***Feel free to play “Wanderlust” by blackbear while reading this post.

What’s up, guys!

I’m finally. FINALLY. Finally. Finally. F I N A L L Y…on VACATION! 🙌🏽

I can’t express how happy this makes me. The month of June was hella busy for me, which I feel like I say that about every month, but for real this time guys, SO MUCH happened in June!

New projects, new poems, new events, new outfits and hairstyles, it was all NEW NEW NEW and while it was exciting, and I’m super grateful for every experience and opportunity I had, I’m more than thrilled to be taking a break from it all, and stepping back from everything for a couple of weeks.

Not only stepping back from things, but stepping OUT of my city…I’m currently in THE PHILIPPINES with my mom and two sisters!

The trip was so much better than I’d expected. Yeah, it’s not ideal being on a plane for like 16 hours, but the overall experience was cool. I hadn’t gotten a full meal on a plane since I was little, and we were flying to California with my dad and stepmom.

Honestly, I was sort of hesitant to be on this trip months before it happened. I knew it would be a great experience, and that by the summer time I’d probably need a break, but I was nervous about being detached from what I was working on in my own little world, not to mention, missing THAT much work and missing THAT much money had me sort of worried. Plus, I was gonna be away from my boyfriend for 2 weeks, the longest we’d ever been apart since we started dating, AND I’d be on the other side of the world 😭 There was a lot I was hesitant about.

But as the time drew closer, it became clearer that I needed a BREAK. That yeah, there may be a lack financially afterwards, but exploring a new culture and place, and meeting family we’ve never met before was going to be worth more.

As we were heading to Atlanta and then getting on our first plane, my sense of adventure reawakened; it had been a minute since I’d been on a trip like this, and I was gonna be in a brand new place and space for two weeks! This trip is much needed.

And it was high time my mom came back home after 23 years, and my sisters and I gained some perspective on what makes up half of our DNA!

It’s the first official day here, and we’ve already had some cool experiences with the Filipino culture — seeing what traffic is like (we sat in it for 3 HOURS, y’all…you think Atlanta, Georgia, is bad? Y’all haven’t seen nothin!), shopping at a grocery store INSIDE a mall, and eating shabu shabu for the first time (just Google it, it was good, just too much to explain!).

I’ve said this before, but I do believe in signs, little things that God puts in front of you to reassure you, to let you know He’s there in that moment with you, to confirm something to you. And y’all, the mere fact that one of our gates was HELLO KITTY THEMED…

AND as soon as we walked into our hotel room, the first thing I saw in the mirror was this beautiful painting of a butterfly 😍🦋…

I knew this is what I needed and where I needed to be.

So, I’ll try to blog more while I’m on vacation as I said I would before we arrived, but also, don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from me…I’ll be soaking every experience in as much as I can while we’re here for 2 weeks!

Mahal kita! (“I love you” in Tagalog, the Filipino language)

Mishy 🦋💙