Have you heard of the 50/50 Club? Visited all 50 states and 50 countries in your lifetime (there are 196 to choose from)? The 50/50 is a badge of pride. An accomplishment reserved only for the elite wanderlusters who have a travel addiction so bad they have been bitten by the need to see the world. It's an addiction as much as a need. A lifestyle as much as a passion.

And no cheating, I don't count airport layovers as visits. Use your best discretion as to how long you must be at a place to officially check it off the list. You have to at least make a stop, not just pass through on a road trip in the middle of the night (yeah, we know you did that with Iowa).

Here's my list, I'm just under halfway on states and 1/3 on countries.

States:

1. Washington

2. California

3.  Nevada

4. Arizona

5. Colorado

6. Kansas

7. Minnesota

8. Wisconsin

9. Iowa

10. Missouri

11. Louisiana

12. Illinois

13. Michigan

14. Indiana

15. Kentucky

16. Pennsylvania

17. Ohio

18. Georgia

19. Florida

20. Virginia

21. West Virginia

22. Maryland

23. New York

24. Massachusetts

 

Countries:

1.US

2. Canada

3. Mexico

4. Costa Rica

5. Aruba

6. Barbados

7. Jamaica

8. Grand Cayman

9. Virgin Islands

10. Iceland

11. UK

12. Italy

13. France

14. Portugal

15. Spain

16. Austria

17. Netherlands

18. Israel

19. Bahamas

How far along are you? Post your achievements in the comments!

As my first visit to the Pacific Northwest, I was expecting rain, fir trees and delicious seafood from Seattle. While I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of moisture, even though the sun was out the city does have a certain darker, misty, grungy vibe like the thing to do is see a show, climb Mt. Rainer and reflect in a coffee shop.  I was not expecting an awesome pier town where almost everything is boat accessible, including the University of Washington football stadium. Another bonus, they serve Ivar's clam chowder all over town- the stadium, the airport, wherever you are there is no shortage of fresh chowda.  We saw the Flagship Nordstrom's, the first Starbucks, and the real hospital they film Grey's Anatomy in (yes, they actually rent out a floor in Seattle; it's not just a sound stage in LA).  Here are some must-see stops in "the Peerless City."

 

Pike's Place Market- The staple indoor/outdoor farmer's market on the water, Pike's Place is a cross between Navy Pier in Chicago and Reading Terminal Market in Philly. With a slew of fresh caught seafood, the fishermen booths make a show out of tossing the larger than life fish around. Enjoy numerous bakeries, $5 flower bouquets, organic farm fresh produce, homemade arts and crafts and worldy goods as you stroll the multi-level open air market. Try to go during off-peak hours as it gets crazy busy and hard to walk through on the weekends.  

 

Ivar's-Touted the best chowder in town, we can't disagree, though we didn't try many else to compare. Located directly on the pier near the Aquarium, watch the yachts and houseboats as you indulge in the fresh catch of the day. Seattle is known for their planked salmon and halibut and both will melt in your mouth.

 

The Crabpot- Great for group gatherings or the fam if you don't mind waiting upwards of an hour for a table, enjoy a group "seafeast" fiesta. Order a platter to share and all the goods are dumped straight on the table to enjoy. Recommended to us was the "Pacific clambake," which includes steamed clams, mussels, dungeoness crab, snowcrab, oysters, shrimp, halibut, salmon, andouille sausage, corn and red potatoes aka no shortage of food.  Don the signature bib and get to cracking with a hammer and other tools. No one seemed  to mind the delicious Cajun spices that'll cake your hands.

 

The Crumpet Shop- The highlight of my trip, this adorable little mom and pop shop is in an alley of hidden gems right near the market. Try both a sweet and savory crumpet (a cross between a pancake and an English muffin). The favorite was the Vermont maple butter with cream cheese and walnuts. Seattlers love cream cheese and put it on everything- eggs, hot dogs, you name it. They also have an all you can drink tea service with my favorite, the rare South African rooibos.

 

Beecher's Handmade Cheese- If you ever dreamt of bathing in a giant vat of cheese, well, you won't get that chance, but there is a plethora of cheese to taste and it is crafted in giant vats. With mac and cheese chosen as one of Oprah's favorite things, Beecher's is the only artisan cheese shop in Seattle, so popular they recently opened a second outpost in the Flatiron District in New York.

Day 6 - August 4^th

This morning started off with a two-and-a-half hour hike on Fernandina Island. That sounds intense, but we take many breaks to take pictures. We saw a ton of marine iguanas sunbathing. At least I finally got to see them snort out the saltwater -- it makes me laugh. Marine iguanas can't digest the salt in the water, so they snort it out in mists. Too funny. We got so close to some sea lion pups...one even crawled across Denise's feet! Alex was imitating their moans (that's the best way I can describe the sound) so I have a video of him and a sea lion moaning back and forth.

We were admiring the pahoehoe and a'a lava, but hiking across it is difficult. Fernandina is one of the "youngest" islands so it still is very lava-like, not sandy and ashy. As the morning progressed the sun reflecting of the black landscape made it awfully hot. We did take some amazing shots of the shield volcano in the background. 

Normally we do a second excursion at 10:30, but today we had a few hours to relax on the deck. Andrew and I sunbathed and read on the upper deck, by ourselves. Andrew borrowed the book on the Galapagos that he got from the library. He knows so much more now than I do, I need his help when it comes to identifying the birds.

Our al fresco lunch that day was "American" food --- hamburgers and fries -- which we all appreciated more than normal. It's been awhile since we've had such a standard meal, so it seems tastier than it normally would. Perfect timing on behalf of the kitchen staff!

After our power siesta, Andrew and I got to kayak while other people chose to snorkel. We kayaked all around Fernandina cove. We saw at least 15 penguins swimming around our kayak. We got stuck in an inlet (but it was too cool not to explore) but managed to beat the tide out and get back into the cove. We loudly sang oldies as we continued to kayak. I believe the snorkelers were able to hear us. I could tell Boli saw us and was laughing. Throughout the trip Andrew was singing...

A quick stop in the hot tub to warm up, and then it was back in the pangas. This time, we were in search of whales and dolphins, but instead we saw more boobies and penguins. It was okay though, since shortly after we got aboard the Evolution the whales came out! They were bryde whales, which I've never heard of before. We saw at least two in the distance, plus a large ray.

We all watched the sun set together as well -- we were watching for the "green flash," but only two people claimed to see that phenomena. I filmed the horizon, but it didn't show up.

 

Day 7 - August 5^th

We slept in an extra half hour today! The sky was overcast, which is the darkest we've seen. It drizzled a bit while we hiked -- otherwise the weather has been pretty much perfect. Today we saw the male frigate birds and their puffy red chests. We saw red-footed and blue-footed boobies and only a few land iguanas. The land iguanas are harder to spot than the marine iguanas, as they aren't on the shoreline en masse.

Snorkeling in the choppy ocean water was a bit challenging -- we were also snorkeling in the deepest waters yet. Swimming against the tide scared me. I had to bail a bit early because I was getting nervous. But I saw a white-tipped shark and got to chat with Beth on the panga while we waited for the others to finish. 

Andrew and I attempted to pack up our stuff a bit, but the task seems daunting. I feel like our stuff exploded all over our room. Instead, we went to lunch. Sadly, it was our last lunch on board. We are now watching a quick photo/video that Boli created. He's been taking pictures this whole time so we can have ones of ourselves! 

We went on a final panga ride -- led by Alex -- in search of sea turtles and baby sharks. We found both! We were going through secluded mangrove inlets. The sea turtles almost mated right in front of us...I got it on video. I can now tell the difference between females and males, their sizes are so different! The sharks really were tiny -- maybe only two feet long. They are so colorful too!

Once we were back on the boat, we started salsa dancing -- the crew members that knew how to salsa were teaching us. Erika, the doctor, was out there too and Cesar joined in. We knew it was the last night on board so we wanted to celebrate!

For our last dinner, Andrew and I ate at the "kids table" with Tyler, Jackie, David, Mikhail and Zach which made for fun conversations about candy, TV shows, etc. Tyler and Jackie's mom Susan had accidentally deleted most of the photos from their trip, so I started pulling photos into folders for her. It became obvious that I had photos of everyone so I made folders for each group. I'm glad we could help and share our photos.

 

Day 8 - August 6^th

We had one final breakfast on board the Evolution, before we went into the town of San Cristóbal.  Everyone boarded a bus to head to the Interpretation Center, learning about the history of the islands. Since our naturalists and lecturer were so well educated about the islands, we already knew most of information the Center provided.

Once outside, Andrew led an impromptu hacky sack circle. It was fun to see people try to do it who have never touched a hacky sack in their life, like Debbie and Robert, trying hard to kick the little bag around. I bet we could've kept that up for an hour.  But the bus driver came back and we had some shopping ahead of us.

We spent the next 45 minutes searching souvenir shops for things to bring back to our friends and family. I was unsuccessful in finding a Panama hat -- they look funny on my head! I bought a few things to bring home as gifts, although I wish I could just take a giant tortoise back with me instead.

The short flight back to Guayaquil was funny because we suddenly knew 25+ people on the plane ride with us. It was another quick but smooth flight on AeroGal. Once we arrived, most of us headed back to the Hotel Oro Verde. The others remained onboard to go to Quito. International Expeditions had everything planned for us, so there was another shuttle waiting to take us back to the hotel, where our check-in was already taken care of. The hotel had cold towels and juices waiting.

I'm sad to go home and yet I'm ready. I want to show people back home the amazing photos I got to take. Andrew is eager to edit his videos; he filmed a lot of us snorkeling so hopefully he got some footage of me swimming with the sea lions. We both can't stop talking about how incredible the Galapagos Islands were!

 Day 3 - August 1^st

Santa Cruz today. This will probably be my favorite day of the whole trip because it is the day we saw giant tortoises! First thing was a trip to the Charles Darwin Research Station -- I thought that was supposed to be a museum, but clearly not. It had a few enclosed buildings, but otherwise it looks more like a zoo with different areas used to raise tortoises. This is so they can make sure the tortoises can grow large enough to fight off predators (feral pigs, goats, fire ants, etc) once they are released back onto the islands.

After the Darwin Station we rode buses to the highlands. It is so much greener up north on the slopes of this shield volcano.  We walked around a sink hole and saw so many birds -- once again I can't name them. I know we saw finches though!

We bused over to this private property for lunch -- and saw tons of giant tortoises in their natural habitat! The crew brought us lunch there (again delicious) so we could stay on the island for the whole day. Everyone wandered around taking pictures with tortoises. They are bigger than me. There was one who loved to be fake-tickled under its chin -- you didn't really touch the tortoise, just waved your fingers near its neck. It reminded me of a cat stretching out so you can pet it. Only a cat that is four feet tall!

We drove back to the lowlands to taste some locally-grown coffee (very very strong) and the sugarcane juice (literally sugar water) in Puerto Ayora. We were able to also taste a really disgusting moonshine made from sugarcane.  I guess this is the only hard alcohol made on the island... and it tastes worse than tequila.

We spent a little time exploring the town. The locals I ran into knew very little English, so I got to pathetically say "Cuanto cuesta?" while searching for a Panama hat. I still don't think I'm saying it right.

And we bought Club beer, a favorite Ecuadorian brew. We drank those outside near the dock. Andrew played hacky sack which seemed to surprise the locals. Maybe they've never seen someone do that before. The local men played volleyball nearby, only they use a hard soccer ball. A few women watch, but it is mostly men.

Once we returned to the Evolution, Sheri and Pat (fellow passengers) brought out mini-glowstick bracelets.  We were on the upper deck near the bar, so we made a huge circle of the deck furniture. I spent most of my time chatting with David Jr. from Salt Lake City. Truly, he's like David the 5^th or something but since it was just him and his dad on board, it was easier to just say David Jr. or refer to them as the Davids. I'm surprised he is only 16.

Dinner was eaten outdoors again -- such a nice option. Even if it is dark, seeing the birds flying around the boat is interesting. These birds only hunt at night -- scientists believe they use echo-location to find their food. Kitty explained to us more details about them later. I was asleep before 10PM!

 

Day 4 - August 2^nd

After eating breakfast with Sheri, Pat and Mikhail, we boarded our pangas to head to a black-sand beach. We hiked for two hours, seeing the baby fur seals (although technically, they are sea-lions and are just misnamed. Sea lions have ears.) We saw more crabs, herons, marine iguanas, etc.

Snorkeling came next; this was entered from the shore so that was different. Alex directed us, using hand signals so we can understand what he is pointing out. We saw a sea turtle, a ray, beautiful sea stars and a white-tipped shark.  Afterwards we returned to the Evolution, ate three types of ceviche and enjoyed a power siesta.

In the afternoon we snorkeled again. This time we went out with Boli as our guide. We snorkeled around Pinnacle Rock , hoping to spot Galapagos penguins. Sadly, the penguins must have eaten already since they had no desire to join us in the cold ocean. We saw them up close on the rock shoreline. We also swam with a ton of sardines, schools of fish that avoid you just at the last second. I'm the only one to witness the blue-footed booby dive for fish. It dove less than four feet away from me, so that was scary.

I was too tired from the second snorkeling trip to do the following hike, so I opted for the panga ride. I'm glad I went on the panga instead since I was able to see the penguins swimming and hunting. They darted around the panga so close that I know we couldn't have gotten so close to them while snorkeling. Too bad they were too fast for my camera! We saw pelicans diving for food and noddy birds that would attack them shortly after the pelicans got a fish -- they steal the fish instead of getting

their own. There was a blue plastic bin floating on the beach, so we went to go get it. It was labeled from some careless cruise ship. Tyler hopped off the panga to grab it -- only we couldn't get the panga back into the water because of the waves. It was fun and funny more than anything....all of us got wet in the process of getting ourselves back into the ocean.

Back to the Evolution, showering once again, only to head back to the upper deck to drink and snack. There's a lot of drinking and snacking in between our excursions. Right now I am drinking a peach/guava juice courtesy of Antonio the bartender. It is really good. All the food has been quite tasty -- I'm beginning to think I'm going to come back 10 pounds heavier than when I left...

 

Day 5 - August 3^rd

I didn't sleep well at all during the night. I figured I'd sleep in during the 8 AM morning hike, and join everyone again to snorkel later in the day. Since I still felt under the weather I found our doctor Erika. It's nice that there is a doctor onboard. Andrew joined me on the upper deck where I rested in the sun (and got fresh air)

I figured I could handle the one hour hike after that so at least I could see Genovesa Island a bit. Alex led this hike, although technically we didn't go very far. We remained around the shoreline since that is where most of the birds nest. I took a million photos of red-footed and blue-footed boobies.

I slept so well. I'm excited to start a new day!