Vanilla Sky Dreaming 1st Birthday!

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A happy and exciting Birthday to Vanilla Sky Dreaming! I can’t believe it has been a year since I started this amazing journey with you all!

hofit kim cohen - vanilla sky dreaming travel blog

Where it all began

Vanilla Sky Dreaming has been a dream come true! It all began a couple of months before I started my blog, when I stumbled upon a girl by the name of Brooke Saward with a travel blog called World of Wanderlust. I’m not really sure how I ever found Brooke, but I do know that Brooke changed my life. From the moment I found her and her blog I was inspired and hooked. I saw this amazing young lady traveling around the world solo making her dreams come true by conquering the world and taking amazing photos. Brooke was doing what I was doing for years, which was traveling the world solo as a female. After quitting my long time corporate job as a sales national trainer and living in Washington DC/Baltimore and Miami, I decided it was time to move back to Los Angeles and start a new chapter in my life.

vanilla sky dreaming - hofit cohen

I had no idea what I was going to do in LA, I tried a few options and nothing seemed to do it for me. I didn’t want to be trapped in an office or a bar, I wanted to be free. Then one day it hit me! What if I started a travel blog? Vanilla Sky Dreaming, wasn’t my first blog, I actually started blogging 12 years ago, when livejournal was a big thing. But I realized this, my passions in life was always traveling, meeting people, photography, art, spirituality and inspiring people. I had no idea how to start a travel blog or even how to create a website, I had no real understanding of what it meant to be a professional travel blogger, how intense it would be or how many hours of sleepless nights and researching it was actually going to take. All I knew is that I had a vision, I knew I always had great ambition and a drive and if, I only worked hard enough and was committed, I can make my dreams come true, like I have proven myself in the past. I clearly had no idea what I was in for. A year later, I can say that I have learned SOOO much, beyond anything I ever expected.

After attending a travel blogger’s event in Cancun, earlier this year, I was filled with inspiration and at the airport, waiting to board my flight, I decided that this year, 2015, Vanilla Sky Dreaming’s goal is to visit 25 countries, 16 of which, I have already visited this year.

wanderlust girl on beach with balloons

A year full of travels and accomplishments

This year has been a roller coaster of excitement and traveling. Since I started Vanilla Sky Dreaming, I have been to more places in the world than I could have ever dreamt of. I visited: Greece, Turkey, Mexico, Iceland, Amsterdam, France, Belgium, Budapest, Prague, Vienna, Sweden, NYC, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Tokyo, London 3 times, Vegas 3 times and Israel 2 times.

Through these travels I got to make so many dreams come true, I finally got to see the Northern Lights, a dream I have been dying to accomplish for years! I got to swim in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, I celebrated New Year’s Eve in Amsterdam, I finally went to Cancun and fell in love with it, I got to see the amazing infinity pool of the Marina Bay Sand in Singapore, I saw a Fire Rainbow, which is one the rarest things to see in the world. I lived life like a Greek Goddess when I visited Greece for 2 weeks, I got to wear and own my very first sari and play a Bollywood princess in India, I washed and played with rescued elephants in the jungles of Kerala and went on one of the most amazing houseboats experiences in the Backwaters of Kerala and so much more!

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Sometimes I lost track of days, dates, months and time. Sometimes, I woke up to a crazy snow storm and other times to a humid and hot day. At other times, I woke up to my own presidential suites, ordering room service and wondering how I could be the most luckiest girl in the world! There were also times when I woke up at an exotic location with nothing in front of me, but a beautiful sunrise and ocean water or not much of a view at all. I walked miles on miles, explored til I couldn’t feel my finger tips or toes anymore. I fell asleep in weird places, like buses, airports, airplanes, taxis, hotels, basically everywhere, but my own bed. I laughed til I couldn’t breathe and also cried my eyes out and wanted to quit. I got sick a million and one times and I lived life like a wanderlust soul without a real reality on normal day to day life.

girl on beach balloons - vanilla sky dreaming

I won the Kerala Blog Express contest and got a 3 week trip to Kerala, India and was all over the newspapers and media in Kerala daily. I had the honor of working with NBC News, The Weather Channel, Tripadvisor and some of the most amazing hotels in the world. My blog most recently went VIRAL and I was amazed, shocked and overwhelmed with peoples response. I also attended many travel bloggers event around the world and I met incredible people, some of which became my close friends and live in completely different parts of the world.

Although I experienced some of the greatest things I could ever ask for, I also had not such great moments, like when I got sick 3 different times on my 3 week trip to Europe, or when I was told I couldn’t board my flight in London to Budapest, due to passport issues or that time I almost got arrested in Vienna or being in Israel when the Protective Edge War broke out and I was running to bomb shelters and seeing bombs in the sky, but honestly, they were worth it in some ways because they made good stories to tell lol and well in the world of traveling nothing is ever predictable. Which is what makes it so exciting, you never really know how life will unfold before your eyes for better or for worse.

vanilla sky dreaming celebrating 1 year birthday

A HUGE THANK YOU!

None of this could have been possible if it wasn’t for you. My readers, my friends, all around the world. I am so grateful for you all for making my dreams a reality. Thank you for following me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and my YouTube Channel. Thank you for commenting, sharing and liking my photos and posts. Thank you so much for following me around the world and making my dreams come true. I really couldn’t have done it, if it wasn’t for each and every single one of you. THANK YOU.

hofit kim cohen

What’s in store for Vanilla Sky Dreaming…

While I don’t like to say locations and places until they are fully booked, which usually is just a few short weeks or days before I go. I will let you in on a few little secrets because I like you 😉

Towards the end of August, I will be revisiting Israel again, although I was just there a little less than 2 months ago, I have a family event  to attend. Hopefully if all goes well, I will get to visit Petra, Jordan, if no war breaks out. In October, I will be making my way to Asia to see all the countries I have been dreaming of seeing for years. My birthday is in the beginning of August and I always travel to a new place on my birthday and this year I’m thinking of the Caribbeans to possibly 2-3 countries and the rest I will keep a secret. Just know that before 2015 is over, I have to visit 9 more countries and I think it will be more than 9 countries.

Also to come!

Vanilla Sky Dreaming is soon going to have an online store with all great things travel. I am also working right now on my very first e-book! Which I’m super excited about and a few giveaways and contests! So be sure to follow me for future announcements!

vanilla sky dreaming - hofit kim cohen

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