Episode 017 - Slow Travel: like attracts like

For the last several months I’ve been working very hard. I’ve rarely visited the beach that’s a 10-minute stroll away or the rooftop deck on my apartment that is 1-flight of stairs. In addition, I’ve neglected this podcast. 

Why you ask? Because travel is back in a big way and my clients (and potential clients) have been chomping at the bit to get out and get away this year and the next. Some have kept me so busy with multiple vacation plans or as soon as they return from one they want to start planning the next. It’s been so overwhelming that by mid-summer I had to declare and decree: “no new client inquiries for 2022”.

Anyway, my 60th birthday was right after Labor Day, so I decided to take the whole week off from work. Screw my quarterly taxes! I went to the beach and up on the rooftop deck, I meditated and prayed and remembered the past and made some plans for my future. I went out with friends for dinner and drinks and I sat alone eating popcorn and drinking Tequila. 😊

However, coming back to work on the following Monday, my unread email count was in the thousands! In between all of the normal ones from travel suppliers, there were requests for meetings, new inquiries, clients departing for their trips, and so much more travel work. Yep, it was back to the grindstone.

Well… early Thursday morning last week, I hear knocking on doors in the apartment building. I go out to the living area and listen and dismiss it after I hear a muffled conversation in the hall but before I can get back to my bed the knocking comes to my door.

I answer “Yes?” Then I hear in response “Danielle, we were worried about you!” OMG! I run to put something decent on and open the door to let my friends inside. They had not heard from me in a couple of days, I had not been seen on social media for almost 24 hours, and they’ve been calling and texting for the last few hours but my phone is on “do not disturb” between 9:00pm and 9:00am. They imagined the worst, so a wellness check was required ASAP! 

But how did they get past the security gate? And how did they know which apartment was mine? Secrets will not be disclosed about the gate but I do know that they knocked on every door (at 6:00am!) until they found me. 

I’m still giggling about it. 

So far, none of my neighbors have given me the side eye and the one neighbor that I spoke to last night said she didn’t blame my friends for worrying.

Yes indeed, they are all correct. I’ve been moving around the world by myself for so long that I forgot what it’s like to check-in weekly with anybody other than my Mother and my BFF.

 Mind you, I’m at least 10 years older than both of the ladies that showed up at my door and the other one that sent a text message later, however, I’m truly appreciative of the gesture. It seems I’ve been adopted into a most special group of Black females that have moved from different parts of the USA to form their own unique family down here in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

It makes sense though because after every Sunday brunch or dinner together, we all check-in to our WhatsApp group to

The Slow Traveling Soul Sister podcast is sponsored and hosted by SelfishMe Travel. 

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, or join my travel agency email list. You can also email me at info@selfishmetravel.com and/or check out my website.

Episode 016 - Slow Travel: What is Slow Travel?

Slow Travel is an approach to travel that prioritizes connection: to local people, cultures, food, music, languages, and vibe. Slow Travel relies on the belief that a trip is meant to educate and have a long-lasting emotional impact while remaining sustainable for local communities and the environment. ‍

 Slow Travel ensures that you not only get the most benefit, but the local people and the world around you do too. Because you’ll have stories to share with your family, friends, and coworkers about the people you met in addition to the sights that you saw. And they might want to repeat what you did.

There are three types of slow travelers.

1. There are those who try to slow down as much as possible.  

2. There are those who focus more on the destination they’re visiting.  

3. There are those who choose to stay for a while.  

There are four good reasons why you should adopt slow travel now

 1. You get to relax and recharge

 2. You empower the local economy

3. You leave a positive footprint

4. You become part of the local life

 Why slow travel is the best?

You get to take your time, adopt a relaxed mindset, connect with the local people, try traditional foods, discover local traditions, go off-the-beaten-path, find unique memories, enjoy the unexpected, and transform a simple vacation into a life-changing experience.

The Slow Traveling Soul Sister podcast is sponsored and hosted by SelfishMe Travel. 

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, or join my travel agency email list. You can also email me at info@selfishmetravel.com and/or check out my website.

Episode 015: Black History Month.

What is Black History Month and why is it celebrated? 

Black History Month (originally known as African-American Heritage Month) really dates back to 1915 when Carter G. Woodson, known as the ‘Father of Black History’ and the pioneer of African American studies in the early 20th century, created an organization called the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. 

And in 1926, Woodson initiated the first Negro History Week in February, specifically because of two significant birthdays: Frederick Douglass (February 14) and Abraham Lincoln (February 12). The main focus of the Negro History Week was to encourage the teaching of the history of Black Americans in educational institutes, particularly at the primary level. However, most school systems around the country ignored the curriculum or denied the need to teach it.

However, more than 40 years later, in 1969, Black educators and students at Kent State University in Ohio proposed a month-long observance to reflect on more than 400 years of American African history and heritage that have shaped the American culture, and the first Black History Month took place one year later in 1970. And by 1976, Black History Month was widely being celebrated across the country, and not only in schools, but in colleges, and community centers.

 I’m torn. Does it matter? Does it truly matter? Black History Month began as a way to remember significant people and events. But we are still mistreated or treated as 3rd class citizens in the USA. And I feel, that as punishment for helping to elect our first Black President, the USA is going backwards; actually retreating into the Jim Crow era or worse...

You see, I never watched the George Floyd video, nor did I watch the Ahmaud Arbery video or any of the others or the trials – or even the Rodney King beating - because I see the killings and the brutality in my nightmares. I saw it as a child growing up in the 60s and every year that has passed since, I was even a victim a time or two (and survived, obviously) but no thanks to the racist cops that I met driving while Black. It just added to the PTSD I’ve been suffering since childhood. And obviously, absolutely nothing has changed a half-century later.

So to me, Black History Month (year, century, millennium), it does not matter any more. It never did, really. I mean, I appreciate what the month was supposed to do and I appreciate the allies that stop by to express their opinions online, in emails, and in videos, the conversations that sparked better representation, identity, and diversity in America’s history but… as long as we are feared, they will never stop hunting us and hating us.

I watched a young poet’s video the other night, Kyla Jenee Lacey, and it made me tear up. Here’s some of what she had to say: We learned your French, we learned your English, we learned your Spanish. We learned your Dutch, your Portuguese, your German. You learned our nothing, yet you call us stupid...

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The Slow Traveling Soul Sister podcast is sponsored and hosted by SelfishMe Travel. 

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, or join my travel agency email list. You can also email me at info@selfishmetravel.com and/or check out my website.