12 Things I MUST do before the end of 2012

Summer is leaving us and Fall is approaching and before you know it 2013 will be here! I feel like it was just January and I was writing down all the things I wanted to accomplish this year. I cannot believe that I'm already pass the 6 month mark! WAIT 2012 COME BACK!! Well people it's not coming back so it's time to dust off your goal chart, wish list, or whatever else you made for this year and get going! Since I'm way behind I decided that I would commit to 12 things to do before the end of 2012 #12in2012. I may not get them all done and I may switch them out with other things but the point is I WILL make 2012 a great year!    

      1. Visit A Vineyard/Winery

I’m trying to become a big girl and step it up. The only wine I can truly judge is sangria. I’m that girl who asks for the “sweet one” lol. A visit to a vineyard/winery will probably not change that because I'm such a light weight but I at least want to try to expand my palette. You never know I may discover a new favorite.

2. Officially Join a Church

3.  Explore the U.S.

Have you ever been asked “if you could travel the world where would you go?” and find yourself listing destinations with none of them being in your home country?  I do this ALL THE TIME!  How sad. When I go abroad I meet so many people that speak about how much they want to explore in the U.S. from New York to Texas to California.  There is so much diversity in our own land and we need to do better at playing in our own back yards, being residential tourists. Did you know Colorado has natural hot springs tucked in between the mountains? An Indian told me all about it and that’s when I decided….I’m there!

Tikal pyramids in Guatemala

4. Book at least one international trip for 2013 

Clearly because I have the travel bug junkie itch and it needs to be remedied.

5. Go to one Embassy event

D.C. is known for being a global melting pot of cultures. It’s one of the reasons I love this city so much. So I thought that I should take advantage of the many adventures right around me. I recently learned that embassies have events regularly and while they are somewhat pricey ($50 average) they are great ways to learn about a country. They usually include an authentic meal, movie, and some type of live performance or art showcased from a native artist. I'm signing up for the Embassy of Costa Rica. I joined a DC Meetup group for young professionals in international development but there are tons to join for travel or international interest. http://www.meetup.com/

6. Get better at Spanish

I’ve been learning the language since 7^th grade and I’m still not fluent….I simply need to do better lol.

 7. Splurge on Food

I love food but I realized that when I budget I always get stingy when it's time to calculate meals.I’ve started using a website/app called Savored  http://savored.com that gives you 30% off your bill at a restaurant. Their selection of restaurants and bars are 4-5 star so it’s a super deal! However sometimes it's worth it to just spend the money, I’m interested to see how true this really is!

8.  Learn to Cook Mac and Cheese

#catchamankeepaman enough said

9. See Broadway Musical

It’s Broadway week September 4-16! 2 for 1 tickets! http://www.nycgo.com/broadwayweek/  I plan to cash in!

10. Host a learning event for other students looking to pursue travel after graduation

So often my Spelman sisters reach out to me with questions about travel and fellowships and life after college. I would really like to find a more efficient way to answer all these questions, especially because they are usually the same. I’m thinking a live webinar or chat would be the best option with either Ustream or Youtube but I’m open to ideas!

11. Go to music performance at Kennedy center for free!

12. Get a Library Card

I LOVE READING! When I was growing up reading was my first introduction to traveling . While packing my bags from my 10 months in India I realized I had a whole suitcase with nothing but books! Since I can admit that I have an addiction I decided that rather than buying all these books I needed to get a library card so that I can not only save money but space!

BONUS 

*Create a brand for myself that allows me to pursue my passion while getting paid. 

CREATE A LIST AND SHARE! WHAT ARE 12 THINGS YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO BEFORE THE YEAR ENDS?!!

My Top 5 Travel pet peeves.... In A travel buddy...

It's finally here!! The Traveling Brown Girls Blog Carnival! I'm so excited to participate and the first topic of the carnival is "Travel Etiquette: My Top 5 Travel Pet Peeves". So here are my top 5 in a travel buddy.

                                             

                   

 1.    Doesn't want to stray from the guidebook

If you’re the adventurous type like me then you like to stumble upon a quaint cafe or bookstore and you probably don't make your entire itinerary based on your guidebook. It's a pet peeve of mine when I suggest something like walking around a neighborhood and my travel partner responds with" that's not in the book".

2. Passes judgment on the experience within the first day

As we all know first impressions are important but I do not agree that they have to be your last impression. It's a pet peeve of mine when a trip starts off rocky with a lost taxi ride from the airport or, slow check in at a hotel, or a nasty attitude having waiter and my travel partner decides that the country, city, or town sucks! I believe that everyone and everything deserves a fair chance to redeem itself. So the next time you experience one of these... Take a second and decide to have a fresh start and then if it still seems to be nightmare, RUN!

3. Can’t go with the flow and be flexible

 Time and time again I have traveled with one plan and ended up with a whole new one. Once I went to Morocco during Thanksgiving and the whole city of Marrakesh was shut down... I learned this from the male flight attendant who invited me to his family's farm. Now when you first hear this you think... “Hell naw I'm not spending my thanksgiving on a random man’s farm” but once you wake up and realize literally no one is in the city you get in  a bootleg taxi and be happy with slaughtering that goat on that random flight attendants farm. It was a crazy experience but had I not gone with the flow my friends and I would have never experienced this Muslim holiday celebration that we will never forget.

4.  Comes broke!

This is my #1 travel pet peeve. BYE GIRL if you are that girlfriend who thinks everything is too expensive and keeps saying “back at home that would cost..." Travel doesn't have to be expensive but it's not fair to come on a trip broke and make everyone conscious of every dollar they spend. If you are on a budget make that clear in advance and be ok with tapping yourself out when your travel friends ball out or do things that you'd rather not spend your money on.

5.  Doesn't communicate

It's so important to discuss your expectations before traveling with someone. All parties should discuss their must do's as well as their budgets. I've found this to be so helpful when trip planning. My friends all list what we want to do and evaluate our interest and where they differ to know how we should plan our time together and separately.

We all have our moments when we can be annoyed, frustrated, or upset about something during travel however we must remember that when we are with others the journey is a team effort! In my opinion that's the beauty in traveling with someone. You don't have to deal with it all by yourself. So next time your planning a trip with a friend think back to my pet peeves and make sure you don' fall into one of these categories as the pet peeve travel buddy :-)

 

Don't let this....

Turn into this

Follow me @blkgrilbigworld

BLACK GIRLS TRAVEL T-SHIRTS!!!

As you all know Girls Going Global is up and running!!!! We finished our first weekend in Latin America and this weekend we will explore the continent of Africa! More than anything I want these girls to one day go abroad and actually see the places that we learn about but what's the first step? PASSPORT!

 Not one of the girls I work with have a passport....NOT ONE! I want to change that so I am selling BLACK GIRLS TRAVEL T-SHIRTS for a MIN. DONATION OF $20! Feel free to give more as one passport is $105. ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TOWARDS A GIRLS PASSPORT. Below is an example of the t-shirt. Place your order today! Last day to submit a pre-order is August 20th! Email me at girlsgoingglobal@gmail.com or click on the link below! 

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B7K37CLFGWWKG

Any and all support is appreciated!!! 

Indian Jams I can't get out my head

Lately I've found myself in the shower, office, and streets humming Indian tunes and then breaking out into full on Bollywood dance scenes with hip thrusts and intense facial expressions. Of course every time I do this people look at me like I'm crazy and judge my life! So here I am sharing my favorite tunes from India with all of you because I will continue to sing them and you should join!

1. Kolaveri is an international party starter.....The U.S. is not up on it yet but I promise you that when this song starts people GO CRAZY! I think it's because of his hip hop swag lol.

2. If you want to still hear a hip hop/pop beat but know something from a Bollywood movie Teri Meri ( You and Me) is the jammmm....this was the very first song I learned and sang for all the auto drivers.

3. Sheila is the Indian Beyonce!!!!! EVERY MAN LOVES SHEILA AND EVERY GIRL WANTS TO BE SHEILA! I love her especially because she does belly dance and the chickenhead all in one 8 count lol! Jam with me people. I even included the lyrics for you to learn and understand what she's saying ;-)

4. And lastly if you want to go full Bollywood....you have to know Munni!!!! She's also an Indian favorite. I learned this song on my 15 day train journey with 500 Indians....my bunk mates said I had to learn all the words and now they call me Munni lol.

 I hope this short list has helped expand your musical selections lol. Some are very old but I promise you that if an Indian hears you singing ANY of these songs you will become their best friend...I almost became some one's wife lol. Hope you enjoyed!

Don't forget follow me @blkgirlbigworld

What's the 411?!?

For all that may be wondering what the heck I've been doing since I got back from India I figured I should give you an update. So the deal is I left my program in India early to accept a great opportunity at the founding social enterpise organization in Washington, D.C. Yes, I'm still trying to save the world and make money at the same time lol.

The real 411 is that I'm finally taking a risk and pursuing my dream to empower girls through travel. In 21 days, 18 hours, 44 minutes, and 15,no 14 seconds Girls Going Global will launch in Philadelphia!!! Yes, I do have a countdown on my phone because that's how crunk I am! s/o to the T-Zero app :-)

Girls Going Global is a global engagement program that will expose inner city girls to the different cultures of the world through experiences in their city (God willing we will be actually going abroad by year 3). We will dance our way through Latin America and Africa with salsa  and African dance class, eat our way through Asia with sushi making, and strut through Europe with our very own runway fashion show! I'm so excited and I can't wait to share updates on all our fun so stayed tuned!

For updates follow me @BlackGirlBigWorld  

Travel Tips for Brown Girls with Zora Magazine!

Check out my post on ZoraMagOnline.com and

....Follow me @BlkGirlBigWorld on Twitter

http://zoramagonline.com/2012/07/7-tips-for-brown-girls-travelling

FAREWELL INDIA!

It has been almost four months since I left my family in India and it's been surprisingly easy to adjust back to life as an American. Before leaving I wondered how my return would be? Would I be overly grateful for everything I have? Would a new patience emerge from my spirit? Would I take all the chaos of India and bring it back to D.C?

So imagine my shock when I jumped in the car from the airport, went one mile towards home, and all of sudden felt like I had only been gone for 6-8 hours when I was indeed gone for 9.5 months! I felt like life in India was a dream and I had finally woken up. It's been 4 months and I still can't properly describe how normal everything felt within the first hour of being back home.

I appreciate India for all that it taught me about myself. Despite the challenges, because of my neighbors/family  the Tivoli's ( above)  I can say that my Indian experience was a gratifying one. No matter how bad my day was I could always count on one of them to make me smile or put things in perspective. The Tivoli's were a family that lived below the apartment complex. Mr. Tivoli was the buildings watchman who was in charge of any and everything that happened within the building. The floor you see in the picture is where he and his wife slept at night outside. The children had some small living quaters in the back that I never got to see. My greatest memories with the Tivoli's were Sunday dinners ( chicken curry amazing!!!), Mommy walking in my apartment to check on me (no she didn't knock just walked through the front door lol) ,movie night with the girls featuring Beauty and the Beast on youtube, and the unforgettable night that Mr. Tivoli and Sunderi ( girl to the right of me) fetched 2 buckets of water for me!

With all my memories what will always remain with me is the look on their faces once the lost in translation moment revealed that I was leaving Hyderabad for good. They were so upset that we didn't have a party before my departure. Looking back on it I wish we would have because I allowed my frustration with everyone else to keep me from enjoying my last moments with the people I grew to love. At 4:30am when my taxi got to the front gate Mommy got up from her bed ( the floor outside), walked me to the gate, grabbed my face and began shrieking with tears. It broke my heart to let her go and leave them behind. They will forever have a special place in my heart.