Today was the first day I took it out and tested it. There's a large hill on the northeast part of Porterville where cell towers are located. It's tall enough to overlook the whole Valley and show parts of the mountains, so I stuck the GoPro to my forehead, hiked, took some video and snapped some pictures.
Just like over the summer on the motorcycle trip, using the GoPro was a blast. While playing around with it, I learned I could download the app on my iPhone and control the camera from there and look at the pictures and videos on the screen using the wifi signal. It's a trip to do that and the angle of the camera lens was especially cool.
The last time I hiked this hill in 2014, it and the surrounding area was brown from the drought. This time, it was a deep, luscious green will tall, healthy grass. It's beautiful! I had never seen this area so green before the rains came. Thank you, El Nino.
The future is filling up with travel plans again. At the end of March there are zero sports in Porterville for about four days. I see that as a perfect opportunity to go somewhere I've never been to in the United States. And right now, I'm most interested in visiting Chicago because of the many opportunities to engage in art and culture, eat some great food and visit some famous stadiums such as Soldier Field and Wrigley field. It'll also be another opportunity to Couchsurf.
In May, I'll visit my 17th country: Mexico. I have a friend who will meet me in Mexico City and drive me to his family's home in Tampico, a beach town on the east coast. He informed his family and they're totally cool with it. In fact, it sounds like his family welcomes his visiting friends with open arms. So spending my birthday on a Mexican beach and using Spanish for a week sounds damn good to me. The dates are finalized, but I have not bought a ticket yet.
I have nothing in the works for June, but I received an email from Kaichi High School in Japan today, inviting me to work with their students for a week in London again. Luckily, this happens late in June when there are few sports happening in Porterville, so getting time off should't be a problem.
And of course, my paid vacation begins in the middle of September. While that's the middle of football season, I'll still take time off to go visit friends in Boston, Philadelphia and New York City. Either that, or go visit a friend in Taiwan or Japan. The possibilities are endless here as there are so many places to visit and not enough time.
Before living in England, I never thought of seeking out opportunities for short traveling adventures. My mindset has shifted; looking for opportunities and small blocks of time to travel has now become regular practice. Probably the best thing about 2015 is how I now have a reason to go abroad every year, like to speak English with Japanese high school kids in London.
I like this new lifestyle that will plague me forever.
On a more mundane note, I have a library card for the first time in many, many years. I'm using the resources in the Porterville Library to study for the ASVAB, the test on which I need to score highly for the Coast Guard application.
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