Solo Travel

It can be hard to find the right fit as your travel companion, it’s no wonder that people have memorable trips when they go solo.

Imagine, you have 5 vacation days you want to use before you “lose” them at work. You start a group chat/text with your sibling, best friend from childhood, bestie from college, and your favorite coworker. You’ve all celebrated milestones together but never traveled domestically or internationally. Everyone is excited about going somewhere so ideas are thrown around for a day.

What It Looks Like Now

Are you tired of the COVID discussions and new variants? I know I am but part of my job is to make sure my clients know their destination’s protocol to enter and exit the country. As you know I returned from Southern Africa and each country had its own rules that we had to abide by.

Prior to even leaving the USA, South Africa required a PCR test 72 hours prior to an international flight. Please be mindful of guidelines, some airlines take the 72 hours seriously. If your flight leaves at 7 PM on Friday, you cannot show paperwork testing from Tuesday at 5 PM. Yes, that’s within 3 days but not 72 hours. And we all know, labs are not testing after 4 PM so make sure you are the first person in the morning.

Returning "Home"

Everyone kept asking if I was excited to go on my trip to Southern Africa. My response was always yes but my facial expression and tone of inflection would not match each other. Some would say that’s my normal; however, the day I left, I felt very overwhelmed with emotions. Tears welled in my eyes but nothing fell. But when my feet hit the soil of the land of my forefathers, the tear fell. Coming “home” has been a dream and now I can soak in the beauty of the Mother City, Cape Town.

Come on this journey, as I tell you about my time in Southern Africa.

Bag Lady, You Gone Hurt Your Back

Packing Light - especially on an itinerary where you will be moving and changing locations a good bit - cannot be underestimated. In fact, it can be the difference between an enjoyable vacation and a miserable one! You will never meet anyone who says "I wish I had packed heavier" when they return from a journey. Rick Steves, the Public TV European travel guru, only allows the members of his escorted tours to bring 1 carry-on size piece of luggage per person….

Global Entry, Why You Need It?

I love to travel, of course, that’s why I’m in this profession. Do you love to travel, but the thought of the TSA security lines and the long waits at US immigration and Customs are holding you back? I have a great tip to simplify your life - and it’s called Global Entry!!!!

Do You Have Your Invitation?

“Where Can I Go?”

I get that question a lot and my response is where do you want to go? As my mentor expressed to me as I was sitting for my professional engineering exam, “once you pass, you have an invitation to the party. You might not want to go to the party, but you have the invitation”. That’s how I feel about a passport. You may never use it (it’s valid for 10 years) but if an opportunity comes along, you have the invitation to go if you so choose.

Don't Get Stuck

Summer is in full effect, school is officially on break, and now what? Is it safe to travel? Should you stay local? Should you try a bucket list destination? If I’m vaccinated, will I still have to take COVID tests and possibly quarantine?

Taking Leaps

Every trip I try to do something adventurous. Even in a pandemic, I still planned to do something that would give me a rush.

Jamaica is an adventure enthusiast’s dream. Depending on the side of the island you choose, there are several packages and create your own options. Since this was technically my second time in Jamaica, I knew what I didn’t want to do on this vacation. My first visit was to Ocho Rios and we opted to go on a tour that included Dunn’s River Falls. It’s a tour through waterfalls and plunges into pools of water. If you plan to visit, make sure you have water shoes, it will help with your traction on the rocks.

Reaching Paradise

Sanitized, that is what we did once we reached the lobby.

We made accommodations at the Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort and Spa. The resort actually has two sides, Jamaica and Lady Hamilton. However, due to COVID, everyone’s accommodations were on the Lady Hamilton side. This time of the year is considered their high season as snowbirds (colder climate travelers) flock to paradise to escape the cold temperatures.

The Journey To Touchdown...

As much as I love football, this isn’t a sport’s article reference.

Towards the end of 2020, I made a decision that I would travel out of the country in January 2021. I knew the risks of the pandemic, but I also knew that my happy place/ peace of mind/ self-care is associated with traveling. Since the Caribbean is the main tourist destination open to the USA, I set my sights on Jamaica. On the Carnival Horizon cruise in 2019, there was a port of call in Ocho Rios. I figured revisiting the country but having the ability to stay longer would be ideal. Therefore, Montego Bay was the destination.

Five Lessons Learned

I’ve been fortunate to travel domestically and internationally. During each trip, I have learned a lesson that I like to keep in my toolbox for the next opportunity or share with someone else.

I’ve decided to write about five lessons I’ve learned on a couple of my trips. Hopefully, it’s helpful to you on your next adventure. Share with me if you’ve found any of these useful and which do you plan to utilize on your experience.

Second Times The Charm

A guided tour is an awesome way to visit a new country. The schedule is already made and you have a trusted and knowledgeable guide to help with the inevitable translations and navigation. However, some tour days can be jam-packed with visiting all of the main attractions within one day.

Self Care, Quick or Extended

September is designated as Self-Care Month. I’ve been seeing a lot of social media posts about the topic and have had time to think about my self-care needs. When my friend posed the question on her Facebook page, the options that were listed on her page were a sweet treat, spa day, or shopping. I responded with a quick and an extended answer.

THE BLOG

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