Tag: Christmas

Homo for the Holidays

My family’s Christmases are usually filled with family and friends but this year it would just be the four of us. We planned several things to make it special.

The night before Christmas Eve, we visited Temperance Café and Bar, a new speakeasy-themed restaurant with Prohibition-era inspired food and drinks. It’s located in the Chinese Room of the Smith Tower. When it was built in 1914, the Smith Tower was the tallest building in Seattle until 1962 when the Space Needle, built for the World’s Fair, surpassed it. The Smith Tower is still a Seattle icon located in the downtown neighborhood of Pioneer Square. The Chinese Room has a beautifully hand carved teak ceiling as well as an old Chinese teak chair called the Wishing Chair. Legend has it that any unmarried person who sits in that chair will be married within a year. The bar also has an observation deck with a beautiful 360-degree view of Seattle.

Read More

Mama, I’m Coming Home

Deciding to fly home for Christmas was a hard decision. I had said I was going to travel for six months and I really wanted to stick with it. On the other hand, I was homesick and I wanted to spend Christmas with my family. I also knew my grandmother was nearing the end of her life and this might be my last chance to see her.

My last day in Tulum (and Mexico) was spent riding bikes, swimming, eating delicious food, and lying in the hot sun. I wondered how I could leave all that for the cold of Seattle. I even called the airline to see how much it would cost to change my ticket, but it was too expensive. In the end, I flew home for Christmas and it was the right decision.

Read More

Tindering in Tulum

After two days I had had enough of Cancún and was ready for a new location. I decided to head to Tulum and continue Couchsurfing. My host couldn’t host me until the next day so, I booked one night at the Humble Bumble hostel.

The hostel was only about two months old and definitely one of the strangest I have ever stayed in. It was still under construction when I was there. It was going through a huge renovation, being transformed from a HUGE outdoor restaurant and strip club into a hostel. The common area was a massive outdoor area under a thatched roof with tables and dinning chairs. It didn’t really have that hostel vibe but the people that worked there were super nice.

Read More