Karina in Wanderland

Puerto Rico // Day 1: La Cueva del Indio and Cueva Ventana

Published on May 19, 2017 by karinaperafan3 Comments

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted but I felt inspired to keep blogging about my life and my adventures.

I recently took a trip to Puerto Rico with my dear friend, Sharon. We were only there a few days (May 4th-8th) but the experience was unforgettable. We didn’t get to explore everything that we wanted to but I left satisfied, refreshed, blessed and very burnt…. haha.

Day 1, Sharon and I left early to go explore Cueva Ventana (Window Cave) but little did we know that on our way there we would take a wrong turn and this is what we would find…

This view is called Lagos Dos Bocas (Dos Bocas Lake). We didn’t get to do this but there is a boat ride on the lake that provides lunch!

Once we stopped admiring the view, we headed back on the highway to Cueva Ventana. When we arrived at 8 AM, we were a little disappointed to find out that they don’t open until 10 AM!!!! Truthfully, it was my fault, I should have done more research. But I did not let that ruin out trip. I started searching for places near by and this is what I found…

This was 30 minutes away from Cueva Ventana. This awesome place is called La Cueva del Indio and I highly recommend it. It’s not well known but I wanted to share with you all this hidden treasure. The views were completely different from every angle, it was breathtaking.

Two hours later we were back on the road to Cueva Ventana! The whole morning did not go as planned but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

We began our tour at noon and it took about 1.5 hours. You are provided with a helmet and a flashlight. (I suggest you bring hiking shoes as some of the areas are slippery.)

I do not recommend this tour if you fear the following:

The dark
Caves
Bats
Cockroaches
Spiders
Slippery rocks
The unknown…

But if you are totally cool with it, then go for it! I highly enjoyed myself. There was a moment when the tour guide asked us to turn off our flashlights and at that moment I closed my eyes and a wave of gratitude came over me. But I heard some others squeal in fear..

To end Day 1, we had to explore some of Old San Juan! Below are pictures of the beautiful city!

Lastly, we went to dinner at The Locals on Calle Loiza. While we were there we ran into this cool wall. It’s basically a library, you can take a book as long as you replace it with another book!

And that folks was Day 1 in Puerto Rico. I fell in love with the island the moment I stepped off the plane! If you are ever in PR, please check out these places, you will not regret it!

I am sending you huge amounts of love from this side of the screen.

If you’d like to check out more photos about my trip follow my travel Instagram account @thewanderersbucketlist

Day 2: Bone Broth Cleanse

Published on January 2, 2017July 9, 2018 by karinaperafanLeave a comment

Hello there!

Today was a day two of the cleanse.

I am still going strong… I have drank all 6 cups of bone broth and 64 ounces of water.

My body is feeling the opposite though. I woke up with the sensation I was going to get sick. I was fairly weak, felt fatigued, and even had some brain fog.

I went along with my day, I did a mini workout at home with some jump squats, burpees, and push ups. I even did some yoga to stretch and relax.

I didn’t really feel hungry throughout the day but I did begin to get very cold. I’m usually cold most of the times but today I felt it everywhere.

By 6 pm, I felt exhausted and drained. I got a little worried, I ended up researching any side affects of the cleanse and some that were mentioned were cold flu like symptoms, tired, weak, brain fog, headaches, etc.

I guess that means the cleanse is working! HA.

Even though I feel this way, I know that this will benefit my body. It’s getting rid of any bad bacteria in my body. I am really looking forward to how I feel in the next couple of days.

Day 1: Bone Broth Detox

Published on November 12, 2016July 9, 2018 by karinaperafanLeave a comment

Day one has been completed and it wasn’t as bad as you think it would be!

Tip!

Make sure to defrost or thaw out your Bone Broth about 24 hours before you are going to cook it!

I started the morning by drinking about 32 ounces of water, I did some yoga and wrote in my journal. I started to feel hungry but I tried not to think about it too much. Eventually the hunger went away.

I made my first portion of bone broth at around 11 a.m. And it was quite tasty. It taste like soup except you don’t have the chicken and vegetables to chew on.

I had a meeting for work, so I cooked some more bone broth and put it in my Hydro flask to keep it warm and I drank that throughout my meeting.

After the meeting I went to Target but after I left, I started to feel a little weak and was very tired.

I ended my day with another 16 ounces of bone broth before I went to bed.

I am looking forward to see how I will feel like tomorrow!

Stay tuned! 🙂

It’s cleanse time…

Published on November 7, 2016November 7, 2016 by karinaperafanLeave a comment

In the past two years I have eaten fairly healthy compared to most people that live in the U.S.

BUT I am not close to being as healthy as I want to be. Since I have decided to eat healthier these are the changes I’ve made….

I’ve cut down on eating animal protein (I have it once, maybe twice a week; I used to eat it everyday.)
I only drink water, tea, or Kombucha (occasionally I’ll have a coffee.)
I barely have any processed foods in my home (If I do I try my best to purchase items that have 5 ingredients or less and that the ingredients are real foods!)
In the last two years I have included plenty of vegetables and fruits but in the last 6 months or so, I’ve been eating more raw vegetables.
I only use olive, sesame, or coconut oil
I’ve started to add more super foods (goji berries, chlorella, spirulina, maca, cacao nibs, etc.)

Even though many of my family and friends think I eat super healthy, I still indulge in some fries, burgers, pizza, desserts once in a while. But when I do, I can immediately feel how it affects my body. I start feeling lazy, fatigue, I honestly feel gross. This might sound crazy but I literally feel it in my gut.

As much as I’ve changed my lifestyle, I still have a lot more work to do. I’ve always wanted to do some type of cleanse but I somehow made myself think I was too busy to make it happen.

After TWO years, I am fully buckling down and doing a Bone Broth Cleanse for 3 days.

When I tell people that I will be doing this, they give me a crazy look but truthfully I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED.

A bone broth cleanse will basically give your gut a fresh start, which is exactly what I need. I need to give my body a break. I constantly think of food, and I am constantly eating; my digestive system doesn’t get a chance to relax. I want to have self-control when it comes to consuming food.

I want to do some research on bone broth cleanses and I found some pretty cool and interesting things on it.

Here are some benefits that come from this type of cleanse.

It gives your digestive system a fresh start
slows down aging process
increases feeling of well-being
reignite energy
natural source of collagen

Since I will only be consuming Bone Broth and water, I will be killing and starving any bad bacteria or parasites that I have in my body. If you didn’t know SUGAR feeds bad bacteria. And if you know me, I LOVE sugar. Even though I try to get my source of sugar from healthier foods like fruits, sweet potatoes, and cacao, at the end of the day it’s still sugar. I am quite excited to be killing off the bad bacteria in my body.

Before you go off buying bone broth from your supermarket make sure that you know where the product is coming from.

I purchased Bonafide provisions from http://www.wisechoicemarket.com and I bought The Flavor Chef from http://www.bonebroth.com

When purchasing Bone Broth make sure that it’s organic, that the chicken or animal is grass fed this ensures that the animal isn’t raised with hormones, antibiotics, or toxins; basically any impurities. The bone broths that you may get from the stores will probably have all of the things listed above and the bones have been usually cooked for about 4 hours when it should really take time to cook, about 18 hours.

You may be asking, why the heck would you want to do a bone broth cleanse?

Honestly, a part of me wants to do this because I am becoming a Health Coach and I want to see what works and what may not work for people. It’s a great part of my journey to happiness and health.I also eat healthier, especially more organic foods. A few other reasons are that I’d like to truly give my gut a break and I want to start feeling more energized and be more focused. Lastly, I’ve been having hormonal imbalance issues and I am hopefully that cleansing my body will help me in this area.

During the next three days, I will be recording myself and writing down how the process it going, how I feel and what changes I am seeing in my body (externally and internally).

If you have done a bone broth cleanse and have any tips or advice, please share!

Love,

Karina

A letter to my Ex(es)

Published on September 20, 2016July 9, 2018 by karinaperafanLeave a comment

I am writing a letter to my ex(es) because this is the only way I know how to express myself, the only way I can let go of whatever feelings, emotions, fears, anxieties that I am holding inside.

I’ve been more open to my friends and family about my past relationships but this “letter” will probably one of the most open and vulnerable post I have written. It’s been heavy on my heart, and I’ve had this feeling of not being able to move on with my life and I believe that part of it could have to do that I’m still holding on to my exes.

I was talking to one of my roommates the other day and I truthfully told him there’s not one day that goes by that I do not think about them. I don’t love them and I am not in love with them but they are still there and I can’t get them out of my head. I asked him if thought that was weird? And what he said next, surprised me.

“No, I don’t think that’s weird at all.” He went on to say that “society” tells us that it’s unacceptable to talk or think about our past relationships when in reality, it’s truly okay. Why should we ever be ashamed to talk about a part of our life?

These past relationships were part of my life, I can’t erase, forget, or get rid of, it’s part of me. It would be like asking me to go buy my favorite book and tear a few chapters out from it. That book is torn, its ugly, and it’s incomplete; there’s not story there anymore. No matter how hard I try, those chapters in my life are part of what made me who I am today.

So I write a letter, to be honest, to be real. This letter is dedicated to all of you…

To my Ex(es):

For the longest time I kept you a secret, I forbid myself to talk to anyone about you. I didn’t think you deserved to know the emotions, the pain, and the heartbreak I went through. I held so much anger, hate, jealously, sadness inside of me. And for that I am sorry.

I will never know why we caused each other that amount of pain, when we could have easily ended it. Maybe it was the fear of the unknown. We were best friends and how was I suppose to tell my best friend in the entire world that I wasn’t in love with him, that I didn’t love him the way I used to. Instead we both stayed; we stayed through all the lies, the cheating, the betrayal, the verbal abuse, the anger.

You may have caused me pain but you also brought happiness, joy, laughter and faith into my life. I now know what butterflies feel like, I know the feeling of completeness when holding someone’s hand, I’ve felt my heart skip a beat and for that I am thankful. There are people out there that long for these forms of affection and I never want to take those moments for granted. Thank you for listening to me go on and on for hours about who knows what, thank you making laugh until I couldn’t breathe, and thank you for loving me the best you could.

God, the universal, or whatever entity you now believe in knew that we weren’t meant to be together and deep in our hearts we knew it too. But I want you to know that I do not regret one day with you. The emotions you put me through were some of the absolute worse in my life but I survived. You also made my heart feel overwhelmed with love and affection, a feeling I hope to find again some day.

My story would not be the same if it wasn’t for you. The love, the strength, the power, part of who I am today is because you walked in and out of my life. I’ve learned to have a voice, to be tough, to be vulnerable, to love myself, and to even have faith in God.

I may not be in love with you but I once loved you and I love that you were in my life. I am not afraid to tell you that I still think about you from time to time. You were once “the love of my life”, my everything, my best friend. Our relationship was real, it was true but like everything in life, it had its expiration date.

From the bottom of my heart, I want you to know that I only desire happiness for all of you. I pray that you have blessed marriages/relationships. I hope that you find the love we once had but times 100 and it leaves you speechless but feeling like you want to scream at the top of your lungs with joy. It actually makes me smile thinking about you finding that type of love.

I hope that you live and love life to the fullest and that you choose to do good in this world. Just know you’ll always have someone cheering you on from this side of the screen.

Your friend,

Karina

I hiked to Mount Tallac Summit and survived!

Published on August 15, 2016August 15, 2016 by karinaperafanLeave a comment

About two weeks ago I traveled to California for my cousin’s wedding. I booked my trip for a week and I made sure to squeeze in a couple of days to visit Lake Tahoe and I am happy that I did. Those two days were amazing but I would have to say my favorite part was the hike to Mount Tallac.

When I booked my trip, I was looking for a few things to do and people recommended that one should always try a hike that is difficult. I decided to stay near South Lake Tahoe and when I was searching what hikes I should go on, Mt. Tallac presented itself.

I have never really gone on a hike before, so I made sure to do as much research as possible. Just a couple of months before the trip I purchased my first pair of hiking shoes. I also purchased a Hydro Flask bottle, some sunscreen, bug spray, hiking socks, and a portable charger for my iPhone. I would say I was set to go!

While I was reading some more about this hike, part of me was ready to take on the challenge and the other part of me was a bit nervous. The hike to Mt. Tallac Summit is 4.8 miles, about 10 miles round trip and it takes about 6-7 hours. There are two paths, one is the easier route which is longer, and the difficult route which is shorter but is slightly more dangerous.

As my trip was nearing, I was getting more and more nervous about doing this hike alone. I told a couple of my friends I was going to send them my locations, just in case something happened to me. But it’s funny how life works though. God and the universe had other plans for me, I wasn’t meant to do this hike on my own.

Earlier this year I met Jake and his brother Lenny in Florida. They are from California and were only in town for a couple of weeks. They love traveling and going on adventures as much as I do! Any way, these two were going to be in Lake Tahoe the same time I was. Crazy, right? I asked them if they wanted to join me on the hike and they said YES, which I am so thankful for!

The hike up to the summit took us a little under 3 hours. I was following Matt, Lenny, and Jake and they were booking it. There were times I could hear them but I could not see them; they keep me motivated to keeping moving. I didn’t have time to think, be scared or be nervous, I just had time to hike and keep hiking. I did stop a few times to take a breather and of course observe the incredible views and be thankful for the opportunity to hike this mountain!

On the way up, I saw the sun rising (one of the best views I have ever seen, well after I was able to actually catch my breath), I saw different type of animals, I drank from a small spring with a straw, and I feed chipmunks, it was great!

The best part of starting the hike at 5:45 AM was the fact that we were the first ones at the top of Mount Tallac!!! The view was breath-taking. I had to sit there for a moment and realized that I just hiked about 5 miles in 3 hours uphill the whole entire time. My legs were burning, my heart was racing, my body was dry from the air, my lips were chapped and I was already getting sun burnt but it was all worth it. Every single ache, every time I felt a bit scared looking over at the edge, it didn’t matter it was worth the feeling of being unstoppable.

At an elevation of 9,738 feet, I was in awe and proud of myself for accomplishing what I wanted to do. My first hike and my first summit were finally checked off my bucket list. We spent about 45 minutes, looking at the view, talking, laughing, taking pictures, feeding chipmunks, and being grateful.

The feeling of being up there was something I have never felt. My heart felt like it was about to burst, I wanted to cry, scream, laugh, all at the same time. It was like I was on cloud nine, it was one of the best feelings in the world.

I thought the hike up was difficult but I would say the hike down was. I am a scardy cat at times, and I was pretty terrified going down as quickly as we were. There were times I missed a few steps, times I almost slipped and busted my ass and times where I thought I almost twisted my ankle. I usually never cursed but I probably said the word “shit” about 100+ times on the way down. I may have had weak knees, the dirtiest hiking shoes I’ve seen, and blisters on my feet BUT I made it! I survived.

If you are ever in South Lake Tahoe, I recommend that you hike to Mt. Tallac Summit. I suggest you go with people, they make it more fun and entertaining! Haha.

Seriously though, I am beyond grateful for this experience. This hike changed my view on life, it made me fall in love with nature and the world around me, it made me feel like I was on top of the world. All I want to do is go on more hikes now and be outdoors!

I hope this post inspires you to go outside, go on adventures that you’ve been wanting to go on and to start checking things off of your bucket list!

I love you all!

Writing is my therapy.

Published on July 24, 2016July 24, 2016 by karinaperafan2 Comments

If you don’t own a journal, go buy one now! Or at least after you read this blog.
I know everyone doesn’t like writing.But I love it even though I’m not a journalist and I don’t write very well. Since January, I’ve been through two journals and I have been writing almost every single day, I may skip a couple of days but not much more than that. There was once I did not write for about three or four days and I began to feel anxious.

Why do I journal?

For those who don’t know me, I have trouble expressing myself to others. Whenever I have a conversation with people I tend to speak in a way that just seems I am spitting out facts and it’s hard for me to show any emotion. But when I write, I am able to express myself in ways I can’t in real life. Whatever I’m keeping inside, I let it out when my pen touches the paper. It’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

I’m starting to be more open with others but when I feel like I can’t be or when I think others don’t care to listen, that’s when I write. I’m not afraid to express myself on paper or even on my blog. But when it comes to people I tend to shut down. Sometimes I am scared of being vulnerable in front of others.

I’ve been writing since I can remember.

As a little girl, I was the only one that would write paragraphs in everyone’s birthday cards and I would take up a good amount of space signing my classmate’s yearbooks. I would write what happened each day in my Winnie the Pooh journal. I also remember writing a few poems and very, very short stories.

When and where do I write?

I usually only write in the early mornings, I rarely write at night. Here’s why. Most people who write at night tend to write about everything that happened that day and are most likely to have negative feelings whereas people that write in the morning have had time to “sleep on it” and process the previous day. So they are likely to be more positive early in the morning. I tend to write downstairs on my couch as the sun is rising or sometimes I even go to the park during the day to get a bit of fresh air.

Now I’m guessing you’re wondering what the heck I write about.

Well, I write anything and everything. Whatever idea, thought, feeling comes to my mind, I write it down.

Things I write about:

Quote of the day
Things, people, and places I am thankful for
What I did the previous day and the best part
If I have any negative feelings, I write it down and then I written what good came from that experience
What I need to get done for that day
My goals, dreams, bucket list, or places I want to explore
Whenever I don’t write in the morning, I take my writing else where and describe the surroundings and how it makes me feel
Lastly, I make sure that I write something I appreciate and love about myself.

When I write I am able to relax, it makes me happy, and it’s just part of who I am. The thing that excites me the most is that in a few years I can just grab one of my journals, open it up and read about how far I’ve gone in my life journey. It will be my own little story.

It might sound silly but my journal has been there through thick and thin. When I first fell in love and when I went through my first heartbreak, and my second, and my third. It was there during any big events and even the small ones. It’s the one thing that has captured most of my life and even better, it was from my perspective.

After realizing how much I enjoy writing, I decided to add a couple of things to my bucket list. First one is to take a writing class to improve my writing skills. Second, I want to eventually write a book. Never in a million years would I have thought I ever wanted to write a book!! But here I am, making it part of my dream.

A few tips for those wanting to write:

Make sure you make time to journal. I take anywhere between 5-30 minutes to write every morning
Be consistent. Some days you may have pages and pages to write about, others you may have a few lines but write anyway.
Make it fun! I have different color pens, I make lists, I doodle and draw, I just don’t write.
Pour your heart out! Sure someone might get their hands on my journal but who cares. I write everything that’s on my mind and in my heart.

If you are wondering why I don’t just have an electronic journal. Well, I like pen and paper, that’s just my preference.

Have a wonderful day, beautiful people. I hope that you are able to express your this week through words, writing, drawing, or any other talent you have been blessed with. I love you all.