For the past eight months, most of my purchases had been towards things that would help me in my first trip to Japan and first time traveling alone.

There were four key ideas I adopted in preparation for this trip:

• Bite-sized vlogs with my iPhone. GoPros are great and all, but I couldn't justify $350+ on an action camera I'd rarely use ever again. And the last thing I want to do when I come back from vacation is spend hours compiling a highlight video for YouTube. With a 256 GB iPhone, I'd have plenty of space to record 4K video, plus I'd be able to edit & upload bite-sized videos on-the-fly.

• Carry-on backpack only. Having everything in a single backpack means not dragging around secondary luggage as I explore the city between the 10am hotel check-outs and 4pm check-ins.

• "Capsule wardrobe". Bringing only neutral-colored clothes & layers would give me plenty of possible outfits for the trip, making it easy to adapt to the weather as needed.

• Unique experiences instead of typical hotels. Standard hotels are expensive and for the most part, the exact same. With Airbnb, I can stay at better locations, pay way less, and experience what it's like to live like a local.

With that said, here's a list of everything I brought, what worked, what didn't, and what I'll bring next time.

Killer Purchases

• 256 GB iPhone X. The extra space was crucial for recording all my 4K videos throughout the trip.
• Unlimited 4G SIM card by JAL ABC at Narita Airport¹. This was definitely better than the other option: renting a pocket wifi that I would have to recharge and turn on/off throughout the day.
• 33L travel backpack by Aer SF. This bad boy literally carried everything for me.
• Outbreaker Daypack by Tortuga. A super light-weight backpack I used to explore the city while I left the rest of my stuff at my Airbnb/hotel.
• Ultra Light Down Jacket by Uniqlo. The ratio of utility-to-weight is ridiculously good with this jacket. It's super comfortable, loose-fitting, and kept me plenty warm in 45 degree weather.
• merino wool t-shirts by Unbound Merino. It was my first time relying on (only two) merino wool shirts for an entire week, and it totally lived up to the hype that backpackers have sworn by for years².
• merino wool socks by Unbound Merino.
• Long Sleeve HeatTech t-shirts by Uniqlo. A key clothing layer that helped me manage my temperature throughout the trip.
• extendable selfie stick with tripod attachment by Smatree. This was invaluable to me as a solo traveler because I wanted pictures of myself without asking other (non-English speaking) people for help.
• quick-release tripod mount for smartphones by Glif. A handy attachment that allows me to connect my iPhone X — and any future smartphone — to whatever standard tripod or selfie stick I want.
• 2-in-1 battery pack & wall charger by Anker. Helped me cut down on the extra wall chargers needed for all my devices.
• Cut Story app for splitting my vlog recordings into 15-second clips for Instagram Stories.
• Apple Watch 3 for keeping track of two timezones and useful as a camera remote for my iPhone.

Meh

• First Cabin capsule hotel room. This has been on my bucket list for years, but I won't be doing this again because I really disliked having to be completely silent the whole time, especially when I need to zip/unzip for stuff in my bag.
• 12.9" iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard. I love my iPad, but my iPhone was simply enough for everything I did on my trip.
• running waist pack by Flip Belt. I wore this to hold my passport so I could keep my pockets empty, but the tight size caused my passport to fold/curve up awkwardly.
• water-resistant sneaker boots by Nike. Would've been useful had it rained, but it was a bit heavier than I'd like for travel.

Next Time

• another merino wool t-shirt. I felt a little weird rotating between just two shirts for a whole week, especially with people were watching me in my vlogs every day. A third shirt merino wool would be perfect for my next one-week trip.
• lighter sneakers in case of rain.
• a smartphone gimbal, so I can record smoother video with my iPhone as I walk around. I still can't justify a $350 GoPro, but I think I can justify a $150 gimbal.

Overall, my first solo adventure was a huge personal success. I learned how to get by with much, much less. Solo traveling — especially with one backpack — is so freeing, I could do whatever I want, whenever I wanted. I didn't have to wait up for anyone. I didn't have to rush for anyone. Everything I did, I did on my terms, and no one else's.

I can't imagine traveling any other way anymore.

In just a few short days, you’ve taught me how beautiful an entire country can be when every single person practices courtesy & respect, and crafts their work with the thought & care of a true artisan.

I have yet to hear an impatient driver honk their horn. I have yet to see an angry customer arguing with a worker. I have yet to come across restaurant staff, a store employee, bus operator, taxi driver, or subway worker who will give up on me because I don’t understand what they are saying. I have yet to even find a public toilet here that isn’t clean!

You have warmed my heart the way your toilets have warmed my bum...and I will carry that with me forever.

Love,
Mel

In 2016, my mantra was "fail more." It was the next step above "little acts of courage" in that it expects that I constantly push my own boundaries and constantly fail. But instead of getting discouraged, I should feel proud for the opportunity to learn something new about myself. And every once in a while, when I expect to fail…the universe occasionally surprises me in wondrous ways.

2017 was a bit more of a year of getting comfortable and settling into the adventures I started in 2016. Other than Hawaii and my first dance performance, this past year was a pretty laid back one, in many ways. For the 15th straight year, here is my annual run down of how I spent my year 2017.

Read More

"I will NEVER go skydiving!"

All my life, I've considered myself scared of heights. It wasn't until a hot air balloon ride that I realized it's not really the height that scares me; it's that gut-sinking sensation you get when free falling that I couldn't handle.

Over the years, I had a theory that with skydiving, that gut-sinking feeling should only last for a few seconds. After that, the body will adjust, and I'd be able to enjoy the experience.

That was the theory anyways. So over the years, my original vow to never go skydiving slowly became a "maaaaaaybe."

This summer, a bunch of my childhood friends from Saudi Arabia decided to have a reunion in Hawaii, so I figured if there's ever going to be a place where I'd want to go skydiving in my lifetime, it would have to be Hawaii.

"It's not hitting me yet…"

Everyone who's skydived (skydove?) says the exact moment it hit them is the instructors swing the plane door open. Funny thing though: our plane didn’t even have a door!

For the longest time leading up to it, I kept thinking, "This hasn't really hit me yet..." Even after skimming through the legal paperwork, watching the instructional video, strapping up, taking off the plane runway...all those little moments were barely building up my anxiety. But there never was a single a moment I thought of backing out.

Up in the air, I'm taking the time to admire our flight tour along the northern coast of the Big Island. The the lush green island plant life, the gorgeous shades of ocean blue, and the beautifully clear skies that I never get to see in LA. I'm nervous, but it still hasn't hit me quite yet.

Then I see my friend Liz scooching towards the edge with her instructor, tucking herself into a little cannonball. I'm confused because we didn't talk about that position on the ground…I'm just watching her in position, trying to figure out what they hell they're doing, and in a blink, she's falling out of the plane.

And when I say "falling out of the plane," I'm not talking about how someone at the swimming pool jumps off a diving board into the air, decelerates as they hit their peak, and gracefully falls into the water. I swear, from what I saw, Liz went from 0 to 60 just like that.

That was the moment it hit me.

"Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit."

Surprisingly, I still had no second thoughts of backing out whatsoever. The whole time I'm thinking to myself, “OMG THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING.”

Then it's my turn. My feet are dangling off the side of the plane, my head is resting back on my instructor's shoulder, and the air is hitting against me the same way it hits you when you stick your hand out of a moving car.

"THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING."

Next thing I know, my body is horizontal and Planet Earth is rushing towards my face at full speed. The instructions were to keep my head tilted back but I couldn't help it, I had to look down. Oh, and one more thing…I FORGOT HOW TO BREATHE. You can see it in the video, for those three seconds that I'm looking down, I'm not breathing.

You know that feeling you get when you're watching a horror movie and the monster jumps out at the camera? There's that momentary shock where your body is paralyzed. It only lasts for half a second, but you can feel your heart skip a beat and your diaphragm freezing up. It was just like that but much longer.

Three seconds into the jump, I flashback to the girl on the ground telling me, "if you forget how to breathe up there...SCREAM." I pull deep from within and force myself to scream. I'll never forget how hard that was.

Now that I'm breathing normally and over the initial shock, I know the ground is rushing towards me at 129 miles per hour but it seems to be moving much slower. I notice all the little fluffy clouds shooting past me. I can see how high up the volcano is compared the rest of the island. In this very moment, I'm living above the clouds and the horizon just seems so much bigger than I've ever noticed before.

(Side note: in the video, when you see me glancing at my Apple Watch, that's me checking my heart rate, lol. On the plane it was in 95ish beats per minute and in free fall about 103.)

Towards the end of my free fall, a big ‘ol cloud moves right into our path. I could’ve sworn I read somewhere that diving into clouds was somehow dangerous, so I'm all questioning this like, "Uhhhhh." We dive into the cloud anyway, and it's white out for me, like a dense fog where you can’t see anything past your headlights.

In the middle of the cloud, my instructor pulls the cord to open the parachute. You can see in the video, when he opens the parachute, the camera view twists all over the place.

If there was ever a moment I legitimately thought I was going to die, this was it.

I can't see in front of or above me because of the cloud, so for that brief moment, I seriously think our parachute got all tangled up and we're about to die.

Thankfully we straighten out and we're out of the clouds so it's back to clear skies for me. I'm in complete awe of what just happened and what's still happening. Other than a couple unexpected hard turns in the air, it was just coasting through a victory lap all the way til we touched down to the ground.

Closing Thoughts

I used to think "living in the moment" meant doing random, crazy, spontaneous shit. Over the years I've learned what it really means is fully immersing yourself in — and appreciating the tiniest details — all experiences as they happen.

Of the 35 total seconds of free fall, I’d say the first 10 seconds of it was pure adrenaline/shock, and the rest of it was me truly living in the moment that I will remember for the rest of my life.

I can't wait to do it again.

If you send me a text and I text you back immediately, chances are either:

A) I like you
B) I'm pooing

I'm here at work and can't stop spreading my legs or rubbing my thighs...

These Lululemon man pants are so comfortable I want to cry.

😭😭😭

Never thought I'd be dropping this much $$$ on all these bougie stretchy Lululemon pants and Diesel JoggJeans…but dammit, I EARNED THIS SHIT. 💪🏼

Last year I wrote:

My mantra for 2015 was, "Little acts of courage." Thanks to my therapist and everyone he introduced me to, all of the crap that was weighing on my mind in 2014 slowly eased away. I can't quite say that 2015 was a good year for me, but I can say that it was definitely a better one.

For 2016, my mantra was, "Fail more." It was the next step above "little acts of courage" in that it expects that I constantly push my own boundaries and constantly fail. But instead of getting discouraged, I should feel proud for the opportunity to learn something new about myself. And every once in a while, when I expect to fail…the universe occasionally surprises me in wondrous ways.

For the fourteenth straight year, here is my annual survey of how I spent my year 2016.

When you email Tim Cook as a loyal but disappointed customer…and his people make things right by reserving you the rarest, least available model on the market.

Hello, Jet Black Plus 256. Wasn't expecting you until November.

Hey Tim,

Loyal customer of 10 years and iPhone Upgrade Program customer here. Last night I tried pre-ordering my 7th iPhone under the iPhone Upgrade Program...and now I feel cheated.

Not getting it on launch day doesn't bother me; I completely understand supply & demand.

But what bothers me is that once reservation units ran out, the site/app merely said "try again on the 17th at 8am" and offered ZERO options. I was led into a dead end.

Meanwhile, customers who are not in the Upgrade Program were able to get their orders in and get a shipping ETA. Many in Oct/Nov, but they at least got their orders in.

As an iPhone Upgrade Program customer, I feel like I had a significant disadvantage compared to non-Upgrade Program customers. Isn't that backwards? Shouldn't the loyal customers — especially customers who are committing directly to Apple instead of their carriers — feel rewarded for their loyalty?

I feel like a reasonable solution would have been:

• let Upgrade Program customers get their pre-orders into the system. Orders ship to the store, even if that's not until Oct/Nov.
• when a customer's phone arrives, notify by email, let them set up an appointment.
• finish transaction in store.

This way, at least your most loyal customers have an order attached to their name in the system. The backordered ship date isn't the problem...it's the feeling that we ended last night COMPLETELY empty-handed while less loyal customers continue to get their orders in.

I hope you consider solving this problem.

For me personally, I've been recommending all my friends and family to get on the iPhone Upgrade Program...and now I have to explain to them why we came up empty-handed last night.

-Mel

Update: Tim Cook's people called me the next day and made things right.