As we move into a new year, it is always nice to reflect on our thorns and roses of the previous year and subsequently make ambitious plans for the next year. 2013 was a year of change for me. I traveled more than I have in any other year, though 2009 is a close second.
The year began in LA where I rung in the New Year and created a vision for my year which included traveling, work and romance. I will focus on the traveling. Given that I had extreme flexibility with my work contract, if you follow my Instagram page you would know that I ended the year having flown 55 flights between North America, South America, for the first time, Africa and Europe. I flew well over 100,000 miles, took trains, buses and cars to traverse the earth. I have really put some miles on my body this year. This year was a whirlwind. Below I have outlined where I was month-by-month and I have also listed my top five trips of the year, in order of when they were taken. Thank you for reading and I promise that next year I will write more, not only about the places that I will travel to in 2014 but also about places that I have traveled to in the past. If you are interested in hearing about a specific place that I have been to, please let me know. You can see the full list of where I have traveled to here.
January
Los Angeles
Detroit
Argentina
Uruguay
Brazil
February
Brazil
Argentina
Washington DC
Detroit
March
Detroit
Washington DC
Tennessee
Boston
April
Montreal
Detroit
May
Los Angeles
Detroit
Uganda
June
Uganda
Ethiopia
Detroit
Atlanta
July
Detroit
NYC
August
NYC
Detroit
Philly
Washington DC
September
Detroit
Italy (moved back)
St. Louis
October
Italy
Kenya
November
Kenya
Detroit
Italy
December
Italy
Detroit
Mexico
1. Eight Days in LA in January
Following a slightly emotional, what I thought would be final, departure from Rome just before Christmas, I welcomed the idea of relaxing in LA with one of my closest friends and his friends. We celebrated NYE at a private house party and it was one of the best NYE’s that I have ever had. Though I met many of the people that I partied with that day, it already seemed like we were best of friends. The subsequent days were full of photo shoots, a vision board party, L10’s fit club and general LA-ness. Words cannot express how awesome those few days were and how important it is to start your year off on a high note. I hope the pictures help you better understand how awesome my time in LA was.
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| Who doesn’t love a photo booth |
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| On set at one of Elton Anderson’s shoots for Black Enterprise magazine |
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| Runyon Canyon. Part of L10’s Fit Club |
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| Melrose Trading Post. A VERY good flea market in LA. |
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| Outtakes from a shoot in the Mojave Desert. Elton Anderson x DJ Bhen |
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2. Ay Dios Mio, Rio!
When I planned my trip to South America I didn’t realize immediately that Carnival would be during the exact time that I was planning to be in Rio. A Brazilian friend informed me and I in turn became like a giddy college student anticipating her first girls gone wild trip to Cancun.
After the hurdle of having to cancel a flight from the south of Brazil, taking a 17 hour bus to the border town of Iguazu to obtain a visa in 24 hours for entry into Brazil, I then took a 30 hour bus ride to THE most beautiful big city that I have ever visited. Word to the wise, especially for Americans, get your Brazilian visa before you leave the US, even if you are visiting other countries during your trip where you can apply for the visa. It will save you a lot of hassle. It would have spared my butt from sitting on a bus for 47 hours! Needless to say, it was worth every second of sitting on those buses. Between the beautiful people on the beach, the passionfruit caipirinhas, the fresh juice bars on nearly every corner, the coconut water drank straight from coconuts after workouts, the blocos and nonstop partying (though I think it almost killed me), the beautiful views from the mountain on which Cristo the Redentor sits, Rio was an absolutely fantastic experience. I suggest you put it at the top of your travel priority list. If you plan to go to Carnival do it sooner, rather than later. I, for one, realize that it is a young persons event. I was knackered!
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| Look at the cost for the Americans versus everybody else. O_O |
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| Coconuts, all day everyday. |
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| The first night of Carnival was insane. |
3. Celebrating 29 in Ssese Islands
My 29th birthday coincided with the ten year anniversary of my father and grandmother’s deaths so my mother and I set off to Uganda for a month to remember these two. My birthday falls two days before the anniversary of my father’s death and as a birthday gift my mother organized for us to go to Ssese Islands with friends of hers. I wrote about it here. This was probably some of my most relaxed days of 2013. The beauty of the sunsets amazed me every single night. I will always maintain that there is nothing more beautiful than a Ugandan sunset. Waking up in a room facing Lake Victoria also made it easy to get up early just to maximize the days on the small beach. A trip to Ssese is necessary if you are in Uganda. It is not yet overrun with tourist so HURRY!
4. Less Than 24 Hours in St. Louis
In typical “catch me if you can” behavior”, September saw me bouncing from city to city across continents in a very short period of time. Ten days after moving back to Rome, I promptly flew back to Detroit for one week to attend two weddings, open my first photography exhibit, and of course I had to squeeze in one more thing, a short trip to St. Louis to catch the J. Cole What Dreams May Come Tour.
Having known Jermaine since college it has been absolutely amazing to watch his growth and his success in music. As this would be the only date I could catch his tour I booked a flight, made a rental car booking and was on my way.
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| The calm before the storm. Such a beautiful venue. |
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| I gifted the crew with one of the images from my show |
5. The Icy Road Less Traveled
This year for American Thanksgiving I traveled to Iceland to celebrate with my BFF. It was one of the most interesting places that I have ever visited. I climbed a glacier and bathed in a geothermal spa! All of the details are here. Get over to Iceland before its amazingness goes viral.
