A Traveling Pants Universe

It's been a long journey to October 9th... I started this year by making a few resolutions, and one of them was to run a marathon. I had no idea what kind of commitment it would be, what amount of discipline and perseverance it will require, but here I am, writing my first marathon recap! I would also like to mention that I started running seriously only this year, and after making the commitment to my New Year resolution. My running schedule looked like this:  - 5K in February  - 10K in April  - Half Marathon in July  - Marathon in October All of these races were my first time races. As I go further into my race schedule, I am very curious to see how my performance would be when I repeat the distances. I had to sign up for a group run in order to be able to follow the training schedule. I envy the people who can do it all on their own, but I didn't want to injure myself, or lose motivation, so I ran with Rogue running (local Austin running group) ever sin...

Hello all! I have been missing in action for a while, and I am not sure what my excuse is for not writing more often apart from my own laziness. I will try to do better than that! My last post was all about running, and so will this one be. I just got back from a short trip to Utah (driving through Nevada, Arizona and Utah!) where I visited Zion National Park (WOW!), Bryce Canyon National Park (Holy Molly!) and ran my first ever half-marathon! The main purpose of my trip there was to run. I did plan it the way that I could have time to visit and check  out the sights and parks, but the ultimate goal was to cover 13.1 miles in a dignified manner (no limping, no getting sick, no cramping, with a huge smile on my face!). I am happy to report that all of the above happened. I stuck with my plan (thanks coach Peri!) and ran a solid 1:52:07 half. For some people, this might seem super slow, but this is my first year of running, my first ever half, and I beat my goal of 2 hour run...

London Eye! There are many sights and wonders to experience in London, but London Eye is one of the kind. My love for it comes from two sides. First, I absolutely love looking at it from afar. It definitely catches your eye (I know, cheesy!) whenever you see it, and whether I stand at the foot of the Eye, or walk along Victoria Embankment on the opposite side, I always can't help but marvel at engineering genius behind it. The wheel can carry more than 143,000 lb. in one go, and it’s just standing there (not falling!), daring you to come and enjoy the ride. Secondly, I absolutely love the panorama you get when you rotate in the capsule. On a good day, you are supposed to see for 24 miles in each direction, and the views are unbelievably breathtaking. I also have a weakness for night-views, and while you can't see very far in this shot, London, dressed in night-lights, looks pretty fantastic!

Nothing can prepare you for majestic, unbelievable views of Glacier National Park! I have traveled around Europe and the States a fair bit and have seen a good share of beautiful views and wonderful places, but GNP holds a special place in my heart. You pass through an entrance gate to the park and you step into the nature embrace, it happens magically. Lake Mcdonald was one of the first wonders that we saw. Can you tell how excited I was to step out of the car and walk around after a a pretty long 10 hour drive from Portland airport? Can you also tell how nice and blue the sky was? This was one and the only evening that we saw blue skies in the park. We traveled over the Labor Day weekend and didn't expect it would be that cold and rainy there. Oh! And there was some snow too, it made it for quite treacherous conditions to hike up to the mountain lake, but we persevered!  Having complained about the weather once, I will not do it anymore, because even the coldness, b...

London never disappoints… … whether you are looking for a a quiet street to walk, raucous club to party, or an extravagant restaurant to indulge your taste buds. If you have never been to or eaten at Borough Market on Southbank, you’ve been missing out on a lot of delicious offerings! I honestly envy people who live on this side of London and can come here any day for their regular grocery shopping.  There are way too many stands to choose food from, so come prepared, meaning come HUNGRY. I skipped breakfast that day and showed up to the Borough for late lunch, and was able to enjoy the offerings of three different stands. I would have loved to eat much, much more, but my stomach uttered a firm and definite “NO!” to that plan.  Besides enjoying amazing, fresh and mouth-watering food at the market, there is something reassuring and quietly exciting about talking to food vendors about their products, about the labor that went into growing the mushrooms...