Cori Dombroski 1/28/24 Cori Dombroski 1/28/24

When Plans Change...

When our flights to Ecuador were canceled, it was time for a new plan to celebrate Bryan’s 40th birthday.

My boyfriend, Bryan, has traveled to 40 countries. So, when it was time to celebrate his 40th birthday, we knew we couldn’t just drive to Atlantic City or visit a restaurant in Philly. It would have to be something extra special to ring in another trip around the sun.

Due to work and time constraints (read: us planning everything at the last minute), we were a bit limited to the Western Hemisphere. I looked around the Caribbean to try to take the easy route and even got pretty far into planning a trip to Grand Cayman. But lazing around expensive beaches sipping all-inclusive cocktails didn’t quite feel like “him” or “us.”

We finally decided on Montañita, Ecuador. It’s a small coastal town known for great waves and, apparently, its party scene. We weren’t too interested in backpacker partying (after 30 we get tired easily and our lower backs hurt), but we were looking for surf, massages, and beachfront stays at South American prices.

We booked our flights to Guayaquil and plotted a few towns to visit along the “Ruta del Sol.” Everything was set and ready to go.

The night before our trip, we ate dinner with Bryan’s parents and dropped my dog, Bailey, off for her staycation. As we were leaving, the news reporter announced a shocking event in Ecuador: 13 armed men held up a live TV station in Guayaquil (the city we were about to fly into.)

We held back from panicking. We’ve both traveled to some reputedly “dangerous” places and felt completely safe. Plus, we’d be staying near the beach, far from the city where the attack had occurred. I imagined it would be like worrying about violence in New York City from the quiet beaches of Long Beach Island.

We went back to my place and mused for a little while, but decided to stick with the plan. The next morning, we drove to JFK. About five minutes from pulling into our parking spot, we both got an alert. Jetblue had canceled our flight.

There wasn’t any weather in the area, and an hour on the phone with customer service confirmed it was because of the uncertainty of the situation. A top gang leader had escaped from prison, and he was encouraging acts of violence throughout the country. All of Ecuador was in a state of emergency. Jetblue rebooked us on a flight two days later, on Bryan’s actual birthday.

Confused (and for me a little scared), we turned around to head home. Desperate to find some way to turn the day around, I drove us to Asbury Park to bring Bryan to an awesome vegan restaurant. They even gave him a free piece of cake to lift his spirits.

We spent the night ruminating and deciding what to do. It might seem obvious that we should not go to Ecuador in a state of emergency, but we’re both fairly adventurous and were still considering it. My travel friend put it this way: If millions of people can live through the state of emergency, I can spend a week there. She went to Bolivia during a post-election lockdown and said it was one of her most memorable travel experiences.

The next morning, I got a text from Bryan’s mom that Bailey had been getting sick through the night. I paused my work calls and headed over to find a puppy in a state of nonstop vomiting and diarrhea. I thought back to the gross gas-station-parking-lot chicken bones she’d tried to eat during our North Carolina road trip… I took her home and booked a visit to the vet.

The innocent face of a girl who’s about to eat something that will ruin everyone’s good night’s sleep for the week:

The nagging feeling not to go was getting stronger for me. The US state department website hadn’t announced anything, and Bryan would probably choose nice waves over his personal safety any day. Of course, he wouldn’t ask me to do anything that made me feel unsafe, so ultimately, it was up to me what to do.

The next day, Bailey’s illness slowed down thanks to meds from the vet. They said it was something she ate (ahem, parking lot chicken bones, anyone?) And I made the call to say no to Ecuador.

We weren’t sure if our flight would even take off. I couldn’t handle another disappointing drive to JFK and back. And we didn’t have much booked and paid for, so we wouldn’t lose money by canceling. We turned our flights to points and started to look for alternative destinations. We couldn’t let the birthday trip be a total bust.

Although the trip didn’t work out as we planned, there were a few upsides:

Not planning far in advance worked in our favor. We didn’t lose any money in changing our plans.
People were kind all around, from the free birthday cake to Bryan’s mom staying up with Bailey to the hotel owners understanding the situation and not charging cancelation fees.
Bryan got to celebrate on his actual birthday with his family. Hibachi and a movie are always a treat!
We ended up experiencing a totally unexpected and new-to-us city in South America. Stay tuned for the next post to find out where we went!

Cori Dombroski 4/29/19 Cori Dombroski 4/29/19

Birthdays

I turned 31 this month. I know, can you believe it?! Life is always rushing past at full speed, and I’m doing what I can to make the most of all these moments. Since a birthday is really a reason to go BIG if there every was one, I decided to do a very SoCal particular thing and try to ski and visit the beach in the same day. Of course it’s possible, the mountains and the beaches are a little under 3 hours apart, but in reality with LA traffic, you can never be too sure. I had to test it out for myself.

On April 9th, I rose before the sun, tucked my skis into the trunk of my car, and drove up into the mountains. Well, actually drove an hour on the highway and then a steep and windy hour and a half to Big Bear. One of the most important reasons for attempting this feat was that Big Bear Mountain offers a free lift ticket on your birthday. I had a birthday that blissfully coincided with a day off work, so I HAD. TO. GO.

I made it onto the mountain by about 9:30am, minus a brief stop for second breakfast since I’d donated blood for the first time the day before and was feeling a little woozy. There was not a tremendous amount of snow left this late in the season, but there was certainly enough to ski on. I’ve definitely seen less snow on other ski trips in my life.

This was my first time going skiing by myself, but iPhone & headphones were there for me, and it was a truly excellent morning. At around 11:30, the snow was getting pretty slushy, so I decided it was an appropriate time to make for the beach.

I stopped for lunch (an egg salad bagel, naturally) from what used to be my favorite bagel place but is now my second favorite bagel place since this one opened a few weeks ago. It’s really kind of unfortunate because the new one is way closer to my house and my bagel intake plus my waistline have probably both quadrupled or more. Anyhow, egg salad in tow I carried on my way.

One of my friends is a high school teacher who had a half-day field trip, so she kindly agreed to meet in Venice to make the day extra special. We grabbed a beer and scurried to the sand as fast as we could. It was still kind of breezy for LA spring, but that didn’t stop us from dunking in the water. I always try to get in the ocean as much as I can whenever I’m near the beach, even if it’s chilly, just so I don’t take it for granted.

My view had changed from snow to sand in a matter of hours. Unreal! Sometimes I have to pinch myself to remember that I seriously live here. I wouldn’t say the ski & sea voyage is completely reasonable for a regular day, unless you feel like LA driving for 6 hours, but for a special occasion with plenty of free time it was perfectly doable.

Ben & Jerry’s must have known it was my birthday, because on the walk back to our cars to try to beat the wild rush hour traffic, they were giving out free ice cream cones for no reason at all!

What a sweet ending to a perfect day! It was followed by a night of loungey cocktails with lovely friends and then a very satisfying sleep.

Cori Dombroski 4/1/18 Cori Dombroski 4/1/18

Mammoth Lakes

Last weekend was about as good as it gets up in Mammoth Lakes, CA. On Thursday, my dad picked me up and we drove to Mammoth for a ski weekend and my early 30th birthday celebration. What a dad! He left home in NY at 5am, drove down to NYC, flew across the country, then scooped me up in a rental SUV with 4WD to take us 5 hours to Northern California. We weren’t sure if we’d need the 4WD, but were glad to have it as we drove into Mammoth in a snowstorm. I probably should’ve driven the California leg of the trip, but my dad is very strict about rules and my name wasn’t registered with the rental company. Who knows what could have happened. So I just stared out the window as we went from rain to sun and back again. I saw a bunch of rainbows, Joshua trees, and interesting rock formations.

We skied an amazing day at Mammoth Mountain on Friday, and another at the well kept secret June Mountain on Saturday. Sunday had us back at Mammoth in a morning blizzard, but it all cleared up by lunchtime to return us to these beautiful views.

My head has been pretty clear, and I realize how lucky I am to be on this life vacation where I don’t really have anything to worry about back at “home”. It feels strange calling it home since I’ve only lived there for two weeks, but I'm definitely enjoying the transition. I can't think of a better way to explore my new state and celebrate the onset of a new decade of life!