Summer… is loading

HI everyone!

I promise I haven’t forgotten about my blog friends/family. I just have been so happy recently I kind of forgot to write an update since I have been home from Peru. This year has been an awesome one so far! I have stuck by so much I wanted to do earlier this year. It really has been a whole new experience – but I wouldn’t change any of it. ALSO p.s. Taylor Swift just dropped Speak Now (Taylors Version) and I am jamming to this as I write this blog 🙂 A good day!

SO to update you on what happened since I arrived back to the states from Peru… Long story short- it was a long journey home due to country turmoil. My coworkers/friends and I had to be smuggled out of the country overnight which roughly took 19 hours. It consisted of traveling 10 hours on a food boat up river, driving 3 hours in a jeep off road, a small rest of 4 hours, before another 6 hours in the middle of the night. We had to due this crazy schedule because it was all based off road closure, protests shutting things down, and the fact that we were white and didn’t want to draw anymore attention to ourselves It was crazy, but it makes for a good story haha.

On a much more cool note I made a small video while I was there to showcase what my day-to-day looked like and what field work consists of. I posted it for you guys to check out: https://vimeo.com/835271267?share=copy It’s around 2 seconds a day for the total 4 months while I was in the Amazon Rainforest.

Now to update you on some life things going on currently. I got back from Peru in February and saw lots of friends and family before I returned back to Pensacola FL. I started my new job as a vet tech (we call ourselves nurses – because we basically are, just for cats and dogs). This is completely new for me because I have never done animal medicine before and I am happy to be learning so many new and useful skills that I can use in my field of Zoology. I love my 3 doctors and all my coworkers! They all have helped me tremendously to grow and learn all new skills without hesitation. On top of working at the vet clinic I have finally leaned into my love for children and have been substitute teaching part-time. My favorite grades are probably kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd. The kids are so great to work with and being able to be a smiling face they can show up to at school is my favorite part.

Working at the vet clinic has allowed me lots of free time to spend with my friends and go to the beach. Now that it’s peak season here in Pensacola there is so much that is always going on. I really am liking where I’m living and the community I’ve built. Its a great little gem here. Trying to make as many memories I can fit in while I’m here and young. If you have never been here and you like beaches/ocean… then you most definitely need to come! We have white beaches and beautiful blue water that is actually warm to swim in unlike what I’m used to on the east coast haha.

A fun travel trip that I just took and wanted to updated you guys on was when I went to Puerto Rico for my first time last month. My mom has a best friend who just moved there and offered that I come stay at their place – so I said say less and found myself a roundtrip ticket for $240. I couldn’t beat that price. Of course it consisted of a layover in ATL and I had to just have a carry on, but let me tell you my carry on ‘backpack’ is just as big as most peoples checked bag and yet I pay nothing to take it haha. I will drop a link to the bags I use that also have a lifetime warranty on them so if you ever rip or tear them you can get it repaired or get a new one for free. I am big on companies that have warranties on their products and similar to my bags I have a sunglasses brand that also has lifetime warranty so if you ever crack or snap your frames/lenses you get a brand new pair for life.

The travel bags I use religiously: https://baboontothemoon.com/

The sunglasses that are worth every penny (I literally have 4 pairs haha): https://sunski.com/

I spent a week in PR and went to a different beach each day except for the day I went to old San Juan which was awesome! For those of you that forget that Puerto Rico is still ‘apart’ of the USA so they have everything like the U.S. postal system, Burger King, AMC theaters, TJ Maxx, and a lot more haha. The only huge difference is that most everyone speaks Spanish and even though there are a lot of English speakers that have moved their from the states. A lot of people outside of the main cities like San Juan don’t really speak any English. It’s a beautiful territory and you should totally go check it out for those of you that like the U.S. but want to experience a slightly different culture and want to see some BEAUTIFUL beaches and have some DELICIOUS food (and those who don’t have a passport because you don’t need one to visit hehe).

After I got back from Puerto Rico the next weekend I met some friends in Nashville for pride month! The weather was hot, but beautiful. There was so much love and good energy that weekend. Having people around you that support you for who you truly are is so important in life. Life is too short to only be a certain version of yourself and not be able to express who you truly are. I’ve realized that I have SO many amazing friends all over that are my absolute favorite – and a lot of times I don’t keep up with them as much as I’d like to, but when we do hangout in person or talk on the phone it’s like we never left off. Those kinds of friendships are the best kind – the low maintenance ones. The ones where you can dive deep 10 minutes into a conversation talking about the things that really matter. The support system around you really is important when going through literally anything. I really do have the best friends in my life and if you haven’t found those yet – I promise you they will slowly fade away if they aren’t there for you in the long run. It just takes time and a lot of self-growth.

I definitely am going to be more active blogging for the summer, after seeing all my friends and family and enjoying the sunny summer air. There is so much to live for and be grateful. Sometimes you just need to pause and look at the people around you.

Much love, and as always – keep adventuring!

Luke