Growing up I always felt different from the rest. I even got picked on more than the average kid. It’s funny how those single building blocks build you into the person you are today. When your young you feel out of place and ashamed that your not excepted by others. Little do you know during that time you are slowly defying your destiny whether you want to believe it or not. During my isolation phase from grade 4-9 I come to slowly accept my differences. For example, all the gurls my age had boyfriends and was into fashion, celebrity gossip, school rumors etc. I on the other hand cared about the end of times (doomsday), how to make natural soaps and deodorants, If my dad was going to be home when I got out of school. My head was always thinking what’s next. How can I survive the upcoming 2-3 weeks if society was to crumble. They call it paranoia and anxiety I called it being prepared. Anyways I was always a little odd from the rest which I am thankful for because it made me the person I am today.

9th-12th grade became interesting though. At this time in my life I was liked by many, tolerated by some, and hated on by few (at least I thought at the time). In high school I got along with everybody and I mean everybody. ( I later in life, thanks to therapy, learned that this once considered skill is actually an unhealthy survival tactic known as people pleasing). It wasn’t abnormal to see me talking early in the morning to the “Laila Ali’s” of the school while eating a bag of hot Cheetos and enjoying the update of the latest fight they had to over come. Or I could be in the lunch room trying to get Green Day tickets off of one of my emo friends who had older siblings that could take us to the concert. I could even be in class giving a glam girl advice on how to make her lip gloss shine last longer (only during free time in class of course). My point is during these years I became more versatile. I started to learn about myself through different life experiences.

These life experiences slowly molded me into the woman I am today. I would almost argue it aged and matured me before my due time. By time I was in the 12th grade my mind was no longer on finishing high school. My mind was on making money and obtaining the lifestyle I always wanted. All of my friends were focused on senior spirit week, prom and universities during our final year in high school. Not me.

For some reason I always knew life for me would never be the traditional route. Guess what. In my 33 years of living, my life thus far, has been non traditional. I say that with pride because how many people can just live life with no real examples placed in front of them and still turn out successful. It’s a select small group of us out there. We are the ones living boldly and loudly so we can let others just like us know that its okay to not know what your doing. We are all doing life for the first time. Even if you are a reincarnated soul you still don’t remember every single detail of your past life, which leads you to live life like it’s your first time again.

Ages 19-25 was pure hustle time. All I remember of these years is that I was trying to balance being a mother, work, finances, social life, mental health and physical health. The category that took the biggest hit was mental health due to so many rapid changes happening over those years. Me and God was locked in heavy during this season of my life. Through it all I still became successful. The main thing that bothered me was that the people who I thought would be by my side through it all did not make it to the top with me. I guess it’s true when they say the top is lonely. When you finally do make it to the top you’re up there by yourself missing the people you climbed that mountain with. It’s okay to miss them but if God says they can’t come with you it’s important that you listen. Not listening will cost you in the long run. Trust me I have experienced this.

During Ages 25-30 I guess you can say my frontal lobe finally closed. I began to take up different hobbies such as art, reading, food tasting, wine collecting, traveling, and DIY projects. These different hobbies helped mold me into the travel baddie I am today. When I travel to other countries I incorporate my hobbies in the itinerary. This is when my love for travel blossoms into the beautiful rose bush that it is today. The rose bush is still growing to this day might I add. I absolutely enjoy travel. I enjoy travel so much that I arrange travel groups and take people around the world with me. I like to submerge myself in the culture of the country I am visiting.

Traveling gives me an adrenaline feeling like no other. Think about it. You are thousands of miles away from home in another country were they might not even speak English, with minimal cellular service, you don’t know a soul (yet), and you barley know the countries currency. You know when I read that out loud that actually sounds terrifying. Funny thing is the places I’ve traveled to so far the local people are the nicest people and show you the nicest time. One place that remains number one on my travel destinations list is Thailand. I haven’t been to a destination that I love more than Thailand yet.

I ramble about all this to say that everyone has a defying destiny. It is up to you to follow the path that God layed out for you, even when distractions and road blocks are placed in front of you. On this blog website I will post about my travel experiences as a black American female. Believe it or not “traveling while black” is a thing unfortunately. I can’t deny being black does put a little excitement to your travel. This website will also talk about other hot topics and my true opinion on the matter. I hope you all enjoy reading my content and feel free to check out my social media (YouTube and TikTok: Versatilelyfestyle IG: Versatile_Lyfestyle).