Get to Know Me: 23 Random Facts About Me

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Yesterday I turned 23! To celebrate, I thought I’d share 23 things you may not know about me to get to know me better.

As a child, I loved designing floor plans and interior design mood boards.

I love reading, but didn’t read for enjoyment a lot in college. My 2020 goal is to read 25 books. I’ve read twelve so far!

I prefer tea to coffee. Green, preferably.

It’s difficult for me to not stay busy. That’s one of the reasons why I started this blog! I had time on my hands and a lot of creative energy flowing.

For one year, I was on a competitive gymnastics team after practicing gymnastics recreationally for several years. I hated the competitive side! I loved gymnastics recreationally, but I was really scared of breaking my neck which prevented me from doing several of the tricks the team wanted me to do. Plus I didn’t like the coaches or teammates. It was…too competitive! When my favorite coach left, I quit.

I horseback ride! I used to take lessons and would love to start again, once I’m more settled. Also, I used to teach horseback riding lessons and work on a horse farm during the summers. I worked as a camp counselor for horse camps and co-taught therapeutic riding lessons.

I also played piano for 10 years. Since I rarely practiced, I wasn’t as good as one might think someone who took lessons for 10 years would be. I’d love to buy a piano and play again one day…and actually practice this time!

Before going zero waste, I already carried around a reusable water bottle and participated in beach clean-ups.

My first intentionally zero waste swap was deodorant.

If I don’t have a planner, I feel lost. My paper planner is what keeps me on-time, productive, and sane. I’ve tried an online planner before, but it didn’t work for me. I like the old paper-and-pen style of daily planning.

I spend every morning writing GG posts for about one or two hours. The weekends are dedicated to all the other blog-related stuff, such as social media. I spend about three hours on the weekends doing that stuff. Finally, I spend about an hour or two every day working on freelance work (that actually helps pay the bills). In total, I spend 15-30 hours per week on my blog.

Blogging is not my full-time job! I still work 40+ hours a week at my office job.

While I don’t love my full-time job, it helps me pay the bills and save money while I grow GG. In about four years, I’ll have enough money saved to quit my job and travel full-time!

Full-time travel isn’t my end-game. While I look forward to full-time traveling for a few years, I ultimately want to work towards systemic sustainable changes in the travel industry and my community (wherever I choose to settle down). I suspect the level of impact I want to cause requires some level of stillness.

I’m looking for an apartment close enough to my work that I can bike. Honestly, it would take me just as much time to bike to work as it would to drive to work. Morning and evening traffic can be insane! Since I have a desk job, I look forward to the extra non-sedentary time on my bike.

I’ve had my iPhone 7 since June 2018 and plan to keep it until June 2023! This research states a phone should be used for at least 5 years for the personal gain to equal the environmental impact of phone production. Phones are so expensive that I don’t mind keeping my phone around for as long as possible! Yup, even a “get to know me” post includes some sustainable travel tidbits.

If I weren’t a blogger/sustainability advocate, I think I’d be an architect or interior designer! I loved visiting open houses growing up and drew hundreds of floor plans. HGTV Magazine was my favorite reading, and I still subscribe to it today. It was time well-worth invested because it has made figuring out my style and decorating my apartment much easier!

Perhaps surprisingly, I don’t love writing. I love sharing my thoughts and writing is one way to do that. I like writing more than video because I can write in my pajamas slumped in my bed! Still, some days I have zero desire to write. Thankfully blogging involves so much more than writing, so on those days I move on to one of the many other tasks on my to-do list!

I donate 1% of my total annual income to environmental organizations.

I have way too many hobbies that I often feel like I’m not good at any of them. Scuba diving, kayaking, SUP, weightlifting, running, kickboxing, yoga, horseback riding, piano, skiing, language learning, politics, the environment, blogging, photography, writing, reading, cooking, interior design, travel…I’m probably forgetting a few.

My cat loves to be held by me!

I hope you enjoyed this “get to know me” style of post. It’s very different from the sustainable travel posts I usually post, but I thought this “get to know” me style would be a fun break.

Comment below if we have anything in common!

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