the Kingsroad

Happy hump day! You made it halfway through the week! How are you doing? Hangin’ in there? Are you taking time to check-in with yourself and give yourself the care, love, and attention you need? If not, it’s perfectly okay to set aside time for yourself to do whatever you want/need to do during ‘me time.’ Maybe it’s yoga, meditation, running, reading, tending to a pallet garden you built, sewing some pillowcases for your home decor, making a dress to match your homemade mask, or even playing animal crossing with family and friends. Whatever you want to do during your assigned ‘me time,’ make sure you’re doing it and giving yourself a break.

If you didn’t get a chance to read yesterday’s post - “giants and their egos” - you can click here to read all about the natural beauty of the Giant’s Causeway and the legend of Fionn mac Cumhaill and Banendonner! Also, if you didn’t get the chance to cast your free daily vote for me to be the next #MaximCoverGirl, you can click here to vote or click here to read about why it’s important to me (and then vote!). You can vote once every twenty-four hours for free, and I am so grateful for your support! Voting for the Quarter-Finals round ends TOMORROW NIGHT July 16th, so I’d appreciate any and all support I can get to make my way to first before the 16th! Thank you for everything so far!! If you’re all caught up on the adventures thus far and Maxim Cover Girl voting, then sit tight, strap in, buckle up - whatever you choose!

We’ve been spending a lot of time in Northern Ireland recently, but I wanted to take a chance today to write a bit more about The Dark Hedges, which I mentioned in my previous post on the Game of Thrones filming locations tour called “cave-born shadow babies.” In that post, I shared a photo of my best friend from high school and me posing together in the middle of the tree-lined Kingsroad. That tour was not the only time I got to visit The Dark Hedges, though. When two of my college girlfriends came to visit me in Ireland, we did a road trip around the country together, including a stop to see the Kingsroad! As we ended up renting a car (and got a free upgrade to a BMW SUV... what whatttt! my girlfriends are gorgeous!), we were not tied to any tour-related time constraints -- only the time constraints they had in order to catch flights out of Dublin. There were tour groups that arrived and left during our walk down the beautiful road lined on either side by beech trees, so during the tour group lulls, we got plenty of time and opportunity to goof around… which is one of my favorite things to do no matter where I land in life.

The beech trees were originally planted in the 18th century by the Stuart family. They were intended to make an impressive first impression to visitors as they approached the Stuart family’s Georgian mansion, Gracehill House. The trees are still standing two centuries later, though there were two that were falling on our visit. While there was a break in tour groups, we managed to “trespass,” climb one of the famous beech trees, and get some photos together to capture the memories. Do you ever stop to think about how amazing it is that trees that were planted two centuries ago outlive the people who planted them and will probably outlive those of us who choose to climb them, too? My brain thinks about stuff like that all the time, but I feel like it's even in overdrive now that I've planted and been taking care of the pallet garden.

Are you someone like me who likes to goof around whenever the opportunity presents itself? Let me know! Subscribe in the e-mail submission box below and reach out, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and reach out to me on the “contact” page. I’m so happy you're here and that I’ve been receiving a lot of really incredible stories, questions, and feedback from a community all over the globe! Other people’s stories that I’ve gotten to read via e-mail, text, tweet, DM, etc. recently bring me such smiles, and I am so grateful for all of it! I hope I get to hear all about whatever stories you’ve been thinking about as we’ve been on this virtual journey together! Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you have any restaurants/eateries/pubs/coffee shops/ice cream joints/theatres/lookout spots you would recommend in other countries or even in your current home town or city, I'm absolutely 100% all ears!! I couldn’t do this without you! So THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, truly, thank you.

And please, if you have 10 seconds to spare, I would really appreciate your daily vote for me to be the next Maxim Cover Girl 2020. Click here to vote! Voting for the Quarter-Finals is now live and continues everyday until THIS THURSDAY July 16th! The race is close, and I need to finish first in order to advance, so I would really appreciate your help and support as I continue to try and become the next #MaximCoverGirl by moving ahead into round 7/the Semi-Finals of the competition! Thank you for all your support! I wouldn’t have made it this far without you! Click here or on the photo above to vote!

Sincerely,

Johny

P.S. - If you want to catch up from the beginning on this series of travel adventures, here's a cheat sheet to the posts (in order in which they were published):

1. Won't you join me?

2. grateful for starbucks and sandymount strand

3. Once Upon a December in the National Gallery

4. plant a smooch for that gift of gab

5. may the 4th be with you: Dingle style

6. cinco de mayo: the best Mexican food in Dublin

7. pizza in roma

8. mussolini’s window and the philosophers’ metro stop

9. father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife

10. it's the vatican, not the vatican't

11. spoiler alert: i did not lose my hand

12. more pizza and gelato and Neptune, oh my