Author: Confessions of a Jetsetter

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ James Oliver Jr.

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“My favorite travel adventure was my destination wedding to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in May 2006. The weather was perfect. There were 35 of my closest friends and family, and my wife looked incredible. We got married on the beach, and the ceremony and reception were amazing. It was the best wedding I’ve ever been to, and I’m not just saying that because it was mine!  Being in Punta Cana for two weeks was also like having a series of mini vacations with friends because everyone stayed for different durations. The whole experience was simply perfect…  That travel event influenced my life professionally, too. In September 2011, I saw an HGTV episode in which they were in a family’s basement covering the wall with big, beautiful photo collage wallpaper, and I wanted to similarly display my amazing wedding photos. However, there was no way for me to replicate what I saw on TV, so I created a business that would let me do so. I called it WeMontage and it’s the world’s only way to …

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Spirit Trickey

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“South Africa changed my life. I had the incredible privilege to travel to Cape Town, South Africa for my International Public Service Project while attending the Clinton School of Public Service in 2009. I had always wanted to visit South Africa ever since I was a child who accompanied my mother on a freedom march in the late 80’s chanting, “Free Mandela, Jail Botha.” I was fascinated by the hundreds of people marching in support of Mandela – a man who lived clear across the world. I didn’t really understand it at the time, but my mother explained it in full detail the day he was released from prison. I remember that moment just like yesterday… As the daughter of activist parents, social justice issues have always intrigued me. When I got the chance, I wanted to explore the similarities and differences between the impact of apartheid in South Africa and the United States. I was chilled to the bone getting a glimpse into post apartheid South Africa, and even more so to recognize the …

Mel C-Jetsetterproblems.com

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Mel C.

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“Cartagena and Paris. They’re completely two different cities but yet they both have some of the most amazing architecture and history.  It’s the perfect juxtaposition… These two places would describe me as an individual.  Cartagena is the feel-good place where the vibe and colorful culture sucks you in.  Whereas Paris is the sophistication and mystery that keeps you mesmerized…” – Mel C.   062/100 of #100DaysofConfessions Instagram Project

Malcolm Harris-Perez-Jetsetterproblems.com

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Malcolm Harris-Perez

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“No matter where I go in the world – I can always find members of my “tribe” – and vice versa. Therefore strangers quickly turn into tribesmen and tribeswomen as well as guides. I am very much like Tennessee Williams’ Blanche DuBois when I travel – I have always relied on the kindness of strangers…” – Malcolm Harris-Perez // @curatorofcool   061/100 of #100DaysofConfessions Instagram Project  

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Rawan Hadid

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“My first trip to the Grand Canyon was one of my most significant. Maybe I just didn’t expect to be so impressed by anything in middle-America, or maybe I hadn’t quite given enough thought to why it was called “Grand” but that first peak over the canyon was a genuine surprise… It was a last minute trip during my last semester in Grad school, and I had just come back from Rio & São Paulo, so I wasn’t expecting the American road trip to be particularly impressive, but I was more awed in my five days in Arizona than I was in over a week in Brazil. I felt very connected to the earth, and experienced a veritable sadness because it felt like we were standing on stolen land. The native inhabitants of the continent had/have a lot of respect for nature, and there is a reservation right outside the national park, which only added to the sense of sorrow… I became very aware that we are all just visitors on this earth, regardless of …

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ René Daniella

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“I traveled to Brazil with my childhood friend a couple years ago. We both have massive curly hair and wear our afros everywhere. I thought we would fit in when we got to Brazil because people all over the world are always asking me if I am Brazilian! When we were at the iconic Iguaçu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil, the tourists there could not get enough of my hair. Not exaggerating, we must have been stopped to take over 100 photos with different tourists mesmerized by our hair. I thought it was so funny considering how breathtakingly beautiful the waterfalls are! To think they even noticed us against that backdrop is amazing. I seriously wonder how many family vacation albums we are in haha!” – René Daniella // @ownbyfemme   059/100 of #100DaysofConfessions Instagram Project

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Matthew Rodriguez

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“Here’s a thought experiment: Imagine someone putting a plate of food in front of you. You don’t recognize what it is. You swear you’ve never seen anything like it before in your life. You take a bite with slight trepidation. A tingling occurs. Your pupils dilate. It’s delicious. You register a shock: You’ve eaten this before at one point in your life. You don’t remember when you ate it, but with equal certainty that you expressed about not having ever seen anything like this prior to the first bite, you now are unequivocally certain you’ve had this before. The taste triggers vague, nebulous recollections of your childhood from the quiet corners of your mind and then just as quickly they disappear. No other documentation exists that validate those memories other than your own conviction of your thoughts. This plate of unfamiliar food is suddenly the only thing that tells you, “Yes, those memories exist.”  This occurred to me on one of my most memorable trips and experiences when I returned to a place that was …

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Lotta Zachrisson

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“I’ve had so many incredible travel experiences, but I’ve noticed that the stories I come back to over and over again, are usually the ones when things don’t go according to plan… One of those was when I arrived at Cochin Airport in India after a month-long yoga retreat in Kerala and was told I could not leave the country without a specific police stamp in my visa (a fine print I had managed to overlook). After finding out that I could not get the stamp that day as it was Sunday, and that I actually couldn’t get it at Cochin at all since I had entered India through Trivandrum (6 hours away) and needed to go back there to probably spend another day in umpteenth different lines in order to get that necessary stamp of approval, I decided that as long as my flight had not left, I would do everything in my power to get on it! The security staff said “no”, the check-in personnel said “not possible”, the airline representatives said “no …

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Freya Dowson

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“I would tell myself not to worry, adventure is coming and to just enjoy the moment and wait for it to arrive…When I was younger I used to wish for travel, to dream about it, and even though I did a lot of traveling as a child, I wanted to know that I would be able to continue to do it as an adult. But once travel is in your blood, it becomes part of who you are, and no amount of worrying about what the future will bring can change that. Now I travel the world, as a blogger and also as a photographer for not for profits and am loving every minute of it. I didn’t set out to have this career path, it feels more like it came to me – like it was always meant to happen…” – Freya Dowson // @nishaantishu   056/100 of #100DaysofConfessions Instagram Project

V-To San Francisco with love-Jetsetterproblems

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ V

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“My journey through San Francisco was only supposed to last a year. It has now been 3 years. A combination of childhood memories, a desire for a new beginning, to carve my way through Creative Tech, and a yearning to find true love in this gentle City by the Bay. I bought a one-way ticket to SFO and flew up from Los Angeles with a sublet and a duffel bag.  For the first 6 months, I was a gypsy. Hopping from sublet to sublet, Bernal Heights to the Castro. I was boosted by a crazy leaseholder and found refuge in a quirky woman’s guesthouse in Marin County. I found a job and eventually moved into the first place of my own in San Rafael. I was dating but was still trying to figure it all out. I had always had a fascination with fortune and in San Francisco there was no shortage of fortune-tellers and energy healers. I really just wanted an answer. Who was this guy? When would I meet him? Where the hell …