Hey Steemians! Excited to finally be here in the @steemit community instead of just lurking around alone on the internet, silently stalking people’s posts like a creeper.

Is it just me...

...or did you take a long ass ride on the struggle bus when you were trying to write your intro post, too?

Ya know, trying to make it all perfect ‘cause you only get one first impression?' And if
you screw it up, it’s game over. Yikes.

That’s some scary stuff.

I don’t know about you…

...but I need like, 8 practice runs, on making a first impression. Because I’m kind of awkward and tend to mess things up a lot.

But, really... who cares.

Perfect doesn’t exist (even though it may seem that way based on what people put out on social media). And, I’d rather be relatable, than perfect, anyway.

I'll even open up and share some of my flaws (if you want).

Heck, I’m probably sharing them right now…

...because my grammar isn’t perfect. Plus I tend to think faster than I can write. Which makes for an awkward mess of my fingers tripping over my own words on the keyboard.

I figured struggling with the first post is something we already have in common. It's scary creating something. I hope to find many more things in common, and celebrate our differences, as well.

Anyways...

Here’s a picture of me saying hi to you and trying to prove I’m not a robot or whatever:

I don’t normally like to talk about myself, because it makes me feel like an egotistical narcissist…

...but I promise you I’m not.

So, don’t run away just yet.

It's just that I heard I’m supposed to talk about myself on here, so you can get to know me.

Welp...

Here it goes.

I found out about Steemit from googling excessively about crypto. And then I saw travel stuff on Steemit, too. Two of my favorite things - all in the same place!

So, thanks to @purepinay, for writing about your adventures.

I found you because I wanted to learn more about the Philippines (gusto kong matuto ng Tagalog). You didn’t know it, but your posts inspired me to join Steemit! So, thank you! Salamat!

The whole Steemit community seems legit though...

That also means you. Whoever is reading my post. Right now. Yeah, you. You’re legit af.

Some things I guess you should know about me, if we’re gonna be friends:

1. I learned Spanish to impress boys.
2. Realized I freaking love learning languages in general.
3. Went to college to make my parents happy (and therefore satisfy my people-pleasing need for approval).
4. Studied to be a Spanish teacher, because teaching is “stable” and it’s the “smart” thing to do.
5. Spoiler alert: Didn’t use the teaching degree. At all.
6. Forced my parents into letting me study abroad by switching schools to a program that required it... What can I say? "Sorry mom. I HAVE to go to sketchy Mexico! Or else I won’t graduate!”
7. I fell in love with sketchy Mexico.
8. Skipped my own college graduation because I just needed to travel SO badly and “Dad, there’s a good deal on flights to Central America on graduation day!”
9. Obviously outgrowing the need for parent’s approval.
10. Got a teaching job and was told to start in less than 24 hours... in a whole new city that i had to move to.
11. Lucky for them, I'm the kind of person who's crazy enough to just pack up and move to a new city with literally no forewarning.
12. I ended up sleeping in my car for a night and my new students found out. It got weird.
13. Thought I'd crush the rest of my parent's hopes for me to have a good future and quit my job mid-semester to travel Europe.
14. Came back home, then immediately spiraled into a quarter life crisis.
15. Questioned my purpose in life. Forgot to use my college degree.
16. Got another job, started a failing business. Then I quit, despite failed business...because I make great life decisions
17. I invented electricity. Okay fine... that one’s not real.
18. Tried business again and did slightly better than before. Now I work from my computer.
19. Some years passed, and I thought “Hey, why not try to be a part-time writer on Steemit, and a full-time disappointment to my parents?”
20. I move around a lot. Sometimes I live in Oregon. Sometimes in Guatemala.
21. Right now, I’m in Thailand, though.
22. Salsa dancing, art, photography, eating healthy, monkeys, alpacas, are some things I like.
23. I sometimes wear these really geeky glasses. They’re fake (unlike me). I like to keep it real.
24. I call them my "friend making glasses," because people talk to me when I wear them. Combined with my granny sweater, they’re an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. Can you say, friend magnet? Friend-making outfit on point. I hope they work their geeky magic on you, too. Because I'm always down for more friends.

So, that’s it for me.

If you follow me here on Steemit, I’ll share some of my best traveling hacks and secrets. I’m also going to write about weird food I find, and crazy travel stories...

...and not just the kind of travel that looks perfect on Instagram. Perfect doesn't exist, remember?

I’ll write about the good, and the bad side of travel. After all, sometimes it’s paradise, and other times, you get lost in the jungle and almost drown in a mud pit (I'll have to save that story for another time though).

I'll also write about whatever you want! Just make sure to mention it in the comments.

Thanks for reading this post. I definitely enjoyed writing it...

...mostly because I think I got high off the permanent marker while I was drawing the monkey.

Leave me a note, and I might upvote.