My habits took on their own life, eventually colliding to annihilate me. I hoped I’d be released from all this pain, shining so bright that the light would dispel my darkness from those things that happened. When I returned to my lodging, I searched the fridge for remaining days-old scraps…

*Trigger warning: references to self-mutilation One summer, my father bought my siblings and me a white cockatoo with yellow feathers that sprouted from its head whenever excitement filled its fluffy body and two orange circles on its cheeks, making this pet irresistibly adorable. Because of the scent and sound of…

Lately, I feel tossed between waking and dream states, desperately clawing my way out before the two realities close in. When did this feeling begin? Am I naturally agitated, rebelling since the moment my parents conjured me from the expansiveness of the universe down to this contained planet? Or was…

Drenched from a sweltering midday walk, I finally reached The Little Wine Bar, a chilled nook tucked away in Placencia with air thickened by the scent of cured meats and aged cheeses. My friends and I checked in for our wine tasting, and while they were seated, I hurried to…

After visiting Mayan ruins and eating delicious Caribbean food, Carlos, Blue Morpho tour owner and guide, led us on our final stop for the day: a waterfall hike at Big Rock Falls. On the way, he unloaded endless amounts of Belizean history and bonded with one of my friends, whose…

I was excited to visit Argentina, with some time planned in Colombia and Uruguay. I booked educational tours after working hours centered on Black history in Colombia and Argentina and wine tours for all three countries. As I’m considering leaving the United States for good, added to my itinerary was…

En route to wine tastings through the green, mountainous lush of Oʻahu, my Uber drivers’ radios played familiar island sounds of different waters. The reggae sounds of resistance I grew up listening to were morphed with soulful voices and a jazzy vibe to the tune of traditional Hawaiian instruments. Love…

“I don’t want to have to negotiate the finer ways I want to explore a destination.” — Cynthia Drescher, Women Who Travel, Episode 1. Shortly after revisiting older episodes of the Condé Nast podcast, I scrolled past an Instagram post calling for all “REAL” travelers passionate about “luxury traveling and…

Where a tree had once been erected, I sat in the hot sun, exhausted from an early morning of ferry riding and city strolling. I fixated on the hypnotic roundabout of cars circling the Monumento a Aparicio Saravia. …