Houston Texas, Baby!

In 2010 I stumbled on the best deal I’ve ever seen in my lifetime:  Pay $500 and fly as much as you want on Jetblue for a month.  This was like buffet-style flights and my little heart was overjoyed!  I gladly handed over my money and came up with a plan to visit the places that I’ve always wanted to see. I visited Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Puerto Rico, and Florida over the course of a month and then the pass expired. It was one of the best experiences of my life, but thinking back on it made me realize that I blew a great opportunity!

I only traveled on weekends even though I was allowed to use my 18 paid-time-off days at work. In my mind, the company would suffer too much while I was gone so I didn’t want to leave at such a crucial time.  I also didn’t travel to any international destinations because it made me uncomfortable.  There were also times when I cancelled flights in order to stay home and lay in my bed because it took too much effort to pack and drive to the airport.  In the end, I missed out on what could’ve been a significantly more fruitful experience because I was overthinking things and I didn’t fully recognize the amazing opportunity that I had in front of me.

I once read that you’re more likely to regret the things that you don’t do rather than the things that you do. This became real for me when I realized that I missed out on the chance to fly to Aruba, Jamaica, Colorado, South Carolina, and Maine for free. After this realization, I try to constantly take advantage of every opportunity I have because the future is not promised.

My latest travel opportunity came a few weeks ago when I got to to fly on my favorite jet of all time, The Cessna Citation X, and visit one of the top cities on my to-visit list: Houston, Texas.  I was fortunate to stay at a wonderful artist’s loft, which had such great amenities such as a saltwater pool, a koi pond and a deaf dog.

Here are some photos from my trip:

They say that the Citation X is the fastest business jet of all time and can travel to almost Mach 1. Our top speed was about 575mph, but it has still earned itself a spot on my Christmas list this year.

Houston has the COOLEST traffic lights

I went to a place called Les Givral’s Cafe that sold the best sandwich and coffee ever and the sandwich was only $3.75. The coffee seemed to be sweetened condensed milk mixed with espresso and ice. It made my tastebuds very happy. I loved that sandwich so much…

This Water Wall outdoor exhibit was the most relaxing place to sit and read.

Houston was great…now I understand why Beyoncé mentions it so often in her songs!