2019 in Travel

OH HEY! As I write this, I’m also finishing up the third season of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I’m whisked right back to January to my seat in the SNL studio, watching Rachel Brosnahan sparkle for the crowd much as her character does in the show. It certainly was an arm-pinching way to start the year off.

Looking back, 2019 wasn’t the best year for me. I’ve felt stuck and off-kilter, like I’m on that stretch of the roller coaster just before the big drop. Edging closer and closer to the precipice, knowing the ride’s about to be exhilarating. But the anticipation has been nearly suffocating! This was a year colored by loss. The passing of an old college friend, most notably, had me reeling for months. And San Francisco! The magic of this beautiful Neverland, my beloved home for the past half-decade, has finally started wearing off for me.

Mood-killer, much? No, but really… there was still SO MUCH blissful adventuring around the world and in my own backyard. I am so lucky. To reflect on my 2019 travels, I’m sharing the most memorable experiences from each – the splendorous, the terrible, and obviously the funny.

New York in January

HIGHLIGHT: winning tickets to Saturday Night Live. Cassandra and I booked our flights to New York seconds after learning that I won SNL tickets. (Learn about the SNL ticket lottery here.) It was such a treat to witness first-hand how the production comes together from beginning to end. Right before the cameras started rolling, Kenan Thompson came out to entertain the audience with some tunes, accompanied by Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong as background dancers. I kept on shaking Cassandra’s arm and mouthing, is this for real?!

HIGHLIGHT / Singing our hearts out at Pocket Bar. my gosh, what a riot this night turned out to be!! After a heavy dinner of rib-sticking Serbian food, Joan, Cassandra and I were ready to call it an early night. But then our friends guilt-tripped us into meeting them out in Hell’s Kitchen. Isn’t that how all the good stories begin?

As our sangria count grew, so did the volume of the music and the cheesiness of the songs. Soon, it became a full-on singalong. We were all squished together in this tiny bar, dripping sweat from dancing with strangers. To cool off, we’d sneak outside with no jackets on in -10 degree weather. Passersby would snap pictures of the ruckus from across the street. In the picture above, Kylie waved someone over and signed her number to him through the window so that he could send us a photo. It’s a night that none of us will soon forget.

HIGHLIGHT / Living an alternate New York City life with my best friends. Our best friend Kylie and her boyfriend Chris both needed to be in New York the same week for work, so we ended up sharing an apartment in the East Village.

While we see each other quite often in San Francisco, it was great fun living out our (slightly more indulgent) New York ghost-ship. We’d head to our respective offices in the morning, then meet other friends for happy hour or go to a show in the evening. Then we’d always reconvene for late night pizza or for “one more bar,” and end the night snuggling in bed. Playing pretend has never been more exciting.

Bonus highlight: eating at Kafana! The summer before my Balkans obsession began, I lived right above the only Balkan restaurant in town. I never went once. Years later, it’s been at the top of my list of restaurants to try in the USA. We finally made it happen, and it was every bit as delicious as I dreamed.

LOWLIGHT / as a Californian, the obvious lowlight was that the temperature hovered around -19 degrees Fahrenheit with windchill. We didn’t know how to function! Hilariously enough, we bought a plant that completely wilted four blocks later. It came back to life after sitting next to a space heater for a few hours. We were flabbergasted.

Budapest in April

In late April, Cassandra and I spent three days in Budapest before embarking on a weeklong roadtrip in Croatia. Budapest is a city that we’ve dreamed of visiting together for years. I’m happy to say that the reality exceeded expectations: the food, the sights, the balance of grandeur and grittiness!

For all of our highlights and recommendations, check out the Budapest Travel Guide.

HIGHLIGHT / the epic food & drink scene. This city is a playground for gluttons! From hearty Hungarian classics like chicken paprikash or goulash on chilly days, to deep-fried langos and chimney cakes on the go, we ate until we couldn’t possibly eat another bite. And then we’d eat another bite. The drinking scene is also fantastic – there’s a ruin bar for every personality, and cocktail/wine bars galore. We stopped at Kadarka daily for a glass of wine because they had such a great selection.

HIGHLIGHT/ discovering the magic of Roman baths. This is where my mind goes when I’m sitting in another meeting that should’ve been an email, or when a roommate is loudly playing music at 4:45am. This right here. The 36 degree bath in particular – problems cease to exist when you’re submerged in its silky, warm mineral waters.

HIGHLIGHT / the first 18 hours. Don’t get me wrong, our whole time in Budapest was amazing. But the first 18 hours! That’s when we were fresh on that “I’m on OOO” high and were absolutely giddy to be where we were. Our taxi driver opening up the sunroof so that we could see the tops of buildings. Strolling to the Danube at dusk and darting into the first ice cream shop we saw. Waking up absurdly early and practically having the whole city to ourselves. It all makes my heart race thinking about how ridiculously full of gratitude we were.

LOWLIGHT / the unexpected wind. Having only packed one light jacket each, the blustery wind took us by surprise. After spending many hours hiding out in wine bars, we decided to invest in a thicker jacket from Pull & Bear so that we could actually do some sight-seeing. Note to self: don’t disregard the weather forecast.

Croatia in May

From Budapest, we took a bus to Zagreb where we picked up a rental car. We spent the week visiting Zadar, Sibenik, Brac, Split and more hidden gems along the way.

This was our fourth trip to Croatia in as many years, which also meant shifting back into fjaka gear (in which one savors idleness) on top of uncovering some special experiences too.

HIGHLIGHT / all of the hidden gems we discovered on our roadtrip. This deserves its own blog post, but we found so many small towns and beautiful landmarks with nary a soul in sight. If you’ve travelled in Croatia, you know how crazy this is! We enjoyed having little slices of paradise all to ourselves which happens so rarely on the Adriatic coast.

HIGHLIGHT / food & wine tour with Mate. Mate’s tour is one of the best I’ve done in Croatia. He introduced us to an organic winery, and then took us to his family home where we feasted like kings. Not only did his parents prepare homemade chicken noodle soup, doughnuts, bread, local cheese and prosciutto (plus carafes of wine and rakija too), but also they taught us how to cook peka. The value of this tour is unmatched.

HIGHLIGHT / an indulgent dinner at Pelegrini. One of our more frivolous choices this year was treating ourselves to dinner at Pelegrini, which is one of the first restaurants in Croatia to have received a Michelin star. In short, the food was phenomenal and the service was top notch.

At one point, we were ruminating over life and death and all that’s in between; we’d alternate between sobbing and laughing hysterically. The waiters had NO. IDEA. what else to do with us, but to give us a lot of space and a lot of wine. No one has ever accused us of not having any dramatic flair!

LOWLIGHT / again, the weather. The spring winds were unforgiving, which was especially unfortunate as we had been looking forward to swimming in the Adriatic. So many Croatian grannies would also approach us to scold us for not wearing enough clothing. It’s still winter! They’d reprimand, shaking their heads at my colorful sandals.

Additionally, we had planned a longer stretch of time in Zadar to accommodate a sailing excursion, which was canceled last minute. I think that also left us with a bit too much time in Zadar which we found to be lackluster; in hindsight, we should’ve left sooner for Sibenik which we had less time in but connected with more.

New York City + Los Angeles in July

I had a crazy two weeks of travel during the summer. After a week in New York for a work offsite, I flew to LA for a week to meet my baby niece and then drove down to Palm Springs for the weekend. A truly happy whirlwind of reunions and beloved people!

HIGHLIGHT / foot massages + news of Lulu’s arrival! On a rainy, muggy July evening I had a wonderful Italian dinner with my friend Meg. Afterwards, she suggested that we go get cheap foot massages at her favorite hole-in-the-wall place in the West Village. Halfway through, my phone was buzzing nonstop with news of my niece’s arrival. I had to stifle my delighted shrieks, but it was a heartwarming moment to share with a close friend.

HIGHLIGHT / Accidentally ending up at a drag show with coworkers. It was the last night of our off-site and one of my coworkers from London was desperate to go dancing. 90’s jams was the specific request. One of the New Yorkers insisted on going to a gay bar that he knew did just that on Wednesdays, and off we went. Turns out, there was a drag show special that particular night! It was hysterical and we had a blast, but talk about bonding with your coworkers!

HIGHLIGHT / Lulu. Her birth was hands down the best thing that happened in 2019. Oh man my heart just melts thinking of how sweet and tiny she was as a newborn. And those cheeks!

HIGHLIGHT / Private tour of Warner Brothers. While in LA, I crashed with my friend Nedda who works on the Warner Brothers studio lot. I was in the area for a client meeting one afternoon, and she invited me to drop by. She was so sweet to walk me around the lot, pointing out Stars Hollow and landmarks from La La Land. I even pretended to be Ellen for a hot sec!

Palm Springs in August

HIGHLIGHT / so much relaxing in the pool. This was my first “true vacation,” where I did absolutely nothing but lounge on some floats in the pool. Typically, the thought gives me anxiety. There’s so much to see! So much to do! But at 115 degrees, it was too hot to even think about getting out of the pool. I’m now firmly in the camp that everyone should do this once a year. I’ve never felt so mellowed out.

HIGHLIGHT / Mom Springs. We went to Palm Springs with Cassandra’s mom and her mom’s girlfriends, and let me just tell you… Traveling with a group of moms is the best thing ever! They think of and prepare everything in advance. An assortment of alcohol, personalized koozies, coolers, cases of water, breakfast casseroles, sandwiches… Gotta love moms.

HIGHLIGHT / discovering wine margaritas. Enough said.

LOWLIGHT / not much exploring. I had grand plans for going thrifting and or photographing Palm Springs’s colorful doors but… 115 degrees is no joke. Although I really would like to explore more of this desert city next time, the lack of activity for this particular trip ended up being a blessing in disguise. (Read: total relaxation mode, and not sorry about it.)

Guadalajara in September

Originally, my boyfriend and I had been planning to go down to LA for his birthday weekend. But by the time we started looking into flights, the prices had skyrocketed. Next, we considered a weekend getaway to Sausalito or Mendocino. Somehow, I ended back on Google Flights which teased me with cheap flights to Guadalajara for the next weekend. Twenty minutes of research into hotels and city history later, I was sold. Likely the most spontaneous thing I did this year, but no regrets because truly, what a wonderful city.

HIGHLIGHT / Staying in Hotel Demetria, in the Americana/Lafayette neighborhood. Hands down, staying near the Americana neighborhood was the best decision we made for this getaway. Quiet, livable, and full of tree-lined streets and trendy cafes and eateries, it was absolutely my cup of tea. Hotel Demetria was moody and stunning – thrillingly, it was like staying in an archaeological museum.

HIGHLIGHT / Food tour in Tlaquepaque. This historic, colorful town on the outskirts of Guadalajara boasts amazing food and a vibrant art culture. We did this tour with Amaya. She tirelessly walked us through markets, a labyrinth of crowded streets, and lively restaurants. At each stop, we’d try a dish famous to the region. Eight stops later, I was bursting at the seams. I managed to check off a list of all the foods I wanted to try in Guadalajara on this tour alone. To no one’s surprise, every morsel was to die for. Learning more about Mexico and Jalisco’s history was also deeply meaningful – I’m always so embarrassed that I know so little about our southern neighbors.

HIGHLIGHT / Stumbling upon the Independence Day parade. Lucky for us, we happened to be in town for Mexican Independence Day! Everyone seemed to be in a festive, patriotic mood which made our visit seem all the more special. The absolute highlight was coming across the parade: hundreds of people young and old were on horseback, dressed to the nines.

LOWLIGHT / this is the most first world lowlight ever, but because we were staying in a fancy hotel and indulging in fancy birthday dinners, we didn’t immerse ourselves in local culture. By this, I mean zero (!) cheap tacos were consumed, no tequila tasted, no mariachi heard. This was also in part due to 1) the constant rain making it difficult to wander too far, and 2) shops and restaurants having holiday hours which meant that they were either closed or too crowded when we wanted to go. Alas, I think this spells another visit to Guadalajara soon!

Vancouver and London in November

Spontaneous jaunt #2! When my boyfriend told me he’d be in London for work over Thanksgiving and that he’d be staying at the Four Seasons, I was already looking up flights before he could finish.

I ended up spending a long weekend there before flying to Los Angeles to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I also spent one day in my company’s London office catching up with some of my favorite folks, and grabbed lunch with my friend Blažka over a 7-hour layover in Vancouver! Totally worth the long flights, in my opinion.

HIGHLIGHT / London, all festive! London is a city dear to my heart, and I’ve been a few times now – but never when it’s been all decked out for the holidays! Christmas markets, lights on Regent Street, holiday decor in shop windows and hotel lobbies. It gave me all the warm fuzzies.

HIGHLIGHT / the cocktail scene. Our nights were lowkey, but we did check out a number of impressive cocktail bars. The atmosphere, kind service, and best of all the innovative cocktails that more often than not came with food as a garnish more than tickled my fancy. Favorites included Nightjar and the Cocktail Trading Co.

HIGHLIGHT / Walking, walking, walking. Over the course of four days, we walked close to 80,000 steps. It’s my favorite way to explore a city. I feel closer to all the action than if I were in a taxi or on a bus (though I do love the Underground for transporting me from one neighborhood to the next). There was one day that we aimlessly wandered from Notting Hill to Kensington, through Hyde Park and then Covent Garden. My legs were killing me, but it was a gorgeous walk.

LOWLIGHT / most of the Londoners I knew were out of town, so I definitely missed getting the chance to catch up with them.

Los Angeles, Here and There*

Since my sister’s family moved to LA in April, I’ve made my way down for a visit every month or so. I used to fly down to LA a lot for work, and it makes me laugh to think that I saw way more of LA then than I do now when I have so much more free time in town. The reason comes down to my wanting to soak up every second with my nephew and niece. Usually, we’re snuggling at home, tackling the big slide at a playground, or going on walks to the Grove.

For the holidays, Cassandra and I drove down to Southern California. On our way back up a week later, we made a pit-stop in Paso Robles for some casual wine-tasting. Paso Robles is dream – a much more approachable and affordable wine destination than Napa or Sonoma, and the wines are just as great!

San Francisco

Ah, sweet home San Francisco. I did want to make a note of the precious moments spent in my own backyard too.

Highlights from 2019: Rubbing elbows with celebrities at the SF Sketchfest cast & crew afterparty. Sampling gin and whisky on distillery tours in Alameda. A crazy fun work kick-off in January. Fancy steak dinners at home with the roommates. Trying out a number of phenomenal San Francisco restaurants. Drives to Half Moon Bay. Spending summer weekends eating pizza and tanning at the glorious East Beach. Wine-and-laughter filled evenings that we dubbed as “YOLO nights.” An abundance of of out-of-town visitors, concerts, yoga, walking to and from work, and karaoke-ing with coworkers.