Boulder is Pretty… But My Trip Has Been a Mess 😅

Couldn’t sleep last night → woke up early to catch my flight to Denver. Left in such a rush that I forgot to check if I locked the door 🚪😬 When I landed, it was super hot, and I almost got lost in the airport… but thankfully made it onto the bus to Boulder! A lot of people on the bus were carrying posters — turned out they were also heading to ICA. Apparently CU Boulder has other pre-conference events (I thought it was just my hackathon 🧠💻). The bus ride was about an hour. Got off, started walking toward Pearl Street… and realized I left my AirPod case on the bus 😤🎧 Same energy: I also forgot my water bottle at the airport earlier and had to run back for it. Last night? Spent an hour searching for my Type-C to HDMI adapter… ended up texting my advisor to borrow one since BestBuy delivery was too slow 🏃‍♀️💨 🍜 Lunch at Zhou Mama Michelin-recommended ✅ Ordered pearl meatballs and dan dan noodles — $19 A liiittle salty, but pretty authentic for American Chinese food 🥢👌 🍨 Gelato Break $10 for three scoops → worth it Walked around Pearl Street… but it was so sunny ☀️ + I was carrying all my bags → sweaty and exhausted 💦😫 Ended up taking a cab back to the hotel (RIP my plan to take the bus — my luggage was just too heavy). 🥾 Hiking Plans? cancelled. Sunrise hike tomorrow → cancelled by the guide 🚫🌄 (Silver lining: I can sleep in 😴) Thought about going for a sunset hike today instead… Got changed… but had zero energy to go out. Body = exhausted. Didn’t sleep on the flight, eyes are so dry my contacts fell out 😵‍💫👁️ Finally gave up and decided to sleep. Who knows when this hike will happen… ✨ Takeaways: Traveling is nice — people-watching, sunshine, good food But I’m spending money like water 💸💧 Also… lost my AirPod case, no carry-on suitcase (just a heavy backpack + a tote — buying a roll-on ASAP 🧳) #TravelStruggles #BoulderDiaries #ConferenceLife #SoloTravelProbs #JetLagIsReal