Solo Travel does not mean you have to be alone!

When asked why people don’t travel. Some people respond by saying, “I don’t have anyone to travel with”. My response,” One monkey don’t stop me from traveling, the trip must go on”. The reason I say this is because if you wait on others to do something that you want to do, it may never happen. People are often too busy, don’t have enough money, content with not traveling and so forth.  As a matter of fact traveling solo has benefits. You have the ability to plan your agenda without the opinion of others, you can get to know who you are, flexibility to change plans as needed, and the freedom to meet others along the way if you choose to do so.

I am addicted to Facebook and Facebook groups.  I am an over 15 different groups as it relates to my interest and hobbies. I recently traveled solo to Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee. Due to my involvement in my groups and old friends, I was able to meet up with people along the way. I initially flew solo but I never felt like I was by myself.

One of my favorite groups is Nomadness Travel Tribe that was founded by Evita Robinson. Nomadness is a group for people who love to travel.  In order to gain access to the group, I had to watch a short video, take a quiz about the video and have at least one passport stamp. The reason I love this group is because I can send out a signal to ANYWHERE in the world and somebody will be able to meet up with me.

Evita (founder of Nomadness Tribe) and I

I inboxed my Soror (Zeta Phi Beta) on Facebook and informed her I was going to be in Nashville. She set up a dinner to welcome me and Evita into town. We meet up at Jalisco’s Mexican Restaurant. After the restaurant closed, we continued our discussion at the Radisson Hotel. We laughed, ate, and talked until almost midnight. I would also like to shout out the Nashville tribe because they supporting my endeavors by buying products from my business Sweet Tiffy’s Inspirations.

Nashville Tribe at Jalisco’s Mexican Restaurant

I contacted another tribe member who is from Memphis, Tennessee to see if she could have dinner with me. She agreed to see me when I came into town.  I told her that I was having a dilemma about where to stay.  She immediately drove by the Airbnb address just to make sure I would be in a safe neighborhood! When I arrived in Memphis, she picked me up from my Airbnb. We drove to Mississippi for dinner at Memphis Barbecue Co. The night was still young so went to an open Mic night! The open mic had some dope singers, poetess, comedians, and Rappers. She wouldn’t let me pay for anything, I had to sneak and pay for lemonade! We have a saying in Nomadness, “family by choice” I had a wonderful evening in Memphis because she treated me like family and not like a stranger she just met! I can’t wait to show her around Los Angeles if she is ever in town.

Memphis Barbecue Co.: Dry Rub Barbecue Ribs, Potato Salad, corn bread,  Red Beans & Rice

I had the opportunity to finally meet Zaakirah in person. We initially met in a group called Foreign Wives of African Men (a group designed to support those women who are dating or are married to African men) We soon discovered that we were in other groups together because we love to travel and  are travel bloggers. You can check out her blog at http://www.zaakirahnayyar.com.

Zaakirah and I with a sky view in the background

Zaakirah picked me up from the hotel after my Ladies, Luggage’s, and Lipsticks Conference. Two of the conference attendees were a little apprehensive about me going out with Zaakirah because we had only met over Facebook. I reassured them that I felt comfortable with her and I would post on Facebook later that evening to let them know I was alright. LOL. We went out to eat and walked around Downtown Nashville. It was great to finally put a face to the person who I had been communicating with over the past several months. I do advise everyone to exercise caution when meeting people from social media sites. Trust your intuition, if something does not feel right don’t meet up.

Pedestrian bridge in Downtown Nashville

Lastly, I posted on Facebook about being in Nashville and my old King/Drew Medical Magnet High School classmate reached out to me. She was gracious enough to pick me up from the Grey Hound Bus Station.  We went to the Opry Land Hotel. It is a beautiful hotel that has an indoor garden complete with waterfalls and animals made out of leaves and grass.

After leaving the hotel, we went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and she insisted that it was her treat.

It was nice to spend time with her as we have not seen each other in 13 years.

Remember to make a public post letting other members know that you are coming to there city or country. Or send people a private message, letting them know you want to have dinner etc.

Overall my heart was filled with joy and love because of the various people I met while on this trip. The best part was that I didn’t feel like a stranger, I felt like we had been apart for a couple years and were coming together for a reunion. Southern Hospitality is real and I am so appreciative of all the new and old faces I met along the way.