Ever wondered what it feels like to traverse the globe all by yourself? Join us as we walk through the captivating world of solo travel with our guest, Kita, a seasoned solo traveler and content creator based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Her journey from her first solo trip to Belize to managing her content creation on the go, there's a treasure trove of experiences and insights waiting to be unveiled.
Perfect for both seasoned and aspiring solo travelers, this episode is a goldmine of practical advice. We walk you through the intricate details of international travel, the importance of understanding cultural nuances, and maintaining a balance between being a tourist and a responsible traveler. The conversation also touches upon managing pet care and house sitting while being on the move, and the potential safety risks associated with posting travel updates in real-time.
Dive into Kita's experiences from exquisite destinations including Paris, Aruba, Turks and Caicos, and South Africa. Discover the importance of street smarts when traveling alone and how solo travel has given Kita the freedom to explore the world on her own terms. We've also discussed some handy tips for content creation while traveling. Tune in for an episode packed with relatable anecdotes, practical advice, and plenty of inspiration to kick-start your solo travel escapade. So, ready to set off on a journey to discover the world and yourself?
Ever wondered what it feels like to traverse the globe all by yourself? Join us as we walk through the captivating world of solo travel with our guest, Kita, a seasoned solo traveler and content creator based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Her journey from her first solo trip to Belize to managing her content creation on the go, there's a treasure trove of experiences and insights waiting to be unveiled.
Perfect for both seasoned and aspiring solo travelers, this episode is a goldmine of practical advice. We walk you through the intricate details of international travel, the importance of understanding cultural nuances, and maintaining a balance between being a tourist and a responsible traveler. The conversation also touches upon managing pet care and house sitting while being on the move, and the potential safety risks associated with posting travel updates in real-time.
Dive into Kita's experiences from exquisite destinations including Paris, Aruba, Turks and Caicos, and South Africa. Discover the importance of street smarts when traveling alone and how solo travel has given Kita the freedom to explore the world on her own terms. We've also discussed some handy tips for content creation while traveling. Tune in for an episode packed with relatable anecdotes, practical advice, and plenty of inspiration to kick-start your solo travel escapade. So, ready to set off on a journey to discover the world and yourself?
Hello everyone, welcome back to our podcast, where we are talking about solo traveling. Before we get started this is Hughes of Africa Just want to let you know that we have some upcoming group trips. We have day trips to Mexico Our next one will happen September 30th and then we also have our big trip to Ghana West Africa. That will occur in December. We are bringing in the new year. It is not too late for you to join, so go ahead and check us out.
Speaker 1:I promise you, if you are not on that trip, you are going to have FOMO. You can be looking at all the pictures and videos. You are like I wish I would have one. So make sure you join us. Also, we have a book out called Hughes of HBCU. There is a book signing this Saturday. You are in the LA area. Come and check us out, or you can check about. Check Out Hughes of Africa, because this podcast is all about traveling solo. Now that we have that out the way, I have a guest on today. I am super excited to have her talking about her solo travels. This is Kita, all the way from the ATL, which I know about Atlanta. Kita, go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit more about who you are.
Speaker 2:Hey everyone, I am Kita or go to buy Kita Explorer on the internet. I am a solo travel content creator as well as a photographer, based here in Atlanta. My main platform for my content creation is YouTube. You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook. Everyone is about Tik Tok. I create content about my adventures, about tips for solo women travelers to just go out and enjoy life and not have to wait for other people to travel. I am in Atlanta. I have been in Atlanta for seven years, but I am originally from Cleveland, ohio.
Speaker 1:Cleveland, ohio. Okay, I got to try to actually see Kita last year.
Speaker 2:Yes, it seems like that was yesterday, but it was so long ago at this point.
Speaker 1:Right, we got together and I was in town for a week and I said, hey, who wants to meet?
Speaker 2:up, it was 789.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was pretty good, it was funny enough. I was there, but a lot of them had never met together either. That is a perfect example of solo travel I put out. They used to call it in this other group bat signals. It is basically just a call like hey, who is in the area that wants to hang out? We had a good time, we ate lunch, we created some content. We could not leave without creating some content, right.
Speaker 2:Dance on the lawn.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly, that was a good time. If I am back at AT, I am definitely here and everybody else up again. I don't know if you stayed in contact with anybody, but it was nice seeing everybody. Some people I had not met before, some people I had. And that is the thing about social media, Kita, I think I want to say because of YouTube, I don't know if we have started watching each other's videos and then following each other and then finally got a chance to meet. And now we are here on the podcast. When I tell you, things become full circle, or we always say things are random, but maybe it is never random, it is meant to be.
Speaker 2:That is right. We are meant to meet each other.
Speaker 1:Exactly, exactly. Let's get straight into the solo travel thing. I guess I really want to discuss how did you even start solo traveling and what is your? Why you could do it with anybody. Why do you choose solo travel as one of your main ways to travel?
Speaker 2:I must say that I did travel some in my early childhood life because my aunt she is also a solo traveler. That is someone I saw as growing up. She goes here and she is sending me postcards. She sent me a postcard from this destination. She took me for my 16th birthday on a cruise. We went to Mexico on the cruise. It was really nice. My immediate family did not really travel. The only place we would go is from Cleveland to DC every summer because that is where my dad's family was living at the time. Fast forward went to college. We did not have money in college.
Speaker 2:I do not know how these college students these days afford extravagant trips, because I did not have it. Then I started a career in my career at the corporation I was at. I was an internal auditor In internal audit. I had to travel to various countries and cities. It was on the company dime that just fueled my travel bug. I went to China the first time I boarded the plane. I am going to China. There is no one else on this plane with me. I am going for work. It was all this stuff rushed in my head. What am I doing? Then I was like, oh, this is interesting. I get to eat this food, I get to finally go to the great wall. It was a great time. I ended up going to Russia, Thailand and Brazil while working for this company. Then I could not stop traveling.
Speaker 2:I got bit hard. Probably a couple travel bugs came by.
Speaker 1:That is one of the best ways to get somebody else to pay for your travels. Although you were working, you still got a chance to travel the world.
Speaker 2:We were gone for three to four weeks. On the weekends we were not working. We would go to a different area of that country, explore that country and all of that. When I got back I am like, okay, me and my friends, we were doing birthday trips, we would go places. We went somewhere around Christmas, I think. We went to Panama. Then we started getting older, people started getting married, people started having kids. Some people just did not want to travel as much. I am like, well, I want to go to this.
Speaker 1:I am looking at my list. I am looking at all these places.
Speaker 2:Then in 2016, I just moved to Atlanta, I saw a flight deal to Belize.
Speaker 2:Now I am going to take it. I randomly was like I am booking this trip to Belize. I booked it. That was my first international trip solo. I found that I could actually do it. Then I was like okay, now I am going to do one solo trip a year In the next few years. I did one solo trip. My other trips were with other people, friends or whoever wanted to come along.
Speaker 2:When COVID happened in 2020, I was like I am not dealing with other people. I do not know what people's thoughts are about what is going on in the world. I do not want to be responsible. I do not want to have to worry about what they are doing. It was just too much. I did not want to bring something to someone else. I just started traveling solo the whole time. I am going to Bermuda, I am going to Turks and Caicos. I am just gone. I am not going to wait for someone. I do not have to worry about them. It has been a great thing Traveling solo for me. I have not been. Some people say are not you lonely For me? I have meet people if I want to or I go about my day. It depends on what mood I am in. It has been a great time.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you about let us go back to that waiting for someone. I have people all the time that is like I cannot go to so and so, because I do not have nobody to go with me, I am too afraid to go because of this and because of that. There are so many things as to why they cannot go by themselves. I am like you can go by yourself. You actually really can. You actually can really have a good time. What do you say to those people that are still waiting on somebody to get up and go with them?
Speaker 2:First of all, you cannot wait, because time waits for no one. If you keep waiting and waiting and waiting, it is going to be 20 years from now and you still have not went to Cancun or something, because you have been waiting for a friend, for a significant other or whoever to go on this trip. You cannot wait. I know some people I get things like you went to that country. Are not you afraid to go? I really want to solo travel but I just do not think I can do it. I get comments like that often. I always recommend try something small first. Do not go to Egypt on your first trip. Go somewhere. Maybe just do a staycation. If you live in Atlanta, go to the other side of the city. Stay on the other side of the city for a night or two and just take yourself out and do things to see. Can I actually enjoy myself and being present with myself?
Speaker 1:Okay, I think that is key. I think we have to be comfortable and enjoy our own company.
Speaker 2:That's right. How do we?
Speaker 1:expect other people to want to be around us if we do not want to be around ourselves? Now, that may take some introspective insight to be like do I want to hang around with myself? But I think it is something that we really truly have to get into right, honestly. I do not want to say I am like what do you call it dreadful? But we came in here, we going out alone, right?
Speaker 2:That's right yo.
Speaker 1:In between the coming and in between the going, how do we really appreciate ourselves? How can we whine and dine ourselves? You know, some women not all, okay you know they've been waiting on the guys to take them out to that special dinner or to that special vacation. Okay, that's all great and lovely and, don't get me wrong, I do want that. But in the meantime, while I'm waiting on that, then I'm going to go ahead and treat myself Like you said it is. So let's take, let's say, for example, going out to eat alone. So, for those people that are even scared to do that, what are some of your suggestions? Because I know Kita has YouTube videos where she reviews different foods and stuff like that yes.
Speaker 1:That's what's in the awkward, because they're like why are you? Recording, but actually talking about being on your own, even just recording food. If you're with somebody else they may not like that, but because you're on your own, you're allowed to do what you want to do when you want to do, how you would do it. So do you find like eating out alone, going to the movies on? Do you find it awkward, or like, how do you kind of deal with that?
Speaker 2:So it all depends on, like the setting. So if it's a restaurant and it's like prime time, dinner time, and it's known for being like a romantic place, okay then maybe I'm not going to be up in that restaurant at that time. But if I really want to go, maybe I'll go earlier, maybe I'll go for lunch if they have a lunch hours or whatever. But when I travel solo like I went to Aruba a few months ago I'm going out to eat. I want to try the local restaurants. I don't care what time it is.
Speaker 2:I'll book a reservation and people will usually ask, like, when I go to restaurants, well, where do you want to sit? Because they're like, okay, she's alone. People do put that like judgment on you that you're solo, like, oh, you're here solo, like what's going on. They'll ask, like, where do you want to sit? Sometimes I'm like, well, I can just sit at the bar. And when you sit at the bar, it's nice because there's other people there who may be solo. They may be with other people, but they're usually going to talk to each other. We're going to have some conversation at some point and, if not, you can still talk to the person who's maintaining the bar.
Speaker 1:That's a good point. Yes, I mean I guess they are. I mean they're fixing drinks, but I think they know that's all part of it of kind of talking. So yeah, get to know your local barber.
Speaker 2:Right, like you don't even have to drink because they you know they sell food at the bar and so you can still have that conversation or just talk to a person next to you. There's usually going to be someone else up there that's solo, that's sitting at the bar. But I've also went into restaurants here in Atlanta obviously Atlanta's crowded city so you could go out to restaurants sometimes and it's packed and I'm like, well, I came here to get my Mexican food and I'm going like I'm going in there. So you have to have that mindset like, hey, I'm coming here, I want to eat this food, I want to have a good time and you can be in your own space. You could possibly play games on your phone, you can read stuff, catch up on stuff on the internet. I've taken books to the restaurant.
Speaker 1:I was gonna say that I've definitely taken books like I'm trying to read in between I know that sounds probably like it's weird, but like while you're waiting for your food or something like that you can catch up on reading. Exactly, definitely, whether it's a what do you call it? A physical book, or if it's like something on your tablet or something like that that may be the time for you to catch up.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I think the bar is definitely and it won't. At the bar you're sitting, like facing towards the bar, so it won't make it seem like you're alone.
Speaker 2:Right, you can't. Yeah, you can't see all the people that's in the restaurant. You just see the people next to you in the bartender.
Speaker 1:Exactly, and I think remember when I was in Mexico, I was in Tulum and I was sitting by myself and maybe this and she actually lived there and maybe she was by herself and she came to my side and she was like, can I come and sit with you?
Speaker 2:And I'm like okay.
Speaker 1:So you never know, that can happen. Maybe they fit you know, and of course you could politely decline or not, but the fact that I was sitting there let you know that it could be a possibility that somebody may want to sit with you if you're open to the company and the conversation as well.
Speaker 2:And I must say it is prime people watching. When you sit at certain restaurants you can sit back, since you're by yourself you're not like you're kind of, you know calm and relaxing in your space and you can just watch everything that's going on.
Speaker 1:It gets really entertaining when you sit there, Right, You're like you're looking at a cup over there.
Speaker 2:Dang, they ain't even talking like right, like they both on their phones.
Speaker 1:Or you can tell somebody's mad at somebody. People are people watching is very, very interesting, but sometimes I do, sometimes the I don't know how to say that sometimes the servers, they honestly, will look out for you or, you know, do something a little extra if they noticed that you're by yourself, so there could be some perks to going out by yourself. You just never know.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:So the other thing. So we talked about kind of going out by ourselves and we also talked about the staycation, because usually our states are pretty big right.
Speaker 1:So I'm in Southern California. So a staycation for me could be San Diego, which is two hours, or it could be up north, which is an hour by plane, I think seven hours in the car. So yes, I definitely recommend the, the staycations or the closed destinations kind of start up and, like you said, even starting off at home is definitely a great idea which will prepare you for international. So let's say somebody wants to take this international solo trip, what do you think that they should get prepared for?
Speaker 2:Oh well, there's a lot. That's a loaded question. First of all, make sure you have a passport and if you do, make sure it's not expiring soon, because that can just ruin your whole trip.
Speaker 1:But and I will say too caveat for the passport thing, just get it now, like even if you don't feel like you're going to be traveling now, get it now, because with COVID, passport offices are back. We've heard so many stories of people can't go on their daybook to trip, don't have the passport in time or, like you mentioned, it being expired. They ain't checking. I'm saying how do you not check your cards? Okay, that's another north.
Speaker 2:Maybe that's a whole another discussion. Exactly so. The one today said they lost their passport and like they're traveling in two or three weeks, I'm like, oh my God, you didn't check this Right.
Speaker 1:You need to be sure. Okay, keep going, keep going about our preparation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's the first thing. So like before you even, I would say I know I booked stuff based on deals. So like when I book a flight, that's usually the start of my planning process. But if you're planning like you're not doing like me, you're planning actual trip like, hey, I want to go to South Africa in November, so you have some time, so get your passport. South Africa isn't one of those countries. But make sure, like if you need a tourist visa, you you know you get it in time, because that's another way to not get in the country and that's just going to be added stress to you on top of your first solo trip If you don't have the necessary documents in place. And then make sure you research that location. That is a big one.
Speaker 1:I don't know if y'all can. This is audio. I guess I hear it. I hear it I hear it, it's coming, and now I say that because you hit it on the head Like that's very important. A lot of people don't research and I will say one of those examples is Cuba. I hear a lot of people getting into Cuba like I don't have enough money. Wait sir man, my gosh, I'm not research that they do not take credit cards Like it is so difficult getting money there and at that point I'm like.
Speaker 1:this person did not even research before they went, they just said I'm going to a destination, I'm getting a flight and didn't know research prior to them coming. So I think the research is a very, very important.
Speaker 2:Right, it doesn't have to be like so much where you like learning the history of that country Hopefully you'll learn some while you're there but you need to know like, especially if you're a woman, solo woman traveler, you need to know that country appreciates women, like has respect for women. You, I mean like yeah, you can still possibly go right, but you need to know that in advance so you can know how people are approaching you, what you need to do, what you may need to wear to be respected in that country. So it's like a lot of different things you need to look for so you can be mindful of it when you get there, or so you know like when someone's talking to you, they're not talking to you crazy, so you don't have like a feeling about certain things, because that's how their culture works.
Speaker 1:It might be unfortunate, but but that culture thing is important too. Like you said, read up a little bit about what their culture and their customs are, Because if their cultures, our customs are different. I don't know if you heard that story about that lady that was in prison in Dubai for screaming oh yes, I did. I was like girl here and I think she was a black woman here, in America we shout, we scream that it is acceptable is nobody.
Speaker 1:you know, I'm a court. We look at it, but it's, it's common right, unfortunately Right, but like you, said we're loud people here. Exactly so the same thing that applies in America don't necessarily apply in Dubai or Morocco or you know wherever else. So, yes, you have to be careful about those culture and customs, and a lot of people complain. It's not just Americans, though, it's people from all over the world who just really come into these countries just don't respect it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, because they're entitled right Okay.
Speaker 1:I have my little passport and I can go anywhere and I can act. No, no, no, you can't so yeah, I like.
Speaker 2:So I have a lot of different thoughts based on those last few statements. But one thing so I've been to France a few times. The first time I went I went with an old friend and before we went I was like, hey, you know, they pick pocket in heavily. You know tourist areas and they usually can pick out who to target, because Americans are typically loud. That's one of the things they look for. They look for English speakers, people who are talking loud and not, you know, not on guard or whatever.
Speaker 2:And I remember someone approached my friend. I'm walking on the other side. I already noticed like they're about to, they're trying to pick back it like I already had seen the signals and I told her they asked her for her phone and I'm like no. And then they asked if she spoke English. I'm like they don't speak English. You can tell they don't like the way they're talking. You can tell they don't speak English so they're setting you up. But I had told her like these things, but she just didn't hear me. She didn't listen to it. I'm like I've traveled a lot Like I know you need to listen to these things and pick up if someone from France is telling me, hey, listen to these things, I'm going to listen to the local person, so. But yeah, that was a very. That was one of those, those trips where I was like, okay, maybe I shouldn't travel with everyone.
Speaker 1:That's another way that I make you so little travel when you travel with somebody, because, let's be real, you cannot travel with everyone.
Speaker 2:No no you can't.
Speaker 1:Some people may not be able to travel with a best friend. They so called best friend. They do everything with. They may not be a good travel partner.
Speaker 2:Some people have different budget styles. There's people who love luxury. There's people who love budget. There's people in the middle. Some people just don't. They want to be the privileged American instead of respecting the culture.
Speaker 1:Like.
Speaker 2:I don't, I can't travel with someone like that. I do not want to be the privileged America, I want to be the person, the respected American, the person who's going in and respecting the culture. So those are like that's one person I can't travel with. One type of person. So but yeah, it just really depends on who it is and it can be your best friend and they just have a completely different travel style and sometimes you don't know that until you go on your first trip.
Speaker 1:Exactly exactly. You may never know that, even like you said just yet, why can't? Well, I was like it's almost the same, as I say where it's different. If you have a person that let's say that you're a boyfriend or girlfriend, they may be a different person until you live in that house together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true, the same way when you talk about it, but I'm glad that you pointed out it may be just different travel styles, maybe it's not, it could or not be the person, but maybe it's just literally how you travel. If I travel in hospitals and Kitas doesn't want to it that we may not and I don't say we're gonna be compatible because technically I can go to my hostel, you can go to yours.
Speaker 1:Or you can go to your hotel. But it really does kind of make a difference of, like you said, the alignment of certain things.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, like those, that's a hotel hostel thing. You can work that out. But it's like I want to eat at the five star restaurant that cause which I wouldn't because that's too much money that you're gonna spend at least $100, and then you want to spend half of that and that's gonna be a little difficult because we have two different budgets, but I think that's a big one. When it comes to money, if you have to be on the same, if you want to be with that person like the entire trip, you really need to have the same budget and know like, hey, we not spending over XYZ dollar amount, exactly.
Speaker 1:And one of the reasons why we do solo travel. If you see me keep coming back to that solo travel, we're gonna use tips about how to be with other people, but we're also like, hey, you don't have to, and that, and that's one of the that is one of the reasons why I like it as a group trip planner, which I made those announcements in the beginning. Yeah, that is one of why I like my solo travel, because I don't have to be responsible for anybody. I don't have to wake up and say, hey, girl, do you want to go out to this restaurant? Do you want to do this activity? I went with my cousins in Thailand one year and I'm playing the entire trip.
Speaker 1:Right, she didn't put no input in it and so I said, oh, I'm going to, I think. I said I want to go to a cooking class. She said I don't want to do that, so okay, well, I'll see you when I get back. She changed her tune. She said, oh, okay, I'll go. Just, all right, let's go like and whatever you, whatever I'm doing is so you can say you want, but I'm going to go. So again, that's just an example, but if I'm by myself, I can literally plan out my entire trip without confirming with somebody, without saying hey do you?
Speaker 1:want to do this or do you want to do that Right?
Speaker 2:Right Because like you said we may have different things that we're into or different things that we want to do right, and even like with that, like, even if you plan the whole trip and then you get there and you see this random shop you want to go in, you can go in there because like, oh well, I don't have to do that until later, or maybe I don't even want to do that anymore. I'm going to go in here and see this because you have a flexibility instead of a group.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly. So you can definitely change your itinerary at the drop of that. Or if you say I'm actually team no sleep on vacation, but if I were the type of person that wanted to nap, I could say, okay, I'm not doing that, I'm taking that today.
Speaker 2:You know, yeah, I'm team. No sleep too. I'm running myself into the crowd.
Speaker 1:I feel like I can sleep at home, like it is. I feel like I am at home more than I am on the road, and so because I'm at home, often I can go take a nap, I can go to my bed now, provide I do have a very busy life here at home, but it's different, like I want to see everything as much as I can, because I don't know when I'm going to come back, you know or if I ever get, just come back.
Speaker 1:And because there's you know how many destinations in the world for me to go to, right, Right. So that's the reason why I'm team no sleep. But I understand some people actually go on vacation to nap, Like maybe they get away from their general life and do that.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So, yes, do you find that you? Do you feel like you're able to travel more? Me key to the word is that we don't have children. Do you feel like that is a fact? Do you feel like you're able to get up and go quicker because you may not have? True, now there's this mean I don't know if you see that mean where it's like you have that one friend that has no children, or a single, and that can go to Africa tomorrow. Have you seen that mean, basically saying like we have a little bit of a freedom to kind of pick up versus somebody else that may have to, you know, find a babysitter, or they can't, they can only go for four days because you know grandma is not around, or you know they may have to talk to their spouse, like you know.
Speaker 1:Ask for permission. Yes, I said permission. That's just another story for another day. Like I said, on the other part, the other season, we're talking about travel and loving dating. But, yes, so there are different things that other people may have to do. So do you find that it's easier because of those, because of the situations I'm in, or not really?
Speaker 2:So I must say and I'm just thinking of this as perspective of like close friends, or like my brother who has nieces or whatever my little chicken nuggets as I would call.
Speaker 2:But I would say, for me it's probably is a little bit easier to travel without children because you don't have to put in that extra aspect of planning, you don't have to budget as much money when it comes to traveling with your children, even though there are ways to, you know, travel on a nice budget for your family. But I can't always just jump up and go like in the past I have had a dog so I had to take care of him, and I also have a house. Like I can't just go out of town for a month without having someone come watch my house or make sure the pipes don't burst, because that has happened three times since that I've been out of town or come water my plants. So like there's things I still have to take care of. I still have a budget. I don't want to be broke when I come back home. I still got to pay bills. Like there's still things I have to take care of.
Speaker 1:So talk a little bit about the animal portion of it, because I don't have pets, but I know there are some people that are like well, how do I still travel with my pet? So what do you? What have you done in the past? Do you take your pet with you on vacation? Do you leave them home at a? What is the puppy daycare? Like? I don't know what you do, but what do you do when it comes to the animal aspect of it?
Speaker 2:So I've done a variety of things. So I used to have a golden retriever. Golden retrievers are huge. He was 80 pounds. He was like a child in size. So depending on where I would go and how long, I used to have a friend watch him. So it was a little bit cheaper than going to, you know, the doggy daycare or whatever dog resort it was what it was called for him.
Speaker 1:Right, cause they look really nice.
Speaker 2:He went to the dog resort and he loved it, but it was cheaper. I would still pay her because I'm like I don't want to just put all of this responsibility on you. So I would still pay her something, but it just wasn't as much as the dog resort. But then he loved the dog resort as well and the dog resort would take care of them. They had a little swimming pool. He could, you know, talk to other dogs and socialize or whatever they did. But it was finding a daycare or resort or kennel or whatever it is.
Speaker 2:You have to make sure the people who are operating it is nice to the animals, like you can't just drop your pet off and then they're like beating them, mistreating them, not feeding them. You know timely, like you need to know that. So I actually went on a tour or other place before I let my dog stay there. I'm like I need to know, I need to meet these people. It's basically, like you know, finding a daycare for a kid, like you going in there and you interviewing these people. Then make sure they can take care of your pet and not to mention your pet pet can't talk, so like if something happens they can't come and tell you. I mean they can give you a little signal because my dog will tell me like if he doesn't like something.
Speaker 2:You could see his hesitation, but he loved a little resort. He I would drop him off. He would run in there and look at me like why are you still here? And run into the place. But then when I would pick him up he would come running out like he had to tell me something but he couldn't talk. So it was, it was good that would happen, but that was very expensive. He would travel this. You know, this is a big dog. So I couldn't take him on the plane because I refuse to put dog, a big dog, in cargo. That's where big dogs go. That's very dangerous for a dog. So the only time he would travel be on road trips. So if I went back to Cleveland, I will always drive, stay a longer time period and take him with me. I would take him to Florida, to the beach, you know, like quick little road trips or whatever. And then towards the end of my dog's life I found out about trusted house sitters.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I'm like, why don't tell me about this, like 10 years ago, like I could have been saving hundreds of dollars in no one told me. But now that I know I have used trusted house sitters actually for just someone to come watch my house. But when I get my next dog my dogs just staying here you pay annual fee which is less than one week at the dog resort and then let them come to you yes, the person come to you.
Speaker 1:So so that. So you mentioned. So that's about the pets, so you mentioned. So. When we're traveling solo, if you're gone for long periods of time, do you just like your house up and go, or do you prefer for somebody to come in and check on the house?
Speaker 2:So if it is, if I'm just going a week, I'll just lock it up. Even two weeks I may lock it up. But now, after last winter, I was gone in December for two weeks and we had a deep freeze in the south and all our pipes burst. That was hope, it was a tragedy. My pipe burst and I was like and it was Christmas Eve, I'm like someone needs to get over.
Speaker 2:Like it was this, it was stressful, I couldn't do anything and I was just. I was way too far away. I was in Cleveland. That's 10 hours, 10 plus hour drive. I can't just get here. So luckily I could call my plumber or whatever to come out and do an emergency shut off on my water. But if I'm gone a week, I usually just tell my neighbor like, hey, I'm going to be out of town. Can you just, you know, keep an eye on my house, look at it. If something strange is going on, let me know. But if I'm gone a month which I haven't been gone continuously for a month this year, but last year I was I hired a house sitter I had and that was very stressful because I have never let someone just come into my space.
Speaker 1:And I think you might have announced that I'm like Kita. You can hire me to be your house and I love Atlanta.
Speaker 2:Listen, I'm gonna. I need to put my house. I'm gonna be gone for a couple weeks in November. If you need to come on out to. Atlanta.
Speaker 1:No, I'm serious.
Speaker 2:I'm serious, we go be in touch because we go talk offline. Yeah because, it was.
Speaker 2:I did find a very, very good person to house it, which I'm entirely grateful of, and it was just by luck. One face, I had a house sitter and she canceled Like two weeks before and I'm like, oh my. So I panicked, I get anxious about a lot of things and I'm like, oh my God, I need a house sitter, I'm gonna be on a month, whatever. And I ended up posting in one of the groups that I'm in and I'm like, hey, if anyone is interested in coming to Atlanta, like I need a house sitter. And one lady reached out to me and she was actually starting a business of like linking house sitters with people who need it. A house sitter.
Speaker 2:Okay, and so what's her name? Diamond.
Speaker 1:Diamond. I can't remember her last name, but Okay yeah, so Diamond was a guest, so you'll hear her episode as well. Oh okay, okay.
Speaker 2:So I'm telling y'all Samar World six months ago she literally saved me Cause she messaged me and she was like hey, I know someone in Atlanta who's looking for her first house. Sit and come to find out. This lady lived around the corner for me and so it was over by well.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's good. This is why, like, it's good to be, even if we're solo traveling, it's still good to build like a community or a network amongst other travelers, because you don't know how you're gonna connect. So what do you say about you know people say don't announce, like on social media, anything of when you're leaving. You know, I'm kind of 50, 50,. Well, safety is first, right. But for me I have announced like, oh yeah, I'm going to I don't know, I've never I was gonna say Brazil, I ain't been to Brazil before.
Speaker 1:Let's say I'm going to Brazil and I may say I'm flying, I guess maybe because I feel like nobody knows where I live. But I guess I mean, I guess you can get anything off the internet, but I mean I guess I've never had any of those type of issues or anything like that. But I mean, for safety wise, they tell you don't do it, but I've done it before and you know clearly we've been okay. So what are your thoughts on posting about? Or do you feel like you shouldn't post? You know, before you go, maybe you should post it when you come back. Like, what do you think about that in terms of safety of your house?
Speaker 2:So that's double folded there. I don't post for multiple safety reasons. One my house. People can definitely find your address online or there could be someone in my network who has been to my house or know where I live who doesn't have good intentions. I don't know that. But also it's for safety of me. So I don't know who's watching me or who's following me on the internet and I go to their country and they gonna show up where I'm at and like, hmm, I win.
Speaker 1:And that's it. Although it's not a cause, we don't want to scare the people that's listening to us on the travel. We're talking about safety reasons, just so you can kind of be aware of some of these things. So if you want to post some people again I don't always post in real time, people are like I thought you were here. Where are you?
Speaker 2:at.
Speaker 1:Or did you just go down and be like I ain't just going on a ship and I be like oh, people think I'm like gone all the time.
Speaker 2:like you know, I just been posting stuff about Aruba for five weeks but I was like two months ago.
Speaker 1:That's where you talk about content creation. So we also get into content creation as well. But when you're a content creator, a travel content creator I was in Ghana for a month how much content is that that's?
Speaker 2:months of content, so much content, yeah, so I literally was posting away.
Speaker 1:I think while I was there I might have posted five. And when I say five times, I might have posted five pictures. Ok, so not even giving a detail would be like oh, this is somewhere. Bam, that's the end of the conversation. I literally didn't start posting, so I came back because one I want to enjoy my vacation, right. Right, I might have time to post. I don't have time to update y'all while I'm trying to eat.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:But that is the thing with the content creation and it's funny because this question irritates me. We shouldn't, but people are always asking me when am I going to come home? And I'm like, why? Why do you want to know when I'm coming back? I'm going to enjoy the content and going about your business.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:I'm like, unless you're about to, and it could be another safety thing. Why do you want to know when I'm, you know, but I'm? Just like leave me alone, but that's another story. But that's when we talk about content creation. You mentioned that you do content creation, so what are any advice for our content creators that are solo traveling out there?
Speaker 2:So I just want to mention one thing about our last topic. So I did post live on my Instagram when I went to Seattle last year and that's when I did it just as a test, right To see how people will work, see if I can deal with posting live and still traveling and enjoying life. And someone was like who I don't really talk to, was like oh, you're in Seattle and like kind of went off on me about being in Seattle and not letting them know that.
Speaker 1:I was there and I'm like they're in.
Speaker 2:Seattle yes, they live there and I'm like, but we don't talk, like it'd be different. You know, we engage in conversation on the internet, right, that's different, but someone I don't really engage in conversation with oh, you haven't really talked, ok, yeah. I'm like no. So after that I created a close friends group on Instagram. Oh OK, so that group's seeing stuff in like live, if I want to post.
Speaker 1:OK, so that's a part of content creation as well figuring out what you're wanting to post, how much you want to post, right? Do you want to meet up with people and say hey, I'm in Seattle and I would like to meet up with people? Are you trying to be low key and be like I'm here for a reason or I just don't feel like being bothered?
Speaker 2:Right, it has to be your own mental capacity of what you want to do, even with content creation. Do you really feel like creating all this content for this part of the trip? Because it becomes kind of a balance to try to enjoy your trip and get in content. Because I know I see people who are just constantly and constantly recording. I'm like I want to actually still live the moment. So I'll have my camera ready, I'll have my phone ready, or maybe I have someone else. You know, like if I'm on a tour, maybe the tour guy is taking some videos of me or something like that. So I can still enjoy the moment.
Speaker 2:But you kind of have to think about it. So I try to. Before I go on a trip, I actually kind of look at my itinerary and kind of put down notes like, ok, I'm going to record a little bit of this, or I'm not going to record this, this is going to be my moment or whatever, or maybe I'll just take some pictures here. So I kind of plan out what I'm going to do before I go. And since I do YouTube, I need a lot of content. So I kind of plan out what videos I'm going to have, what the topics are going to be and do all of that in advance. So I know, ok, I have this town time where I'm not going to pick up the camera or I'm going all in on the camera during this moment of my trip.
Speaker 1:I will say the other thing too. People always ask about pictures, like if you're a solo, how do you take your pictures by yourself?
Speaker 2:All that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:I'm like listen up A random people and strangers are your best friends, Right? That a tripod, the T-in bag. I'm like, listen, I try to see if I'm in a location and there is somebody else that's doing angles with their friends. I'm like, hey, can you take my picture? Because I know you're going to get a good picture. So definitely ask strangers. Of course, that thing in the back of your mind is can they steal my phone? Would they run off on my phone?
Speaker 2:That has definitely crossed my mind so many times. But I'm like, OK, I see them taking pictures and they got a nice phone or camera. They probably not. They doing the same thing I'm doing? Right, they may not win exactly.
Speaker 1:They may not win my, so it's always worked best for. So that's another way. Another thing is keep them into the tripod. Definitely, take that tripod with you. You get a timer on your phone. You just don't have to, because sometimes you may be in a place where you're like dang, there's no fun if you're walking around right now Some of the tripods have remotes too, so you can set it up and you can walk away.
Speaker 2:Just hide your remote, so that won't be like you know.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:I'll let the camera like that. The tour guys have been helpful too. Yes, a lot, a lot.
Speaker 1:Listen, the tour guys are becoming photographers as well. It's like this is now part of your job. If you're a tour guide, you need to know how to take a decent picture, Especially if you have solo travels. They need a picture, and I need you to be able to do this right.
Speaker 2:Listen, yeah, because I went horseback riding in Aruba and she came up to me and she was like you want me to get some footage for you. I'm like yes, please. And I'm all nervous because I don't do horseback riding. So I'm like am I going to drop my phone? I'm pulling it out, ok, take it. Because I was terrified to hold it up myself and take video. So, yeah, she did a good job. She got vertical, she got horizontal, she took pictures. I'm like this is all I needed, like this is perfect.
Speaker 1:Listen, that's a higher rating If you can take them around Instagram, I'd be like, oh, he took my pictures, he did that. You and I got a two-in-one combo. You may get a little extra tip just because you put that portion onto there, and for YouTube and different things like that. Remember content creators, or, if you want to ever become one, remember you honestly sometimes have to do the vertical and the horizontal. Okay, so it's the same thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the problem.
Speaker 1:That's the only thing. But I will say that you can kind of like, repurpose a lot of the content. You know, Instagram I mean YouTube has shorts. Instagram TikTok, tiktok, tiktok actually has up to 10 minutes now, I don't know if you use that.
Speaker 2:I saw that, but I'm like who's watching 10 minutes on TikTok?
Speaker 1:Right, I guess, unless it's like a DIY or a story time movie oh yeah yeah, You'll be surprised at the stuff that people will sit there and watch. I think we are into short form content, but there are some people. If your story is interesting enough, as is with YouTube, they will sit there and watch the content.
Speaker 2:So you just never know.
Speaker 1:So the thing about it is repurposing that content. I will say another thing is just to hire somebody. Let's say you don't want to take pictures that day, hire somebody to video and it's sometimes it's cheaper. Well, some of these destinations that get unpopular, they're getting more expensive. But hire somebody locally. That way you get a chance to give back to the community and you don't have to worry about it. You can literally enjoy while somebody else is taking that content. And I will say take pictures, or even if it's a quick video of a lot of different stuff, because again, you never know me. I'm trying to think of something. Me I was just like hey, this is how much street food costs on the side of the road.
Speaker 1:I didn't know people would like that, but that's something that people are interested because they want to know how much the food costs. So sometimes the stuff that we don't think that people would enjoy is stuff that people actually would be into and you never know what is going to go viral quote, unquote, or what and not even if it doesn't go viral, what's going to get you views, numbers, you know, and all that stuff can turn into money depending on what platform you are.
Speaker 1:Me and Kitar both monetize on YouTube at this point right, so you never know what's going to do good in terms of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I must say, going along with the YouTube content. So if you're just doing like all vertical so shorts on YouTube you know Instagram reels, tiktoks you're usually going to be doing vertical. But if you're trying to go into a long form YouTube game which is still great in my opinion you got to have horizontal. So for me, since I'm doing the long form content, I typically, probably 80% of the time record my stuff horizontal because it's easier to reformat the horizontal and crop it down to a vertical. But when it's in a vertical video, I mean you can, but it's going to be a lot of stuff's going to be cut off and it's not going to look as good. It's going to be more pixelated and stuff, but it's easier, at least what I've noticed. And also you got to record in higher quality on your phone or camera, but I've noticed it's easier to just take the horizontal to vertical but vertical to horizontal. Don't do that.
Speaker 1:That's a good thing. I typically do vertical because I do post a lot on Instagram, posting a lot on mail, trying to get into TikTok and all that kind of stuff, and of course I still do the long form, but I do notice. So maybe I have to try it horizontally and then do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because it definitely. I mean, if you do I mean do vertical and you want to do long form on YouTube, you know you could always put I think you've done it where you just have a black screen in background or you put like a kind of the blurred blown up video behind it, so it's still like for a screen.
Speaker 1:Right, that would be the point where I forgot to turn it horizontally. How are we going to stretch this out?
Speaker 2:How are?
Speaker 1:we going to do that. So, yeah, so Concecrest I wanted to mention Concecrest because I know there are a lot of solo travels that are out there. Or once, if you always ask, how do I become a travel blogger, how do I become a travel blogger? And so, since we both do that, I did want it to take a little bit time to talk about the Concecretion piece of it, because we out here trying to make this money okay.
Speaker 2:That's right, that's right, exactly.
Speaker 1:So let's go back, because we had mentioned solo travel. I mean, we had mentioned safety a little bit. We were talking just about housing. So what about? What are some solo travel tips while we're actually abroad, and have you found any difference? Do you think, do you have any tips for us being black women as solo travels, or do you feel like everything is kind of universal and what we look like doesn't necessarily matter? So I guess that's a two-part question, yeah it is. Whatever you want at the whatever you want to go for.
Speaker 2:So first I'm going to start with just safety tips. So for me, like we're going to keep it real here, the US is not that safe. So if you have-.
Speaker 1:Wait, let's stop for that exact part, because a lot of people say oh, you're going to Mexico, oh, you're going here, Is it safe?
Speaker 2:I don't even want to get started on that, because the people talking about Mexico I'm like no, have you seen the news in the US?
Speaker 1:Right, exactly. And fortunately we have the highest counts of mass shootings at schools, right at schools.
Speaker 2:You would never hear about this in other countries. In the whole church grocery store like it's everywhere, it's everywhere.
Speaker 1:It amazes me how we're so desensitized. How do you say that To where we live at, versus looking at another country and asking them is it safe over there? If I know that I can go to another country without possibly being in a shooting at an everyday place, because school is an everyday place, grocery stores an everyday place, then don't ask me about the safety. Let me worry about the safety you just watch the trip. Okay, that's all I need you to do.
Speaker 2:I mean there's probably some places, there's definitely some places that aren't safe in the world outside of the US, Some of those places we can't even go to right now because they're so dangerous.
Speaker 2:But I want people to realize that before they start going abroad. Because if you have the common sense of street smarts to be solo and go out places like because I go out places here solo during the day and at night I know that I need to pay attention to things. I don't feel threatened, but I know because of where I'm at, I'm like, okay, I need to watch my surroundings. I just take that same street smarts with me when I travel abroad, even though a lot of places I go to aren't dangerous to that respect, because a lot of places there are civilians that can't carry guns. So that's one thing, but you still have to be mindful of those things. But that's where research comes into play, so you can go and look for scams that happen in other countries, Cause I know me and five other people got took-took scam in Thailand, but we, if we would have researched before we went to work.
Speaker 1:It wasn't a taxi for me. I'm thinking that it was all good, cause the concierge told the taxi you know going by destination.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking, okay, this is cool. How about I never, ever, made it to my destination? He didn't took me to two or three other spots and I was like in my head I remember the guy telling me what it should look like. I'm like this is not where we are supposed to be at and at some point I'm like listen up. After the third, right, I said you know what you know, just take me back to the hotel. And I think he tries to get extra. I said you ain't you know? We never even made it to the destination.
Speaker 2:So I took the justice off of the tailor shop and we were like we're not buying any suits, like we trying to go to the grand palace. Right Grand palace and since we wouldn't pay to get suits or anything done, he just left us and it started pouring down rain and we were just like we were over it. We didn't even go to grand palace that day. We were like, well, we were just going back to the hotel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's yeah. I never made it to the and I was hungry. I was supposed to go to the show and eat some food Mostly, then you got hangry.
Speaker 2:See, when you get hangry, that's when it.
Speaker 1:I ended up at McDonald's or something, so yeah, so, like you said, them scams. Like read up on those things you know, because, like when you're solo.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, it could be a target if you aren't being confident in your walk, like I don't know how to explain that. Like you have to walk like you belong there, because when you don't, they're going to look at you like, hey, you know, let me try to do this, run this pick pocket scam, or let me try to do I don't know I think I've heard like a henna henna tattoo scam or whatever. So like there's little things that happen in different countries. Every country is going to have something you need to be aware of when you travel and that's something you need to look at when it comes to being a black woman or just black period.
Speaker 2:First of all, we live in the US. Again, we deal with a lot here on our homeland when it comes to racial issues, unfortunately, but when we travel abroad, there are countries one they've looked at because US news is worldwide. Not every country has their news worldwide, so when the US puts out news, they see these propaganda type things. They're not hearing the whole story about our people, which is why it's important for black people to travel so we can tell our stories. They can see different people who aren't in the news or who aren't the people that the US is trying to portray us to be. But then there's also countries where they don't treat black people well. But then there's countries where they're like oh, you're from the US, so they still treat you differently because you are an American. You have an American passport, right, you have American money.
Speaker 1:Right, that's a two part quote because, like you said, in some places people from Africa are treated differently.
Speaker 2:That's where I was going to go there next, right, but then that's when they figure out we're black, but we're American. Then they're like oh, come on in, sit down. You know, you just take one hour money.
Speaker 1:If you don't think that you, as an American, have a privilege when you go to other countries, you absolutely. Even if we say black people, we get the bad end of the poll in America. When you're somewhere else, you're American.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:And so again, americans, sometimes the people it was like, oh, they have money, so I'm going to treat them a certain type of way.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And so that is important to.
Speaker 2:Or we may not have money, we just know how to spend it recklessly as well. So they're like we want them to come on in and buy some stuff from our shop. But then there's like I mean I hate to say this I really enjoyed this country but, like in China, they have different opinions of black people as well, and that's just not Africa. You get the stares when you're in China. They may want to touch your hair more than what people hear the white people going to do in the US. They going to try to really touch your hair. They're speaking another language to you. Unless you know Chinese or Mandarin, you're not going to know what they're saying and there could be negative things. Or I know when I went to China for work the bell hop, he's taking my luggage up to the room and we get on the elevator and he asked me if I knew Kobe Bryant.
Speaker 1:I love Kobe Bryant, yeah, let you tell the girls from Compton and they want to know did you ever meet Tupac? Yeah, I met him. I started to say that.
Speaker 2:I started to say, yeah, I know Kobe. But then I was like no, he going to bring someone to the room and then I'm going to have to, because this was a long time ago. They just don't have me. Try to call Kobe. I'm like I'm not going to get this started, I'm going to be the first.
Speaker 1:Some people have also said that they've been called Oprah or like another black person.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, oprah Michelle.
Speaker 1:All kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:I can remember where I was. Someone called me Rihanna once and then someone else called me Beyonce. I'm like, I don't look nothing like them, exactly.
Speaker 1:Because you're American, you're associated with them. Okay, so tell me what was one of your favorite solo destinations or somewhere that you highly recommend for a solo traveler.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's tough because I have like a. I actually have a ranking of countries. Like every time I travel, I update my list, so it really depends on what my vibe is. So if I want to go to another city and be in a city where it may not be skyscrapers but it's the hustle and bustle of life, I'm going to Paris. I love Paris. What is funny?
Speaker 1:Because did you see that video about the guy who?
Speaker 2:I saw that and then I have. I don't know if you follow what's her name. Her Instagram is Paris Chicode, and so she's from the US, but she's been in Paris for over a decade, I think, or at least a decade. She went in on this, on that story.
Speaker 1:That video was. You guys have to go and watch that video y'all, I saw it, I'm like. So you would say Paris is first. Yeah, and I enjoyed it.
Speaker 2:So one reason why I loved it is because, before I went, the main thing I wanted to do and this was the trip where I went with someone I booked it, I booked the flight deal. I told her I booked the flight deal. If you want to go, book it. She actually did, which is surprising, and I said, well, the one thing I have to do, even though I had never been to Paris before, I was like I have to go on the Black Paris tour with Ricky Stevenson. And before I went, they were sending all this information, this history, getting me hyped up, trying to help me plan, giving me all this information. And then when I got there, I was already.
Speaker 2:When I landed, I was like, wow, I felt like I actually needed to be there. That's rare for me to land somewhere. I'm like, okay, I've been prepped, I need to be in the city. And then I went on the tour and I met wonderful people. I actually met some people from Atlanta. One person lived nearby and I just met so many people from the tour and even the tour guide. I'm still in touch with her and she has so many connections there throughout the Black history and this Black history is American Black history that has stemmed to Paris. It's very deep in Paris and so I found that very intriguing. And then people complain about food in Paris. When people complain about food in Paris, that means y'all didn't look like this has some top food. But I also would say food in France does not have the hormones that our food has here in the United States, which will make it taste differently. So if you want hormones, you got to just stay here in the US. You're going to get fresh food in France.
Speaker 1:Right. And there's a whole bunch of places where the food is.
Speaker 2:Basically everywhere. If the food is not imported from the US, then it's usually going to be fresher and has a different taste. But if it is imported from the US, you can the same boat as us. Now, if you want a beach, this one keeps changing because every time I go to another beach it becomes the number one place. Yeah, so right now I'm kind of in between Aruba and Turks and Caicos. They have two different vibes, but the people in both places was just very nice and very friendly, very welcoming. I ran into some good food there and for me, being on the East Coast and in Atlanta is very close for me. I just hop on a plane. It's Turks and Caicos. I don't even think it's three hours. Aruba is four hours, so it's very close for me to get there on this side of the US. But I really loved it.
Speaker 2:You could spend the one happy island. I was there almost a week and I could go back because they actually encourage you Like hey, don't. They basically say don't run yourself in the ground and rest a little bit. Like, come do some things during the day, then go lay at the beach, get up the next day and do something else and then relax. They don't want you to actually relax and enjoy yourself. So I don't know. Those are probably like in my top so far. I also love see. I'm gonna keep going on my list. I also love South Africa because they're wine country. I love wine, so the wine country and their pores for wine tasting is ridiculous. Everywhere else in the world you get wine tasting is like a sip. You get a full pour in South Africa so you gotta be prepared, but I loved it. There's just a lot of places. I don't think I've been to a place that I haven't liked but that mean there's a lot of places I wouldn't return to, but I still enjoy my time there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's hard for me too, because I'm like I don't say that I've had like a bad trip anywhere People got hated at a place. I'd be like dang, you ain't like nothing about the place.
Speaker 2:Right, that could be at least one thing you liked.
Speaker 1:Right, I'm like I don't know if I've just been blessed or lucky, or I don't know if I'm just going to have fun wherever I go. I'm gonna make the best out of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm gonna research you know how to pivot. I think that's key.
Speaker 1:Exactly so, kita, we're about to wrap it up. This has been a wonderful conversation. We have talked about so many different things, but any last final words for our solo travelers out there that are still teetering like should I wait, should I not Like? What is your final advice to those people that are going back and forth, or for those people that are already doing it?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So if you're going back and forth, that means you really want to do it. I say, do it, go out there. Maybe not make it a long trip, maybe make it, you know, just a couple of days and try it out and see how you like it. Have things planned, have your schedule packed so you, you know you can actually enjoy yourself.
Speaker 2:And if you're really concerned about doing it, maybe join like a tour group where there's stuff planned out but then you can still be by yourself in the hotel room or hostel or whatever you're staying in, or have some downtime for yourself. You can still have the group, still have people knowing that you exist, while you still have time to yourself. So that kind of helps you ease into travel and traveling solo. If you are ready traveling solo, keep doing it, unless you just found out like, hey, this is not for me, at least you tried and that's great. That's the important part. I think everyone should try traveling solo at least once. But if you love it, keep going with it, expand on it, tell us about your trips, make recommendations and have a good time and be safe.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I will add on to that Follow other content creators. Follow other solo travels that out there doing it to get inspiration, to get ideas, to get where to go, where to stay. Me and Kita both discussed different restaurants, places to stay, all kinds of stuff, and I think Kita also talks about environmental stuff. So follow other people that are doing the same thing that you want to do for inspiration and reach out to them. We do not buy it, we do talk back. Well, don't talk to us too much. Well, I'm going to say not, don't talk to us too much, but don't ask 50 million questions and don't give anything back to the conversation. When you take, take, take from content creators. That's a lot on us. We're willing to do it like once or twice.
Speaker 1:But if you keep, coming back, we're like, okay now. Okay, do you want to set up a concentration?
Speaker 2:Because I mean, you know, this is going to be on the next page. It has to be mindful that you're not the only person that follows us, so we get other messages, other comments.
Speaker 1:We have to take it takes time to like, thoughtfully, respond to every person and another thing I will say is, honestly, your question may have been answered in our YouTube channel, our Instagram, our blog, like, I think we specifically try to answer people's question, because we could be getting the same question over and over. So that's another caveat as well. Okay, so, kita, let us know where we can find you, how we can look you up, how we can follow you.
Speaker 2:Yes, so if you just want to learn more about me, you can go to my website, kitatheexplorercom, and that's K-I-T-A the Explorer. If you want to go on my YouTube channel, which is where I have a lot of travel information about different destinations, solo travel tips, traveling sustainably, that is at Kita the Explorer as well, and I'm also on Instagram. I do similar content, but obviously in short form or a picture format over there. And if you are in Atlanta area and you're traveling here and you want some photos done, I do photography as well, which is on Airbnb experiences. But you can always send me a message on Kita Explorer and we can book outside of Airbnb, oral Airbnb, whatever you want to do, depending on what you want for photos. So that's how you can find me, and this was a great discussion, tiffany.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for coming on. I enjoyed the conversation and I just like the fact that we'd be like all over the place, but it all still makes very much sense, right? It?
Speaker 2:still went together, right? I mean, that's just how we operate. We all over the place and travel. We made gear there, whatever Exactly.
Speaker 1:Exactly so. Thank you so much for coming on. I really, really appreciate it and y'all make sure y'all go follow Kita and book her services. Thank you so much, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:All right, bye.