Adventures of a female traveler

Day One - Get me out of here!!!

flywomenflysolo — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 03:46:00 GMT

Friday February 17, 2012

My flight to Brazil was scheduled to leave at 10:50 pm which should have left me plenty of time to make my flight out of Miami. However, given the way my month prior to trip was going, it was almost certain that something would come along to "test" me more (see my prelude to understand why).

Earlier, I had considered working a half day this Friday. I decided that the best thing was for me to take the day off to work on my trip mantra to "find stillness in the flame". So what is a girl to do?? Why, go to the spa of course!! I colored my hair that morning (secret is out, I am not a natural red head!), I had breakfast with my roommate, then I went to the Spa to get my nails, eyebrows, and eyelashes done! I chose a royal red for my nails and a very feisty and very sparkly purple for my toes! I waited until the day before my trip to get the essentials done, had my eyebrows waxed and eyelashes tinted black. I love to do this because it eliminates the need for mascara. When I was done, I had some extra time so I even got a spray on tan, because even though I live in Miami and have many opportunities to tan here, I had been working my butt off to prepare to take time off for the trip and my white butt didn't see much light of day outside of the office!

I notoriously have problems with electronics, they simply don't like me! So of course my phone wasn't keeping a charge the day of my trip! When I was done with my spa day my phone was dead and I still had a long drive back to my apartment on Miami Beach. When I got home I found out from my roommate who I had loaned my car to while I was gone (her car was also recently towed and she could not get it out) that she was not able to get off work to give me a ride to the airport. "No Biggie" I thought (or maybe hoped) to myself. Most of my friends lived far from the beach so at that point it was out of the question to ask them. Plus, I kind of hate asking for favors. So I started calling for a cab. Too bad it was boat show weekend that happened to be right by my apartment! One dispatcher was yelling at me when I asked when the cab could get there, he said he had no clue and if I want a cab I have to deal with it, I made the mistake of questioning why he was yelling at me. He yelled with a Spanish accent: "You want to get an attitude with ME? No cab for you than.. Buh-BYEEE!!" Oh shoot! At that point, the panic set in. I called cab company after cab company. Most of them told me more politely that they were sorry but no way. I finally found a company who promised me a cab in 45 minutes. This was cutting it but I had no choice but to agree.

I loaded my female traveling backback on my back, with carry on in hand, wearing a long comfortable dress, and well... comfortable heels... lol what can I say I live in Miami, and I hit the streets. This way, I was sure I could at least flag a cab. I was wrong. I stood on the street corner facing the highway that leads you directly to the airport for 45+ minutes. I then called the company they said he would be there in 5 minutes. I got a call from the driver who spoke very poor English. He was confused about where I lived. I spent several minutes explaining to him before there was a long pause. Then I heard him say... "oh.. oh.. no.. you live on the beach?" I said "Yes, where are you?" he said "Hialeah.. oh, oh, oh no." I began to cry. I asked him to find me another ride. I called the company frantic. They assured me that a drive was near me. I explained what happened. They called me back and apologized that the driver did not understand the directions and they would send another cab. Meanwhile, no cabs would stop for me as many sped past me each minute. The new driver assured me he would get me to the airport fast. He did, 10 minutes and $45 later I was at Miami International Airport. I am ashamed to say I once again lost my stillness in the flame. I was a nervous wreck. Luckily, a nice woman that worked for American Airlines took pity on me and helped me out. In the security line I begged the other travelers to let me cut the line, many hesitated at first but took a look at my desperation and let me pass.

Miraculously, I made it to my gate just in time and thankfully boarding was delayed. In addition, the traveling companion that works for Delta, told me last minute that she would be joining me with my family friends in Brasilia. I emailed our family friends last minute asking if it would be okay if she join us. I received a reply that he didn't really understand and that it may be better if she got a hotel. "Great". She was already in the air to Brasilia and would arrive before me. I was a bundle of nerves. Again, my phone could hardly hold a charge. I thought maybe if I could just relax and sleep on the plane I would be alright. I looked in my purse for the sleeping pills that I intended to bring for my flight, turns out I accidently brought pills for a UTI. I was texting my mom and cousin before my flight. My cousin joked with me that they may come in handy over the flight. And my poor mom, was probably more nervous than I was to hear her normally adventurous and courageous daughter so weak and desperate for her mom. They both gave me encouragement, reminded me of my strength, and ensured me this would be the trip of a lifetime.

Once I found my seat on the plane, I had my first stroke of good luck, I had the full row to myself. I stretched out, made my self comfortable, and held on to the mantra from my friend "Be the stillness in the flame". Lol, I lost the card on that flight!

Chaotic Prelude - finding stillness in the flame

flywomenflysolo — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 03:04:00 GMT

Thursday February 16, 2012

Before describing the day of my almost missed departure I must inform you about the chaotic series of events that prelude my trip:

1. A few days before I received a "Notice to Vacate" my apartment for the day after I return from my trip

2. Car was towed from outside my apartment the week before, I had to cough up $300 in cash to get it out!

3. I temporarily lost my passport 2 days before my trip, in the midst of packing my things to prepare to be a gypsy when I return!

So this may give you an idea about the state of mind I was in. To make things worst,the more bad things that happened the more frantic I became, which only exasperated problems.

That Thursday was the last day that I went to work. I was a nervous wreck. I misplaced my phone among many other things that day. At that point I was beginning to question even going on my trip at this point as some people had pointed out all the possible "signs" that were deterring me.

I found myself loosing clarity and focus, which for a person like myself who has Attention Deficit Disorder, this sort of chaos and panic can be detrimental. I knew I needed to center and ground myself as I was drifting to far outside of myself. Given this, I knew just the person to speak with.

I have a very wise friend whom I work with, she started traveling to India on her own at the age of 17 and she is both adventurous and centered. She now runs a meditation center here in Miami and in India. I entered her office shaking and near tears. I told her I needed her advise. She asked me to sit down. She asked me what was wrong, I explained to her the series of events and I told her I was afraid that they were signs that I was not meant to go. I also told her about the many warnings I received from others about how dangerous Brazil can be, especially for foreigners during Carnival. My wise friend asked me not what I heard or what I was afraid of, but what I truly felt. I told her that I wanted to go, but my biggest concern was that my fear would cloud my clarity. I have learned in my history of traveling that clarity and clear focused mind can be your best friend while traveling in foreign lands. She pulled a stack of cards and asked me to pull one and it would be the mantra for my trip.

My card was titled - Stillness in the flame. It described that no matter how chaotic things become outside of myself, no matter how many things that I try to do, I must only look inward find the stillness in the flame. Wow.. for the first time I was beginning to understand that maybe this trip was meant to be and this gave me the courage to confront these "tests" and obstacles head on.

Introduction to Brazil Voyage

flywomenflysolo — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 04:24:00 GMT

On November 30th, 2012 I attended a friend from work's charity function to raise money for Haiti and for their marathon (26.2 miles) in January 2012. The event was on the rooftop of the Mayfair Hotel in Coconut Grove. There was a DJ, an open bar, and hors d'oeuvres. These things as usual put me in an especially good mood. Which brings me to the charity raffle, I happily buzzed about the auction items and stopped when I saw an American Airlines ticket good for a round-trip ticket to South America to be used and concluded before February 28, 2012. Hmm.. could this be fate?

The wheels in my head started turning. I love to travel. Most people who know me would describe me as a free spirit, rolling-stone, adventurous, and extremely curious to explore all that life has to offer. The other part of the story is, I am a single white woman, I currently have not conquered the task of learning another language, and I don't have a lot of money.

I have done a lot of traveling in the past, much of it in Europe and some of the time I traveled solo. My trips did not always go as planned and I understood all to well the personal risks safety to my safety as a solo female traveler.

I did not want this to stop me. I was also inspired by female travelers who are way more courageous than me. I wanted to interview them. I wanted to build strength in numbers, promote awareness and global change, to empower and inspire women travelers to explore the world safely! To begin this task, I wrote a 25 page in grant while in Graduate School for my Masters in Social Work and Management of Human Services and Community and Social Systems. In this grant I outlined my intentions, the need, my budget, my plan, and trips I planned to take as research. My plan began with attending Carnival in Brazil.

I've wanted to visit Brazil for as long as I can remember. I grew up in the Midwest and during the early part of my lifetime my family was primarily born and raised in the Midwest. My great uncle and grandpa from my mom's family served in World War II. During this time, my Uncle was stationed in Recife, Brazil. My uncle became very close with our now family friends whose father served with my uncle. Our families remained very close all this time. Now there are three generations to this story. My Uncle and his friend. His friend's son and his wife and now their two children. The second generation (I will call him) is the age of my mother. He wanted to practice his English so he kept in contact with my family through letters and later email and facebook. As a child, he visited my family and brought with him fascinating tales from Brazil. I was enchanted and wanted to go someday.

Later in life, my family opened up even further to the Global Community when I dated my first boyfriend who is from Mozambique, Africa. Mozambique was also colonized by Portugal and they also speak Portuguese. Through him I made many close friends that I now consider family who are from Mozambique and Brazil. I wanted to go to Brazil so bad that a few years ago I actually ended a 2 year relationship with a different boyfriend because he went to Brazil (to Carnival in Salvador) without me! Now... it was my turn and no one could stop me!

So, this is where my Brazilian Voyage story begins. I won the ticket in the auction. I committed to going. I did not know who was going to go with me or where I would go or stay. That night I called a friend who works for Delta airlines who flies for free and asked if she would like to join me. She told me she was down! I then messaged a Brazilian friend on facebook who I had met in Michigan and she moved back to Brazil. She said she was planning on going to Carnival anyway and she would love for me to join her. I messaged our family friends and they said they were happy to welcome me to there home!

When I called American Airlines to make the flight arrangements, I found out I was not able to fly directly into Salvador. I asked about Brasilia and they said yes. So this would give me an opportunity to visit and get to know our family friends better and my traveling companions agreed to meet me in Salvador.

And so the story goes....