2012. I never really thought past the year 2012, so it's weird to have nothing but 'post 2012' ahead of me. It was just a landmark year that was intriguing to me in my younger years, and six years ago, when I was 19, it felt a lot farther away.
In 2011, I was fairly sure I was done modeling in the 'forever' sense. However, dreams of moving back to Asia, as well as getting fed up with the often 'not real' version of life in Brooklyn, I signed a new contract with a new (awesome) manager, and decided to give it one more go -- this time with a different perspective and different goals. A means to an end, instead of being the horse chasing the carrot.
Before I get to where I am now, I'll go back a bit.
New York spring/summer was for the most part, really great. Good friends, good weather, good projects, nothing to really worry about. I was only working jobs in a freelance sort of way, so I was only working jobs I actually wanted to work. Lots of music videos and super easy shoots. Lots of brilliant, but unfinished (as things in NY often tend to go) projects with friends. Lots of trips to the beach, morning coffee in the park, lots of late nights getting into trouble. I feel like if one doesn't have something specific to get done in NYC, to do in NYC, it can be hard to stay inspired. A lot of the time I have spent in NY, it just doesn't fit into living a real life. I never have time for things that are good for me, I never seem to really get anything done. Stress level is usually high, unless I have decided that I just don't fucking care about anything, and that isn't good either.
I fell in love, and my priorities changed fairly quickly. Instead of doing everything I could just to live in New York, I wanted to just live. I use to give my sister a hard time about falling in love and getting married in the short span of a few months. It seemed unreal to me, it definitely seemed like something that would never happen to me. But it did. 'The guy', as I'll call him here, won me over as a quiet, caring vegan. But on our first real date, he was arrested, our second date he took me on a helicopter ride over NYC, and by our third date -- I realized he was outgoing, smart, and vibrant…and vegan. First time I had ever dated anyone who shared the same food beliefs as myself, and wow, was it so much easier.
After a month or so, we decided to get out of NYC. So. We left in mid-August, and promptly landed in Guatemala.
