Hector and the Search for Happiness

Here's another travel-related non-travel post.  I recently discovered one of my new favorite movies on Netflix: Hector and the Search for Happiness.  It came out last year and has the same feel as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but way better.  It's very visually appealing but I love that it ties in finding happiness (and freedom) from exploring the world, which is a bit different from Walter Mitty.  Here's some of my favorite snaps from the movie.. watch it now!

Exploring This Land.. That Was Made For You and Me

My posts, as yet, have been about international travels. However, I've traveled more this year than any other year and have been exploring the good ol' US of A in between my international trips. So I thought I'd document where I've been, otherwise I may not remember.

March: San Mateo - work
Manager's training and all staff meeting (or was this April? I don't remember.)

April: Lake Tahoe - work
My organization is great about professional development and sends staff to the CalSAE ELEVATE conference every year, which rotates between northern and southern California.  (Since starting at CalCPA, the conference has been held at Newport Beach, San Francisco, Palm Springs, and this year was Tahoe.  Next year will be Coronado - can't wait!)  I stayed at the Resort at Squaw Creek and the sights were incredible!

The Olympic Rings at the Olympic Village

June: Nashville - personal
2015 marked my 30th (sob, sob) birthday.  I don't usually celebrate it, but I wanted to do something to mark this milestone and had planned this trip months in advance, going back to October or November 2014.  Although the group that went was smaller than originally anticipated, I was so grateful for everyone who flew out and had a blast exploring this amazing city.  The only thing that wasn't great was the weather, as it was humid and swelteringly hot, but I can't complain - in the weeks and days leading up to the trip, the weather forecast predicted rain and thunderstorms for the majority of our time there.  In actuality, it only rained for a few hours on the third evening.  Except for the weather, I could easily see myself living in Nashville.. I fell in love with the city!














St. Louis - personal
I was only here for a few hours for a layover.  Instead of sitting in the airport, I wanted to see the arch, so I rented a car and took off!



San Francisco - work
The week after Nashville, I went to San Francisco for a few days to attend for CalCPA's annual Council meeting.  There were meetings galore and early mornings, but it was still good to be in a different setting.

July: Naples, FL - work
I went to Naples, Florida, to attend the AICPA's Interchange conference, a perk of the new promotion.  Since Naples is home to a lot of wealthy retirees, there wasn't a lot for me in the city, other than take in the picturesque setting.  However, we did stay at the Ritz, so it was nice to be in a very fancy place.








San Jose - work
This was a quick trip to help with a conference put on by my coworker.  It was a very exhausting couple of days but I will always love traveling.


There's plenty of trips planned in the next coming months - stay tuned!

This is The End - Hamburg and Going Back to Copenhagen

June 11, 2015 Update: I am a very sad excuse for a blogger.  I never even uploaded the rest of my vacation pictures. To be fair: I had just gotten a promotion a couple of weeks before I left and my former boss left the company while I was gone and there were four meetings occurring right when I came back.  Needless to say, there was plenty of stuff to take care of at home.


I consolidated the Hamburg portion of this trip because I really just went out exploring one day, came back to the hostel where I did not enjoy a gross HAMBURGer (seriously.. it's in the name.. they are only obligated to be good at ONE thing).  I also stayed out for a while and spent the entire next day recovering and then happily made my way back to Copenhagen, eager to flee Hamburg (and lost my gray beanie and Euro plug in the process).

My bunkmate at the Hamburg hostel who liked to dangle his feet.  I don't like feet.  And he was a smelly dude.  Smelly dude, smelly dude.. what are they feeding you?

This kid behind me is in a tree.

Cannons because, why not?

Girl, they probably don't like you if they drew on a Hitler 'stasche.

Not exactly a political slogan that'd be used stateside.

What's "Asian food"?  Probably not something I'd like or eat.

The worst hamburger I've ever had. On a bright note, this burger singlehandedly led to the most fun night of my entire vacation, complete with two Australians, two Germans, a Canadian, and the Raeperbahn (Red Light District).

Hamburg train station

Random happy face in a gritty area  Isn't that nice?

I don't even know what to say about this.

Smaller than a Smart Car!

More random happy faces!

Hans Hummel statue in the Hamburg train station. Apparently, he was the "legendary last water-carrier in Hamburg" - whatever that means. Kinda looks like Steve Buschemi, right?

Another one. And I was eating ice cream with brownies. And this was at like, 8am.

The best meal of vacation - potato wedges. It was the bomb dot com!

The tiny bathroom in my Hamburg hostel room. I'm a small person and this was too small for even me.

When I went back to Copenhagen, the flags were at half mast for the shootings that occurred while I was in Hamburg.

I was having a sandwich and a delicious Belgian waffle at a tiny eatery in Copenhagen when a random camera crew comes in, filming some kind of eating contest.

Copenhagen's response to Third Street Promenade's Silver Man

Little Mermaid statue at the Copenhagen airport

At Gatwick Airport in London