Author: Christina Menkemeller

My Hearing Bucket List

Written by Christina Menkemeller on July 18, 2018.

If you haven’t noticed, my life is a bit of a bucket list right now.

Traveling for weeks at a time and experiencing the most incredible things.

But when I was first diagnosed, traveling was not my priority.

At the time, I didn’t realize all of the other complications my body may experience and assumed only my hearing would be effected.

So, I came up with a hearing bucket list.

If you read my “2 Years of Marriage” post (which you can find here), then you know that I visited Cardin (my fiancé) a few days after my diagnosis.

During that trip, we created a list of all the hearing focused activities we want to experience before I lose my hearing.

The number one item: Concerts.

Before my hearing problems, I enjoyed music but didn’t have much of an interest in attending concerts.

Not that I didn’t like them, they just weren’t a priority.

But once the threat of hearing loss hit, concerts suddenly became a big deal. And constantly listening to music became a new way of life for me.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t quite grasped the reality of what my hearing loss meant yet.

I didn’t realize that I would hate bass noises and loud music.

I didn’t realize that I would need to wear earplugs to church every Sunday.

I didn’t realize that concerts would be hard for me.

During my first year of living in Florida, I discovered a band called Johnnyswim. They were being interviewed on my favorite podcast so I decided to check them out.

And I loved them.

If you’ve never heard of them, they’re the band that sings the theme song, “Home,” for the HGTV show Fixer Upper.

I started listening to their music while I got ready for work every day, which meant my husband also had to listen to them every morning.

When my 25^thbirthday rolled around, Cardin found tickets to the Johnnyswim concert in Jacksonville but wasn’t sure if I’d want to go.

Aside from my general struggle with loud music, concerts also offer the potential for damaging my hearing. I always carry special earplugs with me (which you can find here), but they only lower the noise a few decibels.

My initial reaction was to decline the offer—until I remembered my long forgotten hearing bucket list.

Concerts.

This was my chance (possibly my only one) to see a band that I love before I lose my hearing.

So, we bought the tickets and booked our trip to Jacksonville.

• • •

And the concert was hard.

My word comprehension in my left ear is extremely low. It’s no longer considered functional and is virtually useless—except when it comes to bass noises.

It’s like I have a microphone on that side of my head that only picks up the awful low vibrations and overpowers every other noise in the room.

It drives me crazy.

It also makes me panic thinking I’m going to damage my hearing from such powerful bass.

I have constant tinnitus (ringing) in both of my ears, and loud noises are a big trigger for it. Usually, I can tolerate it, but loud music tends to triple the ringing volume and lasts for hours.

During the concert, I wore my earplugs, but even those were no match for that ever-present bass.

So we spent the majority of the concert in the hallway.

Just outside of the music.

Enough to where I could still hear it without the fear of hearing loss and without feeling overwhelmed.

Every few songs we would take a break and stand in the hallway again.

And you know what—I’m so glad we went.

It may not have been the bucket list experience I dreamt of, but I loved it.

The music was beyond amazing, and the lead singers, Amanda and Abner (who happen to be married) are so fun to watch! Plus, Abner is from Jacksonville, so his family and friends were all at the concert.

The atmosphere was perfect!

So even though it was hard, it was worth it.

Last month we found out Johnnyswim was on tour again, but this time they were coming to Orlando.

We debated going but decided against it because the concert date was a few days before my hearing test. My last hearing exam revealed a slight decline in my right ear, so we didn’t want to risk anything in case it caused a temporary decline.

And then we got a phone call saying that my doctor wants me to wait for another 3-months before rechecking my hearing.

(That in itself is a celebration because I’ve been undergoing hearing tests every 3-months for two years now.)

But it also meant that we could go to the concert.

We were still debating, but the night before the show, my sweet friend who also has NF2 shared an Instagram story of her wearing noise-canceling headphones at a concert.

She texted me the brand of the cheap headphones she purchased, and on a whim, we finally decided to buy the tickets.

So here is a picture of me wearing my not-so-cute lawn mower headphones:

Shortly after getting to the concert I donned my new fashion accessory, and sadly, they were no help.

All they did was silence the actual music, so ALL I could hear was bass. Not exactly the result I was aiming for…

But thankfully, I brought my handy earplugs, and we repeated our routine of taking periodic breaks and sitting in the hallway.

It didn’t go how I hoped it would, but we still had so much fun. And the music was even better than last time.

Definitely worth it.

My concert-going struggles have been a big lesson for me.

I’m learning that we can’t control our dreams. No matter how badly we want them to work, they may not. And if they do work, they may look very different than we expected.

We may have to adjust.

The important thing is to adjust our dreams without letting the adjustments stop us from accomplishing those dreams.

I’m proud of myself for taking the risk and going to those concerts. Because of that, I’ve gotten to see my favorite band TWICE!

And when I lose my hearing, I will be able to think back on how magical those experiences were.

What are some bucket list items you’ve checked off? Comment below or email me!

***And if you’ve never heard of Johnnyswim—click the video below to hear one of my favorite songs!

If you want updates about our travels, subscribe to my blog to receive posts directly to your email. And if you want to keep up with us daily while we travel, follow me on Instagram at beingpositioned or Facebook @beingpositioned!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7o9yG1mWcE[/embedyt]

***Disclosure: I participate in affiliate marketing programs, where I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you, when products are purchased through links on my blog. Your support of Being Positioned by clicking on these links to make your purchases is greatly appreciated. Being Positioned is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Berlin

Written by Christina Menkemeller on July 16, 2018.

Welcome to beer heaven!

After a month in France, Spain, and Portugal, where all we drank was wine and sangria, Cardin was more than ready for the land of beer.

Before heading to the nearest beer garden, we wanted to check into our Airbnb. A few days earlier, our host informed us that she would be out of town and that we would pick up the keys to the apartment from the shop below.

As we walked up to the building, we realized that there was no shop below and that the only place on the street was a sketchy convenience store. Like the kind that’s slightly bigger than a closet and looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since the 90’s. To add to the joint’s seedy appearance, two men smoking cigarettes blocked the doorway as they watched people pass.

Surely that can’t be the “shop” our host was referring to…

We were about to message the girl when one of the men called out to us. Cardin and I quickly shared a glance before approaching the store. In very broken English, the guy attempted to ask if we were staying in the apartment and pointed towards our Airbnb. We said yes, and he went back behind the cash register to retrieve a small, white envelope.

After he silently handed it to us, we thanked him and quickly headed outside. Honestly, the transaction felt a bit like a drug deal, but thankfully the envelope did, in fact, contain our keys!

Once we successfully dropped our bags off at our home for the next few days, we headed to a nearby beer garden.

Below is a picture of Cardin before having his first REAL German beer:

And below is Cardin’s impression of his first REAL German beer:

I think it’s safe to assume he enjoyed it!!

Our new friend Megan, who we had just visited in Denmark (which you can read about here), happened to be in Berlin for a conference at the same time. So, of course, we had to meet up with her!

We started at the TV Tower and spent the next few hours hitting all of the nearby historic sites—which isn’t an easy feat since just about every corner holds either a beautiful building or monument.

As we were leaving the TV tower, the Google maps camera guy passed us! I haven’t checked if we made it onto the street view for it yet, but I bet we did!

That day also happened to be May 17th, which is World Neurofibromatosis Day!

The Neuro Foundation in London (the same people who gave us a GoPro so we could start making videos) also sent us these great shirts. So, we figured what better way to help spread awareness than wear our new gear as we explored Berlin!

A lady even asked us about our shirts after we took her picture for her. We ended up talking to her for the next 20 minutes about my disorder and our traveling. She lives in the UK and wants us to visit her on our next trip!

We were so excited that one more person knows about neurofibromatosis now just because we wore matching shirts for a day! It’s amazing the kind of impact you can have (no matter how small) and the people you can connect with even with something as simple as wearing a shirt.

For lunch, we decided to try out a local favorite: Currywurst.

Pork sausage covered in curry ketchup and sprinkled with curry powder are what makes this dish so delicious and unique! Cardin even ordered his made with ostrich sausage, which was surprisingly good!

You can find currywurst stands all over Berlin, so we ended up eating a few different versions of it. Plus it’s a cheap, quick dish and goes great with beer, of course!

After lunch, we headed to the Holocaust Memorial, also known as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Representing around 3 million Jewish Holocaust victims, this memorial is one of the most powerful tributes I’ve ever visited. You can’t help but feel the enormity of what happened during the Holocaust as you walk through the endless rows of casket-like statues.

The Brandenburg Gate (pictured above) is a quick walk from the Holocaust Memorial and is one of the most well-known landmarks in Germany. It’s also where we met that woman from the UK who asked us about our t-shirts!

Our last stop of the day was Berlin’s famous Museum Island. It consists of five incredible museums, so even though Cardin and I aren’t huge museum fans, we decided we needed to check out at least one.

We settled on the Neues Museum. It’s a collection of Egyptian art and is so interesting—even for us!

We passed a Tex-Mex restaurant on our way home that evening. Since we’re originally from Texas, I couldn’t help but take a picture! We opted to not eat there after looking at the menu and realizing how different their interpretation of “Tex-Mex” is from ours, but we were still excited to see it!

The first stop of our next day was East Side Gallery (also pictured in the feature photo of both this and my “Learning to Appreciate Sound“ post). It’s one of the longest remaining stretches of the Berlin Wall and was turned into an open-air art gallery in 1990. Most of the artworks are political statements or pleas for peace. It’s almost a mile long and so interesting to walk past!

It’s a bit far from all of the other tourist sites, but definitely worth the visit!

Another popular spot to visit in Berlin is Checkpoint Charlie (pictured above). It felt very touristy, especially since women were lined up to take pictures with the guards, but it was still cool to see it.

A few blocks away we found what I called a German version of Luby’s. And if you’re not familiar with Luby’s, it’s a cafeteria type restaurant. I’m a fan of places like this because I’m such a visual person and like to be able to see my food before I order it! The food there was delicious, but ended up being SO filling. We had to sit for about thirty minutes to digest once we finished before moving on.

Once we finished digesting, we visited the Jewish Museum. It was another incredibly powerful and moving experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Berlin.

Below is a picture of an interactive sculpture where you walk across clinking metal faces. It’s very eerie and one of the most memorable artworks we’ve ever seen.

The Typography of Terror is a free outdoor and indoor museum dedicated to the history of repression experienced under the Nazi regime. It’s located on the site of what used to be one of the Nazi headquarters and includes a large section of the Berlin Wall.

We had a wonderful few days in Berlin and learned so much about Germany’s history and how the country has recovered and honored such a devastating period of their past.

Click here to watch our Germany video along with our other vlogs!

If you want updates about our travels, subscribe to my blog to receive posts directly to your email. And if you want to keep up with us daily while we travel, follow me on Instagram at Being_Positioned or Facebook @beingpositioned!

Denmark

Written by Christina Menkemeller on July 11, 2018.

In May we had the chance to travel to Denmark with our friend Rachael from Orlando (pictured next to me above). She has two friends, Megan and Maddy, who currently live there and work for LEGO, so we figured it was the perfect opportunity to visit.

We spent the first three nights in their town—Vejle.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find an Airbnb for our first night, so we booked a nearby hotel. The website specified the room was suitable for two people, but as soon as we walked in, we quickly realized something got lost in translation. The bed was slightly larger than a twin, and they only supplied one pillow, one towel, and one tiny blanket.

We headed back to the lobby to request more bedding and towels, but as we approached the front desk, we realized that a different guy was working. And he was drunk.

I started to ask for another pillow when the man immediately interrupted me and explained that he doesn’t work at the hotel, but that he got locked behind the desk and can’t get out. And then he promptly offered us a sip of the very large beer he was holding.

After we both declined his generous offer, the employee who had checked us in exited the elevator. Without a word, he walked up and unlocked the desk to let the drunk guy out. Then they both started laughing and making plans for when the guy got off work. Eventually, the employee noticed Cardin and I standing there and provided us with everything we needed.

We couldn’t help but laugh as we headed back upstairs. The entire interaction was so strange and so different from anything that would have been allowed in America.

After a slightly uncomfortable night, our first morning began with the best way to start a Danish adventure: with a danish.

After breakfast, we headed to a park called Dyrehaven. It’s a protected area for deer to roam and you can feed them. Strangely enough, people often feed the deer dry spaghetti, so we brought our little baggy of hard noodles.

And of course, none of them wanted to eat it.

Finally, we found an excessively hungry deer who ate our entire bag of noodles and then proceeded to eat every leaf we put in his path.

Once we ran out of noodles and leaves, we walked around town and grabbed lunch at a cute cafe. The area in the picture below is known as “the walking street” in Vejle. Just like most European towns, this one is full of adorable shops and cafes!

If you haven’t noticed from our videos, Cardin and I have developed a bit of an ice cream problem. We eat ice cream almost every day while we travel—thank goodness we walk 10 miles a day, or we would be gigantic by the end of this year!

So, when our friends suggested we get ice cream, we immediately agreed! Especially since it would include another Danish specialty: Guf.

It’s essentially strawberry flavored marshmallow fluff, and you can get it for free on your ice cream. Almost everyone in the shop was ordering a heaping pile of it, so we couldn’t wait to try it!

Our verdict: it’s not bad, but I wouldn’t say it’s particularly good either. Mostly because it’s overpowering, so we could hardly taste the flavor of the ice cream buried below it. It was fun to try it though, and we never complain about anything free!

Licorice is another strange specialty you frequently find in Denmark.

Unfortunately, along with blue cheese and anchovies, licorice is one of the few foods I hate. Since the ones in the picture below were covered in chocolate, I figured I could handle eating one….but, once you get through the layer of chocolate, that licorice is powerful!

I still haven’t figured out why those things are so popular, but we saw them in every shop we visited.

The next morning we rode the bus to a town called Billund—the home of LEGO!

We started at LEGO House. I’m relatively indifferent when it comes to this particular toy, but this place was amazing! It’s a giant playground dedicated to LEGO products. They had endless stations full of different bricks along with unique LEGO themed games and activities.

Our favorite spot in the building was the giant LEGO pit. Although it makes a cool picture, I don’t recommend attempting to sit on a massive pile of tiny bricks—it was far more challenging than we expected and I immediately fell over after taking this picture. I can officially empathize with all the parents who have ever stepped on their children’s LEGO bricks!

Our next stop was a quick visit to LEGO headquarters before heading to LEGOLAND. We were only allowed to see the main entrance area, but it was still fun to check out where Megan and Maddy work. We especially loved all of the LEGO touches greeting you as you walk in!

The next morning we grabbed an early train to Copenhagen. Cardin and I booked a private room at an Airbnb, so we shared an apartment with the girl who lives there. It ended up being a great spot, but I have to talk about our unique bathroom experience.

The bathroom in the picture below is typical for Copenhagen apartments, but I can’t imagine having to use this closet-sized restroom on a daily basis. The shower and the sink share a faucet and there is a thin shower curtain you pull around yourself to protect the toilet from getting wet. But, that means you’re showering right up against the sink with no room to turn around.

It worked though and was a very efficient use of the space! The only other struggle was that the door was wooden and has warped over time. You have to slam the door to close it, which was a bit rough early in the morning and late at night. Plus I almost got locked in the first few times, so we were happy to move onto using a regular bathroom again in our next Airbnb.

Everyone recommended the hot dogs in Copenhagen, so of course, we made that our first lunch stop. Food is expensive in Denmark, so we were happy to finally find a cheap meal! Plus it was delicious!

We also couldn’t get over the fact that they don’t have open container laws there, so after lunch, we walked around the city drinking our beer. Cardin and I kept trying to conceal it though for fear that maybe we would get in trouble!

The most frequently photographed spot in Copenhagen is called Nyhavn (shown in the featured photo of this post). Known for its colorful buildings and waterfront views, we loved walking around the area and taking a canal tour. Plus they had plenty of hot dog stands, so we all enjoyed a second round after walking off our first lunch.

We spent the rest of the day walking around and exploring the beautiful city! Check out the unicorn horn shaped building in the picture below. Denmark has such unique architecture!

Denmark is also home to the castle Hamlet was based on—Kronborg. It’s located in a town called Helsingør, which is a quick train ride from Copenhagen.

The castle is beautiful, and they offer free themed tours. Our tour was based on the king’s helper planning a royal banquet. So, as the actress showed us around the castle, she discussed the different responsibilities she had to prepare the dinner. It was entertaining and very unique compared to any other castle tour Cardin, and I have gone on—which is saying a lot since we’ve visited so many this year!

A short walk from the castle is a great food market. We loved the decor and enjoyed trying a few local foods—although we still aren’t huge fans of the country’s food scene.

After lunch we had to choose between taking a ferry from Helsingør to Sweden or going on a brewery tour back in Copenhagen…so, of course, we decided the brewery tour! As much as we would have loved visiting Sweden, there isn’t much to do in the coastal town, so the brewery won the vote. Cardin and I will make a trip to Sweden one day though!

Carlsberg brewery is a staple in Copenhagen. The beer was great, and we loved petting the horses after the tour! Plus the staff was very friendly, which is always a bonus.

We couldn’t get over the crazy looking bangs on the horses! They were adorable!

Another popular spot to visit in Copenhagen is the statue of the Little Mermaid. We passed the figure during our canal tour, but it’s very small and covered with tourists. Thankfully the brewery had a replica of the statue, so we just pretended it was the real thing and decided to skip fighting the crowds at the actual one!

We spent our last day in Denmark visiting the second oldest theme park in the world: Tivoli Gardens.

It opened in 1843 and is officially one of our favorite theme parks! The attractions were amazing, and the gardens around the park were beautiful. It felt like we were in a botanical garden rather than surrounded by rides!

Unlike a typical theme park where your food options are limited to burgers and chicken tenders, this one has a food court attached. You have to leave the park and re-enter once you finish, but the food was delicious! And it’s by far the healthiest amusement park meal we’ve ever eaten.

Our favorite ride in the park is one of the oldest operating wooden roller coasters in the world! The craziest part is there’s a driver on each train manually operating the coaster! We rode the ride a few times, and all of the drivers stood up during most of it. Our first guy turned off a light switch in one of the tunnels while standing up and operating the controls! We’ve never been so frightened and entertained on a ride before.

We had a fantastic week, and it was such a joy to get to know Megan and Maddy! Also, if you’re looking for some tour guides in Denmark, I highly recommend them! 😉

Click here to watch our Denmark video along with our other vlogs!

If you want updates about our travels, subscribe to my blog to receive posts directly to your email. And if you want to keep up with us daily while we travel, follow me on Instagram at Being_Positioned or Facebook @beingpositioned!

2 Years of Marriage

Written by Christina Menkemeller on June 18, 2018.

Three months before our wedding—our world completely changed.

I still remember having to call my fiancé, Cardin, to tell him about my diagnosis. Unfortunately, he was living in Florida already, and I was still in Texas.

As I cried on the phone listening to his comforting words, I couldn’t help, but beg God not to let this change Cardin’s love for me.

I had no doubt about the quality of a man I was about to marry, but still, this wasn’t exactly what he signed up for when he asked me to be his wife.

Ironically, my diagnosis happened during the same week as our 5-year dating anniversary, which meant I was flying to Orlando to see Cardin just two days after we got the news.

I was relieved we would be reunited so soon after my doctor’s appointment, but I hadn’t told him about my fear that he would leave me yet. I prayed desperately that a weekend together would calm my worries and reassure me of Cardin’s commitment to our life together.

And what do you know—he showed up at the airport looking like this…

I had purchased the t-shirt in the picture above for him as a joke before he moved to Florida. Little did I know just how meaningful it would become for me!

That weekend was emotionally exhausting for both of us as we grieved the life we were supposed to have together and tried to figure out how NF2 was going to impact our future.

One of my immediate concerns was that I would lose all of my hearing before our wedding.

Since I had lost my hearing in my left ear so quickly (in a matter of minutes) and my right ear had already started to decline, my doctors weren’t sure what was going to happen.

The wife of one of my close friends from grad school happened to be a sign language interpreter and she agreed to teach us our vows in sign language.

That way, even if I wouldn’t be able to hear our vows, I could still fully experience them.

Saying our vows verbally and in sign language quickly became more than just a backup plan to us.

We decided to keep it a secret from our friends and family.

We weren’t planning on having to deal with the “in sickness and in health” part of our vows quite so soon, and as much as others didn’t want to admit it, our loved ones had some concerns about what this would mean for us too. Especially since I was moving to Orlando shortly after our wedding and would be leaving my current support system.

Our prayer was that our vows would be more than a commitment to spend the rest of our lives together. We wanted our friends and family to truly feel the unconditional love that Cardin and I share.

We wanted them to know that we’re in this together, forever. No matter what that may look like.

Fast forward two years later…

Let me start out by saying that marriage is hard. And learning to deal with a serious life-long medical condition at the same time as learning to have a healthy marriage is even harder.

I’ll admit, when I dreamt of our first year of marriage, I didn’t think it would include MRI’s, chemo infusions, and frequent hearing tests. BUT, I definitely didn’t think our second year of marriage would consist of us quitting our jobs to travel the world together!

All because I have NF2.

God can use the hardest parts of our lives and turn them into the most beautiful outcomes—the timing of my diagnosis and our wedding is a complete testimony of that happening.

As unbelievable as our first two years of marriage have been though, the reality is that some days are a challenge. We both cope with bad news very differently, and we’ve had to learn how to meet each other in our grief continually.

Adjusting to hearing loss is frustrating and has caused more than a few tense moments for us. (We’ve also learned that we should never live in a two-story house again.)

As much as I’d love to say we’ve handled this seamlessly and have treated one another with perfect patience…I can’t.

Because we certainly haven’t.

Just like any other marriage struggling to learn effective communication strategies, we’ve had to learn that on top of adjusting to my constant chorus of “what did you say”?

Dealing with NF2 also means we’re learning to have a lot more grace and forgiveness towards one another. We’re both human, and we will continue to make mistakes for the rest of our lives.

It’s not about learning to be perfect; it’s about learning to love each other in our mess.

My prayer before I was diagnosed with NF2 was that God would give us an unbreakable marriage.

Now my prayer didn’t exactly include a chronic illness and using that as a means of giving us an unbreakable marriage—but I’m so happy that God works in such mysterious ways!

During the last 9-months of traveling, we’ve pretty much been together constantly.

As risky as constant togetherness while under the stress of being in a foreign country can be, it’s taught us an incredible amount about each other.

We’re learning subtle things about one another’s patterns and habits that we would never have noticed otherwise. We’re learning to adapt to stressful situations together. And we’re learning to rely on each other and appreciate one another’s strengths more than ever before.

Starting our marriage so soon after my diagnosis was a challenge and felt completely unfair, but now…I can’t help, but be grateful for such seemingly awful timing.

Cardin has always been and will always be my favorite person. He’s my best friend, my encourager and my constant entertainment. He loves me in ways I could never have dreamed of, and he is beyond any husband I thought I deserved.

God provided me with the perfect partner.

And I’m happy to say that doing our vows in sign language was just a glimpse of the amount of love we have for each other and the love that God has for us.

In honor of our two year anniversary, I’m sharing our wedding video below, so you can relive our big day and see our special vows! And of course I couldn’t resist sharing a few pictures!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpE8sHUXQz8[/embedyt]

Images by Charla Storey.

Easing The Transition

Written by Christina Menkemeller on June 15, 2018.

A year ago in May, my hearing in my good ear rapidly declined and left me temporarily deaf (if you haven’t read that post yet, click here).

It might sound strange, but when I realized my hearing was dropping, one of my first thoughts was—I’m not going to be able to listen to podcasts on my way to work anymore.

I had recently discovered the wonderful world of podcasting and loved my 30-minute commute to and from work. It meant I got to spend an hour every day listening to some of my favorite shows.

I can’t explain why the thought of losing my podcasting listening ability was so depressing other than it was something simple that I did on a daily basis and NF2 was about to steal it from me.

As my hearing returned a few days later, I began thinking about small transitions I could start to make to help ease the process of becoming deaf.

One way that I started to do this was increasing the amount of time I spent reading books.

I’ve always loved reading, but at the time it wasn’t something I was doing habitually or with intention.

I still listened to podcasts during my drive to work because I want to enjoy my ability to hear as much as I can while I still can, but I started focusing on reading as something I enjoy even more than listening to podcasts.

To me, reading is safe.

Yes, I have cataracts in both of my eyes (which can thankfully be removed one day), and yes it’s possible that I could eventually develop optic nerve tumors, which may affect my eyesight over time. But the likelihood of me becoming completely blind is relatively low.

Reading is something that I should be able to do for the rest of my life.

So, I decided to commit to reading for at least fifteen minutes before bed every night. That may not sound like much, but at the time I was on treatment and working a full-time job, so I pretty much fell asleep the second my head hit my pillow.

My goal was to start building it into my daily routine and to have something new to look forward to every day.

My husband even bought me a Kindle (found here) for our anniversary last year, so I could start renting e-books from the public library. Since we had invested a little bit of money into my newfound reading habit, I had extra motivation to keep up with it and even started carrying my kindle with me in my purse. So, instead of spending time scrolling through Facebook during the day, I would pull out my kindle and spend a few minutes reading.

Reading is also a great way to get lost in another world for a bit—I would never encourage avoiding your problems, but it’s ok to find a healthy distraction. And that’s what reading started to become for me.

During our travels, reading has become an even more prominent part of my life—what better way to pass the time during a 6-hour train ride than with a good book?

And as a fun way of tracking the books I’ve read this year, I’ve created a book list, which you can find here!

Another activity that I’m incorporating into my daily routine is yoga. A few months ago, my NF doctor recommended that I start practicing yoga to help build my core muscles so that my body can compensate for future balance issues.

My tumors are on my balance nerves and will eventually cause permanent nerve damage. By doing yoga now and strengthening those muscles, my body will be able to tolerate the balance challenges later.

Just like I did with reading, I wanted to start out with a small daily goal to help me build my practice and start incorporating yoga into my every day life.

I started following Yoga With Adriene on YouTube and did her 30-day yoga challenge.

Even if it meant all I did was her 7-minute bedtime yoga video or even just a couple of sun salutations in the morning, I made sure I spent at least a few minutes almost every day doing yoga.

At the same time, we had just started our year and a half of traveling, which meant I needed to figure out a way to be able to do yoga no matter where we were in the world.

Since we’re minimalist travelers, I didn’t exactly have room for a big yoga mat in my backpack.

I was able to find the perfect travel yoga mat (found here). It’s thinner than a typical yoga mat and doesn’t provide much cushion, but still allows me to do yoga even while we travel. Special thanks to my wonderful husband for generously agreeing to pack it in his bag!

I’ve also started using an app called Down Dog. It’s free and has been an excellent way for me to squeeze in quick yoga sessions before we set out on our days of exploring.

One of the greatest things about yoga is its ability to reduce anxiety, which is something that just about everyone experiences at some point (especially those of us with a chronic illness).

But more than that, yoga has been one of the only things that I’m able to do to exercise some control over my disorder.

Stopping treatment has been great, but it’s also been challenging to have to sit back and “wait and see” what my tumors do.

I’ve always been a bit of a control freak, so this watch and wait technique doesn’t come easily for me.

Yoga allows me to have at least a little bit of control over the impact my tumors will have on my body since it’s something that I can do to reduce some of the problems I may eventually develop.

Part of dealing with a chronic illness is finding ways to put joy back into your life as you adjust to your new normal. Some adjustments can be rough—like learning to cope with chronic pain, but other changes can be positive and powerful if we let them.

While working with cancer patients this past year, I started realizing how difficult it was for them to find meaning during their day.

Whether they were newly diagnosed, on treatment or in remission, they all struggled to find ways to feel like themselves again and to find happiness on a daily basis.

I started working with each of my patients to help them find small, simple activities that they could do each day that helped bring them a little joy and a sense of accomplishment.

Eventually I started practicing what I preached, and reading and yoga have officially become the two things I do to bring a little extra joy into my every day life.

Not only do I love reading and yoga, but they’ve also been healthy and simple ways to help me process what I’m experiencing.

Adding books into my daily routine now is allowing me to CHOOSE to focus on reading rather than suddenly having to find a new favorite past time one day when my hearing declines.

Yes, it’ll still be hard to let go of some of my favorite things or adapt them to meet my hearing needs (like using subtitles on the TV), but maybe it won’t hurt quite so much since I’ve already been incorporating small ways of prepping for it now.

Maybe it’ll make the overall transition feel a little less traumatic.

It’s not about stopping things you love—it’s about finding new focuses in addition to the things you already like. Things that are positive, healthy and can build you up emotionally, mentally, or physically long-term.

That way, if you eventually lose the things you initially loved, you still have something to hold onto.

In fact, you have a couple of new things that bring you just as much joy (if not more) as the other things.

…Now you just have a little extra room in your schedule to do the new things.

Yoga and reading are two activities that I do for myself to help me cope with my new life. They help me feel like I’m doing something positive for both my mind and my body and they’re providing me with small meaningful steps to ease my transition into what my future holds.

What are some things you do to help you feel a little extra joy during your everyday life?

Learning to Appreciate Sound

Written by Christina Menkemeller on May 21, 2018.

“What’s been your favorite sound while traveling?”

A sweet new friend recently asked me this question.

Initially, she caught me off guard.

BUT, I was so excited to answer her!

We took the metro frequently during our trip to Paris this past February. (And no my favorite sound is not the trains pulling into the stop.)

During one of our stints in the underground, we passed a woman singing in a long hallway covered in subway tiles. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard a musician playing in the metro since my diagnosis, but something about her voice echoing off the tiles grabbed my attention.

It was mesmerizing.

At least it was to me anyway.

Her voice carried throughout the entire station. For the first time in a very long time, I felt genuinely connected to music.

Ever since I lost my hearing in my left ear, I’ve become very sensitive to sounds. Bass noises are my worst enemy, and loud music tends to aggravate the ringing in my ears for hours afterward. I often wear special earplugs, even during church, to help protect my hearing and soften sounds.

I’m so grateful to have earplugs, but it creates the feeling of being on the outside of music—almost as if I’m listening from behind a door. Not fully immersed in the surround sound experience.

That day in the subway though, it felt magical.

And it didn’t bother my ears one bit.

Finally.

I could have sat there all-day and listened to that woman’s voice—if it weren’t for the fact that we were in Paris and still had quite a lot to see.

Since that day I can’t help but smile every time we pass a musician playing in the metro.

Before that moment, I never paid much attention to them, and I’m assuming most of you don’t either. It was always nice to have a little music while I quickly passed through the tiled halls, but it wasn’t something I appreciated.

I’m not going to say that I like having hearing loss.

I’m not going to say that I’m looking forward to the day when I’m entirely deaf.

But, I will say that I like how much the threat of hearing loss has changed me.

Little sounds like birds chirping outside, a child laughing, and even an ambulance passing by never meant much to me before.

Now though, every single sound is a gift.

(Even the not-so-great ones.)

I’ve learned to listen with complete gratitude for my ability to still hear those sounds and try to memorize how they make me feel in hopes of being able to hold on that as my hearing declines.

It’s funny how we often need to face the threat of losing something to learn to appreciate it.

Especially when it’s something we usually take for granted—like our ability to hear.

So, I hope this post encourages you to take in each sound you hear, every sight you see and everything it makes you feel.

Since my husband and I live in Florida, where metros aren’t available, I’m thankful for all of the underground music listening opportunities I’m getting to experience while traveling this year.

And to all of the subway musicians: thank you.

Thank you for creating such magical moments in such a mundane setting. You’ve given me the chance to feel music again (while I still can), and for that, I am forever grateful.

What are some of your favorite sounds while traveling? For those who have already lost your hearing from NF2, what are some of the sounds you miss the most? Comment below or email me directly—I’d love to hear from you!

Portugal

Written by Christina Menkemeller on May 4, 2018.

“What was your favorite place?” I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been asked this question since our most recent Europe trip.

Well, folks, Portugal was our favorite. (Paris was a very close second!)

Before I start explaining why, I want to share a little bit about our overnight train adventure. The last time I took an overnight train in Europe, it caught on fire. Yes, that’s right, fire.

I was with two friends heading from Italy to Vienna, and we were woken up at 3:00 am to flashing lights, a rancid smell, and train employees yelling at us in German. We frantically grabbed our passports and got off the train. While we sat on benches in an abandoned train station, the conductor inspected our car and determined that it was ok for us to grab our belongings and switch cars.

Thankfully, we made it safely without another problem the rest of the trip. But that experience was a bit traumatic, so I wasn’t looking forward to another night train.

Cardin, on the other hand, was so excited! (Although, I think he was just happy that our hostel experience was finally over.)

We splurged for a sleeper cabin, which was surprisingly great! The only problem was we didn’t realize they turn off the train’s heater during the night. So once again I was woken up at 3:00 am, but this time it was to Cardin climbing into the tiny bottom bunk with me because he was freezing. His heater search in the dark was unsuccessful, so we assumed there wasn’t one.

As we packed our bags the next morning, I noticed a giant blue button with the word “heater” on it. You can see it in the picture above over the window. We couldn’t help but laugh! At least this time we had to deal with ice instead of fire—I may not be the best person to travel with on an overnight train though.

After my hearing declined two years ago, my sense of smell strengthened. I have a very low tolerance for all things stinky. As much as we loved Lisbon, our first impression as we exited the train station was that it smells.

Like garbage.

Everywhere.

Thankfully after a few hours, the smell went away…or we may have gotten used to it, and in reality, it smelled that way the entire time. I prefer to think the garbage disappeared.

Once our noses recovered, we quickly became obsessed with the tiled walls! Or at least I did, which is how I ended up with several hundred pictures of them (don’t worry, I won’t make you look at them all). Seriously though, why don’t more cities look like this?!

Along with the delightful tiles, Lisbon is also known as the city of seven hills. The entire place is one hill after another, which adds to its charm and helped us work off all those pastéis de nata (Portuguese egg tart pastry).

Below is the famous 28 tram for people wanting to avoid walking up and down so much.

We arrived in Lisbon early Easter morning, so after walking around for a bit, we went to the Igreja da Sao Vicente de Fora for mass. The entire service was in Portuguese, so we didn’t understand anything, but it definitely made for a unique Easter experience!

After church, our Airbnb was finally ready for check-in. The apartment was by far the cutest place we’ve stayed! Plus it was located in Alfama, the oldest and most charming district of Lisbon. The pink patio is officially on my wishlist for our future home.

Once we settled into our Airbnb, we explored the city for a while. We loved all of the wall art, which adds to this city’s colorful reputation!

Our hosts recommended a nearby lunch spot called Cruzes Credo. I ordered pork hock on fried polenta, and it was one of the best meals we had on our entire trip!

The next day we headed to Belém, another well-known area of Lisbon. We tried to visit the Jerónimos Monastery, but sadly it was closed for Easter Monday. The outside was beautiful though!

Next, we walked over to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (above) and Belém Tower (below). Both were massive, beautiful monuments! Belém Tower is also in the cover photo for my post “Coming Home,” which you can read HERE.

Belém is the home of Pastéis de Belém. Egg custards are everywhere in Portugal, but this place makes the BEST ones! They serve them with packets of powdered sugar and cinnamon, which tastes great, but we’re not quite sure how you’re supposed to pour it on without covering yourself with toppings. Cardin’s jacket now has a permanent layer of powdered sugar!

For lunch, we went to the Time Out Market. After going to so many markets in Spain, we weren’t eager to go to another one, but we’re glad we did! It felt a little touristy, but the food was gourmet compared to our other market experiences. Portugal is known for grilled octopus, which happened to be the daily special at the Marlene Vieira stand. It was delicious! Another stand was serving grilled octopus hot dogs, but we weren’t quite brave enough to try that one.

After lunch, we walked around the Praça do Comércio. A half-naked man dressed as a Native American was posing on the brown box in the picture above, so I waited for him to go on break before taking this picture.

Below is the most beautiful public elevator in the world! Elevador Santa Justa was created so people could quickly access the upper neighborhood without climbing the strenuous hill. It costs the same price as a subway ticket, but it had a long line. We decided to walk up the terrible hill to catch the view of the city rather than waiting in line. On our way back down, we noticed another normal looking elevator. We decided to try it, and it ended up taking us into a jewelry store right across from the Elevador Santa Justa! And it was free!

Portugal is also known for a cherry flavored liqueur called Ginja. We went to the famous A Ginjinha for the first shot, but we happened upon a market serving it in chocolate cups on our walk home, so of course, we had to get a second one! It was delicious, but I think my favorite edible shot glass is still the chocolate covered cone we had in Madrid (which you can read about HERE).

If you saw my post on Instagram, then you already know about the amazing time we had in Sintra celebrating our seven years (dating) anniversary! Based on the recommendation of a girl I met in the bathroom at our hostel in Madrid, we decided to tag it on last minute, but it was honestly the best day of our entire trip!

The city is full of palaces and ruins, which made the whole area feel like a beautiful playground. We started at the National Palace of Sintra, which is known for the two massive kitchen chimneys.

We took a lunch break and ended up at a cute Portuguese restaurant known for their wine selection. Our waiter was great and said we had to check out the Quinta da Regaleira. We had read about it online but had planned on skipping it, until our waiter convinced us to go.

I’m not sure if it was the entire bottle of wine we had at lunch or if this place is just that amazing, but the only thing I can compare it to is an enchanted garden. From hidden caves to moss covered wells, it’s simply magic! We had a map, but we just kept walking and happening upon another amazing spot. Our favorite thing was standing at the bottom of “The Initiation Well”—mostly because when else are we going to be able to stand at the bottom of an old well?

Our next stop was the Moorish Castle. After a few days of walking up hills, the stairs at these ruins ended up being a hilarious challenge (again, the wine may have played a part). It was also extremely windy, so almost every selfie we attempted ended up with us covered in my hair.

We haven’t visited the Great Wall of China yet, (don’t worry, it’s on our list), but this castle certainly reminded us of it!

The last stop of the day was Pena Palace. The colors alone are enough to make this place stand out! It felt like the castle of our childhood dreams!

Also, I had to share photographic evidence that I was able to touch the ceiling for the first time in my life!

Out of all the places we visited this trip, Portugal surprised us the most! Everything is so colorful and unique; it’s going to be hard to beat!

Madrid

Written by Christina Menkemeller on April 25, 2018.

Let me begin this post with one word: food.

Madrid is a foodie’s heaven! Between the tapas and the churros, I think we each gained ten pounds during our four days in the city.

We started our food trip with the famous Mercado de San Miguel. The market was packed and offered a wide variety of tapas, seafood, and desserts. Our favorite item was the mountain of burrata cheese served on a piece of bread below. Everything was delicious, but it was a bit pricey and touristy.

We had read about the delicious churros con chocolate in Madrid, so we were excited to try them, but were sadly disappointed by our first batch. We bought them in the Mercado de San Miguel, and the churros themselves were fine, but the chocolate was more like a hot chocolate drink rather than melted chocolate.

Once we filled up on fried dough, we walked through Madrid’s endless plazas. Below is the famous “Tio Pepe” sign located in the Plaza de Puerto del Sol. We’re not quite sure why it’s famous, but I figured it’s still worth sharing a picture of it!

We loved all of the street performers in the plazas—each one was more creative than the next!

The statue below is the El Oso y el Madroño (the Bear and the Strawberry Tree) located in the Plaza de Puerto del Sol. It serves as the symbol for Madrid and is the picture on their flag.

Plaza Mayor is the most distinct and colorful plaza (in my opinion), but it was always crowded and a major tourist trap. Some of the restaurants were very good though, and our hostel was nearby, so we ended up walking through it frequently.

After exploring the plazas, we visited the Almudena Cathedral.

The church took nearly a hundred years to build and is known for its unique ceiling paintings. Even though there’s no competition against the Sagrada Família for our favorite church, it was still beautiful, and we loved the distinct ceiling design!

Alright, I think it’s time I shed some light on our not-so-delightful hostel experience. We stayed at a really cute place called “The Hat Madrid,” which was very clean and had great decor. It’s a lot more like a hotel, which is why I picked it.

We stayed in a six person room and had a private bathroom in our dorm. Initially, I saw that as a huge perk, but I quickly realized having a shared bathroom right next to your bunk bed is far from enjoyable. Between being the only English speakers in our room and having a hungover guy stay in bed the entire day (aka we had to leave the lights off and be quiet every time we were in the room), it was off to a bumpy start.

By the second night, I was the only girl left in our room. Which meant I was sharing a bathroom with five guys. The smells alone were enough to convince me to never stay in a hostel again! I avoided the private bathroom in our room and opted for the communal one in the hallway—so much for splurging for the bathroom upgrade!

I will say, I would like to formally thank my brother for all of the traumatizing bathroom sharing experiences I encountered growing up. He certainly prepared me for this trip!

The next morning we found a cafe called “Cereal Hunters.” It’s a bar that serves every type of cereal you can imagine—alongside a selection of Pop Tarts and milk. Even though it was an American inspired restaurant and a bowl of cereal cost more than an entire box back home, we loved it! We rarely purchase cereal, so it was a treat getting to enjoy our childhood favorites! Any other Fruity Pebbles fans out there?

As much as I dislike hostels, we were impressed by the free walking tour ours offered. The guide was great and very knowledgeable about Madrid’s unique history! She even showed us a few spots we wouldn’t have found on our own, like the place below. This picture is taken through a circular hole in the wall surrounding the graffiti park, which is about to get torn down.

For lunch, we opted for tapas and sangria at a restaurant called Taberna El Sur. It’s off the beaten path, but worth it! Plus it was the most authentic Spanish meal we had. It’s traditional in Madrid to receive tapas whenever you order a drink, but not every restaurant follows that rule. Before our sangria arrived, we were already eating delicious tapas. The food was fantastic—particularly the Spanish omelet! And they gave us a complementary Amarula mixed with Kahlua shot along with a bowl of gummy candies for dessert.

While we were eating a man and his dog walked into the restaurant. The dog promptly put his paws up on the bar and barked. The bartender immediately pulled out a small plate of bread and started feeding the pup his doggie style tapas. It was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen!

We walked to the botanical gardens after lunch to see their new tulip display. Unfortunately, it was a little early for all of the flowers to bloom, but it was a beautiful park and a very relaxing way to spend our afternoon.

The Círculo de Bellas Artes is known as the best view in Madrid. They have a rooftop bar and great lounging chairs. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon!

As we were walking back to our hostel that night, we noticed a procession heading out of Plaza Mayor. We were there during Semana Santa (Holy Week in Spain), and this particular procession was for Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday).

The whole experience was like nothing we’ve seen before! We didn’t understand much of the symbolism behind the march, but it was incredible. We kept thinking they were moving so slowly until we realized that they were waiting on poor men carrying the massive casket structure on their shoulders. You can’t tell in the picture, but many of the men were shaking and grimacing in pain from the heaviness of their load.

We read a suggestion online to visit the plazas early in the morning before the crowds of tourists and street performers take over. If you’re out there by 8:00 am, the streets are empty! It was well worth waking up early for, and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Spain.

To reward ourselves for waking up early we decided to try the famous Chocolatería San Ginés to give churros con chocolate a second chance. This place is open 24 hours a day and reminded us of Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans.

We are officially hooked! Churros dipped in melted chocolate will forever hold a special place in our hearts—all thanks to this wonderful establishment.

After our major carb-loading session, we headed to the Puerta de Alcalá. It’s a huge monument, and they planted beautiful flowers for Spring on either side of it.

Madrid is full of amazing food markets, so we decided to check out a couple of unique, less populated ones. We walked through Mercado de San Ildefonso, which is small and known as the hipster market. The pictures below are of Platea. It’s located in an old theater and feels very upscale. We didn’t buy food at either place though since we were still so full from breakfast.

Some of you may not be familiar with geocaching, but it’s essentially a worldwide scavenger hunt. People hide tiny little boxes or capsules, and you use GPS coordinates to locate each one. Once you find it, you sign the ledger inside the object. It’s been a fun way for us to track some of the places we’ve visited while we travel.

I don’t usually take any pictures of it, but the two geocaches we did in Madrid were so unique I had to share them! We try to be a little discreet when looking for them, but sitting under a telephone booth drew a bit of attention to the hunt.

The next geocache required you to unlock a stool across the street and use it to climb up and grab the cache from behind a sign. Such a creative hiding spot!

For lunch that day we ate wraps since we had eaten so heavy all week. Of course, we couldn’t be healthy for too long because there was a fantastic ice cream shop called Mistura located right next to the cafe. I picked the arroz con leche flavor, and it was by far some of the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten!

During our walking tour, the day before our guide showed us where to try Madrid’s famous madroño liqueur. The El Oso y el Madroño (the Bear and the Strawberry Tree) statue shown earlier in the post is the type of tree where they get the berries to make this liqueur. If you go to a tapas bar called “El Madroño,” then you can get a shot of the drink in a chocolate coated cone cup. We loved it!

For dinner, we decided to go to “La Campana” to try bocadillos. We had seen a long line outside the restaurant every night, so we figured it must be a good spot. This was by far the most efficient line I’ve ever seen. Once we reached the front, we ordered, paid, and were given our food in less than a minute!

Unfortunately, we weren’t very impressed by the bocadillos. It’s just bread with salty calamari on top. It doesn’t come with sauce or anything, so I think that would have made it better. At that point though, we had already consumed so much fried food that the sandwich put our stomach aches over the top.

Even after our fried food coma the day before, we still had to try one last dessert the next morning. It’s called a torrija, and one of the best places to get them is “La Mallorquina.” It’s French Toast coated in sugar. The flavor was good, but it was served cold, so I’m sure it would have been a winner if it was heated.

Since we had extra time on our last day, we decided to explore Arganzuela park. It has a unique footbridge and a bunch of slides!

Our last stop was the Templo de Debod. We had to hike up quite a hill to get there, but it was cool to see an Ancient Egyptian temple in the middle of Madrid!

Templo Debod is next to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace of Madrid), so we ended our time in Madrid by exploring the palace gardens.

We loved spending a couple of days in Barcelona (which you can read about HERE), but I must admit, Madrid won our hearts! The incredible food alone is hard to beat, and the city is beautiful.

Barcelona

Written by Christina Menkemeller on April 21, 2018.

Four trains and nine hours later, we finally made it from the South of France to Barcelona! Unfortunately, our first night in Spain wasn’t quite what we expected.

Accommodations in Spain are more expensive than France, so we opted for hostels instead of our usual Airbnbs. I’ve stayed in numerous hostels before and previously vowed to never do it again, but alas that didn’t last. It was Cardin’s first hostel experience though, and he was excited to try it out.

We stayed in a ten person dorm room, and within the first hour we heard gunshots outside. That’s right, gunshots.

Despite the fact that there were eight other people in our room, no one seemed to react. They didn’t even stir when crowds of people started yelling and running outside our window. We kept looking around hoping someone else would acknowledge the commotion, but everyone had the bed-curtains closed, and no one moved.

We finally walked out to the common room and met a few girls who were also concerned. One of them had been in Barcelona for a few days already, so she was familiar with Catalonia’s political unrest. Catalonia wants to separate from the rest of Spain, and one of the movement leaders was arrested in Germany the night we arrived. So, everyone was rioting in protest of his arrest. Apparently the riots have been recurring since October, but this night was particularly bad. And it turns out the gunshots were only empty shells the police were shooting to disperse the crowds.

The city is also covered with yellow ribbons to support the political movement. They were everywhere!

The next morning we woke up to a much calmer city. But when I say wake up, I mean we finally accepted we’re not falling back asleep… all thanks to our bedroom door.

Our bunk was next to the creakiest door I’ve ever heard! One of the perks of being half deaf is I can usually turn over and not hear anything while sleeping. Except for loud noises, which end up sounding very distorted.

Well, the noise of our door opening in my bad ear sounded like a pterodactyl attacking our room. Let me just say that’s a terrifying noise to hear while you’re trying to sleep!

Needless to say we wore ear plugs the next two nights and were able to sleep much better!

We started our day at Casa Batlló, which is one of the famous houses designed by Antoni Gaudí. The house was beautiful but very expensive to tour. Thankfully, the price included a “smart” audioguide, which showed short videos demonstrating Gaudí’s artistic inspiration. You can see an example of this in one of the pictures below where the windows look like turtle shells.

Despite the high price, we’re glad we went on the tour. It helped us understand Gaudí’s unique artistic style and the impact he had on Barcelona.

Gaudí is known for his use of natural light throughout his designs. In this particular house, he built two light wells. They have white tiles at the bottom and dark blue tiles at the top. His technique allows for brighter natural light in the lower levels of the house, since they are furthest from the window, and less intense light in the top floors.

Gaudí is most famous for his incredible tile work. He used recycled materials to create beautiful patterns of broken tiles throughout all of his creations.

After walking around La Rambla and the Gothic Quarter, we visited the Mercat de la Boqueria for lunch. It’s a massive market with never-ending food stalls. We bought a few snacks, but our favorite treats were the fresh fruit juices! There were at least ten different stalls selling juice, so it was a popular item. And for a good reason! Unfortunately, most of the food was either fried or raw fish (and I don’t mean sushi), so we mostly filled up on fruit.

See what I mean by raw fish? Can someone please explain why anyone would eat this terrifying catch….I couldn’t eat anything after seeing that thing, let alone fish.

After the market, we headed to the Arc de Triomf and a nearby park.

As we were leaving, we noticed a street performer setting up. We almost kept walking, but decided to stay. And I’m so glad we did! This guy was by far the most impressive street performer I’ve seen. He was mesmerizing!

That night we grabbed dinner with one of the girls we met during our “riot scare”—I guess that’s one way to meet people. She’s super sweet and ironically also from Florida! We had paella for dinner, but sadly weren’t very impressed. They charged 17 euros a person for paella at almost every restaurant we passed in Barcelona. They have signs outside advertising a huge pan of delicious looking rice and seafood, so we figured it would be worth it. Unfortunately, the portion was pretty small, and the taste was average.

To make up for our mediocre dinner, we headed to Häagen-Dazs. This may not have been the most authentic Spanish dessert, but it was definitely a unique ice cream experience! We walked in and headed to the counter thinking you’re supposed to order there. The server quickly corrected us and seated us at a nearby table with menus. I’ve never been inside a Häagen-Dazs before, so I’m not sure if it’s normal for them to have a sit-down ice cream establishment, but we loved it!

Early the next morning we headed to Park Güell. It was supposed to be a neighborhood designed by Gaudí, but he never finished the project. Now it’s a beautiful park full of his unique creations! It’s also the place featured in the cover photo of this post.

Since all of Barcelona’s attractions are so expensive and crowded, it’s cheaper to purchase tickets online, and you’re guaranteed entrance. We didn’t realize this until the night before though, so we ended up with 8:30 am tickets.

We also ran into another one of our “hostel-riot” friends in the park (also stuck with the early morning slot). She’s American, but lives in Venice and works at the Guggenheim! We spent the next few hours exploring the city together before she headed home.

Since it was so early, the sun was a bit of a struggle. Below are the outtakes of what was supposed to be a cute picture!

Our next stop was La Pedrera, another one of Gaudí’s houses. After spending so much money on the other house, we decided to skip the inside and admire it from afar.

We ended our time in Barcelona with the most amazing church on earth: the Sagrada Família. Construction began in 1882, and the projected completion is 2026. That’s right, it’s taking almost 150 years to build this place!

The basilica is known as Gaudí’s greatest legacy and towers over the entire city. Honestly, I could have done a post just on the Sagrada Família. Sadly, these pictures don’t do it justice, but at least you can catch a glimpse of this incredible structure!

We also splurged for the audio guide, which I highly recommend if you ever make the trip there.

Our favorite parts of the church were the stained glass windows. They’re another example of Gaudí’s innovative use of natural light and made the entire place glow! You have to catch it at the right time though—if you’re there at noon, you won’t see anything since the sun is directly overhead. Thankfully, our tickets were for 3:30pm, so the light was perfect!

Also, please notice the insane spiral staircase below. Talk about a leg workout! Although I think it would have made us so dizzy, we wouldn’t have survived the whole way up.

Barcelona was beautiful, and Gaudí’s work throughout the city is incredible! If it’s not on your travel list already, add it—even if just to visit the Sagrada Familia.

Coming Home

Written by Christina Menkemeller on April 14, 2018.

Back in this machine.

Back to this noise.

Back to this life.

Lying in the MRI machine, surrounded by a sound that resembles a jackhammer, I’m struck by how strange this all feels.

Just a few days ago I was in Portugal with my husband. Exploring enchanted gardens, climbing palace ruins, and drinking Ginja from chocolate cups.

Now…I’m lying on an uncomfortable plastic board with a cage covering my face and a constant banging noise circling my head.

I am a patient. I am a traveler. I am a traveler because I am a patient.

I’m living two lives.

Neither was part of my plan.

After thirty-two days in Europe, it only took four days, and I’m already fully in this life again.

Over the next few weeks, I have all of my NF-related appointments. Between slightly declined hearing tests, cataracts eye exams, and waiting for results, it’s not the greatest way to spend our time at home.

But, soon we’ll be back in Europe.

Back to backpacks, reading on trains, and walking 10-miles a day.

Back to cobblestone streets, too much espresso, and endless pastries.

But for right now, we have to sit in this life for a little bit.

For the first time in two years, our month in Europe allowed me to finally forget about being this person. I somehow managed to avoid getting sick (for once), and other than a few abnormal headaches my hearing was stable.

I felt great.

I felt like me again.

This year is an incredible gift for us and not just because we’re getting to see the world.

Most people diagnosed with NF2 (or any chronic illness) don’t get a break. They don’t get a chance to escape. Most battle constant pain, endless surgeries and complete hearing loss. Most face severe balance issues, frequent falls, and facial paralysis.

But I’m not there yet.

I get to enjoy this break just a little bit longer.

Unfortunately, though, our year of travel will eventually end. My breaks may get shorter. My condition may progress. And I may become more and more like this other version of myself.

My prayer for this year is that I’ll learn to live this life a little better.

I hope that I’m able to hold onto my newfound carefree spirit.

I’ve always battled with anxiety and having NF2 has tested that a lot. Life is heavy and hard, but I don’t want to always feel the heaviness.

²⁹“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

(Mathew 11:29-30 NIV)

I hope to hold onto this verse a little tighter and trust the words more and more. Maybe I can let this year-long vacation spill over to my long-term reality.

Maybe I can embrace a light burden and a restful soul.

It’s been hard to come home and immediately jump into my appointments. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve instantly resorted back to my anxiety and held tightly to the little control I pretend to possess.

How quickly we forget?

But, old habits are hard to break.

It’s a good thing I still have nine more months to learn this lesson.

My prayer is that maybe you can learn this lesson too. We all have burdens and not everyone gets to quit their job and travel for a year. Not everyone gets a break. But no matter what your circumstances are, I hope that my journey can offer you some encouragement and peace.

So, here’s to learning this lesson together.