16 Things I Can’t Live Without – Vanilla Sky Dreaming
A few days ago, I was asked what I can’t live without, of course, the normal obvious ones came straight to mind like traveling and my family. Then I figured I’d do some real thinking and try figuring what I can’t live without, so I created this post for you guys to get to know me a little better. I’d also love to hear what you can’t live without, so feel free to leave a comment below and let me know.
Traveling
I guess that’s a cheat right? But for sure, I couldn’t live without traveling. I’ve been doing it since I was born and as the years go by, I have gotten so addicted to traveling that I don’t know what life would look like without it. Of course, it is my job but regardless, it’s my life. Traveling is a thing I indend to do for the rest of my life no matter how old I get.
My Family
Also a pretty obvious choice, but really, I couldn’t live without my family. Friends come and go, boyfriends come and go, jobs come and go and the one thing that will never change is our family. My family means the world to me and in my family’s dynamic, I’m normally the one that keeps us all together. I love my family so much, even when they make me mad at times lol.
Peanut
For those of you who don’t know, Peanut is my puppy and my one true love. I am beyond completely and utterly obsessed with him in every way possible. I nearly suffocate the little guy with over a hundred kisses a day and hugs. Maybe that’s why he is always hiding underneath my bed….hmmmm…. I really can’t ever picture my life without him. The thought of it makes me cry, so let’s not go there. Just look at that face! He is pure LOVE and the sweetest thing in the world. This little guy doesn’t have a single mean bone in him. Always happy, energetic and SO excited about life.
Change
I am a girl that’s all about change and stepping out of her comfort zone, even if it may be scary at times. While most people love their comfort zone and living a more stable lifestyle, I just can’t seem to wrap my head around it. I live life on the edge, always and forever. Changing is so important for humans and our lives. It’s always important for me to grow as a person, challenge my boundaries, learn and do more in my life. Sometimes I even shock myself with the things I come up with and actually pull off, maybe that’s why I kept the madness going for so long. I strongly believe in the concept and value of ONE life here on earth. I’ve probably lived 7 different lives in just my short 30 years of life and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Cheesy? Maybe a little? Kind of, but not really to me. Instagram is also my source of income but besides that, Instagram is a place where I get to use my creativity and a place I go to for inspiration. It’s the place where I discover new countries and cities I want to visit, it’s the place I go to for fashion ideas, photo ideas and more. I’ve always been obsessed with photography since I was a kid. I used to collect thousands of photos from magazines and make collages all over my walls. I love photography and love the way people use Instagram as a source for creativity. If you aren’t following me by now, maybe its time: CLICK HERE!
Inspiration
What would I do without inspiration? I really couldn’t tell ya. Inspiration is the one thing I always seek in life and could never get enough of. It’s what helps you grow and change as a person. I find inspiration through art, music, traveling, photography and people’s life stories. My goal in life is always to learn and share my knowledge with the world. In fact, all my close friends are big dreamers and inspirational seekers and I love that.
The Beach
I can legit say that I can’t live without the beach. I’ve tried, it just hasn’t worked out so well for me. Most of my life, I’ve been blessed enough to live 15-30 mins away from the beach. I even had an apartment in Malibu for a year and a half right on the sand. When I lived in the east coast like New York, Baltimore and Philly, I nearly went crazy. I did end up finding some sort of beach life in Baltimore, believe it or not. However, it just wasn’t good enough. I crave the beach all the time and when I’m not traveling, I’m normally in Malibu. It’s also a place where I go to reflect, write and get inspiration.
My Passport
Jesus Christ! Do you guys remember how I lost my passport for nearly 3 or 4 months?!?! If you haven’t read this: How I Lost My Passport and Found It! A Happy and Stressful Tale.I was so depressed beyond belief and was crying hysterically from morning to night for a few days, as if someone had died. A bit dramatic? lol NOT FOR ME! My passport is REALLY something I couldn’t live without. Luckily, the losing my passport story had a good ending! Thank G*d!! If I lost all those stamps I’d be so sad. I had to get a new passport 2 years ago and still working on building up my stamp count since I lost so many. I mean seriously, what kind of a travel blogger would I be, if I didn’t have my passport.
My iPhone
Who can’t live without their cell phone? I think in this day and age many can’t. However, I think it’s more critical to me since I work off of my iPhone. Currently, as we speak I have…hold on, let me check….I have 39,106 photos and 1,360 videos, do I really need to say more? Drop the mic lol. People always ask me why I don’t delete them and save them on my computer. The answer to that is, they are my computer but I also like having my life and all of my travel photos on my phone.
About 1.5 years ago, the worst thing happened to me. I broke my iPhone screen and for some stupid reason, I decided to take it to the Apple store, worst mistake EVER. I thought all my photos, videos, music and apps were saved on my iCloud and computer, turns out they weren’t and I lost over 35,000 photos. When I approached the Apple store, they handed me a brand new iPhone, which most people would be happy about but NOT ME. I was like WTF is this?!? They said everything got deleted. I went nuts, cried like a crazy person and told them I want my old iPhone back NOW!!! (drama queen moment). They said we could give you back your iPhone but there is nothing on it. I literally tried everything I could to restore my iPhone and after realizing that there is nothing that could be done, I still refused to get the new iPhone for 3 days. haha. So, as you can tell, I can’t live without my iPhone…well maybe for 3 days. SAVEEEE YOUR PHOTOS!! I can’t stress that enough!
Creativity
Creativity is something I couldn’t live without for sure. Since I was little, I was blessed to have a very talented, creative and artistic mom that can make something out of anything, literally. Anyone that knows my mom would tell you the same, the best part is that I got that from her and so happy I did. I can also make something out of anything. I can sew and had a costume line for a while, I went to makeup artist school and became a makeup artist, I can draw, dance, sing, take good photos and well, I design this entire website from scratch and every photo edit, video edit, banner and more anywhere on my website or social media I designed myself. Many years ago, before starting my travel blog, I knew I had to have 3 things in my life to make me happy, which was travel, inspiration and some form of art/creativity. For years I tried to think of what kind of a job I can do that would allow me to have all those things. A few LONG years later, Vanilla Sky Dreaming was born! A place where I get to inspire people, use my creativity and travel the world! YAY! Score! I can’t imagine my life, EVER, without creativity. (Read: Vanilla Sky Dreaming Turns 3 Years Old; A Look Back At 3 Years In The Making)
Faith/God
I’m not sure why this isn’t at the top of my list but I guess it’s too late now huh? For those of you who don’t know, G*d/Faith means the world to me and more. It’s what gets me through a hard day or a bad time in my life, it’s what makes me take the big leap of faith and try things that would be impossible to most. It’s my source for balance, appreciation, gratitude and so much more. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for G*d and my faith in him. Thank you for everything you give me every single day. <3
My Computer
HELLO! OMG! I can’t believe I almost forgot to list my one prized possession, my laptop! If something happened to it, I’d die! It’s my source of income and where all my travel photos are. Looking around in my house and trying to think what I can’t live without when it was staring me right in the eye, is almost too funny.
Truffle Risotto Mushrooms
It’s my favorite meal, it’s definitely not the cheapest meal. It normally goes for at least $50 but it’s my favorite and if I were to die tomorrow, I’d like some Truffle Risotto Mushrooms with lots of bread so that I can go in peace. Namaste.
Avocado
Obsessed! If you don’t like avocados we can’t be friends. End of story.
The Internet
I mean, come on, who can argue that one? However, I’m definitely the girl that looks for the internet the moment the plane lands and it’s probably the first thing I ask every hotel I check into, “what’s your internet password?”, but again, it’s my job, so it’s ok right? I also google questions all day every day.
Movies
I LOVE LOVE LOVE MOVIES! Can’t live without them, they are also a big source of inspiration to me. Before I was a travel blogger, I used to watch so many travel movies. I didn’t even care what the movie was about, as long as it was filmed far far away. My favorite kinds of movies are based on a true story. If you tell me it’s based on a true story, you sold me. Also movies with an unexpected ending, I’m like a movie Guru, I can tell you in the first 10mins what’s going to happen at the end. Who’s going to die, who’s gonna fall in love with who, etc. if I didn’t predict the ending, chances are it’s gonna be added to my list of favorite movies.
Hope you enjoyed this post, if you want more post like this, please let me know in the comments below and I’ll make more. Also, what can YOU live without???? I’d love to hear! <3 xoxo
