We got back from our Galapagos trip last week, and it was an incredible experience. First of all, we are grateful for the opportunity to go. It’s a pricey trip, and it wouldn’t have even been possible if our friend didn’t offer us her miles to fly there. The Galápagos islands has been one of our dream destinations, but we had reserved it for years down the road. We’re so grateful for her generosity and grateful for the experience.
For my gratitude list this week, I wanted to split it up into two parts. Lately, I’ve been trying to be more present and appreciate what I have here and now. That means wherever I happen to be and in whatever circumstance. When it comes to travel, I like to often refer back to the quote, “Discovery consists not of seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes” by Marcel Proust.
Photo of Blue Footed Boobies (still can’t believe how blue their feet are):
My gratitude list during our Galapagos trip:
- We got to see so many varieties of unique animals that we can’t find anywhere else.
- Learned to be a bit more comfortable snorkeling, and got to swim with seals and sea turtles.
- We didn’t have wifi available everywhere, so it helped us unplug and enjoy the beautiful islands.
- After four days of searching, we finally found the blue footed boobies!
- The magnificent views of the Andes and the stars from the plane.
My gratitude list for back home:
- We have our own share of beautiful landscapes and animals the Galapagans would be fascinated with.
- Warm showers. Oh, how I appreciate warm showers.
- Electricity is generally pretty constant and doesn’t go out.
- There’s so much more variety of foods in US. I enjoy the diversity.
- I can flush toilet paper down the toilet!
Fave gratitude quote of the week by Epicurus:
This is week 17 of practicing gratitude on my blog. You can see all my other gratitude posts by clicking on the banner:
searchingforsubstance
8 Jan 2014wow, i’ve never seen birds with blue feet. that’s cool! i’m glad you learned to get comfortable with snorkeling. did you enjoy swimming with sea turtles or were you nervous most the time?
you’e so good with the gratitude posts! i think i stopped after week 1… =(
esther julee
8 Jan 2014haha I figure I can spin anything into a gratitude post.. i can write about anything i want and just say how grateful i am at the beginning and end! Tada! Just try it! :D
I was still pretty nervous especially the first day swimming with the seals. But the second day of snorkeling I was much better… and when I was tired, I wouldn’t flail around and try to swim.. I’d just float. That’s when we saw the turtles! They looked like statues, but if they tried to swim up to me, I think I’d be freaked out. They’re pretty big.
toni d.
8 Jan 2014Wow, sounds like an amazing trip. And thanks again for sharing that quote on facebook, I wrote it down straight away, it’s so beautiful :)
esther julee
8 Jan 2014You’re so welcome! I always need reminders like this, because I tend to think grass is always greener on the other side.
HTC
8 Jan 2014I never knew Blue Footed Boobies existed! Thanks for introducing them to me :)
Not having wifi everywhere is definitely a blessing in disguise when you’re traveling since you can enjoy the moment and not feel pressure needing to “capture” everything.
I love the quote of the week by Epicurus. Great reminder to just enjoy what we have and not to always wishing for more.
esther julee
8 Jan 2014I think those were the highlight of our trip! :P Basically, I went there mainly to see those.. but there were a lot of other awesome things along the way! Don’t you want to go now?? :)
Yeah, it is! It’s really frustrating at first, but in hindsight I know I couldn’t have fully appreciated it if I was on my phone the whole time.
HTC
9 Jan 2014I do want to go now! David said we can add that to our list of places to visit …
I can only imagine how upset you were at first not having wifi everywhere :p
esther julee
9 Jan 2014haha I have to upload my instagrams!! that’s all i care about. :P
HTC
9 Jan 2014it’s good for you to disconnect sometimes :)
Hannah Taylor-Johnson
8 Jan 2014Oh my! I am so jealous. When I started seeing your photos on IG I was totally enthralled. Please post more. I was telling a friend yesterday that this is on my list of places to see.
H
esther julee
8 Jan 2014Will do! :) Hopefully it won’t take me too long to go through all the photos. I think I took way too many… if that’s even possible. The Galapagos is incredible. I can’t wait for you to go see for yourself, bc photos can’t even really do it justice.
Quyen Nguyen
8 Jan 2014What a great trip! I can’t wait to see more photos.
esther julee
8 Jan 2014Thanks for reading! :D It’s definitely on my to-do list to go through the tons of photos I took. haha I just couldn’t help myself. Hopefully, I can start blogging more about it this month. <3
Amanda Freerksen
8 Jan 2014What an amazing trip!! The Galapagos are definitely on my dream list!
esther julee
8 Jan 2014It is an amazing place. :) I think everyone should put this on their travel list. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Outside The Den - Heather
8 Jan 2014This is so gorgeous! And cheers to being more in the moment!
esther julee
8 Jan 2014Cheers! :) One day we need to grab some beer!
carly
8 Jan 2014I can only imagine how beautiful everything was there! And I love the last quote you posted– it’s so true and something I definitely need to work on remembering!
Carly
esther julee
8 Jan 2014It really was so beautiful! I think it’s mostly because a lot of the land is protected and untouched. Manmade things can be awesome too, but I think there’s something really beautiful about going places that haven’t been messed with too much. I love this quote. It’s a good reminder that there are a lot of places in the US that are just as beautiful. We just have to drive outside the city. :) Thanks so much for reading & commenting, Carly!
Codi @ The Art of Balance
8 Jan 2014your pictures from your trip were so awesome on IG! It was a lot of fun to follow along with your adventures!
esther julee
8 Jan 2014Thanks so much, Codi! :) Can’t wait to see what photos you take with your new camera!