Allow me to reintroduce myself my name is HOV
H to the O V, I used to move
OK… OK… (Clears throat to get serious)
What’s up people?! Well my name obviously isn’t HOV. It’s Alecia. What’s yours? I really want to know so leave me a message!
Anyway …
I was born August 23, 1987 and yes I go hard for my Virgos. I’m from Greenville, SC and like all black families someone has a nickname, mine is Ms Pooh or Pooh for short. Everything you should know about me: I LOVE GOD, my husbae, my children (3), my friends, reading, music (I’m always rapping or singing), Harry Potter, traveling, sweet tea, Mr. Goodbars, The Culture, documentaries, cereal (I spit my milk back in the bowl eww I know and I don’t care) and cheese pizza, but I don’t eat cheese!!. Oh and I have a strange obsession with the American Mafia.
Bit with the travel bug…
As far back as I can remember, traveling was always something my family and I just did. When I was 3, my mom and I flew to Germany. Combine that with our annual family reunion trips (held along the east coast), I’d like to say we are no strangers to travel. Rather it’s here in the US or international, on Spirit or Delta, airbnb or all inclusive, I am down!! Period Pooh!
Thanks to travel, I’ve found myself in some of the best conversations. Like the time we learned about Marijuana stocks in Amsterdam from a guy who was from Tennessee. Then there was this time in Japan when my husband and I spoke with a man who wanted to practice his English with us. Only to find out he’d been to Summerville, SC. Crazy right? For a world that is so big, it can be so small.
Unfortunately, when I’d come back home the conversations we’re a little different. It was usually defending the side that black people do travel and they travel a lot. Or that Travel is what you make it, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Considering that less than 3% of advertisement showcases African Americans, I understand why someone would think that. If you can’t see others doing it, it can be hard to believe. That is why representation is so important, especially when you’re the minority or the Outlier.
The Real Story…
I’d like to say that is why I created The Travel Outlier but that’s not entirely true. As I said before, Travel was always something we just did. It wasn’t until I got older when I realized how much of an impact it had on my life. My purpose was right under my nose and I didn’t even realize it.
Going through life seems slow when you’re young, but as soon a you reach adulthood it’s like everything starts to speed up. For me, it would start at 17 when I became a teenage mom. I went to college for a couple of years, but decided it wasn’t working out. So, I dropped out and went into the working world, baby in tow. By 21, I was having my 2nd child. By the time I turned 30, I was celebrating my 5th year being married, with a 3rd child, and dealing with minor depression. It all happens so fast
I can remember approaching 30 wanting something different for my life. That’s not to say my life was bad, I just wanted better. (side note don’t let anyone tell you that is wrong) I wanted better for myself, and for my family. After going back to school to get my associates degree in Criminal Justice, I realized that wasn’t what I wanted after all. Instead, I wanted a life where I would be a little more intentional when it came to my future and dreams. I knew that if I wanted something different, I’d have to do something different. Our lives were counting on it.
Epiphany moment …
Once I realized I didn’t want to work in the Criminal Justice field, I went back to an old dream of mine, traveling the world. I’m still almost certain that it was because of my love for travel, that depression I spoke about earlier, was only minor. Whenever life would get to hectic, I would reset through travel. I realized Travel fosters creativity, and with life’s ups and downs creativity is important. So I had this idea of owing my own travel agency. However, I knew I wanted to do more than just book a vacation. I wanted to create a destination where you can come for all your travel and lifestyle needs. One where it would be OK to talk about our journey through life, good or bad.
An Outlier is someone who differs from other members in a particular group. If the mission was to create a new life for myself and family, I had to step away from the group, and figure out a way to leverage my differences. That’s when I came across a book by Michael Gladwell called Outlier, where he examines the factors that contributes to success. Factors that we don’t take into account like our family, our friends, and the culture. Our greatest superpower is that there is no one else like us. Everything that makes us unique, all play a role in our individual success. It’s our job to tap into that individuality.
The Travel Outlier allows me to do that and hopefully YOU TOO! I understand that exclusion breeds a community, so I know I am not alone on my journey. Here, we believe that when you work towards your DREAM, it will take you far and beyond. As you TRAVEL, you start to gain knowledge from your experience, regardless of the destination. Using that knowledge and experience as a tool, you’re able to LIVE a better life. Only to REPEAT the cycle!
Welcome to The Travel Outlier
Dream. Travel. Live. Repeat
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