It’s been what feels like an eternity since I have spewed my stories on the internet.

But I’m back and I’m betta. (shoutout to anyone who got that Bryson Tiller reference)

Recently someone very dear to me asked me why I don’t blog anymore. And to be honest I didn’t really know why…

I like writing.
I’m good at it (well, according to my Mother and my 7th grade teacher).
And I have a plethora of stories to share.
So what’s the hold up?

We all get so caught up in our daily lives. In the year that I have been absent from the blog-o-sphere, I’ve traveled to Italy, Greece, Mexico, Miami and moved across the country twice. Between adulting and starting my career, I’ve completely ignored my passion for story-telling. And that’s the problem…we aren’t supposed to ignore our passions.

Although I work in the news industry where I am beaten down every day by some tragedy happening somewhere in the world, I am not ready to give up on the idea that the world is an exquisitely beautiful place.

I’ve seen the mesmerizing landscapes. I’ve heard the enchanting languages. I’ve smelled the crisp ocean breezes. I’ve touched the rugged bark of gargantuan trees. I’ve tasted the fresh delicacies.

There is no way that we can just sit here and say the world is turning into an awful place.

People are afraid of what they don’t understand. And people can’t understand unless they have been exposed. But not everyone can travel like us, so they are never exposed to new cultures, environments, languages or even religions. So how do we expect humans to be tolerant of each other’s differences when they simply do not understand?

One of my favorite writers said it best:

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends. ”

Maya Angelou.

With these troubling times in our world, I feel more compelled than ever before to be consistent with my story-telling because these experiences need to be shared. We are out there on the front lines experiencing what this beautiful planet has to offer. The cultures and cuisines, the fauna and flora, the crystal clear beaches and the frosted cascading mountains, the people and personalities.

We, as in you and I, the nomads and wanderers, the travel vloggers and travel writers, have a duty to shed light on the beauty of the world and to convince people that we are very much alike.

We must keep writing. We must spread the beauty.