I love taking pictures of desert and have been working on improving the craft of it. Here is some of my food photography in my travels (and my home). Let me know what you think – do the pics make you want to take a bite?
Chocolate Desserts
Sharing My Culture via Social Media
It’s no secret that social media has widened many of our “friendship” nets. It certainly has done so with mine. And in so doing, it’s allowed me to share my culture with people who may not ordinarily know certain things about me. Things such as where I’m from (Brooklyn) and where half of my roots are (Barbados). 
Peaks into my background aren’t gratuitous – they’re usually in conjunction with a conversation, a Twitter party, an article, or a tweet from an account associated with either New York or Barbados. I can remember specific instances where I shared my love for my grandmother’s fish cakes and the Southern food my mother is fond of cooking. These conversations were carried on in the halls of Twitter U. They’ve also been held in the classrooms of my website, where I’ve spoken about my shameless neglect in teaching my boys about their Caribbean heritage from infancy.
I’ve realized that writing and tweeting about travel involves not only sharing my sentiments on industry topics but also sharing a piece of myself, my identity, my culture. In ordinary circumstances, with people that I barely know, I wouldn’t talk about “me” like this. But somehow it seems appropriate in the world of travel and social media where the flow and exchange of ideas is so rapid. I can’t help but add a little bit of my own spice to the conversation and share a piece of my culture in the midst of it.
This post was written as an entry for the Ella Media SheStreams 2012 conference pass giveaway.
Hands-Free Travel with Bag Voyaage
Hands-free travel with Bag Voyaage is the way to go. If you don’t know me, let me just tell you that I get very excited to share truly awesome things with people. It could be information, new knowledge, products, services, whatever. If it’s good and has had a positive impact on some part of my life, I’ll share it with family and friends.
My newest “discovery” is a company named Bag Voyaage. Those followers that see me on Twitter will know that last week I couldn’t stop singing this company’s praises. I went to a blogging conference in Tennessee and flew there hands-free!
What do I mean by hands-free?
Just that. Nothing in my hands except my boarding pass and my laptop on my arm.
Bag Voyaage, who sponsored part of my trip to Blissdom, picked up my luggage from my front door on Tuesday and delivered it to the Gaylord Opryland by noon on Thursday.
My flight arrived at 7:10 pm that evening. That’s right folks, the luggage was there before me! When I got the call from the hotel’s business center that they had my package there waiting for me, I kicked myself. Why didn’t I squeeze myself into the luggage with some snacks and a small oxygen tank so that I could get there early too?
The whole experience was flawless.
I felt like a spoiled brat as I walked through the airport weightless. I arrived at the hotel and headed straight to my room without the customary assistance of a bell man unloading my bags from the taxi.
“M’am, do you have any luggage I can take up for you?“
“No John, that’ll be quite alright. My luggage was delivered to the hotel for me.”
“Oh. Really? Cool.”
“Yes. Yes, it is. Have a nice day.” –> Eww, snob! Yup, totally.
Not only did I save time (checking -in) and money (on baggage fees and bell man tips), I saved my strength and the hassle.
When it was time to leave Tennessee, I left my luggage at the business center on Sunday morning. I caught my flight at 10 am, and my luggage was picked up on Monday. If you’re returning on a weekday, more than likely, you’re luggage will be retrieved that same day. But I wasn’t worried. I had all my necessities and plenty of excess clothing at home. I knew I wouldn’t be in dire need of anything. My luggage arrived on Wednesday at noon.
I’m excited about the services this company offers for travelers, especially my fellow traveling families. Think about how much stress this reduces for us as we travel with our kids. The best part of this whole experience is that my husband, the cynic, was also excited about the service. Besides knowing that I wouldn’t have to be weighed down with luggage while traveling on my own, he didn’t have to load and unload it for me at the airport! (Ha! I think that’s the real reason.) No, but really, he mentioned that it was a must-use for our family when we travel in the future.
If you want to learn more about Bag Voyaage and hassle (and hands) – free travel, check out their You Tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQUHGbrLVuM
Let me know what you think and feel free to ask any questions you may have. Happy Travels!
A Bit of Humor: Southwest Flying Anxiety
[Post inspired by a lunch conversation with fellow conference attendee and traveler Rachel Martin from Finding Joy.]
This past Thursday, for a trip to the Blissdom social media conference, I took a brief hour and fifty minute direct flight from Baltimore to Tennessee on Southwest airlines. I was quickly reminded why it’s not my favorite way of flying. As much as I enjoy “no baggage fees”, Southwest flight attendant humor, free pretzels and overall, good service, I don’t particularly care for the anxiety that stirs up in me when I fly with the airline.
What’s this anxiety all about?
Well, first, it’s the unknowing and uncertainty of where my seat will be. The assigned seating rule of other airlines works well for people like me who aren’t seating – risk averse. Unassigned seating is just a little too free and hippy for my conservative flying tastes. Yes, I know, if I’d set my alarm exactly 24 hours before my flight departs, then I’d ensure myself a better boarding class and number. But I don’t always think of that. I admit, even as an avid traveler, I’m forgetful!
So what happens when you don’t check-in soon enough with Southwest?
You get some high number in the C class. Then you have the joy of playing the eenie-meenie-mynie-mo game as you walk down a long and quiet aisle of faces trying to avoid your gaze, deciding which two bodies would be the safer bet for a middle seat sandwich where you get to be the meat and cheese.
The second part of the Southwest anxiety is the boarding process. The gate area looks like cattle stalls. Lining up is a hoot. People are secretly trying to either cover up their own boarding passes so that they can skip the line or they’re trying to take a glimpse of yours to make sure you’re standing where you belong. You either feel like telling them to mind their damn business or get to stepping (aka carry your butt to your assigned stall – Moo!).
If you happen to get a good number and score a window or aisle seat, ha haa, now you get to watch the losers with the piss-poor numbers walk by. You’re either looking away quickly when you see some face you’d rather not have sitting next to you or you’re sneaking peeks for that “right one”. When you find them, you struggle to find the balance between putting on a subtly inviting smile that says “hey come sit next to me”, and not looking too eager, where they’ll think you’re a nut job to avoid at all costs.
However, in a split second, when you were happy at first that everyone was walking past your seat, your emotions betray you. Watching passenger after passenger walk past, NOT choosing to sit next to you, you begin to wonder, “Why DON’T they wanna sit next to me?” Does my hair look a mess? Do I have crust on my face? Yo, what’s up? Then that once secure inner voice starts screaming: “Hey, pick me, pick me!” And all of sudden it feels like middle school again. You’re waiting anxiously for the dodge ball team captains as they take turns picking their players bypassing your name, leaving you to be one of the last ones left in the draft.
What the H***?! How did this happen?
That’s Southwest for ya. It’s plays a horrible game on the traveler’s emotions. What thoughts have run through your head when you’ve flown Southwest?
My question to the airline: If you can assign cattle stalls, why can’t you just assign seats?
Traveling While Sick: 7 Tips to Help You Feel Better
Traveling while sick is a nightmare! Who in their right mind would want to willingly board a plane under the duress of nausea, fatigue, shivers, and an upset stomach? I’m going to take a wild guess and say “no one”.
Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to change your travel plans at the drop of a hat. If you’re traveling for business or taking a long-anticipated family vacation, your options are limited. Canceling your travel plans could cost you big dollars.
However, you may need to weigh whether continuing to travel while sick will worsen your condition or if you can weather the storm.
7 Tips for traveling while sick
So what quick and simple action can you take if you’re traveling while sick and have very few cancellation options? I’m not a doctor, but here are a few things that helped me, some of which WebMD also suggests:
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Rest
This is easier said than done for the busy mom or business person. Simply said, the less you rest, the longer it’s going to take you to get better. At a minimum, you should be getting 7-8 hours as recommended by doctors. If your body is tired, it doesn’t have the basic mechanism to help fight and fix what’s wrong with you. Unfortunately, you can’t compromise on this. The more rest you get, the stronger you’ll be.
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Hydration
If you weren’t drinking your 8 glasses of water before, now’s the time to get it into your system. Vomiting, fever, and diarrhea cause dehydration. You can drink coconut water, Gatorade, Pedialyte as a part of your liquid intake. Clean water helps to flush your system out and keep all the necessary membranes in good working order. I own a portable glass water bottle that makes ionized alkaline water. It’s fantastic!
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Essential Oils
Over the past three years, essential oils have been a buzz term. Some people are prophets for the movement, some not so much. I can’t speak to any scientific efficacy of them. I just know what has helped me feel better. My short list includes: diffusing peppermint oil or putting ONE drop of it in warm water to help with nausea; rubbing lavender oil on the back of my ears to help me sleep, and massaging oregano oil on the bottom of my feet to help with a cold.
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Vitamin C Supplements
Get yourself some Emergen-C for a healthy dose of vitamin C. An increase in vitamin C can help to boost your immune system and strengthen your defenses. I also like to use Airborne effervescent tablets if I know I have to take a flight. The daily recommended value for vitamin C tablets is 500 mg but you can easily find 1000 mg tablets in your local drug store.
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Neti pot
These are ceramic pots that use a saltwater solution to flush out your nasal passages, clearing it of pollen and possibly viruses. I use a neti pot religiously during allergy season and it provides amazing relief.
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Saline nasal spray
WebMD suggests using it before and after the flight: “The plane air is so dry and that dries out your mucous membranes, which reduces your resistance to infection, but keeping these membranes moist with saline spray may help.”
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Protect yourself from other sick people
If you’re comfortable with it, go ahead and pimp the face mask. Masks protect us from both allergens, dust, germs, and bacteria. People in other parts of the world have no qualms about it, so why should we?
My own sick travel dilemma
Last weekend I had the pleasure of catching a “bug”. At the time, I didn’t realize my sickness would be short-lived, so I prepared myself for the worst. The last thing on my mind was traveling while sick. All I knew was that I had a flight in 4 days, I needed to get better quickly, or find a “band-aid” to help me make it through the flight.
INCUBATION
Most of the times, it takes a good 24 hours to realize what’s really going on with our bodies when we fall sick. Fevers love to peak in that first day, aches begin their run, and then congestion starts to run its course.
That incubation period can make it hard to know what we’re dealing with or what we need to do to get better.
Luckily, my ailment (nausea, fatigue, headache, upset stomach) only lasted 24 hours. By the next day, I was at 90%, weak but mostly recuperated. In my situation, there was no need for anything more than rest and detoxification.
Prolonged and more severe symptoms (persistent high fever or a cough, red and patchy tonsils, vomiting, dizziness, palpitations, etc.) call for a visit to the doctor. It’s important to prioritize your self-care and travel sometimes makes that hard to do.
The above suggestions are also great preventative measures. Remember, consult your doctor if your body is feeling especially abnormal. Any sickness that lasts more than a few days may need professional medical attention.
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