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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of IHeart Radio.

Good morning.

This is Laura.

Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

Today's tip is that your remembering self will thank you

for the good memories you create. Even if creating memories can be a hassle, once you are on the

other side, there is a good chance you will be glad that you did.

I am writing this episode about a week after my family returned from an epic trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.

Making this trip had been on my list of 100 dreams, and I was excited to see this amazing landscape and the animals that inspired Charles

Darwin and changed people's understanding of the natural world. It was also not a low-stress

trip. Traveling with seven people internationally is never easy, nor is getting to remote islands in the Pacific, or living

out of a small suitcase for nine days, or even dealing with logistics of needing to brush your teeth

with bottled water and the like. On the other hand, we saw some amazing wildlife. I was able to be quite close to giant Galapagos tortoises.

I kayaked right over white-tipped reef sharks.

I saw iguanas, sea lions, blue-footed boobies, amazingly colorful crabs,

and, of course, those finches with their famously changing beaks.

Now that I am home and on the other side, and sleeping in my own bag, and of course those finches with their famously changing beaks.

Now that I am home and on the other side, and sleeping in my own bed, I'm happy I did it,

even if there was a fair amount of anxiety before and during the trip.

My remembering self is happy we did the Galapagos adventure.

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