Rediscovering my Travels and New Perspectives on Life
Fun on the island of Cozumel!
I always have fun, fun, fun when I come to my second home, the island of Cozumel in the Mexican Caribbean! From friends to fabulous restaurants to great boat dives and great shore dives and tourist attractions like the awesome Cozumel Pearl Farm, there is always something to do! My 2018 summer trip is almost over, but the memories will last forever. Take a look at what I’ve been up to on Cozumel! [Read more…] about Having Fun, Fun, Fun on the Island of Cozumel!
Alternative Travel for Adventure Lovers!
What does “vacation” mean to you? Sometimes people have three things on their minds: sun, sea, and sand. However, every now and then you do need a vacation that entirely revolves around rest and recuperation. For the adventure lover, there are plenty of alternative vacations out there that might suit you a little better! No matter what your area of interest, there will be some sort of specialist trip out there to suit your needs. So, here are a couple of alternative getaway ideas for those who are looking for something a little different!
Sailing
Who said you need to stay on dry land while you’re away? Sailing remains an extremely popular means of exploring unfamiliar areas, not only do you get the thrill of the sea breeze through your hair out in open waters, but you can pull up at some truly unique beaches and coves along the way! Now, there are two different ways to undertake a sailing trip. The first is to go it alone (or with whoever you’re travelling with). This will require a thorough understanding of how to sail – not only will this help your trip to go smoothly, but it’s important for safety’s sake, as open waters can be dangerous if you don’t know how to navigate them properly. On the other hand, if you are feeling a little reluctant to head straight out into open waters alone, you could take part in a pre-planned sailing trip that will follow a mapped out route. To take a look at some of the most desired sailing package trips in the world, click here.
Rock Climbing
If you’re comfortable with heights and are looking for an intense trip that can provide you with an adrenaline rush and some of the best views of different areas that you visit, then a climbing trip might be the best option for you. If you’re already into climbing, you’re probably pretty set and ready to go. You’ll have the necessary skills and equipment to take straight to the cliff edges or mountain faces. But, if you’ve never tried climbing before, you don’t necessarily have to rule yourself out of this kind of trip. There are plenty of ways to prepare yourself. Perhaps the easiest and safest way to get into rock climbing is to participate in indoor climbing closer to home first. Your first visit may feel a little intimidating, but it will be more than worth the effort. A tutor will be able to guide you step by step through all of the basic moves, meaning you add some to your inventory every visit. It won’t be long until you have the essential skills to climb unsupervised and can start planning your climbing holiday. Just make sure to always climb with a group of friends so that someone can seek help if an accident does occur.
These are just two different types of adventure holiday that you might like to consider when planning your next trip! So, be bold and brave and try something new and a little more adventurous!
Contributed and collaborative Post
Yes, you heard me! Cozumel has a Pearl Farm and it is the only one in the Caribbean! My fellow traveler, Linda Beach of A Passionate Dream Life came to visit and we decided to check it out. We had a great time, and learned so much.
I’ve seen pearl farms in Indonesia and the Pacific Ocean, and they are huge. The Pacific is an ocean of rich nutrients, but the Atlantic, and especially the Caribbean, offers much less in the way of nutrients and food. Compared to the Pacific, the Caribbean is a desert. But this wonderful family from Mexico City had a dream, and they have made it a reality. Isa Caamaño gave us a fantastic tour, and since she is the biologist in the family, we really learned about the biology of pearl farming. Her enthusiasm is infectious!
The story of the farm could be made into a movie. Dad was a successful contractor in Mexico City, but had a dream of starting a pearl farm in Cozumel. The entire family became involved in the project, and they started up in the early 2000s. In 2005, WILMA came along and destroyed everything, and I mean every single thing on the farm and the island. They decided to stay and rebuild, and in doing so, have created unique technologies and a successful business. They have also called upon Our Lady of Guadelupe, the patron saint of Mexico, to help. Visiting the Pearl Farm is a must do on Cozumel!
The tour also includes lunch, and plenty of time to relax and rest on this uninhabited beach on the north side of the island. It is about as far north as you can go on Cozumel, and utterly undeveloped except for the pearl farm. It is a beautiful area and one that is very rarely seen. I highly recommend visiting the Pearl Farm, and you can find them at Cozumel Pearl Farm on Facebook! Tell them Travels with Tam sent you! 
Being on the wrong side of history isn’t unusual, and there are many examples of it in the United States (and around the world). Learning about such circumstances can be very enlightening, and when the wrong is clearly acknowledged I am so appreciative. Not long ago I paid a visit to beautiful St Simon’s Island in the state of Georgia, and learned so much about the history of the area! One of my favorite experiences was our visit to The Harrington School, and meeting Amy Roberts.
My group toured with Cap Fendig’s Lighthouse Trolleys and Tours, and he obtained permission to visit The Harrington School off hours. The school was founded in the 1920s by emancipated slaves on St Simon’s Island. The school provided education for children through 7th grade until the Georgia schools were desegregated in the 1960s. The school became the focal point of African American communities on St Simons Island. Apparently, Gullah Geechee heritage is simply being an American whose origins are in Africa and whose ancestors were slaves. At least that is what I gathered from Amy Roberts, our lovely guide at The Harrington School, which is open to the public.
Amy Roberts was a thoroughly enjoyable personality who attended the Harrington School in the 1950s. Her stories of the school and the community of former slaves and their families was riveting. I learned that Eugenia Price, a southern author, wrote a trilogy about the history and lives of the plantations of St Simons Island. From Amy, I also learned about an incident in St Simons that ought to have tremendous historical influence on us as Americans. The story as I heard it from Amy is that slave catchers “conned” a group of Igbo (now Nigeria) Africans to come to the United States to participate in agricultural endeavors. When they boarded the ship they were chained and learned what their fate was going to be: slavery. The Wanderer, the ship that carried them to America, docked in Savannah where most of the people were bought for about $100 per person by slaveholders John Couper and Thomas Spalding of St Simons’ Island. These poor people were crowded onto the York, a coastal vessel, in chains and transported to Dunbar Creek on St Simons. During the trip, led by their chief, the Igbo rebelled, took over the ship, and drowned their captors. Rather than endure slavery, several of the Igbo people committed suicide by drowning themselves in Dunbar Creek. The story grabbed my heart and I felt this sacrifice in my bone marrow. The event is known as the Igbo Landing Mass Suicide and even though there are accounts that differ regarding the event, the power of this story has a huge impact.
I love the South, but its past is on the wrong side of history. The Harrington School and the stories of “slaves” and their “owners” help to give us a view into the actual humanity of the individuals, and the redemption of the evils of slavery. I feel the same way about Confederate flags and statues, they should be displayed as artifacts of a time in history that must be remembered because of the great wrongs committed, not in honor of their “lost cause”. The idea of the demise of a society based on slavery being “romantic” doesn’t sit right with me. For me, it is an unfathomable evil to “own” people. Glorifying the antebellum society pre Civil War is something people tend to do, without recognizing exactly what they are glorifying. I found the history of St Simons and the birth of an African American community around The Harrington School to be a story of hope, perseverance and honesty on the part of the island, and the people of the island.
A visit to St Simon’s is many things, but among the many activities and quaint streets, there is a history worth knowing.
Cozumel is a Fantastic Culinary Destination!
I love Cozumel, Mexico, a beautiful island in the Mexican Caribbean. It offers so much to visitors like world class diving, snorkeling, and yes, fantastic culinary delights! I know people in the USA are on edge about visiting Mexico these days, but let me tell you, I feel safer here than I do in my home in Dallas, and I’m betting you will too! [Read more…] about Why Cozumel is a Fantastic Culinary Destination!
Is it too early to plan your New Year’s trip? I don’t think so at all! When June comes around and the sun is hotter than hades, you know it’s too late to plan your summer vacation. You might be able to get a last minute deal somewhere nice, but ultimately the best spots will be already taken. You can say goodbye to your dreams of sunbathing on a sandy beach while drinking an exotic cocktail )unless you happen to live by the coast and have a cocktail mixer at home)!
June is the best time to plan vacations that most people don’t think about now: Thanksgiving, winter break, and more importantly, your New Year’s trip. Indeed, for a lot of people, the New Year’s vacation often happens as an afterthought between September and November, but the earlier you plan, the more chances you’ll get to find your dream vacation. After all, if you’re planning to spend a couple of weeks abroad, December is a good as any month to visit the world. In Christian countries, you’ll be surrounded by Christmas decorations – visit an actual German Christmas market in Germany, for instance – and most cities have their own holiday displays.
So, is it too early to plan your New Year’s vacation? The answer is NO, now is just the right time to recenter yourself and figure out where and how you want to start the new year.
Now’s the time to think about New year
New Year is a time for self-discovery
Everyone comes to the end of the year looking back and wondering what they would have done differently. How did your fitness resolution go? Did you get your career back on track? Have you finally met the perfect partner? If you can’t yet answer any of these questions, don’t panic. It’s only June and you still have plenty of time to make your dreams come true. And, you need to be realistic about what you wish as well. Most women promise to themselves to change their figure, lose weight and start a healthy lifestyle as the clocks rings 12 times on December 31st. How many of them actively work on making things happen? The answer is very few. But, before you start blaming yourself for not better any closer to your goals today than you were on New year’s day, remember that New Year’s resolutions rarely work out. You need to create a personal mission statement instead. It’s fair to say that taking time off to visit and engage with different cultures can give you the inspiration you need to define your goals for the new year and your strategy to reach them. What does a mission statement consist of? New Year is the ideal time of your life when you can set a new direction, and it happens once a year only. Make use of the festive season to make a list of things you love to do. Then you need to write down the values that best represent who you are and list the qualities you wish you had more of such as patience, leadership, etc. This little exercise helps you to encompass the essence of who you are. It defines your mission for the future. It’s not about losing weight or learning French. It’s about embracing your passion and making a difference to the world by improving what you have to give and share.
Do you need a digital detox to find yourself?
At the heart of your mission, you might find it difficult to identify exactly what you need to do to become a better version of yourself. Imagine for instance that you wish you were less stressed out, or that you could be more positive about yourself. Ultimately, nobody has a secret button at the back of their head that they need to switch on to create positivity or self-esteem. But, there may be elements that contribute to your negative mindset and your lack of self-confidence. Interestingly enough, negativity has never been more in your life than since you’ve started using a smartphone. Every day, people check their social media accounts. They want the latest news; they need to reach out to everyone and compare themselves to other users, which can increase their confidence issues. Additionally, carrying a phone with you means that you’re always accessible. People can call you and disturb your day at any time. And that can be stressful. That’s precisely why you might want to turn your New Year’s holiday into a digital detox vacation. Choose a remote location and lose yourself into the peace of the landscape. No phone. No ringtone. No social media access. Just you learning to make peace with your thoughts. You’ll come back feeling a lot more relaxed and centered.
Find somewhere unique for a party
Has life been treating you roughly these past few months? A lot of people can go through a rough patch, and unfortunately, often one unpleasant event can cause many others. Imagine arguing with a friend before going to work. You might still be running on anger when you discuss a project with colleagues, and suddenly, you find yourself yelling things you didn’t even know you thought. From there on, you could face professional difficulties, within your team or even in your industry sector. And as things can rapidly escalate, you might get nervous about the negative atmosphere that has developed as a result of your row. This can impact on your health in many ways, from causing sleeping troubles to creating stomach cramps. And ultimately, comes the end of the year and you feel like the world has sucked up all the joy out of your life. Relax. You just need to change your mind to get things back into perspective. You need to spend New Year in a place that knows how to party, such as Singapore. The firework displays are said to be mesmerizing for the occasion. Besides, you can easily find a room for rent in Singapore directly by the town center, so that you’re not far from the main celebrations. You’ll find parties happening everywhere in the country with amazing food and shopping options.
Start on a healthy foot
If you’ve been struggling to manage your mental and physical health, you probably need to go cold turkey and quit your harmful lifestyle habits. For instance, if you’re the kind of person who enjoys a drink in the evening, it might affect your sleep quality at night and impact on your productivity during the day. But, if you use a couple of glasses of wine after work as a way to relax, you might find it difficult to let go even if it is for the best. So, you might need to book yourself into a yoga retreat to become more mindful of what you do and don’t do to yourself. Bali in Indonesia is a renowned destination for yoga amateurs to learn to embrace their body flaws and free up their mind, with daily workouts on the beach. Besides, you can enjoy one of the healthiest and most diverse diets on the planet, as Bali follows a balanced Indian diet with a lot of vegetables and beneficial spices. A couple of weeks replacing your fast food lunch with pulses, cereals and vegetables can do wonders for the mind and the body!
A trip to the heart of Europe
How about you decide to leave your everyday worries behind and embrace new cultures and ways of thinking about life? It’s not uncommon to feel stuck in life and wonder wished you had an instruction book. Are you living life to the fullest? Are you the person you wanted to be? Are you where you wanted to be? All these questions can be left unanswered if you’re not sure of who you are anywhere or of whether your lifestyle still meets your needs. Traveling might not bring the answer to you, but it can inspire you to think outside the box and find new paths to explore. It can be difficult to encounter a variety of cultures during a small time, so the best way to discover new horizons during the festive seasons is to visit Europe. For practicality, you’ll find that internal travels can be a lot easier by trains, especially as it lets you see new landscapes. The best places to visit during the Christmas and New Year’s break in Europe are metropoles. Start your journey in London, where you’ll have no difficulty navigating through the locals. Then move to Paris for an epic firework display by the Eiffel tower. If you’re looking for fun traditions, you’ll love Barcelona and the 12 grapes custom at midnight. And finally, conclude your trip in the most magical town in Europe, Istanbul, where the population speaks different languages, has different faiths and loves different foods. It’s a lesson of tolerance and love.
Will you be a different person next year? The only way to become the best version of yourself is to let your New Year’s vacation show you the way to be better!
Contributed Post.
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