ever since teenage-dom i’ve fantasized about backpacking + hostelling around europe. that was a time when the world was a little simpler : when solo travel didn’t have the scare factor that it does now. even so, i finally made it with a backpack to a hostel, but in monterey, california. and i did it in true backpacker style. i called on the way TO the hostel. they had one bunk left. #thanksuniverse #youretheshit i pulled in late at night after hitting up the trader joe’s. my hands were full to the brim with all the dried mango. the 60-something, white-haired, extremely quirky, fisherman-meets-lumberjack of a host hands me 3 shower tokens before i teeter totter behind him around the space ending with the otter room for females only. i stayed up people watching and writing the LA post and reading. i was in a space of sheer gratitude to have…

i don’t know how deep i was in the veronica mars rabbit hole before realizing that this pch thing is actually an acronym for the pacific coast highway. with these west coast vibes running in my veins, i’ve been throwing around the acronym like it’s my job. probably cause i desperately want to be a local. either way, the T R U T H is that the pch really is as amazing/glorious/magnificent/awe-inspiring as everyone claims. as i sit and type this, i honestly am wishing that feeling were a language, because i’m struck with the realization that i have little idea how to share the emotion of this sacred, spiritual road. i can say this. i started in LA one woman, and two days later i landed in SF as someone with new dreams. SANTA BARBARA santa barbara was fancy, y’all. you could just feel the california wealth oozing out of this place. it was a kind of…

the post that launched the worry i posted this honest thought on facebook, hoping to connect with the other twenty-something women and men out there who might be feeling the same way. hoping to give them hope – even though their newsfeeds are full of engagments, weddings, and babies – that they aren’t alone. that it’s ok. that they have time. and then all my c o u p l e d friends piped in. 🙂 and i love them for it because i know their stories. like my mj who has enough online dating horror stories for her own memoir. or my beanard who has been searching for a long time – he’s the one we all wondered… how the FUCK has no one snatched him up yet? he’s golden. the general sentiment from friends and onlookers went something like this… jasmine. don’t worry boo! it’ll happen when it’s supposed…