Life Lessons of 2015

Hello Everyone!

Whew what a year 2015 was! I apologize for taking a break on blogging, I had a very crazy year. Lots of trips, working, and meetings. On top of that I had the unfortunate loss of my best friend, which ended up setting everything back for me, and forcing me to take some time off and to focus on myself, getting through a difficult time and looking to spend more time with the ones I love, which meant, staying away from social media of all kinds.

However, I'M BACK! With new, fun content, and whats most exciting? I've taken on a new project....
VLOGGING! My goal is to create relatively short videos on fashion, reviews, beauty, travels and anything else you may find interesting. I want to design a site based around viewers and what they want to see rather than what I think you would like to see. I'm a bit nervous to step away from the keyboard and stand, or sit in front of the camera. But life is all about challenging yourself, and exposing yourself to new experiences. If you are interested in seeing my first few posts head on over and give it a go!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf3dpIfvmFrF1W8N8Paeh2w/videos

Enough about me, lets get to my Life Lessons of 2015!

Have confidence and love yourself. These two go hand in hand and will help you with with anything you do. Have confidence, when meeting new people, working on new or even old projects, talking to someone your passionate about. Have confidence and love yourself when people see that, they become inspired and they will feed of of that. If you can find that one particular thing you are good at or most proud of, shine. You'll have more love for yourself and it will become the stepping stone for building confidence in other areas.


Don't listen to what other people say - I am a huge hypocrite when it comes to this. I tend to listen to what others say about me, and it has a tendency to wear on me. However, if there is one thing I have learned this past year, it is the less you listen, the less you care and the more focus you have on you and what matters most to you. There will always be someone who has something to say, or someone who has an opinion on everything. Don't let it consume you. What I have learned recently, if they are going to talk about you, they are going to talk about everyone. Chances are they are so unhappy in their own life that they feel the only way to succeed or feel good about themselves is to criticize others, and thats not right nor is it fair. Just carry on with your life, don't let it bother you and you will be the one to come out on top. Which brings me to my next point

Focus on You. Theres nothing more important than focusing on you, and your needs what you want out of life. Life is more enjoyable when you have set aside some time for yourself.

• pick up a hobby, join a club, go hiking. Do something that inspires you. Inspire others. 

Accomplish something - Anything! Theres so much to do and such a small frame of time to do it. Don’t let anything hold you back from what makes you truly happy. We all have that ability within us that we want to accomplish. Just do it. and again don’t let what other people think distract you from getting to that goal. By accomplishing something you create an overall, happier, more positive outlook on life, and essentially, a more happier you.

Most importantly,
Focus on what you have and not on what you don’t have - I am the biggest hypocrite with this. I tell everyone around me to focus on what they have and not what they don’t have and yet I don’t live by this. In September, I lost my best friend and I focused so much on the fact that he is no longer here and didn’t think about the moments we had shared. It wasn’t until later with the help of those around me, I had come to the realization that I have moments, memories, and experiences that will always be with me, and I have the ability to share those with other people and include them on the fun experiences.

This can also be said for material items. We spend so much of our time trying to find the perfect house, car or item that we don't ask ourself if its what we need. If we spent more time looking at the things we need and less at the things we want you'll realize what you want is right in front of you. Of course we will always want more, its the nature of things. Instead of always looking for the want in life, look for the need so you can achieve the wants more easily and it becomes more of a reward than an everyday goal. You’ll get a lot further in life and find more success when you focus on what you have and not what you don’t have.


Finally, this could even be said as a sixth point, enjoy every moment of your life. That includes both the good and the bad, in the end its all a stepping stone to the next stage of your life. Learn from what happens. The bad is just preparing you for something great and prepares you for tough times.

Happy 2016 Everyone, Do something great! 

☮

Traveling on a Budget

This goes without saying, but budget, budget BUDGET!

Find out how much you can spend
 In my last post I talked briefly about budgeting. Realistically, you should always have a budget. By doing so you won't live pay check to pay check. You can plan for emergencies, a night out and of course vacations. I would classify the above as the pre- budget, the kind of budget you must put into action to allow for your travel budget to take place.

Make a List
First things first on your list - is a list
Make a list of where you want to travel to. Put into focus these key aspects.

- What you want to do

- Where you want to stay

- What you are going to eat

- When you want to go

- How much you can afford

All these things are crucial in planning and budgeting your trip. After all when you think about it, you can't go away without planning!

What do you want to do?
While on your trip, there are tons of fun things to do. You can do the typical tourist activities, without doing the typical tourist thing. What does that mean exactly? You don't need a travel guide. Go online, ask around, or look in books. There are many ways to experience what you want to see without seeing a travel guide. I will admit that there is the odd time a travel guide will be your best option, however in most situations that is not the case.
In my experience, a tour guide will give you facts while your a visiting sights. Unless you want to know about every specific detail about where you are visiting - its not worth it. You are very limited when on a tour as well. You don't choose where you go - they do. By visiting on your own or in a group of friends/family. You get to experience all aspects of what Y O U would like to see. The moral of it all is find what you want to see and do and do it with who you want to do it with.

Pack/buy/bring meals/food
Pack fruits and veggies or sandwiches. In my experience food doesn't always last as long when it is fresh. So don't go out of your way to purchase large quantities.
Find grocery stores that have memberships and sign up for those. You will be surprised at the great deals you can find on fresh produce. My personal favourite is Save On. Their fresh sandwiches are on the relatively cheap side, and you also get points when you spend. Those points go toward more savings.


Find cheap flights
Some of my favourite cheap flight websites such are

Flight Network
Priceline
WestJet ( You get points which go toward your next flight)
Apps that work great for finding cheap flights such as Hopper


Traveling Where You know someone
Travel to places were an old friend, or even new friend lives. Perhaps its time you see that person you haven't seen in a while. In most cases, you will have a place to stay

Find Times to travel that are not peak times
Don't travel at high peak times when everyone else is too. Find times that work best for your budget. You can still do all the things you want to do, just at a different time of year. Hopper is a great app for that as it informs you of when the best times to travel are!

Cheap hotels / b&b / Hostels
Go online and find sites that will help you with finding a hotel at a reasonable cost - and CLEAN! ( Again Priceline and Flight Network are great sites for hotels too)
B&B's and Hostels are my absolute favourite... especially hostels. Great way to meet new people and experience a side of traveling you wouldn't have imagined.


***Disclaimer; I am in no way paid or sponsored by the sites above. These are based on personal experiences that I like to share with those who wish to listen.***