Best of 2024: Books

Happy New Year! According to Goodreads, I read 173 books in 2024 and DNFed 27, which comes out to roughly 70,300 pages. Here are a few stats.  

Breakdown by star rating:
5 stars (loved/it was great): 8 (4%)
4 stars (liked a lot/it was good): 82 (41%)
3 stars (liked a little/it was okay): 68 (34%)
2 stars (barely liked/it was not that good): 15 (7.5%)
1 star (it sucked but I finished it): 0 (0%)
0 stars (DNF): 27 (13.5%)

Average rating including DNFs: 3.01
Average excluding DNFs: 3.48

As you can see, this year if it sucked, I did not finish it, which contributed to a high amount of DNFs compared to most years in the past. Also four stars was my most common rating, but still there were enough threes and twos that the average was not that great. 

You can find a list of all of my favorites from prior years on my bookshelf page or on Goodreads. 

My two favorite books this year were: 

The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown: As a California native, we heard about the Donner party a lot! Any time we cross over Donner pass, we think of how they had to eat each other to stay alive. Any time we pass by Donner lake, we stop at the plaque and read about their struggles. I have heard it a million times. However, the author has a way of telling a story that just resounded with me. I really enjoyed this book (side note, see below for another one of my favorites by him) and the way he detailed the struggles of the Donner party. 

The Mountains Sing by Phan Quế Mai Nguyễn: This book tells the story of the Vietnam war and more, as seen from the point of view of a Vietnamese native. It is a multigenerational story and starts with the mother in the early 1900s and details the conflicts within both the country and the family as time goes by. Another book by the same author, Dust Child, was a four star read for me but didn't quite make the top cut.

The following books (in no particular order) were all five star reads: 

The Secret Book of Flora Lee by Patty Callahan Henry: A teenaged girl loses her sister during the evacuation of the children of London during WWII and she is traumatized for life. Then, as she is reading a manuscript for her job in editing, she reads a story that only her and her sister would know. This sparks a renewed search for her sister and we go through twists and turns to find out whether or not her beloved sister is still alive. 

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell: Who doesn't love a good thriller. I am constantly entertained by this author, and this book was no exception. It is the story of a true crime podcaster who interviews an interesting women, who later turns into a liability and the podcaster becomes the subject of her own podcast. Twists and turns at every corner make this an entertaining read. 

The Women by Kristen Hannah: I probably don't need to say much as this was a hot book this year, but I enjoyed learning more about the women who went to Vietnam to serve in the war. Also the story of how they were treated when they returned, as well as the mental struggles they had in both places were heartbreaking. 

Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown: If you have not heard about the Nisei soldiers, you have to read this book. This details the struggles that the first generation Japanese Americans had when they went off to fight in WWII against the Japanese. Many of them were sent on fool's errands, and they were treated badly by their own countrymen (Americans) even though they were fighting alongside them. 

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt: I already did a write up on this, but in case you missed it, the book goes into some of the issues that the younger generations are having due to the amount of screen time they are using, as well as the platforms and apps that they are using on their phones/screens. 

The Wedding People by Alison Espach: Here is another book that will probably be a best of book on many people's lists. A woman goes to a hotel to kill herself and realized that there is a week long wedding party taking place at the same hotel. She is understandably annoyed, but things take a turn and the end is not what you think it will be. 

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The following (in no particular order) were at the top of my four star reads for the year: 

Outlander (#1, #2, #3) by Diane Gabaldon: Men in kilts, romance, war. Need I say more? 

Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker: A 16 year old goes missing, and a television network decides to make a reality show about trying to find her. It is written in interview form, which I liked, and also keeps you guessing what really happened until the very end. 

Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford: Basically the Great British Bake Off, as told from a very lovable older woman's perspective. However, we do find out that more lies beneath the surface than expected. 

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell: Basically the Great British Bake Off, but with murder. 

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger: A high profile townsman is murdered, a Native American man is blamed, and the sherrif has to sort it all out. 

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters: A four year old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from a Maine berrry field, and her family searches for her for years. Cut to the future, when a girl named Norma grows up in Maine and doesn't feel like she quite fits in. The author does a great job of detailing the trauma involved, as well as the struggles and love that bring the whole thing together in the end. 

All My Rage by Saaba Tahir: Told from the perspective of a young Pakistani boy whose family moved to America to open a motel, it is a tale of struggles and family and love and regrets. 

Never by Ken Follet: What would it be like if WWIII was on our hands? Follet does a good job of creating an event that many may be dreading. Also there is a woman president. Yay. 

Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall: Stories about the taboo subject of abortion and how girls would have to sneak around to try to get someone to help them in their time of need. Alongside this, we also have children that were taken from their parents by force at birth and the stories of trying to figure out later what had happened in those desperate times. 

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore: A wealthy teenager goes missing at summer camp, but the kicker is that she is not only the daugher of the camp owners, but her little brother went missing from nearly the same spot many years ago. We spend our time trying to figure out who took her or whether or not she has been killed, and of course there is a twist at the end. 

What was your favorite book of 2024? Do you mostly read audio, eBook or paper books? 

Best of 2024: Travel

I hope that everyone is having a great holiday week! It is that time of year again; let the round ups begin! Here are a few of my favorite places from my travels this year, in no particular order! 

Marquette, Michigan. This is a cute little town in the Upper Penninsula right near Lake Superior. They have a fun little farmers market, good bike paths and a good bakery. What more could you ask for? 

Lake Superior, Marquette

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta. Although I have been here before, I liked it then and I liked it again! This is a beautiful park in the Canadian Rockies and is not quite as busy as Banff or Jasper, so is quite a treat! It has beautiful views of lakes and mountains and often you will see wildlife here (we saw a grizzly bear!) 

Day One of the Tour Divide

Icefields Parkway, Alberta. Yup, two Canadian places in one! It was cold and rainy when I was here, but it was still very beautiful! I also saw several bears here too and had fun camping in some very pretty locations. 

Waterfowl Lake, Banff NP

Crooked River, Oregon. As I passed people fishing and sitting next to their camper reading, I knew I wanted to eventually come back to this place again. It is dry and stark, but very beautiful all the same. 

Crooked River, Oregon

Bellingham, Washington. A fun town near water (I am seeing a theme here) with a Saturday market (another theme) and lots of good food, beer and places to walk. It checks a lot of boxes! 

I love a town that loves beer!

Nelson, BC. Another town near a lake with a nice walkable downtown and everything that you could possibly need nearby. There is hiking, skiing, water sports and more! Oh, and hamburgers and beer (another theme)! 

Nelson Post Office

Fernie, BC. A cute little ski town nestled in the heart of the Rockies. Also the downtown is walkable and the guys at the bike shop were very helpful. I am actually surprised this made the cut, as I actually passed through it twice and had to go to the bike shop both times! Booo! 

Downtown Fernie

Quebec City, QC. I also liked Montreal, but both cities have such a fun international flair and I enjoyed wandering, learning some history, and eating! 

La Fresque des Québécois

Colorado. Yup, the whole state. Actually, for the entire Tour Divide, Colorado was my favorite. I did not really stay in too many towns and a lot of the time I was riding as far as I could and spending most of my town time in grocery stores and crappy motels. However, even though it was hard, some of the climbs in Colorado were just beautiful, and were through forests full of trees, and I could feel the fresh air and I loved it. 

East San Juans, Colorado

Peggy's Cove, NS. The lighthouse here is one of Nova Scotia's most known and photographed lighthouses for a reason, as it sits on a rocky bluff and is surrounded by colorful houses and fishing bouys. Once again, places with water make the cut more often than not. 

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

Obviously there were so many more places that I went this year that were beautiful, and where the people who I met were also great, and I could go on and on (as I sometimes do) but for now, I will leave you with these ten lovelies! 

Where was your favorite travel destination in 2024? Have you ever been to any of these places and if so, what did you think? 

Contemplations Regarding Canada: Quebec

Ooh la la! As you know, I was recently in Quebec, and I noticed a few things about this province that had me thinking. 

Parlez Vous Français? Just like the British think it is hilarious when I tell them I am wearing my fanny pack (FYI, "fanny" is not a butt in the UK; it is a lady's hoohaw), the Quebecois have some funny differences from the French spoken in France. Here are a few examples: 

In France, a danseuse is a classical dancer (danseuse classique); in Quebec, it is a stripper (stripteaseuse). 

In France, a gosse is a child (enfant); in Quebec, it is a testicle (testicule). This could be confusing! 

Let Your Freak Flag Fly. In most of Canada, the residents have the Canadian flag flying in their yards. But I could barely tell you what the Ontario, BC or Alberta flags look like, as only a few people had them hanging alongside the national flag. However, I can definitely tell you what the Quebec flag looks like, and in many cases, the residents only have the Quebec flag, not the Canada flag. I had heard stories of the provinialism (is that a word?) but was still a bit surprised to see that it really was a thing!

It kind of reminds me of the state of Jefferson flags, which, if you're unfamiliar, are for the part of California that wants to separate from the rest of California and be their own state. 

European Feel. Not only is the architecture and the way of life very European, but there are other things like the bike paths and bike culture, which seem very good and different from the culture in some of the other provinces. I really enjoyed riding in Quebec and I honestly can't say that about parts of some of the other provinces. 

Baguettes! I love that you can buy a baguette in the grocery store (Maxi) or elsewhere for around $0.90 CAD. There definitely were not cheap baguettes in the parts of Ontario that I was in. 

All in all, I loved that being in Quebec felt like being in a different country, even though techincally I was still in the same one. I liked being able to practice my French but have the knowledge that if I forgot the words, the people would probalby understand me in English. 

What is the funniest instance of a normal word being construed as bad somewhere else that you know of? In your area, is it common to fly the state or provincal flag? 

A Day In The Life

Since I am done riding for the moment, but am not yet home, I thought I would do a day in the life of a house and pet sitter. I am currently in the Pacific Northwest and am hanging out with a very happy English Setter. 

4:33 am. I wake up and my body says, "let's do something!" so I get out of bed and start the coffee. As it's percolating, I get Frankie (the dog) out of her crate and feed her, then I brush my teeth and put my contacts in. Once the coffee is ready, I get a big cup and sit down to do some computer work. Lately this has consisted of going through photos and videos of my trip and trying to create some semblance of order to them. I also read a few blogs, comment on them, update my address list with a new address I just got, and address a holiday card to this person, put a stamp on it and put it in the outgoing mail stack. Mornings are my more productive time and I always feel better when I get some things done early. 

7:04 am. It is not quite light, but it will be light enough in about 10 or 15 minutes that we will not trip over anything, so I get myself and Frankie ready for a run. This consists of a beanie, gloves, long sleeve shirt and windbreaker for me, and a leash for Frankie. Oh, and poop bags of course. We have been alternating days between running or long walks, and today is a running day. 

7:25 am. We finally get out the door, and lo and behold, the sunrise is fabulous! It has been foggy and cloudy a lot lately, but today it is so clear and we can see Mt. Rainier! Also, great news, Frankie does her business early, so I only have to run with it for a minute before I get to the park where I can dispose of it. Silver lining!? 

Mt. Rainier

8:00 am. Our run takes us out to Puget Sound, and today it is clear enough that we can also see the Olympic range, which is a first! We spend way too much time taking photos and playing in the surf, but soon we are on our way. 

The Olympic Range

Frankie and the Sea

9:00 am. We go further than planned because the views are just so good. Frankie is a good dog, and she loves to run, but she also gets very excited about any other dog and kids and wants to bark at them and jump on them or lunge at them. Because of this, I try to stay on the other side of the street. We also normally don't go out at prime school bus time when we can help it. Also, the dog is very food motivated, and will chase any small animal, and she finds a hidden container of chow mein on the ground and actually pulls me down to the ground. It is not really her strength as much as it is that the sidewalks are very slippery here, but I am okay! I love running in quirky places, and Seattle is that! We find lots of little treasures along the way. 

Mermaid Trading Post

10:00 am. We get home, shower, and eat. Frankie drinks about a gallon of water, and I fear that she is going to toss her cookies, but she doesn't thank goodness. She then goes for a nap. I think I finally tired her out! 

11:00 am. I walk to the grocery store, get groceries and walk back. It is a beautiful day and is cold but a lot more clear than it has been. 

The Cascades

12:00 pm - 3:00 pm. I do more computer work, organizing etc. I am trying to have all of my travel plans figured out approximately three months beforehand, if not more. Currently I have all the accommodation and transport booked through July, but am still getting lists together of things to do in each location. 

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm. Happy hour! I go down to the local pub and get a beer and a bacon cheeseburger with ghost pepper cheese. Seattle is known for its happy hours and will often have them on weekends and late nights too. However, for me, a 3:00 pm dinner is perfect! This way I only need two meals today. Total cost for two beers, bacon cheeseburger and tater tots with 10% tax and tip = $30. 

5:00 pm. Frankie and I go for our evening walk. Usually we do at least two miles per walk, but today since we ran a lot further than normal, we only do about a mile. The Christmas lights are so fun though, and it is kind of nice to walk in the dark with all of the lights shining. 

This is Hans' house; it is my favorite

5:30 pm - 8:00 pm. Back home, in jammies, ready to take on the world. We watch an episode of The Great British Bake Off, which is fun, but kind of silly. Everyone is so nice. I don't really like the hosts; I think their value add is minimal. However, I enjoy watching the challenges. After that, I play a couple of games of Rummikub on my phone and then read before going to bed.  

What is your typical day like? What time do you get up and go to bed? Do you play any games on your phone (if so, which ones)? 

By The Numbers: November

November was the month of pets, and also I only had a few fun rides, but nothing big. I did start to run a little bit, and have been doing a ton of walking, and am still trying to get my steps each day! All of the below numbers are as of November 30, 2024. 

My accountability buddy

Mileage To Date:

Total Days on the Road: 252

Total Days Ridden: 154

Days Ridden in October: 1

Total Miles Ridden: 8,600

Miles Run: 43 (the most miles I have run in a month since March!)

Average Steps per Day: 10,200 (phew!) 

Accommodation To Date: 

Airbnb: 12

Established Camp: 35

Friend: 36

Housesitting: 47

Motel: 70

Warm Showers: 9

Wild Camp: 40

Train: 3

Total Days: 252

Total average cost per day: $32

Verdict: November was only one night in a hotel and the rest of the time I was housesitting. Obviously this brought the average cost down. 

As seen on my Thanksgiving day run

Total Cost: November

*Please note that I eradicated my travel category since basically all my costs are what I would have categorized in travel before. 

Accommodation: $75 (↓ from October) Includes any place where I rested my head for the night. In November this included housesitting (29) and a motel (1).

Dining Out: $174 (no change from October) Includes coffee, ice cream shops, snacks and meals at a restaurant, including bakeries and the train canteen. This was still down about 30% from the average for this trip. Once again, being in one place helped, but basically the majority of this amount was in one day spent at the Seahawks game. Those beers are pricey! 

Groceries: $234 (↓ from October) Includes food and snacks from a grocery or convenience store. This is down 23% from the average for this trip. This is likely due to the fact that by housesitting especially for longer periods, I tend to be able to shop less often and cook more real food rather than eating grab and go type things. 

Health: $234 (same - insurance premium) Includes my health insurance and any costs for health care (which I have luckily not had!!!). I am hoping that next year I will be able to lower the amount of the premium, but I do expect to pay out of pocket for some things (for example, I need to get my teeth cleaned and I am going to need new contacts) while I am abroad. 

Misc.: $195 (↑ from October) Includes CFA membership, shipping, gifts, personal care. This month was higher due to gifts. 

Shopping: $2,058 (↑↑↑↑ from October) Includes costs associated with cycling maintenance, cycling gear, running and camping gear and other clothing or toiletries. And electronics!! Sigh. I had been holding off on buying a new laptop because I cannot carry two on the bike and did not want to do any organizing while on the road, but now that I am more settled, I bit the bullet. And it hurt. Hopefully this laptop lasts me as long as my last one, which lasted about ten years. I calculate this as a cost per day of about $0.27, which is pretty darn good! To get that cost per day with the new one, it will need to last 15 years. Wish me luck. This is not all electronics though; I did finally buy some new undies (yay!), some TP (double yay!) and a couple of merino tops that I found on sale and could not pass up. 

Transportation: $27 (↓ from October) Included an Amtrak ride and a few local bus rides. 

Utilities: $273 (↑ from October) Includes a monthly breakdown for the following, even though some of them are charged only once per year: phone, subscriptions, credit card fees and internet security (NordVPN & McAfee). 

Total Spent: $3,286 (↑ 20% from $2,750 average and ↑ 37% from October*)

Verdict: *If I had not bought the computer, this would be my lowest cost month for travel. However, these things happen, so I am keeping it in. Also, full disclosure here, I also still had some home related costs over the last months, so my total spend this year will be more than I have ever spent in one year. 

I am looking forward to next year when it will be more of a "clean slate" and am still considering trying to have a budget of around $2,500, although I know that since my first destinations are in Europe this will not be as easy. However, 2026 will probably be in a lower cost area and so I feel that even if I am over in one year, I will be under in others. Also, I love me some croissants and am not going to skimp on things like that. Croissants are the new ice cream!

To end this number heavy post, here are a few recent stats! 

Favorite Ice Cream: My little cousin (she is 13) made homemade ice cream for Thanksgiving. Yummy. 

Favorite New Town: I really enjoyed Bellingham, but also Northeast Seattle is very pretty too. Towns near water really are the best. Seattle itself is not "new" but I really do like it too. 

Favorite New Water Related Venue: See above, but I will say Lake Washington, even though there have been some good Puget Sound views too. 

Lake Washington

Lake Union

Favorite Food Item: I had an excellent carnitas taco at Tacos Tecalitlan in Burlington, WA. 

Favorite Book: The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Okay it's your turn!! Have you read The Mountains Sing? Are the Christmas decorations out in your neighborhood yet? 

We Are Nearing La Fin. La Meta. Das Ende.

Sometimes when I am reading, my book becomes due at the library and I cannot finish it and I have to put it back on hold again, usually for several weeks. Other times I just lose interest, or start to read something else that I know others liked, but I am just not ready to call it a DNF. 

Therefore, my "currently reading" section on Goodreads has a few stragglers. Usually I just leave them there, and in December, I basically poop or get off the pot, if you know what I mean. Here are a few books that are in my currently reading (half read) queue. If you have read any of them, please let me know if you think I should cut them loose or try my hardest to get them read by the end of the year. 

In Memoriam (Alice Winn): Lisa liked this, so I wanted to like it, but after a few pages, I kind of drifted off, mentally. However, it also got a 4.52 on Goodreads. 

Murder in the Family (Cara Hunter): I started this audiobook and there were so many characters that I soon lost track. 

Lessons of a Lakota (Billy Mills): This was a PDF that someone gave to me and the print is weird, so I cannot zoom the letters and have to read it as pretty tiny print. I like learning about Native history, but had a hard time getting into it. 

Leviathan Wakes (James Corey): This is number one of the Expanse series and all my friends have loved it and it got 4.31 on Goodreads. This was also a PDF but I did end up putting the audiobook on hold in hopes that it would be a better fit. 

The Hunter (Tana French): I really like this author and have enjoyed a few of her other books, and this one got 4.1 on Goodreads. I want to like it, but the first few chapters are not drawing me in. 

All The Colors in The Dark (Chris Whitaker): I recently read and enjoyed his other book We Begin and the End, but my loan expired on this before I got more than a few pages in. Also it got 4.35 on GR. 

The Long Walk (Brian Castner): This book is about a man who had to deal with unexploded ordinances in the war and how it affected him mentally. I want to like it but it is not drawing me in! It has a 3.95 on Goodreads. 

By Any Other Name (Jodi Picoult): I was really enjoying this book when I got to Elisabeth's house and due to not really spending time listening to audiobooks, my loan expired. I put it back on hold but it was another couple month wait. Waahhh. 

Wanted: Toddler's Personal Assistant (Stephanie Kiser): This was slightly entertaining me when the loan expired. Same story as above, the new hold is still a couple weeks of waiting. 

The other thing that I did not say is that now that I am not on the bike as much my reading has gone from like five books a week to maybe one book a week! Regardless, whatever is left at the end of the year that I have not yet read will probably be a DNF. 

Have you read any of these books? If so, which four or five should I focus on? Are there any here that you abandoned? 

This is my last NaBloPoMo post. We will now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Ask Me Anything (2)

I hope that everyone had a wonderful day yesterday and are not working today, but if you are, I hope it goes by quickly! Here are a few more answers to some of the questions people have asked me lately. 

Michelle asked: How do you stay safe? From idiot drivers, creepy people, wildlife? I try to ride on either dirt roads or bike paths that are away from most cars, but when I do have to ride on the highway, I have a red jacket and a blinking red light. I try to stay over as much as possible to the right and after that, I just have to pray that the drivers give me room. As far as creepy people, I just try to walk on the other side of the street, or if I am riding, I can usually ride away. I have not had any issues with creepy people in places I have camped. I obviously try to pick a spot that is either established, or if wild, is slightly hidden and not on a busy road or area. Wildlife and I are copesetic and we coexist happily. 

What will you eat? I answered that here and here. 

What do you do in bad weather? Cry. Just kidding! I just keep peddling. When I was riding the Tour Divide, we would say that in the voice of Dorrie from Finding Nemo. In case you have not seen the movie, “just keep swimming" was the necessary action to accomplish the large feat of crossing the ocean, but more abstractly, it was how they coped with the improbability of the task. This quote also helped them move forward without thinking too much about it.

Do you speak any foreign languages? I can get by with Spanish and French and can say hello, thank you, bathroom, beer, "do you speak English" and "I don't speak ____" in all of the languages of the places I have been to. I try to always learn at least that. 

How will you communicate with people in Europe if you don't speak their language? An app? If I don't speak the language and nobody speaks English (which is fairly rare in most big cities in Europe), I can use Google Translate. If you have not used it, it is great. You can download the language for use offline and then the person can either type into or speak into your phone and the app will translate it, and then you can type or talk and it will translate back. I have also found that hand guestures, body language and facial expressions will work wonders. 

Will your phone work in every country? Yes, I have Google Fi (I talked about that here), which works internationally. In some countries you have to pay per minute for phone calls, but texts are all included in the plan, and if and when I need extra data, I have an e-SIM (through Airalo) where I can load up data onto my phone for whatever country or region I am in. 

Are you worried about people being anti-American? No. There are always people who are anti something, but I am not going to let that ruin my day. Also, for the most part, I have found people to mostly be curious, not negative. I had a great conversation with two Swedish people in Thailand about why we had voted for Bush. Actually, in all of the places I have been, I have never had anyone be rude or mean to me due to my nationality. 

Also, you've said that you have stomach issues when you're not exercising hard - is that correct? I'm wondering if you'd talk more about that? Woof. This could be a whole post. The short answer is that I did have a lot of bloating, like 5 months pregnant, tight, aching belly and since I have been on the bike every day, it has been a lot better, as in only a couple of times have I noticed it. I did a ton of testing before leaving the Bay Area and bottom line is that it is probably SIBO, which can be treated with antibiotics, but also can return over and over. So, I currently try to stay away from beans, cruciferous vegetables, onions, garlic and wheat, but it is definitely not a cure all. 

M asked about my major being Kinesiology and how did I get into finance from there? I got my BS in Kinesiology and then went to travel the world and reflect, and when I came back home, I had spent all of my savings and took the first job I could get, which was as a financial analyst on a contract with the DHS. In the meantime, I also volunteered at a PT clinic, which was what I had thought I wanted to do, and I didn't like it. I ended up doing the analyst job for about eight years before deciding to travel again and when I came back home, I got a job in insurance, which I hated, and then a job in financial services, which I loved, and have been doing ever since! 

I think that is long enough! Now it's your turn! 

Is the job that you are currently working (or worked in the past) related to your major in college? Do you speak any foreign languages? Have you ever encountered rudeness or meanness in a foreign country due to your nationality? 

There is still time! If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my next ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

An Important Question

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my U.S. friends and happy Thursday to everyone else. Hopefully no matter where you are, you will have a chance to spend some time with loved ones either today or in the following days. 

Isn't he a beauty?

One of the items on the list of 36 questions that Elisabeth and I went over was "for what in your life do you feel most grateful?" and the subsequent question was "if you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?" I thought today would be a good day to share my answer with you. 

I told Elisabeth (and Belle) that I was very happy that my family has let me be me. They have always been there for me, and even though we did not get all of the newest coolest most expensive things growing up, I never wanted for anything, and I learned the value of money from them. But best of all, when I say that I am going to go to Nepal and climb a mountain, or quit my job and ride my bike around, they barely even blink an eye. Sure, they wanted me to go to college and to make something of myself, but they have never put limits on what that "something" was and have always been supportive of whatever it is that I choose. This is priceless and has given me the confidence to try new things and go to new places, as I always know that they will have my back. 

Snowshoeing with Mom and Dad

As far as changing anything about how I was raised, I am happy with it. When I was younger, I probably thought I worked too much, did not get to see my friends enough, and did not play enough sports, but looking back now, I know that I had a lot of good things in my life. Great job, Mom and Dad; thanks for being there for me! ♥ 

I will keep this short today so that everyone can have enough time to get the food on the table, and even if you are not cooking today, you are probably tired of reading long posts from me anyway! 

What are you grateful for? If you could change anything about how you were raised, what would it be? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my next ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

What I Learned: An Introspective Journey

Being on a bike for the last several months has taught me a few things both about other people and about myself and has often caused me to feel things that I don't often feel while going about my prior normal life. 

Great Basin, WY.
96 miles of nothing (no water, no people, no trees).

The first thing I learned is that I am small. Sometimes I would be out in the middle of nowhere with no people and sometimes no trees with the sun beating down on me and I would look around and think that I am literally all alone in this great big world. I did not feel lonely, or scared, but I did feel some kind of realization that I am only a small part of the universe. It is a strange feeling and it makes me think of how we can sometimes feel alone while being surrounded by people. In this case I felt alone while being alone, but the feeling of recognition of that was very similar emotionally. 

Just me and a potentially dangerous lightning storm.

In addtion to that, being on a bike makes me realize how vulnerable we humans are physically. It would take only a millisecond for a car to clip me while I was riding for me to be dead in a heartbeat. Again, although I was not frightened of this happening all of the time, and it was not something I would regularly dwell on, sometimes I would get this shock of recognition that you don't really get when you are "protected" in the metal casing of a vehicle. I actually did not really have too many close calls luckily, but still sometimes I would be riding along and would think about how soft and fragile my body really is, even though it is strong and it is taking me so far. 

I have mentioned this before, but being out in the world makes me realize how kind people really are. I was thinking about this the other day, as I was walking down the street, because I would look up at the people walking toward me and smile at them, and most of the time, they would smile back. This is something I would have not really done that much in San Francisco or Oakland. However, while riding, I often wave at cars, smile at people and have had many people do the same back, or do it first, which is so satisfying! We are all in this world together and I think we often forget that, as we go about our busy days. For some reason, being a weird looking overloaded person in a rain jacket on a bike makes people friendly toward (or feel sorry for) me, and I like it. 

Weird looking overloaded person on a bike.

Speaking of being a weird looking overloaded person, in real life, I HATE drawing attention to myself. Hate it. I will wear black, and avoid eye contact, and I don't even like to cut my hair in fear that someone will announce, HEY YOU GOT A HAIRCUT, in a group of people and then everyone's head will swivel toward me. However, I am now getting used to being stared at, or talked to by random people, or grinned at, and its not that bad. I will probably still not cut my hair very often, and I will probably turn red if many people are looking at me at the same time, but I have (kind of) gotten used to being an anomoly on a bike. 

Obviously I have learned a lot of other things, like how to ride a fully loaded bike on a single track trail, how to fix a flat on the side of the road in the dark, in the rain, on a hot day, amidst a storm of mosquitoes, how stopping for a coffee in a rainstorm can really perk up your day, how having partners in crime can be priceless, and many, many more. But these views into my inner self are sometimes so enlightening! 

Just keep following the yellow shirt!

I feel like many of you are in situations where you do hard things and it gives you perspective on yourself or your lives too. I know runners have many similar reflections, or people with demanding jobs, and I am always amazed by parents and how vulnerable they are and how they have to make hard decisions every day and I wonder how they do it. 

So tell me: what situations in your life have made you see things or realize things about yourself that you don't always take time to think about? 

I hope all of my American readers have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow, and that everyone else has a great Thursday! 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my next ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

The Joke Is On Me: Photocopies

You may remember my prior Joke Is On Me posts, where I recount something dumb I have done in my life. I mean, really, there are endless things, but I have only posted about a couple of them so far, like the time I forgot my ATM card when traveling abroad to a place where I needed cash. Or the time I found some super old travelers checks and the bank did not want to cash them. Well I am back to deliver yet another story of stupidity and how I got out of it in one piece. 

Let me set the backstory. It was 2005. I was working in Gainesville, Florida as a contractor to the federal government. For those of you who don't already know this, I am from California. I have a California Driver License. Okay, so now back to the story. I flew from Orlando to Ireland to meet up with a San Francisco friend and have a wonderful time exploring Ireland. As we often do, we also met up with a local friend, who lived near the Shannon airport where we were flying out of. This was the last night that we were in Ireland, and we had a blast going to bars in his little town, using the men's restroom because the line for the ladies was too long (you've all done this, right?) and visiting with him. 

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

At the end of the night, we responsibly took a cab home, I paid for the cab and we went to bed. The next morning, our friend took us to the airport and dropped us off and we went up to the counter to check in. At this point, I realized that I did not have my wallet. This wallet was one of those ones that is about the size of a passport and holds your passport, money and credit cards. I had ALL OF MY THINGS in this wallet, including my passport, money, license, and credit cards. Luckily, this was in the days of cell phones, but they were not smart! However, I did have my Irish friend's number and I called him and he came back and picked us back up and took us back home to search for the wallet. 

We searched everywhere, even behind and under the bed, in the sheets, in the couch cushion, even in the trash. I was frantic. In my mind I was thinking a few things. First, I am pretty religious in putting things back exactly where they belong. I am not a person who loses their keys. I am NOT a person who forgets their credit card at the bar. I am organized. Where could it be!? Second, I was already thinking of plan B. My Irish friend had to leave for work, and he did not live in a town with a consulate, and if I remember correctly, it may even have been a Sunday. I was frantically thinking about how I would get to the consulate and how I would have to rebook my flight and call work and also how at the very least, we needed to get my San Francisco friend back to the airport so she could get on the flight. 

After mulling it over, I decided to go with her and try one last ditch thing. First, she gave me some cash and one of her credit cards so I would be able to get back to the Irish friend's house, and could use the card later if needed. Second, I pulled out my plan B, which was a paper color copy document of all of my important documents. It had a copy of my passport, my driver license and all of the credit cards I had been carrying. I sent my friend off to go through security and I went up to the counter and gave the check in lady my sob story. After some hemming and hawing, she told me that she would give me my ticket, but she did not know if I would get through security or customs with no documents. 

Of course I decided to give it a shot. I went to security, got a lot of push back, but ultimately they let me through, but cautioned that I probably would not get through customs. I got to the customs desk and they also gave me pushback, and even brought in their superior, but I pleaded and finally they said that since I was leaving their country, not entering, that they would let me through and it would be up to the US whether or not they wanted to deny me entry. I was overjoyed. My armpits were sweating nervous sweat as I ran, not walked, through the airport, because, to top it all off, I could hear them announcing the doors were closing on my flight. 

I made it in the nick of time, as the doors were actually already closed, but they opened them again and let me on the flight. I sat down next to my friend and boy was she surprised!! I don't think I have ever been so thirsty in my life though, as I felt like I had run a marathon to get there. 

Cliffs of Moher (I think)

But wait, this story is not yet over! I still had to get back into the US! We got to the US and went our separate ways, and when I got to the customs desk, they said that they could not accept the paper copy. However, luckily I had my federal work ID, which I had not put in my wallet because it has a plastic protective case on it and it wouldn't fit. So I whipped that out and pleaded once again (I did a LOT of groveling over a 24 hour period), and they said yes. I had never been so happy in my life. In my mind I was wondering what would happen if they said no. Would they send me back to Ireland? And if so, would they let me in? The other thing I did while on my layover was to cancel all my credit cards. However, and I don't know how this happened, I had the foresight to keep one open so I could use it for my car rental and hotel payments. Go me! 

I arrived in Orlando and went to Avis to get my rental car. You are probably seeing where this is going. They would not accept neither the copy of my ID nor the copy of my credit card for payment. However, they said there was a smaller rental company around the corner that may take it. I went around the corner to Ma and Pa car rentals, and sure enough, they did use the copy to type in my credit card details. WHEW! I had the same issue when I checked back into my hotel for work, but luckily we had been working out of this hotel for a few months by this point and they knew me by face, so could wait until I got my new card to pay. 

So now I am in Florida with no ID, I do not live there permanently and I cannot get a new CA drivers license without being there in person. So now I am driving a rental car with no license, I cannot get a FL license without a residence, and I cannot get a CA license without going back to CA, but I don't have an ID to get on a plane with. So I thought I would go to the post office and get a new passport, because on the website it says that you can get one with a copy of your birth certificate and a government issued ID. Luckily I have my government badge for work! 

I go to the post office a week later with my items and she denies that my ID is a government issued ID, and I say to her, "lady, this is the EXACT definition of a government issued ID! I work for the government and they issued it to me" Actually I do not say that to her, I just mutter and turn red and try not to cry, but seriously, I had to go through an extensive background check, get fingerprinted and promise to give them my first born child to get this ID, and you are now telling me that it is not as good as a driver license that any monkey can get!!? And she says, "Exactly. NEXT!!" 

I am pretty much stuck at this point and I go back to my hotel to stew. A couple of weeks later, I get a call from my mother saying that she just received a package for me from Ireland. When she opens it, it is MY WALLET, fully intact, with a nice note from the cab driver telling us that he found it in the back seat. She ships it to me in Florida and all is well. Luckily I hadn't yet reported my CA driver license or passport as stolen, or that would have been another whole rigmarole. 

Okay, your turn!! What scrapes have you gotten yourself into, either while traveling or just in life, and how did you get out of them? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my next ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

Money Monday: How to Save on Taxes

Disclaimer: Tax evasion is illegal; tax avoidance is not. I am not a CPA, financial advisor or tax attorney. Please consult a professional for personal advice. 

Who doesn't want to save money on taxes? Here are a few ways we can do this! 

Health Savings Account (HSA). If you have an option to do this, it is a good idea. Why? Because you can put money in pre-tax, and invest it until you need it for medical costs. If you spend it on medical, it is tax-free on the way out too. It also rolls over, so you never lose it, and you can transfer it if you leave a job. Some jobs offer this, but even if others do not, you can still get one on your own and get a tax write off at the end of the year. For 2024, you can put up to $4,150 for singles or $8,300 for families. If you do not use it on medical by the time you are 65, you can withdraw it with no penalty for any reason, but you do have to pay tax. You can also pass it on when you die; for a spouse it will be tax free, but if it is to another, they will have to pay income tax on the proceeds. 

Who can invest in an HSA? If you have a high deductible health plan (HDHP), you can invest, even if your employer does not offer this. You can open an account at Fidelity or various other brokerages fairly easily. Once opened, you can transfer money in, and they will keep track of how far you are from the cap. 

Donations. If you donate regularly, it may be worth doing it all in one year rather than year after year, especially if that amount is higher than the standard deduction. For example, if you donate $3,000 a year, consider donating $30,000 this year and nothing for the next ten years. I know this is a lot, but it could save you money on taxes if you can afford to make a bigger contribution in one year. You can also open an investment account (called a DAF) where you can put all of the money this year and then donate a little bit each year to the charity or charities of your choice. 

The other thing you can do is donate stock. Let's say for instance you bought $1,000 worth of Nvidia ten years ago, and now it is worth over $300,000 (don't you wish?) If you sold $30,000 worth, you would have to pay capital gains taxes on somewhere around $29,900 in profits. But if you donated $30,000, you would get to write off a $30,000 donation, and you would still have $270,000 worth of NVDA. So you would kind of "save twice" on being taxed. 

Speaking of capital gains. For those of you who don't invest, there are many good reasons to do so. One of them is that you can play the system in several ways. 

Way #1: Harvest losses. You can sell any stock that has a loss and claim up to $3,000 in losses each year against your ordinary income. What does this mean? This means that if your taxable income is $50,000, by having a loss of $3,000, it brings this down to $47,000, thus lowering your taxes by roughly $1,000 if you are getting taxed 30%. You can buy the stock back after 30 days and still keep it, but you can "harvest" the loss first. Many people do this every year! 

Way #2: Step up in basis. If you have stock, like NVDA, that has gone up in price a lot, you can save this for your heirs, and when you pass it on to them, it is as if they bought it on the day of your death. This means that if your heir gets your NVDA and they sell it a day after you die, they do not have to pay any taxes on the gains. 

This is also a rule for property, so if you pass on your property to your heirs, they will also get a step up in basis, and the "price they paid" or their "cost basis" will be as of the day of your death. 

On the flip side, if you have something that has a big loss, this may be used to offset a gain you have somewhere else, so may be worth selling before you pass away rather than giving this to your heirs. Capital gains on sales net off, so if you needed some income for example, you could sell one thing with a loss and one with a gain so that you have proceeds but don't have any tax implications. Also, losses carry over, so if you sell something and get a $10,000 loss but only take $3,000 against your income, you will have $7,000 in losses left for next year (and beyond). 

Way #3: Harvest gains. If you have a stock like NVDA, and you cannot afford to pass it on to your heirs, it may make sense to wait until you are not working any more to sell it. By doing this, you don't have any (or have very little) income coming in and you can sell it little by little so that you don't get into a higher tax bracket. Also, if you make less than a certain amount (for 2024 this is $47,025 for singles and $94,050 for married people), your capital gains are taxed at 0%. So basically, if your social security is $2,000 a month ($24,000/year), as a single, you could sell enough (to have less than $23,025 in gains) to stay below the cap and you would not pay taxes on any of those gains (you will still pay tax on your SS income, but this is beyond the scope of this post). 

Last but not least, in investing, it is good to have a little of each account type (IRA/401k, Roth IRA, regular taxable brokerage account, regular savings account) so that you can make the most of them depending on your situation. Especially if you are going to stop working before 59.5 which is the age you can usually take from your retirement accounts without penalty. However, there are ways to make it all work, and to save money on taxes too by having one of each account and taking from each depending on your particular timing. 

The other thing you may not realize is that at a certain point you are required to withdraw from your retirement account (currently it is 73 but it keeps changing and is supposed to change to 75 in 2033). This is called an RMD (requirement minimum distribution); depending on how much you have in your retirement account, it may make sense to withdraw a little each year after you are 59.5 so that you are not hit by a larger amount later on. This may not be an issue, but it is worth keeping an eye on. 

Do you do any of the above things? Do you have any investment accounts? At what age do you plan on retiring? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my next ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

Ask Me Anything

Finally, a long awaited ask me anything post. I still have a few questions that were asked at the start of my bike trip, so I will start with those and then move on to more recent ones in a later post! 

NGS asked: How did you plan all this? Fiscally? The route? I have a post here about the route planning. As far as fiscally, if someone wants me to write a long post about this, I can, but the TLDR is that I have been saving and investing for years in order to be able to be financially independent. I have a monthly budget and this year is a bit of a test to see how much I will actually spend (you can see posts here about how much I have spent so far). 

What is your goal with this trip? What do you want to learn about yourself? Or see? Or do? Like most travel, my goal is to see and learn about any and all new things. For the biking specifically, aside from seeing new places, I did want to challenge myself physically and mentally to see if I could do it. I thought that I could, but it is always interesting to see what hidden strengths you have. 

Give me all the bike specs. What bike? What wheels/tires? My bike is a Marin Bobcat Trail 3 (hence the name Bob) aluminum hardtail mountain bike and I am riding with 29" 2.4" wide tires. 

What sort of emergency repair kit do you have with you? How are you packing it? What are your supplies? I covered this here. 

Bob goes to Niagara Falls

Nicole asked:  How old are you? Have you always been a swinging single girl? I answered that here. 

Do you have a favourite European spot? How about Asian? I hate this question, but only because it's like picking a favorite kid. Each place I go has something that I like and some things that I don't. I love France, Greece and Italy for the food, Austria and Switzerland (and Italy and France) for the mountains, and Albania for the hidden gem aspect (beaches, mountains, food, people!). However, I think if you are looking for an all-in-one, Slovenia is a great place to go. As for Asia, I have a soft spot for Thailand, as it was my first foray into that part of the world and the food, beaches, culture and people are lovely! But seriously, I can find something I love about every place I have been to (even India, which had a few struggles for sure). 

Venice

Hong Kong

Stephany asked: Do you know what your enneagram number is? I think it is one, but I have only ever taken one free test and they wanted me to pay for more info, and I didn't want to. However, I do think one describes me pretty well. The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic. Um, yup. If you know me and you read this, you will be nodding your head a lot! 

If you were to describe yourself in 3 words, what would they be? I think that the enneagram one described me pretty well. But seriously I would say I am adventurous, organized and impatient. :)  

What's one of your unpopular opinions? I like to type words out in texts and don't really love it when people type "c u" for "see you" or "l8" for "late" or don't capitalize or use punctuation. I also don't use acronyms or emojis very much. I like words, whole words, spelled properly. I won't hate you if you do it, but personally, I just don't do it very much. (As a side note, I was told by a millenial once that if you put a period at the end of your sentence in a text, it is seen as aggressive. Ha! I guess I am really aggressive then!) 

I also don't like being expected to respond right away. I had a boss who would call me two minutes after an email came through asking me to opine, and it would be something that would require thought or complex calcuations and/or a thoughtful answer! He also would text or send a chat to me in the evening (after work hours) and expect an instant response. I actually started purposefully waiting until the next day, or a few hours later to answer (PS I am not totally passive aggressive; I had already talked to him several times about managing his expectations). 

Do you have any fears about your trip? Even though it is now nearly over, I would say that I did not have any fears going in. I was a bit wary of having to figure out routes all the time, but was not afraid that I would not be able to do it. I know that I can do anything I put my mind to, even if it may not be fun sometimes. 

I think that is enough for now! Stay tuned for the next one! 

Your turn! What is your enneagram number and do you think it describes you well? What is your favorite European/Asian destination and why?  What is is one of your unpopular opinions? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my next ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here.