All posts tagged: adventure

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Wynne Gavin

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“November 2012…My best friend, Christina, and I were staying in Orvieto, Italy during a very rainy couple of days.  The power went out a couple of times one evening and we really didn’t think much of it, figuring that their infrastructure wasn’t as strong as that in the US and dismissed the issue.  We went to dinner next door to our hotel, their power flickering as well.  Again, gave it no thought… The next morning at about 8:00am, I awoke and went into the bathroom.  No power, no water.  Again, dismissed it.  Christina and I figured it was a good opportunity to sleep in a bit.  But after about 15 minutes, I heard a racket outside; it sounded like a helicopter. So I went out to our balcony and sure enough, a helicopter was flying just above roof level, at the restaurant we had enjoyed the night before.  When I took a look around, I started yelling, “OH MY GOD!  OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!!” Christina was asking, “What is it?”  I could only …

Confessions Of A Jetsetter w/ Aimee Zvinakis

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“I am a water sign through and through and am drawn to being close to it, to painting it, to being in it. It’s a bit ironic that I am currently living in Beijing, which is a very dry inland city, but I digress… One of my most memorable days at the beach took place on a little island called Gili Meno, situated right next to the much larger island of Lombok in Indonesia. It’s the kind of island I would imagine was similar to the one Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked on, with a few more comforts ;). No motorized vehicles are permitted, just donkey-powered carts and one can walk the perimeter of the island in about an hour.  Take in the sunrise against the silhouette of Mount Rinjani and then at the end of the day, make your way to the western side of the island and watch it set behind Mount Agung. Basically, it’s heaven on earth. On this particular afternoon, a friendly local man directed us to a spot known for its …

#The100DayProject-Khadijat Oseni

#The100DayProject w/ The Great Discontent & Elle Luna

Published by Khadijat Oseni

One of my greatest joys as a travel blogger and cultural curator is connecting on the road with others and sharing stories from perspectives that often go unrecognized. When I stumbled across #The100DayProject Instagram initiative rekindled by artist/designer, Elle Luna and The Great Discontent Magazine, I knew there was no doubt but to submerge myself into this intensive, creative pool of possibilities. This action proves to be a timely Spring reminder of working towards purging unproductive procrastination (not all procrastination is created equally :)) and further combining my love of travel, community and story-telling via developing more glimpses into my “Confessions of a Jetsetter” series. I’ll be interviewing fellow explorers across various creative disciplines and sharing 100 different travel confessions starting today April 6th and ending July 14th! If you’d like to be featured as one of the 100 people I’m attempting to profile, feel free to contact me and I’ll send over a random question for us to collaborate on! Shy?! No worries! Come along for the ride anyway as well as take up …

Confessions of a Jetsetter w/ Stephanie Londono

Published by Confessions of a Jetsetter

“I took a trip to this little island called Vieques in Puerto Rico. I went to visit Culebra for the day, so I took a small plane in the morning and decided to take the public ferry back from Culebra. Long story short, after waiting 5 hours for the ferry, I meet a woman named Irma, a cancer survivor who lived alone on the island. One of the craziest storms begins to unravel after we had boarded the ferry. I’m scared out of my mind and she forced me to sit up top in the open with her. I go up with her and hold on to the bar for dear life. I remember the water splashing everywhere and this ferry moving frantically from side to side. I will never forget her peace. She just sat there and actually enjoyed it- like she was on a yacht in St. Tropez. She saw how incredibly frightened I was and she said, “Why are you so afraid? All you have to do is ask God to protect …

Star Hopping: A Cross Cosmos Trip with NASA

Published by Khadijat Oseni

As a travel blogger from Bed Stuy, Brooklyn with a forte for pop culture, being invited to attend NASA’s ”State of NASA” at the Goddard Space Flight Center doesn’t immediately strike one as a union made in the cosmos. However, keeping up with the state of affairs at NASA unveils similar core reasons why I choose to travel so much and why I’m enthralled with cultural preservation for everyday consumption—a deep care and fascination for humanity, nature, and the Earth as we currently know it and how we imagine these aspects will further evolve. As a result, these central philosophies make NASA the perfect travel companion to keep on hand and here are some reasons why I’d choose to ride shotgun with NASA on any given day… Weather Forecasts of Epic Proportions Forget about your standard, daily weather forecast apps to determine if you should pack an umbrella or a light jacket. Following the state of climate change via NASA’s five slated earth science missions this year under their Earth Right Now initiative will provide …

Life As Travel

Published by Khadijat Oseni

What is Life? Is it living infinity free of expectations? Or is it roll in, roll out of bed, day in and day out, a repetition split between reluctant deadlines and enthusiastic snooze buttons with the occasional party mixed in to remind you of your existence? If this certainty were guaranteed, would you opt to have a case of the mundane everyday? Or would you gamble against the odds and dare to be different? It’s easy to ask the questions, but more difficult to provide answers, because we all desire a degree of control in some form or another. What would life be if we couldn’t create the memories we desired to collect and retell at a later time to display our glory? The problem is that with all this desire for control, there is little room left for interpretation in our stories, because for the sake of comfort, we’re willing to give up our maps to the guides of family, friends, lovers, school, and career to determine where we end up. How about picking …

Khadijat Oseni-Ride A Camel-Jetsetterproblems.com

Ride A Camel Like A Badass

Published by Khadijat Oseni

As affirmed in a previous post, camels are pretty badass animals and riding them makes you equally as badass. But riding definitely is not as easy as it looks. Here are some tips to stay cool while getting one of the most epic thigh workouts of your life and in no time, you’ll master how to ride a camel like a badass! 1) Cover up – protecting your skin from harsh sun rays as well as guarding your eyes from sand are lasting keys to your journey so bust out those sunglasses and sunscreen. My desert attire always follows the 3 Ls: long, light and loose, but if you’re not into completely covering up, dress in layers so you can pull on and off articles of clothing if you get too hot. To avoid itchy skin due to camel hair, I suggest going with long pants. For my naturalistas out there, turbans are especially your best friends.   2) Don’t just creep up on a camel unknowingly without a firm introduction Same rules as with a …

O’ Captain, My Captain: Life & Travel Lessons from Dead Poets Society

Published by Khadijat Oseni

As a millennial obsessed with pop culture and digging up old movies from a young age, I stumbled upon my first entry into the wanderlust worlds of Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau and Robert Frost via sneaking a view of Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society past my bedtime. Far too young to fully understand the depth of the various themes outlined throughout the film until I later encountered the original texts, I nonetheless was emotionally inspired by the overarching message of living life to the fullest without seeking the permission of others to explore self-expression through the arts. It was then that I fell in love with one of my favorite movie characters of all-time, Professor John Keating portrayed by the genius Robin Williams. With Williams’ untimely passing on Monday, it is here that I share five pre-mature life lessons I learned and still carry along my journeys from dear O’ Captain, my Captain John Keating, through quotes and travel images, in honor of one of my favorite actors, comedians, and creative inspirations of all-time. Rest in peace Robin Williams, you will …

Why I Thought All Camels Were From Brooklyn

Published by Khadijat Oseni

I’ve been lucky enough to have had camels be a major mode of transport for some of my adventures thus far and I’ve gotta say, they are some pretty badass animals! In general, camels are super laidback to the point of comatose, unless of course provoked which takes a bit of effort to do! Even then, their attitudes are still calm but with a gangster lean as in they’ll simply just lean over, spit on you and keep it moving…leave the gun, take the cannoli, Godfather style! Not to worry, a spitfire reaction as described above is rare. Camels are generally lovers, not fighters and are particularly known for their loyalty, patience and endurance. Their loyalty runs so deep, they never forget where home is and can easily find their ways back to the exact spots they were raised and if domesticated, to the exact people who reared them similarly to Mohammed bin Shouishan al-Sabaii’s heartwarming story from earlier this year. Camels are all about spreading love to their crew (just like the Brooklyn way) and openly express affection by …

Jetsetter Problem #1: Where To Go Next! (Finale)

Published by Khadijat Oseni

Unlike Rihanna who hung out with the entire German locker room after the World Cup finals, I can’t exactly say I was hot & bothered by the results. In fact, when Mario Goetze made that crucial last minute goal, I flew into a tizzy! It would have been AMAZING to see Argentina win, not only because I’ve never been before, but also to breakup Europe’s dominance over the championship. To cope, my foodie brain immediately lunged into overdrive. My tongue watered and whined about wanting more vacío over schnitzel all the while settling for swallowed pride and muttered congrats to German fans on ending a 24 year drought. Eventually, my thoughts shifted from soccer stats to travel memories. My first adventure in Deutschland took me to the capital city of Berlin. If you’ve never visited, Berlin is a great intro to modern German history due to its balanced diet of old East and West remnants seamlessly blending in with the new. It’s also a cool city to check out: Great art in all forms (beer included!)…Outside of classics like …