Living Dreams Joyfully

29/10/2023

I started noticing the moon rise when I lived downtown in 2020. For some reason, the moonrise caught my attention on 10/27/2023. Around midnight I just happened to read my horoscope that mentioned the Lunar Eclipse for 10/28/2023 so I googled “Leo October Eclipse” to take a deeper dive into what astrology had to say about this time period for my zodiac. (These are the types of rabbit holes I go down when I’m bored out of mind).

I found an article where an expert astrologer said, “Leos, full of charisma and confidence, are in for a phase of self-discovery and growth during the lunar eclipse. This event will illuminate parts of your life needing attention.” For Leos, a lunar eclipse heralds a phase of self-discovery and personal growth. It may unearth hidden emotions, fears, or unfulfilled desires. Leos will be challenged to confront these elements, facilitating personal evolution and a deeper understanding of themselves. This period can be transformative, pushing them to reassess their goals, relationships, and inner struggles.

The last few weeks I’ve been complaining to God because I wanted him to literally come sit on my shoulder and tell me what his plan is for me. I feel like the insights I received from researching the lunar eclipse was him speaking to me LOUD & CLEAR!!!!

28/09/2023

GLOBAL ENTRY PARTICIPANTS

There is a new Global Entry mobile app that will allow you to bypass the Global Entry kiosk and go straight to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers.

In the app you will take a selfie that will be verified using facial biometrics. Once verified, the traveler will receive a receipt on the app that they will present to the CBP officer for processing entry.

The use of the app is currently only available for select airport locations:

Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Miami International Airport
Orlando International Airport
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Pittsburgh International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport

I did a quick run-through to see how the process goes but stopped at the step to take the selfie since I’m not actually entering the country.

It was pretty simple up to that step with a few verifications of app access on the initial use.

01/05/2023

May is mental health awareness month! In the last few years it seems therapy talk is the new hot topic. I am happy to see more people taking control of their environment and setting boundaries for the energy that they allow in their space. At the same time it baffles me how some people talk mental health all the while being totally oblivious to their own lack of consideration for other people around them. Mental health is not just about identifying the other person’s bad behavior, but also recognizing and understanding your own.

Today one of my new friends that I’ve met thru travel in recent years sent me a message asking “Is Oprah your mentor now or what”. 🤣 He sent this in response to me posting a couple of reels to my story of her giving life perspectives. My response was that Oprah has always been my mentor and my friends used to jokingly refer to her as my BFF. I watched (recorded VHS / DVR) her show religiously. I've sat thru every therapist episode she ever had even the ones about how to be a good parent in spite of the fact that I knew I didn't want kids.

My self-care/ mental health journey started in the 90’s when I was in high school. I think that's why I get so irritated with people because I've been "doing my work" long before self-care & mental health became buzz words these last few years. I’ve always asked myself the hard questions and reflected on my role in situations when relationships go wrong.

In my since archived 45th birthday post I mentioned how negative labels (Crazy * Intolerant * Controlling * Selfish * Arrogant * Militant ) have been placed on me. I spoke about how the other party determined the version of me that they receive! The response I choose in certain situations is MY way of protecting MY mental health. Other people may protect their mental health by being passive or diplomatic. I don’t judge people who make that choice and I expect to receive the same courtesy about my choices.

How do you protect your mental health? Do you consider how your actions affect others? Do you do regular check-ins to hold yourself accountable from an emotional standpoint?

29/04/2023

Check out my latest video where I am sharing the different places you can get foreign currency for your international travel. I also give some tips about using cash abroad.

I am sharing the different places you can get foreign currency for your international travel. I also give some tips about using cash abroad.

25/04/2023

Check out my latest video that shows you how to do a simple google search for the currency, currency code and conversion of US dollars to the local currency for your travel destination.

I will be going over how to do a simple google search for the currency, currency code and conversion of US dollars to the local currency.

15/04/2023

D I S T R A C T I O N S

WHEW distraction should be my middle name! 🤦🏿‍♀️

I have been on sabbatical from working since December 30. When the new year started I said I would get more active on social media.

Then I spent January and February socializing and meeting up with friends because I knew I was leaving the states for a while for some extended travel. 🛫

I figured it’s not like I’m meeting with people all day, I will still be productive. HA!

These lunches and dinners lasted for hours because it just felt good to be back socializing with people in real life. 😁

On top of the people distractions, my mind was all over the place thinking of all the loose ends I needed to tie up before being away for a while.🤯

I’m an over thinker by nature and that generally leads to fatigue and stress that shut down my productivity. 😭

March 1 I left for Ghana and thought to myself, when I get there I will not have any outside distractions. God said watch me work! 🤣

I arrived to Ghana and had a whole social life waiting for me. Needless to say here I am 45 days into my travel and I still haven’t accomplished NOTHING! 🥴

How are you making along with your 2023 to do list?

Do you get easily distracted too?

Somebody make me feel better and tell me I am not the only one! 😆😆😆

07/02/2023

It's 2023 and Mardi Gras has finally returned in its full glory following the global Coronavirus pandemic.

I figured I would update and reshare this post for anyone who is thinking about attending this year.

New Orleans Mardi Gras tips.

31/01/2023

Did you know that today January 31st is National Plan for Vacation Day???

National Plan for Vacation Day was initiated by the U.S. Travel Association’s Project: Time Off initiative in 2017. It is celebrated annually on the last Tuesday in January. The day is used to encourage Americans to plan their vacation days for the whole year at the start of the year and inspire them to use those days to explore the USA.

Have you started planning your vacations for 2023?

What destinations are on your list?

📸 Yang Wewe

30/01/2023

Have you been wanting to live your best life by traveling internationally?

Do you get overwhelmed because you don’t know where to begin with finding information?

I have a new YouTube video where I go over what I believe are the 5 most important requirements you should familiarize yourself with for each country that you are interesting in visiting.

In this video I will be going over the first 5 things that I believe you should familiarize yourself with when planning international travel.

02/01/2023

I was driving from the gym this morning & this oldie but goodie from Too $hort came on. As I was rolling & bobbing my head it hit me that this is the HaPpY New Year post. 🎉🍾🥂

My mantra for 2023 is LIVING because that is something I hadn't been doing. These past three years I have been existing in survival mode. It’s time I break back into the space of FREEDOM that I enjoy life in.

As the song states Life Is Too Short! If there is something you want, NOW is the time to go after it!

Who else is going to take heed and turn their dreams into reality?

What is your mantra for 2023?

Was this your jam back in the day too?

Latiesha Johnson shared a post on Instagram: "I was driving from the gym this morning & this oldie but goodie from Too $hort came on.  As I was rolling & bobbing my head it hit me that this is the HaPpY New Year post. 🎉🍾🥂 My mantra for 2023 is LIVING because that is something I hadn't been...

27/11/2022

My entire in stock Mary Kay store is 40% off!

Orders $40 and up will receive free shipping.

Coupon Code BF2022 is valid Saturday November 26 thru Monday, November 28.

All in stock Mary Kay inventory is 40% off with free shipping on orders $40 or more!

12/10/2022

**𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐉𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬**

Want to try your luck at winning a 3 Night Adult Stay for 2 at Cobblers Cove Barbados with airfare included?


Check out my latest blog post about the 2022 Lifting Families Together (LFT) annual gala fundraiser that will give you an opportunity to win a trip and give back!

If you are looking for ways to buff up your charitable contributions in this last quarter of the year this gala offers the perfect opportunity.

09/10/2022

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞

When you put your travel itinerary for Southeast Asia together don’t forget to add Siem Reap Cambodia. Siem Reap is the home to historical ancient ruins such as Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, and Bayon Temple.

In this episode Sopheap and I will talk about Cambodia’s culture, customs, and the kindness of the Khmer people.

Siem Reap is the home to historical ancient ruins such as Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, and Bayon Temple.

28/09/2022

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞

Do you dream about seeing the beautiful pyramids of Giza in person? Do you have concerns about your safety during a visit to Egypt?

In this episode Ehab and I will discuss tips for staying safe during your visit to Egypt. We will also share how locals greet one another and give some suggested locations for you to add to your visit.

In this episode Ehab and I will discuss tips for staying safe during your visit to Egypt.

13/09/2022

Last stop Zurich, Switzerland! Country #31

I was trying to make up for lost time on this trip. Visiting 3 new countries in 2 weeks was a lot for me because usually I am a slow traveler that may hit the streets running one day and stay in my hotel the next. This time I was hu***ng every day because I had a minimal amount of time in each place. 😭

Day 1 was interesting because I never found an information desk at the airport.🥴 I eventually went to a check-in counter and asked if they could point me in the direction of someone to help me with getting a train to the city center. The young man at the SBB machines basically helped me get my ticket and told me to get on any train on the track down the escalator because they were all going to the city center. 😳 Thank God there were other people on the train speaking English and mentioned getting off there. I just followed their lead.

I arrived to Hauptbahnhof then came from underground and walked outside totally confused. I knew I was supposed to take Tram 3 to Albisriederplatz and transfer to Tram 2 to Freihofstrasse to walk to my hotel but I saw SEVERAL trams passing in different directions and I didn’t know which one was Tram 3. 😫

Day 2 I grabbed a map, went to read a few signs and had the system down to move around. I wasn’t sure I was gone get it on that first day though because the map had me stressed out.😬 I made my way around the city using the Trams and got around to seeing more sights than I thought I would in two days. 🙌🏿

The character of all the old buildings surrounded by nature landscapes was just the right balance of beauty. I can officially add Zurich to my overly expensive list of favorite cities. 😁

10/09/2022

I was able to slow my trip down a little bit in Crete! I slowed it down so much I didn’t take many pictures. I had to really stitch this video together. 🥴

I didn't have any expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised by what the island had to offer. There was a wider variety of food options & the food actually had flavor! 🙌🏿😋

The main part of the island is super easy to navigate. I stayed close to the city center so I could walk to most of the major attractions. I was also able to walk from the ferry port to my hotel.

The vibe in Crete city center is really cool. People are out walking around and all the restaurants have mostly outside dining which I loved.

I met a young lady my second day there and I spent a lot of time chatting with her. Meeting a local is the best part of travel for me. When I was telling her how my taxi drivers had been laughing at me or looking at me strange when I told them Chaírete (Χαίρετε/Hello) she too began to laugh. 😂 She said ooohhh that is so formal. It’s like saying I salute you or I praise you. 🤦🏿‍♀️ She told me I could just say yassas which is like saying hi in English.

This was the first time Google translate ever had me walking around sounding crazy. From now on I’ll ask Google how do people greet each other in (insert country) instead of typing hello in Google translate. 😂

Additional note almost everybody greets with Kaliméra (Καλημέρα/Good Morning) if you are moving around early, so definitely get your brain trained if you’re going to Greece and you plan to be out in the mornings. I would forget and say Good Morning sometimes out of habit and they would reply with Kaliméra and look at me like you better get it right next time. 🤩

06/09/2022

I flew into Santorini on an early morning flight on my birthday to enjoy the island for a few days. They didn’t tell me that 80 degree volcano sun hit different. I practically baked myself walking around the island. I was five shades darker when I got back to my hotel. I guess I was the cake for my birthday this year. 🥵🥳

My conclusion on Santorini is that it's something you should see if the opportunity presents itself because the views and sunsets were amazing! I would suggest going in low season because it is overpriced and super crowded in August. The public bus is super cheap & super chaotic! I only did it twice & if I never have to do it again that's fine with me. 😬

My hotel was on the second highest point of the caldera and three days was more than enough for me. Going downhill to the city was easy but I dreaded the walk back up to the hotel. When I left I didn’t want to see no sun, no hills and no stone paved roads again anytime soon. Those things kicked my butt those 3 days!!! 🌞

02/09/2022

Next stop Athens, Greece! Country #30

I liked Athens a lot. I don't know if it was because I got my independence back or the fact that it was less chaos.
I arrived with little expectation of what to see. I just wanted to get a tourist metro pass & see where it took me.

My first day out I accidentally got out a stop too early for the Acropolis & lucked onto Syntagma square. This mistake brought me to the gateway to the Plaka neighborhood & the changing of the guard. I didn't think I would get either of those in.

Day 2 I went out & found the Panathenaic Stadium, a nice park & A Fine Mess Smokehouse that I saw posted in a travel group. The food did not disappoint!

I'll definitely return to Athens again because there is so much to see. I could get lost in those streets for weeks!!!

31/08/2022

GEEZ! When I put my first post pandemic international travel itinerary together I knew I was being aggressive with my movements for a 14 day trip. However, I did not expect the trip to kick my butt the way it did! 😫 Hence me finally circling back to make IG post 2 weeks after my return.

I had options for layovers in other cities in the US or Istanbul when I was putting my flights together. I decided to give Istanbul a shot to see if I like it. My layover was only supposed to be 12 hours, but a few days after I booked Turkish airlines cancelled my connecting flight, so I just went with the flow and scheduled the next day out to be able to spend two days in Istanbul.

Istanbul is your typical big, overcrowded city! I stayed in the old city because my intent was to see the historical landmarks on this preview visit. I didn’t even go thru the new area until I was on my way to the airport. It was a huge difference. I will stay in the new part next time so I can see what the vibe is over there.

In the old city the vibe is chaotic. After about 10:00am you will find tons of people on the streets and in the Tram. I managed to get myself out the door at 6:30am on day 2. The streets and Sultanahmet Square were peacefully quiet in the early morning with the exception of a few aggravating people that have no consideration for plopping themselves in your pictures. 🙄

If you like just walking around cities to see what you stumble into you will love Istanbul. I walked and walked and still didn’t make it to all of the landmarks I wanted to see. I’m looking forward to the next trip to Turkey because now that I have an idea of the lay of the land I can really dig into Istanbul before venturing out to other cities.

01/07/2022

I am super excited to announce I have FINALLY launched my podcast!

The podcast is available on Google Podcasts or you can go to the Living Dreams Joyfully website and the episodes will be listed as blog post with an Anchor player embedded into the blog post!

I can’t wait to hear what you think!

The Living Dreams Joyfully Podcast!

19/06/2022

Day 1 of Emancipation Park 150th Juneteenth celebration did not disappoint!

This was a very well organized event.

17/06/2022

How does the removal of the requirement for US inbound COVID testing affect your travel plans?

Immediately following the news that the U.S. | A third of Americans say they are more likely to travel internationally with the testing requirement gone, while Brits are even more bullish. Read more here.

12/06/2022

The one thing we can never escape is our mind!

In February when I finally decided to start going back outside and trying to get myself back to normal I knew I NEEDED that for my mental health.

Taking ACTION helped me out a great deal and gave me some happy moments, but I was still trapped in my mind.

Last weekend I realized I needed to make a real EFFORT to break myself out of the self-imposed prison I had created. I’ve been slipping further and further into isolation in spite of the fact that I’ve been spending time with people on occasion.

It’s funny how the universe works sometimes because here we are one week later and uncle Joe is FINALLY opening the US borders at midnight tonight with no COVID test required for re-entry.

I know people have been traveling, but I don’t like additional red tape. I am a path of least resistance kind of girl in some instances so testing windows and testing restrictions just wasn’t making travel appealing to me.

I hope this WIN is a sign that whatever this WEIRD energy is I’ve been dealing with is about to be a thing of the past!

📸 _drz_

14/04/2022

I'm crossing my fingers that this travel barrier will be removed.

A bipartisan group of 16 Congressmembers on Monday called on President Joe Biden to exempt fully vaccinated travelers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

01/01/2022

Dear God please make Coronavirus, Covid-19, Delta, Omicron & ALL their cousins have several seats!

30/11/2021

One day left to snag travel deals! Check out my travel deals page to see what caught my eye!

Current travel deals.

24/11/2021

Black Friday is the only time of year I get excited about shopping. Check out a few items that I've found joy in owning along with a few items on my wish list. Maybe they can become some of your favorites too!

A list of items that could give you ideas for your holiday shopping list.

22/10/2021

This is great advice!

If you are ever lost while hiking, get stranded with a broken down car, etc... and you notice your cell phone is either low on juice or has no signal, here is a tip that very well may save your life.

Change the voicemail on your phone to a message that gives your approximate location, the time, the date, your situation (lost, out of gas, car broken down, injured, etc...) and any special instructions such as you are staying with the car, you are walking toward a town, etc.... The best part of this is that even if your cell phone dies or stops working, voicemail still works, so anyone calling your phone looking for you will hear the message and know where to find you or where to send help.

(Copied from a friend)