian festival of Tesagan Gin in Thailand, and dance my ass off during Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro. Adventure awaits!

What adventures are you going to get up to this year? Let us know in the comments below.