Where I'm Going (And Why)

Okay. It's really happening.

In nine days I'm boarding a flight to Split, Croatia — and from there, it's Dubrovnik, Kotor, Tirana, Sarandë, a day trip to Corfu, and back to Tirana before I fly home. Fifteen days. Six stops. One carry-on that's already testing the limits of "bougie on a budget."

Real talk: this was supposed to be the summer I did France. But Auntie don't got it like that yet. So instead of forcing a trip I couldn't actually afford, I stayed in my financial lane and found somewhere that could give me all the beauty, all the culture, and all the content — for a fraction of the price. Enter the Balkans.

I've wanted to do this region for a while now anyway — it's one of those places that doesn't get talked about enough, tucked between the places everyone posts about. Old walled cities. Mountains that make you feel appropriately small. And my bank account gets to breathe a little easier too.

(Still — I heard the water out there is somehow too blue to be real. We'll see. Nothing's beat Zanzibar for me yet.)

But if I'm honest, this trip is more than a destination.

This is the first real trip for this blog — the first one I'm building in public instead of just living quietly for myself. And it's a little terrifying, not going to lie. Putting yourself out there always is. But God didn't give me the spirit of fear. So I said a prayer and gave it to Him. So I travel — trusting in Him, ALWAYS carrying my mother in my heart. We MOVE!

Here's what's coming: real-time posts from the road, the good and the unglamorous parts, some style content, probably a review of the sunglasses I'm testing out, and definitely some Selah & Soar moments — because prayer and packing lists go together more than people think.

An auntie from Brooklyn with Southern roots — covered in grace, and stamps in place.