Philippines - Manila

Rode a donkey up the Taal Volcano. didn't realize it was a donkey until someone laughed at me (everybody else had a horse)

Hobbit bar! So weird that we only stayed for like 5 minutes

10 Travel tips from Diana

1.   Always have a travel playlist. I always get super nostalgic whenever I listen to my playlist on long bus rides or walks :)

2.   Always try to show up to a flight extra early... I once missed check-in by 3 mins and paid a huge premium

3.   Ok, but maybe not too early… Always double check the date of your flight. Staying at an airport for 30 hours straight is not fun

4.    Don’t lend backpackers money.

5. Save your money on that overpriced pasta dish that you can make at home and eat the local foods

6.   Wait to book cheap flights if you’re not on a tight schedule. Use skyscanner!

7.   Never be afraid to speak to people. If they suck then you can move on, and if they don't, you've just made friends!

8.   Always assume that this is going to the last time in a particular place, so you’ll make the most of it. I feel like I didn’t make the absolute most of some places as I always just said to myself “I’m going to be here for a lot longer” or even, “I’m going to come back in the future! Probably with kids of my own, so I’ll just roadtrip with them”

9.   Couchsurfing is not dicksurfing, but some people just don’t get it. Check references

10. Know that it’s possible to travel very cheaply, especially if you’re young and have no commitments :)

 I could elaborate on all of these later... Now it's time to take a nap. I've been at the airport for the past 12 hours and have another 17 to go (see #3) 

first travel post of 2015

I visited Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, and Manila this winter break, and had a blast! Unfortunately, I lost my phone (again) so the only pictures I have are the ones I've uploaded... I'll post them later.

But here's my lost phone count:
Africa: 1
Asia: 1
America: at least I find my phones every time I misplace them here
Australia: haven't lost a phone there yet, but I've decided to spend my summer backpacking around Australia! =)

Here are some tentative plans for my Australia trip:
May 31 - June 7: Fiji. maybe goof around on an island
June 8 - June 31: New Zealand
July 1 - 6: Tasmania
July 7 and onwards: Melbourne for a couple days and then Sydney for a short while. I've got a friend in Adelaide so I might visit Alice Springs too, and then Brisbane will hopefully be the last stop.

Exciting things happening :)

Lake Tahoe Day 2: snowy Sunday

 

 

We were headed to the top of Squaw Valley... What welcomed us was a sign that said "no hiking." Hah

Yup, it was steep. I was the lagger :(

Best part of the hike. Not only because of the beauty and the solitude, but also because my calves were finally able to rest

You can see one of the 5 lakes from afar!

Deep snow is still better than the ice I slipped on 

This ended up being a ~13 mile round trip hike with a ~3000 feet elevation gain (according to Strava), which isn't too bad, since the first few miles of the hike were quite flat.

Tahoe Day 1: rain and clouds, Martis Peak

Nov 22

We left Berkeley at 6AM Saturday morning. It was raining pretty heavily our entire drive up to Tahoe and I was starting to feel a little disappointed that we may not be able to do any long hikes... It did stop raining for a while, so we made our first stop at King's Beach. It was still incredibly windy.

King's Beach

We hiked to Martis Peak later when the wind died down. It was raining a bit and the roads were muddy, but it was a fun hike. In fact, it was raining for the last 30 minutes of our hike :)

Finally reached the top!

Great first day.

8 mile round trip hike.

Headed to a cabin owned by Sean's friend later and got to be super comfortable again! We cooked amazing food (lots of salmon), drank wine, and talked over dessert. There's nothing better than relaxing after a long day of hiking, especially since we know that we'll be doing this again tomorrow ;)

End of Thanksgiving in Pasadena

Went to Echo Mountain today. I haven't seen so many people on a hiking trail since Yosemite! 

Work out to pig out: Pre-Thanksgiving Mt Wilson Hike

I got up the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving and ate an amazingly and filling breakfast burrito from Lucky Boy's, and started my Mt Wilson hike at 9:30 to get ready for Thanksgiving :)

Lucky Boy's famous breakfast burrito

hiking food

The first thing I saw when I arrived at the start of the Mt Wilson Trail was a warning sign about bears. Here's a brief summary of it: "Due to the drought and the lack of resources in their original habitat, some bears have been foraging in areas close to humans. Bears have been sighted in this area in late October. If you do encounter a bear, don't run away -- appear big and yell at the bear until it runs away."  Glad to know that after leaving Berkeley, I still get to be in bear territory... There were very few people on the trail, and the first 2 miles weren't in open areas, so I actually did think I might encounter a bear. That would've made a great story, but I'm really glad I didn't see any bears.

Fun little climb

Definitely the best part of the hike. FINALLY REACHED THE TOP! 

I was realllllly tired when I reached the top, considering it was more than 7 miles all uphill in the incredibly sunny Southern California, so I was unbelievably glad to be finished... Until I realized I still had to go downhill. Luckily I met two other girls at the top, so I got to talk to them the whole way down!