This post has it all. The current 20 something generation’s view of success is SO different. And SO exciting!

Kayla Cruz's avatarGen Y Girl

My senior year of high school, I had the genius idea of taking AP Physics, AP Calculus, and AP Statistics, all at the same time.

I pushed myself so hard that year all because I wanted to earn college credits and therefore graduate from college in less than four years.

I did that.

I started working a full-time job at the age of 19 and earned my bachelor’s degree in two and a half years.

I figured that if I got my degree early and had some experience under my belt, I’d be ahead of the game career-wise and would be taking steps towards my journey up the quote-on-quote career ladder. If I did this, I would be a few steps closer to becoming the VP of some great company where my work would consume all of my energy every day.

That’s what success looked like most of my life.

I was…

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To Regret or Not To Regret?

One week from this moment I will be boarding a plane to Thailand. Well, no, not true-I’ll be boarding a plane to LAX, then to Hong Kong, THEN and only then will I be getting on a plane to Thailand. But you know what I mean.

People keep asking me what I’m going to miss most. Ya know, I have no idea—as much as I love my job, my community, my friends, my trails and my life here in Southern Oregon I think I’m ready to discover something really new and most definitely exciting. I’ve lived a lot of my life not wanting to miss out on anything. Being too afraid to leave and really follow what I’ve dreamed of doing, what I have discovered is that by leaving, or by not leaving I miss out on a whole lot more.

I’m ready. I’m scared. But being excited is outweighing everything.

Just a CoUPle More Things…

Fact: Things taste better when eaten out of a mug or pint glass. Example: coffee, beer, soup, cereal, ice cream, water…etc.

 

Two things that are kinda weird to travel with: a mug and a pint glass. As I embark on my trip to Thailand I’m trying to think about what makes me feel at home. Drinking coffee, tea, eating soup or ice cream out of a mug is definitely superior to any other vessel in the kitchen cupboard.

Traveling abroad, traveling away from anything familiar can leave one more or less discombobulated, homesick and scared. Am I saying that bringing these objects to THAILAND will make me feel at home in SE Asia? Nope, but a tall glass of water, or a beer or coffee out of either of these will remind me of a time where I shared a moment and conversation with a good friend in a far away place. It will bring a bit of home when I coffee/beer skype with my friend in Colorado or Oregon or Switzerland.

I’ve decided to bring my favorite mug from one favorite coffee shops—a coffee shop that I spent many a hours at during college; writing papers, doing homework and facebooking (yeah, all the important stuff) all while sipping an Americano crafted by the talented baristas at Lemonjellos in Holland, Michigan.

I’m also bringing a pint glass. A glass that I earned by running a 50k this past summer, a race that wound through the trails of Southern Oregon on the PCT. A glass I earned by training my ass off and working hard to get my ass to the start line at 6am that day and running for a long ass time. This is my favorite glass to drink ice water out of after a long, sweaty, salty run. I can’t wait to run long and sweaty in Thailand.

Mug and Pint

 

I’m not saying I’ll be at home in Thailand but I am going to bring a little of what makes me feel it with me.