this is me on a bike that looks very similar to my own. except it’s blue and mine is brown. and it’s kickstand is down because i’m just posing in the lobby of the affinia dumont in nyc while concierge donald snaps my photo. (travel tip: sharing a hotel room with four other girls really reduces your hotel bill!)

pretty hard to believe, but this week marks jaunt’s one year anniversary.  what started as a welcome diversion from my day job has turned into…well…a welcome diversion from my day job. i have had oh-so-much fun with my new hobby this past year, and want to thank everyone who keeps reading (looking at you, stephanie and katie!).  a few things my dear blog has taught me over the past year:

1. exploring new places really is my favorite thing to do.  even if it is just exploring the new dive bar down the street (ahem, ships).
2. sharing stories about adventures (rather than people, work, or people at work) is the best.  huge huge thanks to all of my friends who have written guest posts for me (even if i do get incredibly jealous of your trips), as well as a loud shout-out to my new blogging buddies (namely, the wondernuts) who are beyond hilarious and make me super excited for a mini-travel community (i see a meet-up in our future, just sayin’).
3. i’m not so great at drawing maps.  but i did join a map making class taught by prêt à voyager on skillshare (hello skillshare, where have you been all my life?), and i plan to be a master cartographer in approximately six to seven weeks.  i welcome any and all classmates who would like to also draw maps, create a map pinterest board, and not judge me for purchasing graph paper (she said to be creative, but i’m an accountant and former year-booker and i think in terms of picas and slopes.  #sosueme).

so cheers to fiscal year 2014, and here’s to many more! *raise bubbly here and then send me a guest post so i can stop feeling guilty about my tons of exploring but lack of writing about it recently*

this is a photo of texas right after i crossed the border back in (see ya, california…well, really it was see ya new mexico since that was the neighboring state). there is also a bit of glare from the window because it is entirely too hot to roll your window down in texas in august.