WhatsApp Image 2022-05-20 at 12.27.57 PM

Solo never alone

by LifetstyleTravel

Solo, but never alone.

Hey Sandra, next time you travel take me a long with you! Oh man I didn’t get an invite? Aren’t you afraid? I could never do that! I have anxiety. I don’t like being alone….

I’m sure that you’ve either heard the above mentioned, or made the comments yourself. It’s ok, this is a safe place, a judgement free zone! Personally, I’ve heard every single one of these comments made by people watching my travels by the sidelines.

As a single mother, I treasured my escapes such as taking a day to myself and spending it poolside or at the beach… and I liked it! I fell in love with quality time to myself. Those escapes turned into full day trips, then weekend trips throughout Florida on a full tank of gas.

From there, my comfort level and curiosity grew to take full blown 3-4 day trips to Washington DC, The Big Apple, Savanah, and more. My longest solo trip was to Portugal where I spent two weeks solo exploring the country. I’ll tell more on another post.

The drive or airplane trip was just as exciting to me. There’s something about enjoying your own  company and appreciation for solitude. At the beach, the soothing sounds of the wave as the breeze brushed my cheeks, or ice skating in Central Park just brought the inner child out of me.

Everywhere I go, I made a friend. It never fails. Either the waitress at the diner by the beach, the lady who invited me to dinner at her place, my seat mate on the airplane, other people taking the same tour, and now, people I’ve connected with on social media!

Speaking of social media, there are countless travel groups available on Facebook to subscribe to for free! Such groups have been a wealth of information for me. I’ve made countless connections with locals, individuals abroad, and expats alike. I’ve even traveled with people I had never met in person. The possibilities are endless. The representation of Melanated and Hispanic travelers we can learn from are vast. I happen to be a single one out of thousands out there!

Go ahead, start today. You never know the lifetime friend or even lifetime partner you’ll encounter.

Solo traveler, but never alone,

San

WhatsApp Image 2022-05-20 at 12.20.11 PM

Sorta kinda

by Travel

Here you are, too foreign for back home. Too foreign for here. Not enough for both. At the age of 10 my family moved to Miami, FL from Puerto Rico. Talk about a culture shock? My new dilemma at that age was figuring where do I fit in? Too much for a 10 year old to navigate. I did not speak English whatsoever. I was Sorta Latina, but my complexion was “too dark” for the Cuban Americans in my school. Even though we could communicate and speak Spanish, I did not belong. I was no good for their kind.

Kinda Black. My Dad is Black Puerto Rican, as is my family back in Puerto Rico. The term Afro Latino had not yet emerged. In my attempt to figure out this new dynamic, I started to make friends with the Black kids instead. The majority were truly welcoming- even though we could not communicate due to the language barrier. Until the day that a ring leader – bully started to make my life miserable by calling me a light skin-ded (just as she pronounced it) halfbreed. I did not even know what that meant.

Rewind for a moment. This new experience was not isolated to strangers. Prior to moving to Florida, my Mom,  brothers and I spent the summer in Texas with my Mom’s Mexican family. Even then, we did not belong. My siblings and I were darker than our cousins, our hair was much thicker, we spoke Spanish, they did not. Therefore, we were not welcomed by our Mexican American cousins. Kids play- but we were ridiculed and treated like “The Help.”

Here I am, a 10 year old child in fifth grade tumbling in the weeds of identity. I did not realize it then. Nonetheless, I was constantly in a state of existing, but never belonging. Talk about eternal imposter syndrome?

Within six months of moving to Miami I learned English. I was fluent enough to get by. I learned English phonetically which awarded me the official “Akeelah” award of the spelling bee.

Maybe. Just maybe, this phase is behind me, so I thought! Truth is, it was not. It was the year I entered 6th grade, middle school, that I decided I am made to stand out and not fit in. My new mindset as a 6th grader did not mitigate the hurt nor exile from both the Latino or Black kids, but I assure you, I walked with my head held high.

It was then, I learned, I am enough!

You. Are. Too!

Xo,San