All I want to do is travel, meet dope people and eat great food!

Aruba is a beautiful island.  I mean it is absolutely breathtaking!  Several months ago, my friend Angel invited me and other women to celebrate her 40th birthday, in Aruba.  Initially, I was excited about the opportunity to travel to Aruba, because I’d never been before and I wanted to keep with my goal of at least one international trip, each year.  But then about two weeks before we were scheduled to leave, I no longer had the desire to go.  No energy, no motivation, I just didn’t want to be there.  The week that I was scheduled to leave, I went through the motions of packing, scheduling an airport pick-up, getting an international plan for my phone and putting an international travel alert on my credit cards.  I knew where the feeling of not wanting to go was coming from and I was determined not to let these feelings win.  By the time I arrived to LAX, I’d managed to muster up some energy and was in an Aruba state of mind!  I met Angel and Ragan in Dallas and together the three of us met Aletha, Rhonda and Ms. Hunter, in Miami.  Three hours, after leaving Miami, we landed safely, in Aruba.  I didn’t know it then, but God had strategically placed me right where he needed me to be!

After going through customs, getting our luggage and getting a taxi, we were on our way to what would be our home, for the next eight days.  As we’re riding in the taxi, I’m saying a little prayer, “Lord, please don’t let this house look like the place where Martin and Gina stayed when they went on vacation to Chilligin’s Island ’cause I do not want to spend my vacation fighting any rodents.”  And then God, being the great God that He is answered by prayers because a few minutes after being lost, our driver pulled up to a beautiful home.  Even in the darkness, I could see it was a beautiful home.  Our concierge, Javier, was already outside, waiting to collect our luggage and ready give us a tour of our new home.

Over the next week, my spirit was telling me that I was in Aruba for something more than just rest and relaxation.  And although I was having a great time exploring the island, eating delicious food and spending time with the five ladies I traveled with, I knew there was something more to this trip.  By the third day, I begin to self reflect and listen.  Even before I arrived in Aruba, I recognized that something (didn’t know what it was) was waiting to get out of me.  My mind was racing as I tried to figure out what I should be doing, with my life, racing as I tried to ignore the depressive episodes I felt coming on, racing as I prepared for two interviews that would take place while I was in Aruba.  I knew I needed to slow down, but like most times, I just didn’t know how.  I knew that if I wanted to enjoy this trip, to the fullest, I had to slow my mind, all the way down.  And then one night as we were seated around the table talking, Angel said, “You don’t need to have everything planned out, God just needs you to plant to seed and you have to trust him to do the rest.”

For a while I’ve been trying to get my feet firmly planted, in my new life, in California.  The results driven person that I am can ALWAYS see the end result, but I often let frustration and a feeling of defeat (before I even get started) set in because I can’t figure out how to get to that end result.  So those words were just what I needed to hear to confirm what I had been feeling, what I had been talking about with God, in prayer.  And just like that, by the grace of God, it all made sense!  I begin to understand why I was at this place in my life, why God had blessed me to be able to go to Aruba and why he’d chosen this group of five women to be my travel partners.  They gave me lots of laugh, joy and they gave me the spiritual food that my soul desperately needed.  Once again, God had to remove me from my comfort zone, to get my attention.  I’m glad He chose Aruba 🙂

As I settle back into my life, in the United States, I’m ready to move, at full speed, head on, without stopping!  Meanwhile I’m trying to figure out how I can travel 6 months out of the year, and still have financial stability, in the US so if you have some ideas (legal ones of course) please let me know 🙂

Below are a few pictures, of my time, in Aruba.

I will definitely visit Aruba again.  Next time I will bring my mom so that she can experience all the beauty that awaits on this tiny, Caribbean Island.

Up next – Morocco – January 2016