Travel Activism: How a Bike Tour Introduced Me to Sustainable Menstrual Products

We talked about periods at a radical bookstore in Baltimore, sex toy shops in Philadelphia, D.C., and Richmond, and a coffeeshop in Trenton where we crashed on the couches of an illegitimate co-op created by a community of cyclists and wanderers. It was the best adventure made even better by the welcoming invitations to have open, honest conversations about reproductive health with strangers along the east coast. Continue reading Travel Activism: How a Bike Tour Introduced Me to Sustainable Menstrual Products

Getting in Touch with Bryce Canyon’s Spiritual History for Earth Day

Getting in Touch with Bryce Canyon’s Spiritual History for Earth Day

The Southern Paiutes are still living in the area today and the legend of the hoodoos is not lost on them. Hiking through Bryce Canyon, we found ourselves circling the hoodoos on the Rim Trail before zigzagging down into the canyon and through the hoodoos on the Navajo Loop, and the sound of silence was so strong you could almost hear the spirits crying out to you. Continue reading Getting in Touch with Bryce Canyon’s Spiritual History for Earth Day

Meet Ibu Sari Pollen: The Woman Inspiring Gender Equality in Bali

Meet Ibu Sari Pollen: The Woman Inspiring Gender Equality in Bali

Ibu Sari Pollen needed a divorce. She also knew how difficult it would be to come back from, especially in a place like Bali, Indonesia where women of divorce are shunned from society, becoming outcasts among the other unwed, never married, disabled, or childless women. Suddenly, while saving her own wellbeing and dignity by way of divorce, and in saving her life, she found herself a disgrace to society rather than sympathized for leaving an unhealthy relationship. She also lost custody of her baby daughter and wouldn’t be allowed to see her again for 12 years. Continue reading Meet Ibu Sari Pollen: The Woman Inspiring Gender Equality in Bali

Jeezy’s Juke Joint is the Burlesque Festival Bringing Diversity to Chicago’s Stages

Jeezy’s Juke Joint is the Burlesque Festival Bringing Diversity to Chicago’s Stages

“Black people are like, why am I going to go to a show if I’m not going to see myself represented onstage? Even me, in my mind, I’m always like, yeah burlesque is for white people. And we know that it’s not. But on the outside looking in, it looks very white. So of course people aren’t going to get diverse audiences if you don’t have any diversity onstage.” Continue reading Jeezy’s Juke Joint is the Burlesque Festival Bringing Diversity to Chicago’s Stages

Wanderfest: The Travel Festival for the Wanderess in You

Wanderfest: The Travel Festival for the Wanderess in You

Travel writers, bloggers, flight attendants, influencers, adventurers, activists, solo budget travelers, content creators and long-term nomads all flocked to the Big Easy to share in a festival celebration designed for the women who love to travel and explore new cultures, who are constantly learning about the world around them and how to help preserve and maintain each place through sustainable travel practices. As stated by Beth Santos, the founder and CEO of Wanderful, a women’s travel community, as well as the first annual Wanderfest, women make up 85% of the travel industry so why not create a safe space for women travelers to feel seen, heard and uplifted by fellow wanderers. Continue reading Wanderfest: The Travel Festival for the Wanderess in You

Black Lives Matter: The Lessons I’ve Learned

Black Lives Matter: The Lessons I’ve Learned

At the time, did I realize how many people have been feeling hurt and let down and belittled since the day they were born? How those feelings had been inherited and inevitably passed down to them from centuries of oppression? Are we all ready to have the uncomfortable conversations surrounding the notion of what privilege really looks like and the systemic realities behind the oppressions still existing in our world today? Are we ready to listen or will we continue to talk over each other and shout from our mountaintops that we are the only ones who are right and everyone else is wrong? Continue reading Black Lives Matter: The Lessons I’ve Learned

We’re Not Who They Think We Are

We’re Not Who They Think We Are

Despite all of that, these various cravings that sit deep inside my soul, all that seems to matter is how I died real good in that one horror film. And I see people caring more about money and material possessions than justice and equality. And I wonder if any of us are able to be all of the versions of ourselves that we desire to be at once. Continue reading We’re Not Who They Think We Are