I’ve been home for almost three months now. All is well (as I say that with a little sigh). I’m more than ready to return to my temporary home across the Pacific but, I made a different choice. I chose myself. My mind was yelling at me to go back, but physically and mentally, I’m far from ready.

We can all agree that the year 2020 has been….interesting. These first three months of the new year has showed us that the world is changing and it will never be the same. Unfortunately, this affected me and my travels, it was a sudden change for me, but I’m making the best of it.

I’ve been teaching English in Taiwan for the past 18 months. Taiwan is a great place. If anyone wants to teach English in an Asian country, Taiwan is one of my recommendations. The simplicity, the people, the food, the scenery are all an A+. I decided to stay another year after my first teaching contract was up. I relocated from a small town in the Southeast to a big city Northwest of the island. The big move was a great experience, and simple compared to the U.S. I began teaching at an International/Bilingual school. This was my first time teaching at an actual school. My last school was at a language school. Though there are some challenges, the new environment has been great, where I live, and the friends I’ve made. This is the greatest set of friends I made in a while, but all of that has been interrupted during my visit back to the US.

I decided to come home for the Chinese New Year Vacation. The plan was to stay for two weeks. I arrived home, excited to see everyone after about 9 months. While I was here, Coronavirus cases began to rise both here and in Asia. I was able to extend my vacation time. But due to my health issues and the rising cases in the US, I was advise to stay here. I was devastated when I received the news. I wanted to go back and finish my contract, and live. But I’m living great with my family. Since then, I’ve been tutoring online, and moving forward to my dream career. I miss Taiwan, I’ll be back when this craziness is over, but in the meantime, I’m making myself great, with my family around me. I guess this is better than me being in Taiwan alone worrying about everyone.

Going to the South is always a breath of fresh air in a way. I always feel overwhelmed, thinking of what my life could’ve been, if I was going to be the same person (thoughts like that).

Summer 2016 was adventurous. I explored, and worked in the lovely city of New Orleans (Louisiana). All of Louisiana is beautiful and sacred. I served as a group leader to high school students. We assisted in building new homes for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, and helping local schools prepare for the upcoming school year. (It’s been 14 years since Hurricane Katrina and the city still has a long way to go).

While helping families, we also went to concerts, festivals, sports games and historical sites. (Fast Forward). I decided to visit a very important site: The Whitney Plantation in Wallace Louisiana. It was a hot, sunny Saturday morning. The destination is an hour outside of New Orleans. It was such a nice drive as I was alone. As we were getting closer, I took the time to simply take in the surroundings, observe everything. It’s nice to go to a rural area for a little while for a break. It seemed that the families lived a simple life. I felt as if I was in a different era.

I finally arrived at my destination: The Whitney Plantation. I can’t describe the feelings that I have as we started the tour. I can’t help but imagine our ancestors being buried alive and stabbed in their hamstrings so they couldn’t run to escape. I felt that pain. The entire tour had me silent. While I was looking around in the gift shop, I couldn’t help but think: What if I grew up during these times? In the South? Like my grandparents did. What if we switched roles? People always claim that they’re born in the wrong era, but are they really?

I’m always grateful for those that came before me, they raised their voices and now I have the right to live my life the way I want to.

TRAVELING THE WORLD HAS BEEN MY ONE AND ONLY LIFETIME GOAL. AS A KID, I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT THE WORLD, THE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, CUSTOMS, CELEBRATIONS ETC. LIKE MANY OF US, I WAS ASKED, “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?” FIRST, I WANTED TO BE A TEACHER, THEN AN ASTRONAUT, A RAPPER, AN ATHLETE, COLLEGE PROFESSOR AND EVEN A MISSIONARY. NOW WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT, I REALLY DIDN’T HAVE FULL PASSION FOR ANY OF THESE CAREERS. WHAT I REALLY WANTED TO DO WAS TRAVEL THE WORLD. I NEVER THOUGHT OF HOW I WAS GOING TO SUPPORT MYSELF. I JUST WANT TO SEE THE WORLD.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

2/18/2020

I always had an interest in traveling….nothing else….just traveling, visiting other countries.

When I began traveling, I knew I was just hungry for more traveling.

Unfortunately, most of my travels have been through school or work, very few leisure travels (abroad).

I began to observe why I haven’t been going to the many places I’ve been longing to go to (for leisure and not work or school).

I’ve been in school for a few years, so my finances weren’t together.

But then, I noticed that my unemployed peers were traveling more often than I was.

Was I really putting in effort to travel? “Be honest with yourself.” I said.

After speaking with someone really close to me, I realized what it was.

PASSION. It seems that I don’t have enough of it.

That’s a difference between the current/new generations and the older generations. The older generations had more passion in what they did (not all but, you know what I mean).

I started to feel that despite my financial issues, I still wasn’t putting in effort towards my dreams….I was just dreaming.

How do I change this?….

I Love Fruit! When I think of fruit, I immediately think of all of the exotic fruits all over the world that I have yet to try. I’ve been looking up different fruits and learning about their benefits. Asia has many exotic fruits, they’re sold at a good price, and easily accessible. Thanks to the good section of social media, I have been able to see travelers try amazing foods, fruit included. Eating right is very important to me, and I’ve been eager to try healthy food around the world.

The three fruits I have been eager to try are Rambutan, Jackfruit and Durian. The simple reason is for their amazing health benefits such as: Reducing diseases risks like Cancer and Heart disease, High Vitamin C, and naturally boosting your energy. I’m lucky to get Rambutan at the local market that I’ve been going to all my life. However, Rambutan is only available during the summer, at least back at home. I was eager to try Jackfruit and Durian, but many people can’t stand the smell. That didn’t bother me, I was eager to try it.

(Let’s fast forward to July 2019). I was excited for my next adventure: Kota Kinabalu/Sabah Malaysia. I never in a million years thought I would end up in Malaysia, to see it’s beauty first-hand, but they day came quicker than expected. This trip was interesting because, I was already living overseas, so I was a minority within a minority. Anyway, I wasn’t going to let that stop me from having a great time.

It was the month of July, so we were deep in Summer season (my favorite season). For Malaysia, Summertime = DURIAN SEASON! Durian is EVERYWHERE! Durian flavored Ice Cream (and other frozen treats), Durian drinks, DURIAN booths everywhere. During our bus tour, we decided to make a pit stop, not for the bathroom, but for Durian of course. It was my first time, and I was warned about the smell, some people can’t stand it. We stopped at a family Durian stop. It was a family that sold the fruit out of their own driving truck. The entire family was there. The people of Malaysia are beautiful! So many of us got off the bus to meet the family and support them. Three of us decided to share one Durian, it was pretty big. I finally tried it. It tasted ok, and the smell didn’t bother me at all. I wasn’t a fan of the texture, but all I could think of were the benefits, that’s why I couldn’t get enough of it. We had a great time eating right and socializing. The family looked like my family members.

Back to fruit. Asia has great fruits and vegetable markets everywhere. It’s an amazing feeling to get your groceries at “Farmacies” and not grocery stores. The “farmacies” are outside, and the food is straight from the ground. (Don’t get me wrong, their are great “farmacies” everywhere). Let’s get back to nature, and support “farmacies”. Take care of yourself.

“Farmacies”: outdoor fruits and vegetable markets.

There’s a six year gap between my two trips to South Africa, 2009 then again in 2015. Both trips were similar yet different (If that makes any sense). I went with my school both times: high school then graduate school. In high school,the trip was community service related, while in graduate school, we studied Post-Apartheid Education. Both trips were truly eye opening. Both trips, I went to completely different places, except for one important place: The Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.

I was in awe during my entire trip in South Africa. This trip was full of “firsts” for me. It was my first passport stamp, first flight, and another first, one that I didn’t expect nor will I forget.
Let’s fast forward to a few days into the trip. On this specific day, we spent the day at a “community center”.  During  a discussion, we, the guests introduced ourselves. There were about 15 of us, 13 students and two chaperones. Our discussion led to a Q & A. We were the guests, and our great hosts were so eager to learn more about us. Everything was going so well. Everyone noticed that I stood out to them the most. To be straightforward, they were amazed that they were face-to-face with a “Black African-American”. In total, there were four of us (that were black), but they were more fascinated by me (I don’t know why). We had a pretty lengthy Q&A, then out of nowhere, our hosts began to speak amongst each other in Zulu. It seemed that everyone knew what was happening, except me.
I was curious to find out what was going on right before me. Then, one of my chaperones told me that they were discussing marriage. Out of nowhere, they were arranging a marriage…..FOR ME! I was shocked and scared at the same time. I was a timid extrovert, who was always shaken up during uncomfortable times. I was also still a teenager, but that’s the perfect time to get married when in rural South Africa. This was definitely a first me. I wouldn’t even call this a marriage proposal, it was a straight up traditional arranged marriage. I was super confused, still trying to process what was going on. The news reached home really quick thanks to the blog we created (Facebook still wasn’t a thing at this time). It was hilarious to everyone, including my own family. This is still a hot topic, ten years later.
As crazy as this sounds, this “arranged marriage” made my incredible first trip to the motherland even more raw and incredible. This proposal was what I expected, I felt at home, and was treated as a local, and that’s what I love and desire when traveling. Ever since then, I always felt that my Ancestors specifically handpicked me to be the next extraordinary woman to “make my mark on this world” (the motto of my Alma Mater, Delaware State University) just as those before me did. Since then, I traveled back to South Africa, as well as Nigeria, I’m not done with the continent of Africa, and I never will be because it’s home.