Tag Archives: #TGA

A hashtag featuring the abbreviation for my site ThatGingerAnna.com

Travel

I’m not gon’ do it, girl…

I did it! (If you haven’t seen this popular TikTok trend, peep it here).

SURPRISE! If you’re reading this, I’m on my way to Madrid, Spain and I didn’t tell ANYONE I was going (sorry, mom)!

The week before last, I was extremely depressed, couldn’t sleep, and basically at my wits end with life. I had just filed my taxes a few days before and simultaneously realized I hadn’t done anything for myself (other than ordering random garbage on Amazon…dopamine, amiright?) in a really long time, we’re talking like 5 years.

I thought for a few hours and decided I was going to take a trip! Where could I go for the cost of my tax return? I looked up a few flights, crowdsourced it, checked out the cost of food, and looked up the crime index on Numbeo (I even did my due diligence to make sure I don’t wander into any heroin dens, haha!)—ultimately, I chose Madrid! All in all, it took me about 12 hours to find flights, accommodations, and build a full 6-day itinerary.

I originally found another flight for a seven-day trip but I was too slow (and waiting for “signs” that I wasn’t being totally insane, haha!) and it was gone by the time I built up the courage to book my reservations. Lesson number 1: Don’t hesitate or you lose out on better deals!

I’ll share the places I plan to go now and wait to share each day’s itinerary after I’m back in my apartment for the night.

I used Google Maps to plan my entire trip!

I visited Spain on a tour in 2008 but I haven’t been back since then. I also haven’t been on a solo trip or to Europe since I went to Italy in 2014.

Little bb Anna in 2008

So, for the next 6 days, I’m going to be exploring Madrid (with a day trip or two), on a budget. Activities might include: a Real Madrid game, all the museums, some Catholic stuff, the grocery store, going to the movies, la hora del vermut, geocaching, etc. I’ll be making a post every day to chronicle my trip but I’ll also make a post about costs, my AirBnB, and other details once the trip is over.

You can find a cost tracker and packing list here. If you want to see how I spend and how I packed for a week in a carry-on, follow me on TikTok and Instagram!

Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog and follow me everywhere (literallyyy every social media channel you can think of) @thatgingeranna!

JOIN ME!
Health, Jiu Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Roll: 20 May 2021

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I started back to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tonight after taking a month off to see my family back in Texas. If you are interested in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and think you’d get a kick out of regularly seeing me be submitted, make sure to follow this page and check back regularly!

Health, Jiu Jitsu

LET’S GET READY TO ROLL

I became interested in Mixed Martial Arts over 10 years ago when I was living in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A few of the guys I went to high school with were really into it and UFC was extremely popular since wrestling was big in Oklahoma. My favorite fighter was Forrest Griffin. I wasn’t really aware of any gyms in Tulsa that would train teenage girls but I did go to a few Jiu-Jitsu tournaments that a friend entered, as a spectator. I really enjoyed attending the tournaments and wanted to try but was too scared.

Fast forward to 2018 in NYC and I became friends with a guy who was a member of a kickboxing and grappling gym and another guy who trained Jiu-Jitsu regularly. They both convinced me (along with a few other friends online) that I could do it and that it wouldn’t be as bad as I was imagining. I was a super small kid and when I took Judo for a few months in Hawaii I remember even the warmups before every practice being so hard. I was scared I would show up to one of these gyms and embarrass myself, not to mention the gyms in Midtown Manhattan are crazy expensive.

I put it off again and then the pandemic hit in March of 2020. Fast forward about a year and I joined several neighborhood Facebook groups in my area. One day another female posted in one of the groups inquiring about Jiu-Jitsu classes in our neighborhood and someone responded telling us to check out Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu of Washington Heights. I decided to face my fears and anxieties and sign up for a trial–after 12 years of debating and being too scared to try, I finally bit the bullet!

I don’t regret it at all! The coach trains under Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro in his Times Square facility and is a Purple belt. He offers kids classes too. NONE of the hundreds of things I was scared of happened–all of the anxieties I had were pointless. I haven’t embarrassed myself, I wasn’t too out of shape, and even though I am the smallest person in the class, everyone has been really supportive, kind, and helpful while teaching me. Tonight I have my first class as a full member of the gym!

One great thing I love about this gym is that it isn’t cost-prohibitive like the Gracie schools in lower Manhattan. This is the cost of my investment so far:

If you are looking for a new sport to try, I can’t recommend Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu enough. Leave a comment below if you have any questions!