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Girl Gone Travel

Girl Gone Travel

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Travel

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December 6, 2013

Five Years Blogging, 10 Lessons Learned

This month marks my 5th year as a blogger. Five years. In blogging life, I suppose, that's nothing. Especially when you think about how many people have been doing it for decades and decades. For me it feels as if time has flown by, except so much has changed an[...]

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December 2, 2013

Fun Holiday Sights & Tours in NYC

The holiday season is in full effect and the streets of New York are as crowded as ever. Personally, I can't get enough of the energy of the city now - with its festive, happy vibe - though it's important to note that I make sure to clear my head and place myself i[...]

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November 21, 2013

Making Memories at Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park

No matter what I do throughout the year, I always make time to be home for the holidays and that's because this time of year in New York City is my absolute favorite. Yes, it's cold, and yes, it's crowded, but man oh man, is it festive, fun, and awesome.read more[...]

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November 19, 2013

Friendship & Smiles: Photography while in Travel

I love photographing people when I travel. I am also very sensitive to doing so, in great part because having grown up in a touristy Caribbean destination for a portion of my life, I know what it is like to have someone aim their camera at you as if you were an ani[...]

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November 16, 2013

Our Strangelove: Or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blog

It’s actually all my fault - or so my wife Carol Cain, aka Girl Gone Travel likes to say. I had always told her that she should have a radio talk show or write a book due to her ability to re-frame seemingly insurmountable problems in a way that would make imm[...]

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November 7, 2013

Fall Road Trip to Lake Placid

Recently I was invited to check out the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. So confident were their representatives of the fuel efficiency of the vehicle that they encouraged me to travel to any notable Fall foliage destination in the East Coast where I could both enjoy the benefi[...]

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November 7, 2013

When it rains in NYC

It's a little rainy and cloudy in NYC today. In some places, rainy and cloudy means having to find shelter and warmth, but for a lot of us it's another excuse to go outside, get wet, and endure the chill for all the awesome the city offers when covered in gray. If[...]

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November 6, 2013

Fall in Central Park, NYC in Photos

New York City on any given day can feel like a lot. Which is why the few nature escapes in the city are so invaluable. Places like the beautifully historic Inwood Park, uptown, and then of course, the equally historic Central Park. Despite its complicated and racis[...]

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October 24, 2013

Friedman’s Lunch: Good Food Where You Least Expect It

For all the great food that New York City has to offer, there are areas that we often refer to as dead zones. They aren't necessarily isolate or void of activity, but when it comes to finding good food, they become areas that you either venture out of or settle for[...]

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October 24, 2013

Travel Solo, Or Not

Update 8/26/16: I wrote this post almost 3 years ago, and have taken many, many more solo trips since then. I still believe that traveling solo isn't the one way to find yourself, your strength, your weaknesses, your passions, and your soul. Over the years that hav[...]

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There’s a heat advisory that I missed before set There’s a heat advisory that I missed before setting out to do some outdoor photography today….but at least these are the views as I am melting. 📸 @toniiocain 

#fingerlakessummer
Sunday stroll and waterfalls. Sunday stroll and waterfalls.
Life lately. 😊 Life lately. 😊
My recent post inspired many people who kindly rea My recent post inspired many people who kindly reached out to me for words of wisdom and guidance on how “they, too,” can get their lives more together.

Here’s what I will say: for more than a year now, I have experienced disappointment with work I was committed to and the overall devaluation of what so many of us creatives do, and it started impacting the passion I had for my work, which, as a creative, can be a massive death sentence. I found myself soft quitting, quitting-quitting, having contracts end that I was eager to let go of, and others that I didn’t think I wanted to let go - but that in the end resulted in an incredible boost to my emotional and mental health. 

For so many, our prof success has so long defined us. It defines how ppl receive us, esp as Black and brown ppl, especially as women, how society values us, and, to some extent, how we view ourselves. But that was breaking me. I was working harder, longer, and more intensely without significant reward or recognition. Not just in one job, but in so much.

To overcome this, I sought something completely disconnected from my current work but still requiring focus, commitment, and skill. 

And slowly, I started finding myself again. Being selective means fewer selections, which means less money. It is, in the end, a choice. One that comes with its struggles. 

I absolutely admire the people with whom I partner today. My family is figuring out the money thing; we found the loss of joy too great to ever sacrifice again. Today, I am proud to work with some real kick-ass people. It’s reinvigorated my creativity. And I absolutely LOVE owning a mobile cafe. Not because it’s a massive money maker (it’s not), but because of the people I meet every time we serve. Running two businesses is not for the faint of heart, but I am so incredibly fulfilled.

I don’t do sad well. But I have experienced it all. And very much so recently. And my recent post is me on the other side of it. And I wanted all of you inspired by it to know I have been going through it. So if you are still where I was, let the glimpse behind my curtain be what keeps you going. Even the night ends at sunrise.
Sunset glow in the nooks of our little home. I lov Sunset glow in the nooks of our little home. I love it here so much. 🥰

I’m embracing new life experiences and opportunities with excitement and anticipation. I was stuck for so long, convinced it’s where I needed to be, but change, it turns out, has been exactly what I have needed…though I will admit I have been nervous about it. 

All this to say, sometimes we get stuck in situations that have long stopped making us happy, maybe because it’s easier to stay, or you’ve convinced yourself it’s where you should be, and it can be hard to walk away, especially if you’ve invested so much of yourself in the process. Ugh. The shit we tolerate when we stop listening to the little voice yelling at us that it’s time to MOVE ON. And sometimes, we don’t. Sometimes we have to be pushed. 

But, if the opportunity to break free comes, even if inconvenient, TAKE IT.  RUN. Because, as a wise teenager once said, YOLO. 

Trust in the fact that you’re pretty f❤️cking awesome, and things have a way of working themselves out. Trust that life is more interesting with the bumps along the way and that your final destination isn’t at the bottom, even if you might find yourself there for a moment. 

It’s a fun ride not because it’s always easy, but because of how much cooler things are when you’ve overcome the hard bits.
My wildflower field is reminding me of an importan My wildflower field is reminding me of an important trait: patience. So much in my life right now feels out of my control. I am experiencing a massive shift and uneasiness, and things I want to happen are so slow and feel like they are not happening at all. It is very unsettling and frustrating. 

But this was also my garden. The blooms weren’t blooming. It felt like they were never going to come. Like it would skip us this year. And I was sad at the thought that for reasons outside of my control, regardless of everything we did to tend to this garden, we would just not get the results we’d hope for. 

But this morning, I woke up, and there they were. The first few flowers. Colorful and bright, with bumblebees dancing around them. And when I looked closer, I saw so many more buds waiting to burst open. 

It all needed time. Not the time I gave them, or expected, but what was necessary. 

And so things may not happen as we wish they would, when we wish they could, but they will. We just have to be patient and trust the process. Easier said than done, I know. But, at least I have a beautiful flowering garden to admire while I wait.

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