Happy belated 2013! Hope you all had a wonderful and safe holiday season!

You know what freaks me out most about realizing that another year has passed? Seeing these little kids in school hoodies and letterman jackets that say “CLASS OF 2017.” Those numbers shouldn’t even exist!

Although my blog suggests otherwise (I only posted a measly 27 entries in 2012), 2012 was a pretty monumental year for me:

• I didn’t die on Senior Spring Break in Punta Cana.
• After four amazing years in Ann Arbor, I graduated.
• I visited Mackinac Island and Victoria.
• I moved out to Seattle, started work at Amazon, and became a pseudo-adult.
• I turned 22 (and watched Obama get re-elected on the same day).
• I made my first turkey.
• I cruised the Western Caribbean.

Mucho thanks to my parents for making the last bullet point happen. As a Christmas gift, we went on a week-long cruise to Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. It was SO NICE after months of minimal sun and working long hours during Q4.

Some highlights:

New Orleans skyline when we embarked.

Sorry Rohin, I found a new BF in Costa Maya.

Costa Maya is basically a region in Mexico that has been developed by the cruise industry to serve as a spot for tourists. Everything there catered to tourists and there was not much of anything else.

In Belize City, there was a very obvious divide between tourists and natives. This wall separated the tourist compound and the rest of the city. It was a challenge to even get past the wall and the guards. We were really surprised to see how impoverished the rest of the city was – streets were unpaved, trash piled everywhere, etc. A lot different than the 24/7 food and luxury you experience on a cruise ship. But you have to also realize that tourism plays a major part in their economy and hopefully it’ll jumpstart other opportunities of growth in the future.

Roatan was quite possibly my favorite destination. Besides the usual cruise dock, it’s a relatively untouched island off of mainland Honduras.

I went snorkeling for the first time in the Blue Channel off of Roatan, Honduras!

Plaza in Cozumel.

Freshest ceviche I’ve had.

All in all, a really wonderful end to 2012. Now it’s time to get after 2013 with a renewed sense of goals and intentions: read at least two books a week, limit groceries to $200 a month, start volunteering, stay in better touch with friends & family, blog at least once a week, say “yes” more often, and be happy.