Ahnspired: Travel

Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts

Hi Guys!

Sorry I've been MIA. I took a last minute impromptu trip to Kolob Canyon and Brian Head this weekend, and I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to go hiking at Kolob Canyon. I knew I was out of shape, but I did not realize to what extent I am out of shape and got a rude awakening. I guess I must've been in denial about it.

While I love to go hiking, I have gotten lazy and complacent and am definitely not as active as I used to be and haven't been hiking in about a year...and a half, so what made me think I could do 6 hours of hiking out of the blue I don't know...especially since it was actual hiking on rocky terrain and not just an out and back on a relatively flat surface. I mean look at what my fitbit recorded for yesterday...

I've never accomplished 24,000 steps in one day and there were so many steps and inclines along the trail it recorded me as having gone up the equivalent of 87 flights of stairs! I'll get more into the whole experience in an actual full post with pictures from the hike, but let's just say I wasn't sure I was gonna make it...however, I'm proud to say I didn't give up and finished the hike (barely), but I am soooooooo unbelievably sore right now. I really need to get back to being more active and exercising and hiking.

Anywho, on top of that, I drove up to Brian Head right after (where I had booked a room) and proceeded to get altitude sickness on top of that, so I was just out for the count...which totally sucked because I was so looking forward to the night sky and stargazing up at Brian Head/Cedar Break, which is supposed to be AMAZING...but sadly I missed out on, on account of I was so sick and sore I straight up just walked into my hotel room and collapsed/passed out on the bed.

I finally made it safely back home, but I'm still recuperating. Altitude sickness pretty much went away as soon as I made it back down the mountain, but my body is still wrecked from the hike. Trying to make sure I recuperate in time though for my trip to Zion this weekend. So excited, although I think I'll stick to the easy trails and pace myself this time around.

Despite everything I'm still glad I went though, and despite it all I did still enjoy myself.

I probably won't be doing much posting this week, but here's a sneak peak of what's to come...

Isn't Kolob Canyon beautiful?

Me pushing through the pain to revel in the snow. You can't even tell that I didn't shower, brush my teeth or my hair...or can you? All I did was rinse my face with some water and swish some mouthwash before using my fingers to hap-hazardously tie my messy dirty hair out of my face.

Hi Guys!

Hope everyone is doing well. Just wanted to jump on and give you an update because I feel like I've been terrible at keeping up with my blog since the new year started. I have been using and trying out products, but I know I haven't been the best at keeping up with my reviews so...I've decided to start up a new series of posts that I think will help out with that. From here on out I'm going to start a first impressions series. It'll just be a sentence or two with my initial reaction to a product, which I will then at a later time go back to do a full fledged review of, that way you have an idea of how I feel about a particular product without having to wait for forever.

Now first impressions aren't always an accurate measure, and my feelings can of course change over the course of using a product, but I still think it would be nice and helpful to know...right? Obviously that won't work for one off sheet masks, especially since I like to switch it up each time and don't just use one particular sheet mask over a period of time, which I know I've been slacking on lately...I look at my ginormous pile of sheet masks everyday and feel guilty just letting them sit there, but I've just been really into my actual skincare routine lately. I've found some awesome, and I mean AWESOME products and I have just been absolutely smitten with my skincare routine, so I haven't really been using masks period...sheet or otherwise.

Sidenote: I do have a post that should be going up tomorrow night that dives into a lot of the products that I've been loving and using lately if you're curious. Full reviews will be forthcoming of course (I know...I know...I say that a lot, but they are coming I promise). In the meantime you can check out that "Skincare Tips" post when it goes live tomorrow night...after I finish it up tomorrow morning/afternoon while I'm stuck at jury duty.

Now where was I...oh that's right, sheet masks. Honestly, even if I wasn't as into my skincare routine right now, I'm just really not much of a winter sheet masker to begin with. I don't know why, but I just prefer using them in the warmer months than I do the colder winter months. Actually I do know why...it's because I much prefer and enjoy the nice cooling, refreshing and calming sensation that a sheet mask gives when it's warmer and hotter than during the winter when my face is already cold anyways. Siting with something cold and wet on my face when it's already cold is not the best feeling.

Anywho, that is the plan from here on out because I have a feeling that I'm going to continue to be very busy for the next several months and probably won't be that great at keeping up with my full reviews...not that I was ever that great at consistently posting my reviews. As I'm sure you know, I still have a lot of products that I hauled for you last year months and months ago that I still haven't reviewed, but definitely don't want to do worse than before. I do really love blogging and definitely don't want to let this fall to the wayside, so hopefully this will help.

I tend to write in a stream of conscious way to just get my thoughts out and on "paper" so to speak, then I go through and try to make it into logical and coherent sentences, then I gotta go through and edit it and make sure it makes sense...not just to me but you guys, and then I'm one of those people who tends to continually edit and don't know when to stop, so yeah...that's my process and why sometimes I'm able to post daily and sometimes I disappear. It all depends on how busy I am and how much time I have available to dedicate to the blog. I suppose I could just pump out the reviews if I wanted, but I feel like then they wouldn't be that great...although honestly, I still feel like my reviews end up sounding like gibberish half the time.

No matter how busy I am though, just writing a brief sentence or two is totally doable, so I should be able to stay more consistent with keeping you in the loop on how I feel about a product without keeping you hanging or disappearing for long stretches. I will still do my best to squeeze in the full reviews as much as I can, but at the very least you can count on having my first impressions.

Lastly, if you're curious as to why I foresee myself being very busy for the next few months, aside from the usual things like work, it's because my mother will be having eye surgery next week and I will be taking care of her for the next month while she recovers, then I have a trip planned to Zion Canyon at the end of April which I can't wait for, and then when I get back from Zion I plan to start on some home renovations which I'm super excited about. One of my big resolutions for this year was to start renovating my home, so I'm so freakin excited about it. It is A LOT of planning and work, so any free time that I have I most likely will be dedicating the majority of it to that, but I can't wait to start. I've just been overflowing with creativity, and planning out what and how I'm going to renovate. On the upside though, I will be sharing and documenting my home renovation journey, so that's a new series of posts you can look forward to on this blog as well...if you're into that.

Oh, and that trip to Zion Canyon next month...you can of course expect a travel post about my adventure there. I did drive through there years ago...like 13 years ago on my way to the Grand Canyon (North Rim) and I remember it being absolutely beautiful and breathtaking, so I'm super excited to finally visit and actually explore. I really want to do the Angels Landing trail, but...

...yeah. That final section of trail along the ridge, depicted in the pic above...that is definitely not for the faint of heart. I mean...

...OMG. There is nothing but that lone chain to help you go up and down the very narrow very steep ridge, which has sheer drop-offs on both sides. If you're not familiar with this trail, go look it up on YouTube. There are tons of videos of super brave people not only tackling this ridge, but filming it at the same time. Now I'm all for pushing your boundaries and going outside your comfort zone, but when it comes to my life and my safety...umm, people have died hiking this trail so you want to be sure and confident about your ability to do this...so I'll probably start the trail and do the "safe" part, but not go all the way. One day I hope to, but I don't think that day will be when I go next month.

So that is it for now. Check back tomorrow night for my "Skincare Tips - How I got over my skin issues" post. It's a good one, if I do say so myself, and something that's been doing wonders for my skin lately...so hopefully it will be very helpful and insightful for you guys as well.

Alright, I gotta go to bed now...gotta get up bright and early to make it to jury duty tomorrow.

So I finally tried Virgin America for the first time...I've had a passport and have been traveling since I was 6 months old, but this was my first time on Virgin and I gotta say....I really loved my flights.

Despite being in economy, the black leather seats which have a 32" pitch and a width of 17.7" were pretty cushy, roomy and comfortable. For reference, I am 5' 4" and while a woman never divulges her weight, I do have meat on my bones but was still really comfortable in my seat (not the best picture, but see below).

You can also check out the cabin on Virgin's website using google street view: https://www.virginamerica.com/cms/seatview/jfk-new-york-ny.html

I also really loved the cushy headrest, which cradled my head nicely. Usually I just sit up straight on flights and don't rest my head, unless I'm on a long haul international flight and have a pillow, but I actually put my head back and got comfortable.

Now I haven't been on EVERY single carrier in the world, but of the carriers I have tried Virgin is probably by far the most comfortable in my opinion and definitely my new found favorite in terms of economy seats. They get two thumbs up from me. I also loved their signature mood lit cabin, but once you're in the air the mood lighting goes away so no worries if you want to snooze.

For people in economy, everything is pretty much on demand...meaning you need to pay to get it. In terms of drinks and snacks, aside from the complimentary drink, everthing was on demand for my flight...but I was on a very short flight between LA and Vegas which is only 40 mins long so not a big deal, but still on other airlines we would get a variety of drinks to choose from along with some basic biscuit type cookie.

My evening flight had a better variety of drinks to choose from, but my morning flight simply offered a couple types of alcohol, orange juice, and water. That was it. You couldn't even get anything else on demand if you wanted to, but I think it was just my particular flight that morning though...or it could just be that way for all morning flights? Again, my first time on Virgin so I can't say for sure, but they did apologize and say that was all they were able to offer on that flight that morning so I'm inclined to say my flight was an exception...but don't quote me on that.

Surprisingly, even though it was an early 8AM flight there were still people who chose alcohol. Do people really drink that early in the morning? Not judging...actually the fact that I brought it up and even mentioned it probably means that I am maybe just a teeny bit judging, but not like judging judging...because my philosophy is whatever floats your boat as long as you're not hurting yourself or others, but that was just surprising to me. Probably because I have no tolerance for alcohol and do not drink whatsoever so I'm fascinated by people who can drink like nobody's business or all day long. For me the asian glow is real and I have it real bad...on top of getting sick and just passing out. Anywho, I get off topic.

As for actuals meals and whatnot, I haven't tried a longer haul flight, so I can't really comment on the food, but I would rather have a nice roomier comfy seat than a little packet of cookies so if that's the trade off I'll gladly take it.

Like I said, everything is pretty much on demand in economy so even beyond the snacks if you want to watch movies and TV shows...the good stuff, they do have some free stuff but if you want the mainstream good stuff or wifi you're gonna have to purchase it...unless you're up front in first class. I believe it's complimentary up there...I think.

Now for the lounge...

While waiting for my flight at LAX, being a priority pass member, I got to check out the Virgin America Loft...their lounge in Terminal 3 which was a lot smaller than expected. Luckily it was pretty empty while I was there so despite the fact that the lounge was small it was still quiet and nice, but if it were a lot busier I can imagine it would get crowded and loud quite easily (video below).

They had nice comfy seats and I loved having free wifi. While they had some bare minimum snack selections like a couple cereals and some cookies, a bowl of fruit to pick through, and some biscotti and saltines I found it lacking...but just like the whole on demand thing during the flight, you can order some food on demand in the lounge if you're willing to pay, but I found it to be a bit expensive and again not a lot of variety. Here's a copy of the menu from their website (number to the left are prices)...

I mean it sounds yummy...like the Turkey Chipotle Sandwich or the Orecchiette Pasta Salad, but I don't know that I would want to pay $12 for that at a lounge.

Lastly, there didn't seem to be a ton of outlets for recharging my electronics.

Still, all in all, it was a nice place to relax and hangout. Much better than being out by the gate for sure especially since it wasn't crowded, but it wasn't as spectacular as I was expecting it to be...but then again I should probably stop watching those travel vlogs on YouTube that showcase those extravagant and luxurious international lounges so I can better manage my expectations, but regardless I still enjoyed my stay. Nice big comfy chair and free wifi in a not so crowded place? I was golden. Next time I'll just buy some food in the terminal and bring it with me into the lounge. Not a big deal.