Happy New Year! I am writing to you from Mexico! I’m finally here after canceling this trip 2 years ago due to the omicron variant.
This past year was filled with lots of travel. The world continues to open up and travel is operating more smoothly. My domestic travels shifted a bit as new circumstances arose, and international travel reminded me why solo trips are the most restorative for me.
I take some time to reflect on 2023 including some exciting, quintessential, local, South Florida water activities I had this year.
I also talk about what's to come in 2024 in the way of both travel and work! There's also a big shift coming for 2024 that I hope to reveal around this blog's 10th anniversary!
Travel in 2023
This year was the year I finally got back to solo international travel. It had been since Curaçao in 2019 that I traveled abroad on my own.
International Solo Travel
Destinations: Costa Rica and Mexico
This time, I went to a country that's been on my radar for a long time. Many people told me Costa Rica is a must see and now I know why. The entire experience reminded me why solo travel is my favorite way to reset and refocus. I had an amazing time and came back completely fulfilled. None of my travels with others have been bad, Costa Rica just further confirmed that I need to prioritize me-time at least for part of my travels.
That's why for Mexico I've been mixing a little of both. I had a friend join me for a couple of days but I also have a whole week to explore and reset with and within myself.
Domestic Travels
Destinations: San Francisco, CA; Charlotte, NC; Tallahassee, FL; Rochester, NY; St. Petersburg, FL; Richmiond, VA; Melbourne, FL; New York, NY; Washington, DC
I visited 6 states this year! All of my domestic travels this year were for work, family, and ballroom.
Work trips in particular picked up this year starting with taking a group of students to a queer conference in San Francisco in February. This was the first time I was able to take students there since Dallas in 2020. This was fun because I got to show students some essential pieces of LGBTQ history built into the city while we were there.
Unexpectedly, I also took students on a trip to Washington, DC just a few weeks ago. This came from a donation to the university program I run, which I ensured went directly to support the goals of students who wanted to expand their advocacy efforts.
When it comes to LGBTQ advocacy, Florida is the hot spot right now. There's so much against LGBTQ communities in this state and, unfortunately, the unconstitutional laws passing here are serving as models for other southern states. The students and local organizations here are working hard to counter it. The students are building their skills to be future advocates, too.
I've also felt the pull to get active.
With the students, I visited the Florida State Capitol this year to stand up for diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education and in support of gender affirming healthcare during the state's spring legislative session.
Amidst all the legislative chaos and setbacks for education and LGBTQ rights in Florida, I was still able to get away a bit to the comfort of my blue home state.
I managed to sneak in a visit to NYC in June this year. Otherwise I never would have made it there. On that visit, I went to the Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the David Zwirner Gallery with friends.
I'm so glad I made this visit when I did because NYC didn't work out on any other occasion this year, mostly due to my time spent upstate with family.
I made five visits back home to upstate New York this year, particularly to meet for the first time and visit with the new baby in the family!
This is the first time that my only sibling had a child, so it's very exciting for everyone. I've officially adopted the name and role as Tante in honor of the German half of my family and my late Tante Wally.
Local South Florida Highlights
I sometimes joke that living in South Florida is like living in a vacation. It really does feel that way sometimes, though! In the last year, I've fully taken advantage of this moment I am in, living in such a vibrant area with so much to do outdoors and on the water all year long.
Following this blog, you must know already how much I love water activies when I travel. What's great about Miami is I've been able to take advantage of the local water activities here on normal weekends.
Three of these activities were:
1. Beach parties at Haulover
Every Sunday in North Miami is Sunday Funday at Haulover Beach. There is a clothing optional portion of this beach which happens to also include a queer part of the beach between lifeguard stand 15 and 16. I love going there on Sundays with the folks in my ballroom house. We always have a great time and take advantage of the golden hour sunset for photos.
2. Boat parties with a hired captain
Boating is a quintessential Miami activity. People renting a yacht with a group of friends and getting wild is a normal weekend activity. When my friend suggested this for his birthday this year, I decided it was about time I had this Miami experience. The hardest part was gathering the people together willing to throw down the money for it-- just $120 per person for 8 people. But once I locked that in, this was easily one of the best experiences I've had down here. We had so much fun and it was worth every penny!
3. SCUBA diving the keys reef
One of the best birthday gifts to myself this year was a day off from work to go SCUBA diving. It was a very spurious decision. I still have a few prepaid dives with Rainbow Reef so it was also "free" to go! I picked to go to French Reef and it was a gorgeous reef and gorgeous day for it!
Top 5 Travel Moments
Now that I've shared some local highlights from this year, it's time to share my top 5 experiences from my travels outside of Florida!
1. Corcovado Wildlife tour in Costa Rica
This was by far one of the best guided tours I've ever been on. Worth every cent, I got to see so many amazing animals, from 3 species of monkey to a rare silky anteater and even a sloth and baby sloth. I really cannot better encapsulate how special Costa Rica is than with this experience.
You can read all about it, complete with lots of photos and videos, here.
2. Rio Celeste Waterfall and Park
I don't think I'll ever get over how beautiful this waterfall is. What really stepped it up for me was the Elvish-like design of the walkway fencing. The rest of the park was also incredible and had so much to offer as education on how the blue color emerges from the river's waters.
Read more here.
3. Snorkeling & Exploring Punta Sur in Cozumel, Mexico
On New Years Eve during the day while here in Mexico, I rode my scooter into the protected park called Punta Sur. I was surprised by all the activities to do there, including a tower overlooking a lagoon filled with crocodiles, iguanas, and pink birds, a climb to the top of a lighthouse, and snorkeling a reef in aqua waters with 100-foot visibility. Ending the day lounging in a beach chair and sipping a strawberry Margarita was the icing on the cake!
Read about this in a couple months on the blog!
4. African American Museum in DC
The last several times I went to DC, I wanted to visit this museum but didn't get a chance. It's truly remarkable. There was so much to take in, multiple floors of history and modern day culture make this an all day experience. The only thing I wish I had there was more time!
5. Queer History in SF
I loved showing students some of the iconic histories embedded within the city of San Francisco. From the pre-Stonewall uprising spot at Compton's Cafeteria to Harvey Milk's Castro haunts, this city was like an outdoor queer history museum. I also fell in love with the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate park which beautifully memorializes HIV/AIDS victims with monuments, plaques, and flowers.
Travel In 2024
I ended 2023 and am currently kicking off 2024 in Mexico! And in a few weeks, I'll be revisiting New Orleans. These two trips are a copy-paste of what omicron ruined at the start of 2022! I'm finally making up for those missed trips.
After this? I'm not sure! I thought about making this a total COVID makeup year and go to Morocco, too. I had Morocco as a trip planned for summer 2020. That got derailed by COVID and now the country is rebuilding after the recent earthquake that destroyed much and killed 3000 people. I'll go when the government and locals are ready to welcome tourist dollars back in. I don't expect that will be in 2024.
Being in South Florida, I am still interested in exploring parts of South America but I want at least 3 weeks to do so. Colombia was high on my list before I landed on Cozumel again. One reason I didn't go to Colombia was the limited time I have—just 9 days. I'll have to see if I can swing another big chunk of time off like I took in Summer 2022 to Greece, Sweden and Norway.
When Deviating Doesn't Feel Right
As with travel, going with my gut tends to be how I make a lot of decisions in life, including work.
I've continued the benchmarking this year which has led me to a few great work opportunities—one I nearly took that might have taken me to a new full-time position back north. After 4.5 years in South Florida, I must admit I've been here longer than I expected to stay. With a new baby in the family back in NY, the pull to make a change has been ever-growing.
At the same time, it needs to be the right offer to pull me away from all that is still going well for me here. But most of all, it has to feel right and that feeling has to come from within and nowhere else. That's what deviating from the norm is all about.
10 Years In 2024
In the meantime, I am taking a pretty big deviation from my usual path in the coming months and year. It's not something I am quite ready to announce in this space, but it will be an announcement. Ironically, I think it will be timed with the 10th anniversary of this blog.
That's right, July 2024 marks 10 years I've been regularly, consistently updating this blog!
I really cannot believe it's been almost 10 years since my first post. I departed for my round-the-world trip a few weeks later. Ten whole years since I earned my PhD and embarked on my journey of deviating from the typical path of a PhD. It seems just right that another big shift would occur marking this anniversary.
I look forward to sharing more as this part of my journey develops!
In the meantime, I look forward to sharing the rest of my Costa Rica travels with you all and writing about my time here in Mexico.
Wishing you all a very happy new year!
❤️Rikka