Hi Paradise Seekers! As 2017 comes to an end, I wanted to reflect on my top travel moments of this year and share them with you. What better place for inspiration than a bar at the Miami International Airport, as I wait for my last trip of the year…the beer is also helping with the inspo. So before I share with you my favorite travel moments, I also wanted to thank you for another year of support. Having a blog family who enjoys my travel stories and encourages me to keep writing really has motivated me to keep up with this blog in 2018. I know I haven’t posted in a while but it makes me feel great (and kind of guilty) when you guys ask me for more blog posts, stories and recommendations.

Thank you all for your constant support, for your own travel stories and for sharing my passion of getting to know the world. I hope you have enjoyed my #paraisoeats posts on Instagram, where I have shared all my foodie moments. I also hope you’ve enjoyed some of the videos I made this year, including the ones of my trips to Cuba and Jamaica.

Anyway, without further ado, my top travel moments of 2017 are:

1. Dancing in the streets of Old Havana to live music. Check out the video here and the travel guide here.
2. Riding in the back of a van from Montego Bay to St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. The three-hour roller coaster ride was an adventure for sure! The roads were unpaved, the potholes were more like craters and there were no road signs or street lights. I ate jerk chicken with rice and peas in complete darkness and didn’t spill a thing (or throw up) #yeahmon
3. Attending a VIP Usher ceremony at a church in Harlem. I stumbled upon this church and event but was welcomed  and danced to gospel music with complete strangers and had a blast. (I haven’t blogged about this yet…post coming soon)
4. Checking the Crystal Palace off my bucket list on my trip to Madrid this summer. This magical place was as magnificent as I had imagined it. 
5. Helping the Lynne Mitchell Foundation distribute school supplies at Seaview Primary School in Jamaica and interviewing several students, teachers and parents. Check out the post here.
6. Getting to know all about German Street Art in a walking tour in Berlin with a French expat guide who knew all the stories behind the art in East and West Berlin.
7. Dancing on stage at the Hotel Nacional in Havana. I pulled my best salsa moves among the rest of the tourists chosen to participate in the intermission show… Kind of embarrassing but YOLO.
8. Enjoying an afternoon of cocktails and live jazz at Red Rooster in Harlem. This was before I went to the church mentioned in #3.
9. Getting this awesome gift summarizing my travel adventures in a comic strip.
10. Finally making it to the west coast! I made it to L.A. in early November and even though my stay wasn’t long, I had a taste of the city.

    

What were your favorite memories of 2017? I look forward to hearing more about your adventures around the world and making more memories in the coming year!