Category: Random Writings

21 Black Women You Should Take Travel Tips From

I wanted to try and make this post lighthearted and endearing but I was never good at faking the funk. There are hundreds of protests around the USA, Canada and the world right now against police brutality and the treatment of Black people. To pretend like I can just go about my day writing cutesy blog topics is not real, that’s a cover up. Just like everyday issues, travel is very political. One can’t just disassociate themselves from what has been going on and is going on with the treatment of Black men and women by police. And if you CAN disassociate yourself? Well, perhaps my blog isn’t for you and you can kindly close this page.

Here’s the thing about travel right, it is set within its own privileges. This can range from who has money to afford travel, which passport do you carry, what your physical abilities are, which gender you identify with and most definitely, what the colour of your skin is.

I get asked frequently, ‘Mirna is ______ safe to travel to?’.

It’s a tricky question because it really depends on who is asking. I acknowledge that traveling under a Canadian passport and as an able-bodied, white woman who speaks fluent English (the lingua franca of the traveling world I think) – what MY experience is in a city most likely will not be the experience a Black woman would have in the same city. That’s a horrible reality and I lack the depth to help Black women navigate those situations because I have not been through them. However, there are many Black women who travel the world and take the leaps. They have the experience and knowledge to write and speak on their experiences while traveling.

With that being said, I thought it would be a good idea to amplify the voices of some of those amazing Black women. They all travel and write about it, vlog about it or have a podcast about it, and you should check them out. Since 2020 is basically a wash for travel, it made sense to make it a list of 21! We are here looking forward to the future okay?

Also, take this time to note that I asked every single one of them for permission to post and they were gracious enough to allow me to write this blog post including them. Thank you ladies! And thank you to my best friend Sherry who designed the featured image for this blog post, it couldn’t be more perfect.

I tried to add the little (or a lot) I may know about the person or their content for each of them and also, some of my favourite posts done by them.

Global Carnivalist

Website: https://globalcarnivalist.com/

I really like Globey, I was lucky to meet her a couple of years ago at Carnival in Jamaica. One of my favourite posts by her was the recap of her travel to Morocco (and not only because of the superb outfits) and her recap of a trip to Haiti, because I’d really like to go visit there as well. Very envious!

Cruising Cocoa

Website: https://www.cruisingcocoa.com/

There’s definitely some bias here as I know KJ personally and she’s even cooler in person, if that’s possible. Imagine someone who is good at everything they do? Yeah, them ones. What I really like about her is that I’d follow along her posts on Instagram to see what being on a cruise ship was like. I’ve never been on one so her insight was great because she’s young and whole time I thought being on a cruise would be way more boring.

Ten Out Ah Ten

Website: https://tenoutahten.wordpress.com/

I recently met Tenille at Trinidad Carnival while she was just standing beautifully in a large fete crowd and I was mid-way through a drunken stupor. What a way to meet right? Well I know I really started reading her posts when she was traveling in Ghana and posting all the amazing content there. I’d try to post some of her fancy pants work for big publications, but the post I like by her was her rundown of what ten things prepared her for 2019. It’s amazing that with what is happening in 2020, we all probably could have used those same things to prepare as well for a totally different year.

Brooke On a Break

Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi2PtY9qmAYBGgYw4qw40-g/videos

Okay so I’ve never met Brooke in person right, but I started following her because she was the first person whose video I saw on getting your dental work done in Turkey. We’ve talked a couple of times, in different time zones since she is across the pond. She helped me with some of my planning to go get my own teeth done in Turkey as well and I am super grateful for her. I will say, my favourite video of hers is when she went to Croatia for Fresh Island Festival. If you need a good laugh and good insight, definitely watch that video!

Lenubienne

Website: https://lenubienne.contently.com/

Ah, the woman I imagine is a twin that I haven’t been fortunate to meet yet. That is Fernanda. This woman is gold I tell you, GOLD. Not only does she discuss travel, but she exudes the kind of confidence we all wish we had. With the specific topic of this blog post, I feel her post about traveling as a Black woman abroad would be most relevant and a must-read.

Two Dora’s in a Pod

Website: https://anchor.fm/twodorasinapod

I love that this is a podcast! I actually don’t know too many travel podcasts since people usually want to see all the pretty (and bad) but don’t necessarily want to just hear it, even though you should. Definitely need to engage with them on the Twodoras Twitter and if I may recommend one specific post they had, ‘The Truth About Travel.’ Raw. Honest. Opinionated. Take a listen.

WanderWomxn Travels

Website: https://medium.com/@JannaZinzi

Janna has one of those @ names that you always remember. Her timeline is filled with social justice, travel and lots of culture. If I could name the blog post you absolutely must read from her page it is the one about Intuition Doesn’t Lie. The entire post is beautiful and makes you think a lot but, that final sentence in it says: What inner wisdom does your intuition and your heart want to offer you? Make space for it: it is our truest ally, friend and partner. Like I said, a must read.

TravelEatSlay

Website: http://traveleatslay.com/

Okay so I’ve most definitely got the eat and the travel down right? One thing I don’t ever do when traveling is slay. I mostly look like a comfy university student when I travel so I don’t think I’ve slayed a day in my life. But this is why across the pond you have the wonderful women from traveleatslay. I especially like their site because they have Q&A’s with various travelers from around the world and you get to have many perspectives instead of just one. I would suggest reading the whole darn site, but my personal favourite is the Strangers to Travel Buddies post. To me, there really is no greater experience in travel than making travel buddies! Love it.

Travel With Tolu

Website: https://travelwithtolu.com/

If you want to see a CLEAAAAAN site, you should go check this website. You can tell Tolu took time and made this site not only clean, but super visually appealing. I like pages where I won’t enter and automatically exit because there’s too much going on. A seamless experience is appreciated and visiting her site you will get that. I read a lot of her posts because she goes to places I want to/have gone to as well, but my favourite was the Afronation Portugal 2019 post. First reason is because I’m jealous, it looked like a heck of an experience and second because she gives an awesome breakdown of costs and lots of nice pictures. Go check that out.

Elaisha Jade

Website: https://www.elaishajade.com/

Another super clean and visually appealing site I like to frequent. Elaisha and I just recently had a little chat on our opinions on a certain European city. It is that exact conversation why a blog post like this is needed. What I thought was pertinent to my trip there vs. what she experienced was pretty varied. A post I would suggest on there is the one about Facing Her Fears to go Mountain Biking in Switzerland. I’m a big fan of any blog post that begins with ‘I didn’t die‘, plus I don’t know how to ride a bike. My kinda post.

Nite Views

Website: https://www.niteviews.com/

Ellie, my fellow Torontonian traveler. She isn’t only a travel blogger, she actually went to school for tourism – she is the REAL DEAL. I like her because she also dabbles in the solo travel lifestyle and I will always be a cheerleader for women who venture abroad alone. Don’t wait for people, go do it. Yesss. She has a post about traveling solo to Caye Caulker, Belize. This is a destination I’ve been personally eyeing for a long time, so the fact that she did it solo is even better. Informational read!

MegFabulous

Website: https://megfabulous.com/

If I had to take a wild guess from my memory, I think I began following Meg when she did a post about her trip to Singapore. We both had done the Kuala Lumpur, Bali and Singapore lineup in our respective travels so there was a lot to talk about. However, none of these were my favourite post from her. She did one on her trip to Santiago, Chile and I vividly remember the beautiful photos she’d post from the trip and reading the post itself. Santiago wasn’t on my travel list/goals at all until I read this, I love cities that are best explored on foot.

NSKL Online / I Eat Solo

Website: https://www.instagram.com/NSKL/ / https://www.instagram.com/IEatSolo/

This is the Instagram page you want to be looking at. Beautiful costumes on a beautiful woman. Do you need any other reason? One of my favourite carnivalist women on Twitter with not one but TWO YouTube channels and TWO Instagram pages. If you like to eat (yes, this is my kind of place) then make sure to check out her Eat Solo Instagram page as well.

Liberty Leave

Website: https://www.libertyleave.com/

Let’s quickly talk about Danica, okay? If and when I grow up, I hope to be as good with marketing and blogging as she is. This is like the BOSS of it. Along with her amazing Watch Danica Work site, the Libery Leave story and page are really something to dive into. I think the best post you can read on there right now is her experience traveling solo in Asia while COVID was basically getting going. It is a whirlwind of a blog post and although I’m sorry this happened during her travels, I’m grateful she documented all of if so thoroughly for the rest of us to read.

Cinelliverse

Website: https://www.youtube.com/c/cinelliverse

Trigger warning, if you have recently eaten a cheeseburger or a whole pizza, like I did, maybe this isn’t the moment to go look at Cinelli’s YouTube channel or her Instagram. But once you get over your food coma, you MUST go look at her photos and videos. I believe I started following along in her journeys because I swear she was always in Tel-Aviv and I really wanted to visit there, still do. If I could recommend any specific video of hers that stood out to me it was the Spice Mas 2019 one. Another experience I’d like to have one day that she was able to take the viewers through. Magical.

My Breaking Views

Website: https://mybreakingviews.com/

Another super clean and easy to navigate site. Adebola not only has My Breaking Views to run, but she is also the co-founder of Black Travel Creators. Wonderwoman, basically. She has a post about What She Hates About Traveling and there was definitely some points in there I can identify with, and I’m sure all of you could as well. Go take a read.

Sandra Manjie

Website: https://sandramanjie.com/

I dare you to find a single more beautiful landing page than Sandra’s. It’s okay, I’ll wait. The colours and the themes are so vivid and the photos from her Carnival travels are epic! I really like her blog because she posts a lot about budgets and I think money conversations are imperative when trying to do all kinds of travel, especially Carnival. Naturally, because of that topic, my post to suggest you all read from her blog is 8 Money-Saving Strategies for Travel. Learn something, do something.

Tina Ware

Website: https://tinaware.com/blog/

Look, a whole published author on the list. Wowzers. Yep, that’s Justina. She wrote a book, has a blog and is one of those wonderful humanitarians that actually gives a damn about the world. If there is any post of hers I would really encourage all of you to read it’s a recap of her time spent Volunteering in Dominica. Heads up, it is not long but it is a bit of a tear jerker.

Bahamianista

Website: https://bahamianista.com/

Cris might be one of the sweetest human beings on this planet that I just haven’t had the pleasure to meet in person, yet. I actually believe she may be the sole reason people from the Bahamas began one day requesting itineraries from me. She put me on and I will be forever grateful to her for supporting. I will give another trigger warning for checking her Instagram out because she is fit as heck and you will regret the last XL french fry you just ate before seeing the page. The blog post of hers I’d tell you to check out is the 7 Reasons Why Sugar Mas Should Be Your First Carnival for 2021. I didn’t know much about Sugar Mas, but she broke it down and if you’re considering it – go read this post!

The Travelin’ Geo

Website: http://www.thetravelingeo.com/

I don’t know a darn thing about geology, but she explained some things to me last summer when I visited Pamukkale and she mentioned PERHAPS I shouldn’t be walking on limestone barefoot. Wish I knew that before. This is your go-to for geo tours. I didn’t even know what those were prior to Tweeting back and forth with her. Now most of our back and forth is about our love of 90 Day Fiance shenanigans and the occasional conversation on some things I’ve said about my homeland. She’s brilliant and I hope she can put everyone on more in geology information, when we are all allowed back outside. Also, check her IG if you like plants. (I know many of you have recently become plant parents!)

Wonders of Wanders

Website: https://www.wondersofwanders.com/

Davida is another wonderful blogger from across the pond. On her website there is tons of information about the places she has been to and even a section for a podcast. But do you know what the absolute best part of her website is, for me? There is a section called ‘One Day, Three Ways‘ – it isn’t ONE specific blog post, it is many of them. I am someone who loves day trips to places and she has some awesome examples of them on this page. Really a woman after my own heart. Go visit for a day, or three different ways 🙂

There they are, 21 of them and you better go read and subscribe to them all!

Twenty one travelers, wanderers and different perspectives. I know you’re all sitting at home doing nothing or ‘working from home‘ – since we may not be allowed to touch planes safely for the rest of 2020, you have the time to go support and plot out what you’re currently daydreaming about.

  • Mirna

Please Stop Speaking: Other People’s Travel Insecurities

This blog post is not meant to minimize the seriousness of COVID-19 at all.

There are many people sick and many people have died from this virus and I hope the world gets their shit together and finds a way to stop it and/or cure those who already have it.

Moving on though…….

You know what this blog post IS about? Insecurities. Not even your own insecurities but the insecurities outsiders try to put on your personal travels.

There are two specific ones I want to discuss: relationships and dangers.

‘Your Man Lets You _______?’

Friends at beach
Traveling Europe With The Girls

My man doesn’t LET SHIT. I am an adult and I am not under parole. So don’t bring that ‘let’ business into my life, ever.

How many of you are in relationships and had outsiders try to cast doubt on travels you or your significant other is about to embark on? Many I bet.

I travel a lot, it was something my boyfriend of four years was made aware of from the beginning. In fact, the day after our first date – I flew to St. Maarten. I made it very clear that travel is a priority in my life and that he either can come along for the ride or stay on the ground and far away from me. Luckily, he’s awesome and supports my travel habits and also participates in some of them too.

I’m very aware that he’s probably gotten some snarky comments about ‘letting‘ me travel to New York with the girls or to the three foreign Carnivals I’ve attended since we met. But he doesn’t give into that nonsense.

There was a conversation yesterday on Twitter about ‘how would you feel about your man going on a Spring Break trip with his boys?’ (thanks Tash!) You know what my response was?

I’d be VERY sad if he didn’t let me plan it for them and get them the best deal possible. That would be upsetting. The going to Spring Break part though? No. Why would I take issue with that?

Why is it that as soon as someone attends Spring Break or Carnival or some big music festival that the presumption is they’re going to do some dumb shit? That’s not fair. If I know how to act accordingly while traveling, he should as well. I assure you, if the person is going to cheat they’ll do it in your city, at their job etc. The first nor last time won’t be on THAT one vacation.

So please stop. Stop asking people about would you let this and that, and how did you let bla bla bla. Not your relationship, not your business. Only because your previous person may have done something, or your friends man/woman did – does not make it so for everyone. Keep the comments to yourself.

‘Aren’t You Scared To Go To _______?’

Aqoral Spa Hyatt Regency Cartagena
Hanging Out in ‘dangerous’ Cartagena

Between being told I could get kidnapped traveling alone to Bali, to being warned that my boyfriend and I will be killed by the cartel going to Mexico and that my friend Lorren and I will face grave danger visiting Cartagena – there’s a plethora of examples of people projecting THEIR FEARS onto my travels.

Person ‘a’ is scared of their own shadow and person ‘b’ is traveling somewhere that person ‘a’ wouldn’t dare venture to. So now person ‘a’ tells person ‘b’ about all the ways they could die going to that place.

Story of my damn life.

My mom tells me not to be so hard on people because they are just telling you to be safe and wishing good for you. Okay but, do you think I’m some frivolous and naive jackass that just travels wherever with no previous research? That’s how I take those comments. You think I’m an unprepared child. I read zero travel advisories apparently.

For every trip I do, I assure you months of reading went into it. I do a lot of overnight shifts and in those 13hrs, there’s not much else to do but to read things and my reading consists of planning my next trip(s).

With the current COVID-19 situation, I know there is a lot of fear-mongering going on. Is some of it valid? Probably. Does that mean I’m going to stop enjoying my favourite thing in the world? HELL NO.

I won’t put myself into any imminent danger (no Wuhan for me) – but I also still book trips. I’m going to still travel and enjoy myself because life is too damn short to be scared of stuff. If I die, I may as well do it in South Beach instead of Woodbine Beach.

People project their own fears onto you even when there isn’t civil unrest or pandemics floating around. Have you ever planned a trip solo? Bet some scaredy cat told you that you’re crazy and THEY ‘could never‘ do that. You know those ones.

Or when you travel to places that aren’t just all-inclusive resorts. Tell people you stay in AirBnB’s off a resort and they sometimes look at you like a martian. It is inconceivable to them that people take such ‘RISKS’ when they travel. Big quotation marks around that risks thing because my sarcasm is at a peak.

I planned and researched my trip to Turkey to get my teeth done extensively. Going to a foreign country alone to get a medical procedure done probably doesn’t cross too many people’s minds. It crossed mine, a long time before I acted on it.

About two weeks before the trip (that had been paid for, confirmed etc) I got a DM from a girl telling me that her friend went to some OTHER country and her teeth weren’t done well. So, not even the same clinic as me and not even the same country. Cool.

I wondered at that moment, what do people expect you to do with that information? Should I be like ‘omg, really? you know, let me cancel my entire trip and the procedure because YOUR friend went somewhere else and it went badly.‘ That seems like the only appropriate response. Because you are choosing to message someone two weeks before a trip to tell them a scary story. You must want me to cancel the whole thing. That’s how I’m taking it.

Obviously I didn’t cancel.

Airplane crashes happen, I don’t see people choosing to stop flying. It’s all a circle of projection and I need those who do it to STOP and those who are being projected on to IGNORE.

This post went on for longer than anticipated and I probably sound like a crazy person just ranting. But I am truly sick and tired of everyone else opinion on something they’re not paying for. If you paid for my trip, then you might have some say in it. Your fears aren’t other peoples fears. Whether in relationships or not, still go on the damn trip. If you did your research and chose well for a safe destination for you, then go take the damn trip.

Life is too short to be scared.

  • Mirna

Most Popular Destinations for 2020

It is crazy how one year can make such drastic changes in what was popular in travel.

Last year for my ‘Most Popular Destinations for 2019‘ the top five were Wynwood (Miami), Da Nang (Vietnam), Santorini (Greece), Bali (Indonesia) and Jamaica (the whole island).

Four of these are no longer what was most popular for 2020 in requests, and one of them actually moved up a spot.

#5: New York, New York

This one probably isn’t a big surprise to people, especially Torontonians. You have to visit NY at some point right?

There was a lot of itinerary requests this year for people going to New York, and more specifically, going solo. I’m always a big fan of solo travel and I could totally see why people want to go to NY solo. There is so much to do and see, it is a busy place and I find it pretty damn safe as a traveler.

Back in October even I went to New York with my friends.

Just remember if you want an itinerary for New York, you better have the damn budget for places to stay there. Although we have pretty cheap options for buses, trains and planes to get there – a clean hotel in New York? Shit I hope you saved up.

230 5th Brunch
Sky High in New York

#4: Honolulu, Hawaii

I still don’t understand this one fully.

The islands in Hawaii look incredible, don’t get that confused. I think the pictures I always see from there are amazing and they must be even more beautiful in person. But the costs to get there (sometimes) and the cost of a hotel or resort (all the time)? I don’t know about all that.

Luckily, there are some decently priced AirBnB’s in Honolulu.

Back in December I had posted a group trip for under $1100.00 per person to go to Honolulu for a week, with flight and stay. This post was VERY popular. So on top of all the requests I had received for personalized itineraries going to Honolulu, the public post was just as popular.

Visiting Hawaii will always be a dream for a lot of people and I feel that I will continue to get requests for honeymoons and family vacations there. Sure. I’ll still do them up, but, like New York – have that budget LOOKING BIG.

#3: Multi-Trip Europe

Europe is awesome because as long as you get to the continent, you can move around cheaply. This year had an abundance of requests that were London-Paris-Amsterdam or London-Barcelona-Venice. Whatever it was, it probably began in London though.

As someone who has done multiple trips to Europe that involved no less than five countries in one go, I 100% understand these motives.

I suppose the observation I have to make is that the aforementioned combinations are some of the most expensive to make in Europe. I always think to myself like why did you choose the SUPER expensive places to stay? London, Venice, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam – all cheap if you stay in a hostel. If you want a nice hotel? Even an AirBnB? Oh boy. Yeah it’ll cost you more than if you were to choose Prague or Lisbon.

The only one of these I haven’t been to myself is Lisbon, but I do enough itineraries going through there than I know the prices are way more tolerable.

One of the coolest itineraries I posted in 2019 that was for 2020 and had a multi-trip in Europe was ELEVEN countries for $2200.00. This is the reason you go to Europe. You get to see all this!

Keep doing multi-trips to Europe everyone. I’m all for it. Just try to maybe do outside the ‘typical’ if you can. Other places could shock you at what they have to offer as well.

Shakespeare London
Londontown

#2: St. Lucia, but for Carnival

What a rise!

Although St. Lucia is a very popular island for trips in general, the rise in Carnival requests for this beautiful place skyrocketed for 2020.

I published my St. Lucia Carnival 2020 post back in August of 2019. In hindsight I guess it may have been a tad bit early for something that takes place in July? Maybe. But I always post when the pricing is best! I want you all to get the best deal.

There must have been at least two itinerary requests weekly for St. Lucia Carnival 2020 since then.

I’ll take this moment to shout out Global Carnivalist and The Maneater aka LaFleurrRebelle aka Cinelli here. I don’t know about the rest of you but their posts before, during and after St. Lucia Carnival 2019 are what had ME paying close(r) attention. Globey had a blog post giving a recap of the whole experience for herself and Cinelli had an amazing vlog about her experience as well. I won’t go crazy and say they are responsible for 100% of the rise and intrigue for St. Lucia Carnival, but they sure as hell convinced me you know? Pictures and videos inclusive.

If I didn’t have Trinidad Carnival to pay for this year, I would have definitely gone back to St. Lucia to check this carnival out myself.

#1: Bali, Bali and more Bali

Well this was the one that moved up a spot.

Yes, it went from #2 to #1.

People really want to go to Bali. They continue to want to go to Bali. To be completely transparent, I probably promote everyone going to Bali the most as well. I get it.

It is expensive to get there from this side of the planet but once you get there? BLESS. Do you know how shitty our Canadian dollar is? Imagine being in a place you don’t constantly feel broke and undervalued in. It is an amazing place and will likely continue to be just that, amazing.

Last week I posted a group trip to Bali on the blog and people ate that shit up. Every time I post any kind of trip to Bali, it becomes pretty damn popular. I always include my ‘Things to Do’ post with it, so that you can see some of the beautiful options available to you once you arrive.

I love Bali and I understand why everyone else does too. In 2020 I expect even more and more itinerary requests to come in for this magical place.

Tanah Lot Bali
Tanah Lot Bali

The best part of writing this piece annually is that I have no idea what is going to be popular in the near future. I just do itineraries and see what people prefer and what is being requested more and more. Probably should also give a slight mention of South Korea here as well, I had a lot of requests for trip to there for 2020.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to a WHOLE NEW batch of awesome places to tell you about next year. Hopefully you choose me to help you out with the trips!

  • Mirna

A Recap of 2019

What a wild ass year. Truly.

I began January 1st, 2019 in the streets of Paris. Seriously, how fucking cool is that? If how you spend your new years eve is what determines the rest of your year, I was about to have a pretty awesome year.

How it started….

Being in Paris for NYE was all a part of my ‘Eight Countries for under $2000‘ trip. I got it done! I managed to visit eight countries in Europe over Christmas/New Years for under $2000, without having to stay in a room where 12 other strangers could breathe over me at night.

Eiffel Tower

After Paris I made my way over to Copehagen, Denmark and to Malmo, Sweden. These were really short trips, as I really was only there to see the neighbourhood Zlatan Ibrahimovic was from. Big fan.

Prague was incredible, it would be stop #6 during this adventure and the Christmas Market there alone was worth the visit. If you go, try to also make time to attend the ballet there, you’ll feel super fancy pants for not a lot of money.

Following Prague I had one day in London (where I spent the entire day walking and eating everything) and a quick layover in Iceland so I could dip myself into the Blue Lagoon.

Blue Lagoon Iceland

Vegas

When I returned to living my regular-degular life in Toronto, I went back to playing basketball. Was super excited to be back into it as well. Then one faithful day in March, I messed up my ankle so bad I was on crutches for a couple of days.

The reason this ESPECIALLY sucked was that at the end of March/beginning of April I was leaving for Las Vegas for a weekend. Imagine going to Vegas and you can’t even wear some cute high heels? So lame.

Luckily, by the day I left for Vegas, all was good. I could walk and didn’t have to limp around anymore.

The Vegas trip was short and pretty good. I swam a little and got to go on a helicopter ride. One of the most memorable parts of the trip was getting to stay in the penthouse of the Bellagio. If you’re going to live it up one time, do it here. The room was insane!

Bellagio Las Vegas

New Additions

Following Vegas I decided to make a YouTube video, that had nothing to do with Vegas. It was to help out those who wanted to travel solo. I named it ‘Five Solo Travel Tips‘ – because that’s about as inventive as I can get.

On April 25th, a big day in my life happened. I became an aunt. Now, although I do not have any brothers or sisters – I’m an aunt, got it? My cousin gave birth to my little bundle of joy named Antonio. See picture below, he’s awesome and a traveler as well.

Girls, Girls, Girls

If there is one ongoing theme that remained in 2019, it was that I am one of the luckiest people in the world to be surrounded by the women I know.

A perfect example of that was getting 10 of us to go to Blue Mountain for the Victoria Day Long Weekend. It was literally planned within three hours, a place was booked and all mans were ready and willing to go.

We all really needed that weekend and I couldn’t be any MORE eager to relive that weekend again, but maybe in a different country? (stay tuned for 2020) Please see image below if you need any further explanation as to how said weekend went.

Blog Movements

On June 12th I shut the blog down temporarily. It was so that I could move all my content from Squarespace over to WordPress. What a pain in the fucking ass. The young lady who works on my site (shout out to Sharine) helped a lot with this move. It was literally just to have access to the ads.txt section of the blog, which I did not have in Squarespace. Why did I need the ads.txt part? Well that is where the new parameters for Google AdSense were being set, and unless you could put your code in that area – no $$$ making for you.

The blog was overall shut down for about two weeks, and then I was back up and running again on WordPress. I like WordPress, and I was back to making money with Google AdSense.

Unfortunately, I ended up getting banned. Worst fucking day on the blog ever. Some invalid clicks shit happened, I appealed it THREE times. I have been denied all three times. This was really crummy because I was doing pretty well on Google AdSense for revenue, and suddenly it was all gone.

As I read thoroughly through thousands of posts, it feels like, about AdSense shutting people down – I am definitely not alone. It happens to a lot of people and it sucks, but it’s forever so you basically have to get over it. I switched over to a new ad platform and it’s OK. It isn’t AdSense but I can’t really do anything about it.

Furthermore, this lead to me finally charging for personalized itineraries. For 2.5 years on the blog I didn’t charge a cent for personalized itineraries people requested. When AdSense went down for me, I had to turn to that revenue stream to keep the blog going.

It has been going wonderfully, I should mention. Again, it isn’t AdSense but at least it’s something and I can continue to run this blog how I want.

THE RAPTORS ARE NBA CHAMPS

The first blog post I wrote when I reopened the site was about the Toronto Raptors being the NBA Champions. In the 25th year of them existing and the 25th year of me being in Canada, my Toronto Raptors would become the NBA Champions.

Unless you live in Toronto, you really cannot understand the depth of how much this meant to the city. To the fans I know who had been riding with this team since they were in elementary school. Huge deal.

I was one of the people who ran into the streets on the night we won and I also left work half-way through the day to attend the parade. One of the brightest parts of 2019 – THE TORONTO RAPTORS ARE NBA CHAMPIONS.

Raptors Championship Night
Raptors Championship Parade

Concerts on Concerts

To be completely honest, I am not a big concerts person. Even when I go to parties, I’m not happy when there’s a performance because it slows down all the shenanigans I’m trying to get into. Just isn’t for me.

However, in 2019 I went to three concerts in Toronto and loved them all. Why? Because it was super duper nostalgic. I got to see people I loved during my high school (and preteen) years perform.

My best friend Jummy bought me tickets to see the Backstreet Boys as a birthday gift. I was/am a huge Backstreet Boys fan when I was young and I never had the money to go see them in concert. This was finally my opportunity to sing my heart out to ‘QUIIIITT PLAYING GAMES WITH MY HEAAAART!!!’

The concert was awesome. I had a great time reliving my love of Kevin.

Backstreet Boys Concert Toronto
Backstreet Boys Concert Toronto

In the following weeks after seeing BSB I got to see Ashanti + Ja Rule in concert at Beer Fest. Yes, Ja Rule did show up. Crazy scammer man.

Then the week after Ashanti I also went to see her ex-boyfriend in concert. Nelly + TLC (or, I guess, TC?) performed in Toronto as well. This was a fun concert because in my head, I couldn’t believe how many Nelly songs I actually knew the lyrics to. I should mention, he did NOT perform Tip Drill and that made me a little sad.

23 Days in Europe

Luckily, for this section I wrote a shitload of blog posts describing everything that I saw, ate, felt etc.

Basically, I spent the entire month of August traveling Europe.

I began in Naples, which wasn’t particularly impressive. I only chose to fly there first because this was the cheapest flight at the time into Europe. However, from Naples I did take a day trip over to the Amalfi Coast. That trip was incredible and everyone should visit the Amalfi Coast at some point in their lives because it is literally everything you see on the fancy pants IG posts of it.

After Naples I took the super quick flight over to Dubrovnik. Although it is a great city, I strongly advise all of you to NOT visit during August like I did and to not be in the city on a Thursday. I spent three days in Dubrovnik and the best part of it was just relaxing in my wonderful AirBnB.

During my time in Dubrovnik I also took a day trip over to Kravice Falls and Mostar in Bosnia. Now THIS activity I would recommend for everyone. If you’re going to visit Bosnia you have to see both the bustling city of Mostar and go cool off in Kravice waterfalls. Again, if you make the horrible decision of being in Europe during August like I did, you will definitely need that cool off at Kravice. The day I arrived in the region, it was 43 degrees Celsius outside. Wowzers.

This was my first time returning to my home, Bosnia, since 2001. I wrote about traveling from Sarajevo to Banja Luka, and the unbelievable amount of cevapi I ate between the destinations. What I didn’t write about was the feeling I had returning home.

I kept thinking I would eventually write that post but it never came. This year was the 25th year since I came to Canada and returning to Bosnia in the same year was a bit much. It’s incredibly difficult to explain the feeling I had entering the city I was born in (Banja Luka) and not seeing Bosnian flags, but Serbian flags in the vicinity. Repulika Srpska, not the place I was born in anymore. Disheartening. I don’t have many occasions in my life where there are literally no words to describe a feeling, but this is one of them. It’s just indescribable.

Sarajevo

After Sarajevo I made my way over to Turkey.

The purpose of my trip to Turkey was to head over to Antalya and finally get my teeth done. I had been working insane hours at my two jobs to save up enough to get a smile makeover. I accomplished my task and four months later I can tell you it’s still the best decision I made in 2019. Aside from having a nephew born, this was the best thing to happen to me this year. I’m so happy with my teeth and that entire process you can read about here.

Before and After Veneers Dental Center Turkey

I spent a total of nine days in Antalya and aside from just dental work, what an awesome place! If Istanbul is akin to New York I’d say Antalya is Los Angeles. You get the beaches AND the nightlife/city life. This would be country #41 on my places I’ve been to checklist.

There are many activities and things to get into while in Antalya, but make sure while you’re there you also capitalize on the day trips available to you. On one of the days I didn’t have pain in my mouth I took a day trip over to Pamukkale.

This place was very impressive. Along with the limestone hills that looks like you’re walking on a cloud there’s this pool that Cleopatra use to bathe in to stay beautiful. With my temporary teeth in, I DOVE RIGHT IN.

Pamukkale
Cleopatras Pool

Following all the running around Antalya and getting my smile right, I finished the trip off in northern Croatia. A country I had been to numerous times since I was born. Some of the happiest moments in my childhood and even as an adult were in Croatia.

I feel the most notable thing to mention about northern Croatia is that you have to visit Opatija! This is a city I need to return to and stay much longer in, an afternoon was just not good enough.

The final week of my trip was spent going back and forth from Pula to Crikvenica and aside from visiting family, I also got to go to another concert…. except this time it was in a coliseum older than all of Canada.

Dimensions Fest 2019

New Yorkin’

One would assume after spending a damn month away I would try to take it easy for a little bit, right? WRONG. VERY VERY WRONG.

That was me, yelling at myself.

My three best friends and I took off to New York for the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend. I won’t describe it in great detail because you can read all about that here. I would, however, like to take this opportunity and say I have the bestest three friends in the whole wide world.

Sherry. Jummy. Lorren. Even aside from how super fun the weekend in New York was, you’re the reason my life is good.

Also, don’t drink a lot kids – it’ll have you looking like a jackass in an airport at 6am on a Monday morning. You’re welcome.

From left to right: Lorren, Sherry, Jummy

Random Pittsburgh Trip

So okay, New York happened right? That was planned and that was awesome. Pittsburgh? I don’t even know what the fuck I was thinking trying to pull this off so soon after New York.

Long story short, there was an opportunity at work for me to go on a trip to Pittsburgh and I took that opportunity. I spent an awesome five days in a city I never anticipated visiting. That’s what life is about sometimes, just getting opportunities and taking full advantage of them. I consider myself very lucky to have been chosen to go on this trip and meet so many awesome people from all over the USA and Canada.

University of Pittsburgh NCAA

Ending The Year Off Strong

December 2019 has been a wonderful month for me.

Prior to leaving for Pittsburgh I had applied for a new position within my workplace and after returning I found out I had gotten the position! Very awesome news.

On December 16th, 2019 (my birthday) I began my new position – finally getting to do a job that has SOME resemblance of what I went to school for.

Also, as you’re reading this I’m out celebrating New Years Eve in my favourite place in the world today, Santiago de Cuba. For my birthday my wonderful boyfriend bought me a trip here to enjoy Christmas and NYE. When I said I’d finish the year off strong, a new job and a trip here really got it done for me.

Next? Well, when I return I have Trinidad Carnival 2020 to work on. Before I left on this vacation I posted my budget for TNT Carnival and that should give enough of an explanation of how many shifts I’ll likely be doing upon my return from Cuba.

If you’re reading this I hope you had an amazing 2019. I wish you the absolute best in 2020 and thank you for reading and supporting the blog.

Hopefully there will be even more shenanigans and curse words for me to write in 2020.

  • Mirna

Using Travel to Cope With Heartbreak

“The best way to get over someone, is to get under someone” – pretty sure I’ve personally said this line to no less than a dozen friends after one of their breakups.

I realize this might be one of the most inappropriate sentences I have ever started a blog post with, but, it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want. That’s kind of how I look at breakups as well. It is also how I look at dealing with mourning of any kind. You will do whatever YOU want in dealing with the pain you are going through, whether it is the death of a relationship or the death of a person. Only you get to decide how to cope with the pain rushing through from your brain, to your heart and to every damn anxious part of you.

Does using travel as a coping mechanism seem odd at all?

Think about it:

  • you get to escape your problems
  • there’s probably alcohol
  • there’s definitely food
  • you get time to yourself OR time with a friend who will let you cry
  • travel makes you happy
  • you might get under meet someone new to get your mind off someone old
  • …..did I mention alcohol?

It all may seem like an excuse to just run away from your problems but, why the hell wouldn’t you want to leave that shit? We are all adults and realize that problems will likely still be there, it isn’t like hopping on a flight to somewhere will make them magically disappear. But they will temporarily disappear. Sometimes temporary relief will be the best thing you can hope for in a shitty time in your life. Some of us get menstrual cramps every damn month, will taking a Tylenol fix that long term? No. But it will ease the pain for a brief period of time.

There were three times in my life that I used travel to deal with heartbreak. One of them was a really stupid idea (now that I’m 32 and look back at it) and the other two were awesome.

Belgium

Overpelt, Belgium
I look thrilled, no?

When my first long relationships finished, I was in a super strange place in my head. I was like 21 years old, just finished college and the guy I had been with since I was about 15-16 had just turned crazy so I had to break up with him. The breakup sucked because he was my first love and all that corny stuff, but what sucked even more was the whole ….. well, him being nuts thing. He lived down the street from me and would ring down my phone at all times of day and night. It got to the point where I’d get a little anxious going to catch my bus to work, because he might be on that same bus.

Clearly, I was not in my right mind.

An opportunity had presented itself for me to go do some job training in Belgium, and then this job training would set me up to have a career traveling the world. TOTALLY SKETCHY. But did it matter to me at the time? Nope. I was young, my ex was nuts and I just wanted to get the hell out of Canada. So I quit my job, packed my stuff, told my parents and friends goodbye and took off on a plane to Overpelt, Belgium. (If I was doing this in 2019, do you know the amount of human trafficking thoughts that would have gone through my head? OK.)

Luckily, nothing bad happened to me on this trip. The company was definitely sketch and after the one-week of training I was there for, I told them thank you for the flight and decided to go venture through Europe for the next month alone. Great decision. Had the opportunity to visit some family members I hadn’t seen in a while and just do my own thing and clear my head.

By the time I got back to Canada, I was a different person and I never heard from the ex ever again.

Cuba

Santiago de Cuba
World Cup watching outdoors.

Now that I think about it, graduating school and a breakup happening seem to go together for me? In 2014 I was finishing up my time at the University of Toronto and sadly another relationship I had been in for four years, was ending. This was a very different scenario since I was no longer living at home and the breakup was NOT with someone crazy. This breakup was amicable, the guy and I are still friends and there was literally zero dramatics with it. However, still a breakup.

Another point in my life where I was finishing school and finishing a long relationship though, so, clearly, time to run away again. I booked a flight to my favourite place in the world and about 3-4 days after graduating I left to Santiago de Cuba.

This would be my third trip to this incredible city, and actually the second time I would be there in 2014 because I had gone earlier in the year as well just to visit my friends there. This trip did something really good for my soul. I went there and got to enjoy time watching the World Cup, got heavily intoxicated every day sitting on a park bench with my $5.00 bottle of Havana Club and I slept, a lot. During my time at the University of Toronto I was working 2-3 jobs at a time and had a full course load. Sleeping was just not one of the parts of my schedule. I went on this trip and basically got very drunk and slept for a whole week. This was NOT an all-inclusive resort though. I always stayed in a casa particular and I had the best time ever.

Cuba helps you a lot after a heartbreak because EVERYONE there can’t wait to tell you how pretty you are. What you decide to do with that information is totally up to you. I realize not all women are comfortable with strangers complimenting them on the street. I also realize I may not even be that attractive, I very likely just am a walking green card. But you know what? It’s nice to hear compliments after a breakup. When you think you’ve lost the person who made you feel prettiest, the compliments are welcome and refreshing. (for me)

This trip had me coming back to Toronto like, ‘YESSS IM THAT BITCH GEEZE‘!

Chicago

Girl in Chicago
Views in Chicago, from a glass floor.

Well, this break up really sucked. My dumb ass came back from Cuba, was feeling myself a little too much and was stupid enough to fall into a rebound. If ‘board man gets paid‘ is a thing, then ‘board man gets played‘ is as well.

I went through a break up, went on a trip, was excited for some Caribana fun and then met a man. STUPID. Do not recommend. 0/10

Long story short for this one, he was a bad decision. As someone who takes pride in being a pretty good judge of character – woooo lord, must have still been drunk off that Havana Club to make this decision. I had no business jumping into a relationship that quick, with a man who had so many red flags.

This whirlwind lasted a whole four months. In that four months, he managed to upset me so much I almost stepped out of character and considered going to show up to his job to make a scene. It’s never ever one of those though. Don’t let any of these men get you out of character.

Being ghosted about two days before your birthday is how this relationship ended. I had to leave a voicemail to end my own relationship. Imagine? Pathetic.

I booked a flight to my favourite place in the USA and took off the day after my birthday. Figured I would drown myself in Chicago with pizza and sports.

This trip was shorter than the previous two escapes from my horrible love life, but this trip helped a lot. It is amazing how some awesome friends (shout out to Pierce and Delancey) could just go bar hopping and sports-watching with you and it can take your mind away. If I tried to recount how much pizza I ate during my time in Chicago for that trip, well, I just won’t. Alcohol, pizza and a Bulls game was a great way to numb the anger.

Don’t run away from your problems people. I hope that wasn’t the point you got from my post. You can run, but you can’t hide. Unless you’re exceptionally wealthy, you will eventually have to come home and deal with the bullshit you tried to step away from.

Travel is a good coping mechanism because you get time with yourself. You deserve to feel the happiness of being alone when you travel, because you have been a relationship for a while. Go enjoy your own company and then you can come back and try to work on finding someone else’s company again.

  • Mirna