Why I Travel? The Story That Started My Global Obsession

My Origin Story: From Jamaican Summers to Gold Member Status

You ever look back at your life and realize “Ohhh, this is why I am the way I am”?

If I had to trace my travel obsession to a single moment, it would probably start with being a little baby going to Jamaica every summer like clockwork. I didn’t know it at the time, but those trips planted the first seeds of wanderlust in me. Being surrounded by family, culture, food, and sunshine, it was always more than just a vacation. It felt like going home... even if I didn’t fully understand why yet. That island was my first taste of what it felt like to leave behind the familiar and step into sunshine, soul food, and culture.

But everything changed when I turned 12.

Before the Passport Stamps: The Cruise That Changed My Life

That’s when I went on my very first cruise — Carnival, of course. And when I tell you it blew my mind, I mean mind = blown. Listen, I still remember standing on that giant Carnival cruise ship, wide-eyed and full of wonder. We were headed to St. Lucia, Martinique, Aruba, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Barbados... whew. And that’s just one trip. The Caribbean was giving the main character energy, and I was HERE for it and each one was like walking into a postcard.

I remember in Barbados, we stopped to visit a family friend who cooked us flying fish before we had to get back on the boat. It was moments like that — eating something new in a place that reminded me so much of Jamaica, yet wasn’t — that lit something in me. The travel bug bit hard that day.

And don’t even get me started on the friends I made — even though I wasn’t allowed in the kids’ club yet (I was 12 and all the cool kids were 13+ 😩), they still tried to sneak me in. Didn’t wo. But that didn’t stop us from forming the kind of summer friendships that stick in your memory forever.

Game. Changed.

And BABY — the ice cream dispenser buffet? Unlimited soft serve?? Yeah, it was over for me. I made so many friends on that trip (even though I wasn’t old enough for the teen club 😭). They tried to sneak me in — didn’t work — but it was the thought that counted. Meeting people from all over in just one week? I was hooked.

After that cruise, I went on four more Carnival cruises and eventually reached Gold Member status (yes, I felt like royalty, thank you very much). I even started bringing friends once I hit 18, introducing them to that “wake-up-in-a-new-country” life.

But eventually… the cruise schedule started to feel a little too structured. Like, why do I have to get off the ship at 10 AM and be back by 4? What if I wanted to get lost in Italy for a bit?

So I did.
That’s when I planned my first non-cruise adventure: Italy.
But we’ll get into that in the next post 😉

That trip showed me something wild: you could just leave your country, wake up in another one, and then bounce again the next day. That freedom? It was addictive.

So, of course, I kept cruising. I went on four more cruises before turning 18 and hitting Carnival Gold status(IYKYK). I started bringing my friends with me, planning mini-adventures for all of us. But over time, I got tired of being told where I could go and how long I could stay.

Which led me to my first big trip that I fully planned from scratch: Italy.

But that’s a whole other story. (Linking it here when it drops 👇🏽)

👉🏽 [Read: My First DIY Trip to Italy – Where Planning Met Pasta and Pure Joy]