Hey, all! I’m taking a break from newborn duties to introduce you to a special friend and to ask for your help. For the past few years, I have been a mentor to a lovely young woman named Jazmyn. She is a sophomore currently at the high school I attended. Jazmyn is beyond super cool. She is smart, focused, hardworking, insightful and inquisitive. In other words, she makes me not fear having a teen daughter some day ’cause I swear some of these kids these days…yikes!! But seriously, Jazmyn is lovely, and I hope that I can take the next step in being her mentor by singing her praises and asking for your help.

Jazmyn has been chosen to travel to Brazil this summer as part of a program called the International Youth Leadership Institute. She’ll be spending time in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador da Bahia, and both Maceio and Palmares in the northern part of the country. Can I say that I am jealous? I’d love to go back to Brazil! (Check out my posts about my trip to Brazil here). As part of the program, each student must raise money that will go towards their travel costs. Jazmyn is combining her artistic talents and her love of animals by selling sketches of South American wildlife. Samples and more information about the sketches are below. You can also just donate, and there are links below to do just that.

Under normal circumstances, I would not solicit money for me or anyone else on this blog, but I have to say that Jazmyn is a special young woman, and I can’t think of a better reason to hit you guys up for money than to help her reach her goal of learning more about Brazil, its language, history, culture and environment this summer. To me, this blog is just not about telling my story but about inspiring others to create their own stories by exploring the world. Please help Jazmyn create her own lifelong memories.

Here’s Jazmyn in her own words to explain more about the program and her fundraising efforts.

PLEASE SEND ME TO BRAZIL!

“If anybody tells you your dreams are too big, tell them that the world they are living in is too small.” –Brown, 23

THROUGH A PROGRAM CALLED IYLI (The International Leadership Institute), I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY ABROAD IN BRAZIL FOR A MONTH THIS SUMMER. EVERY TRIP IS SUSTAINED THROUGH SCHOLARSHIP, BUT THE STUDENT MUST FIRST DEMONSTRATE THE LEADERSHIP SKILLS THAT IYLI PROMOTES BY RAISING A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY. THE OPTIMAL GOAL IS $1,000 TOTAL, BUT ANY AND ALL MONEY MADE IS APPRECIATED AND WILL GO DIRECTLY TO SUPPORTING THE STUDENT IN INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL THROUGH IYLI.

IN BRAZIL, STUDENTS WILL GET A HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE IN THE CULTURE OF SOUTH AMERICA, VISITING LANDMARKS AND MAJOR CITIES AS WELL AS BEACHES, FORESTS, AND RURAL AREAS. THE TRIP IS BASED ON COMMUNITY SERVICE, SO ANY MONEY DONATED WILL NOT GO TO WASTE! STUDENTS WILL BE TAUGHT ENVIROMENTAL SKILLS AND WILL DOING COMMUNITY SERVICE WORK THROUGHOUT DIFFERENT AREAS OF BRAZIL.

I BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE PLAY A GREATER ROLE IN THE WORLD THAN WE LIKE TO TAKE CREDIT FOR. WE LIKE TO PRETEND AS IF WE HAVE ALREADY DISCOVERED WHATEVER IS OUT THERE. I WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WORLD THEY LIVE IN AND TAKE CHARGE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. THIS MEANS UNDERSTANDING THE ENVIRONMENT AND RESPECTING WHAT IT HAS TO OFFER. WHAT BETTER WAY TO EXPERIENCE THE WORLD THAN TO TRAVEL AND SEE IT ALL UP CLOSE?

YOUR DONATION WILL GO TOWARDS DEVELOPING A MORE VERSATILE STUDENT WHO WILL BETTER UNDERSTAND THE WORLD AROUND HER AND PROMOTE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. YOUR MONEY WILL AID IN HELPING A STUDENT WHO WANTS TO LEARN PORTUGESE, WHO WANTS TO STUDY THE ENVIRONMENT, AND WHO WANTS TO GAIN A NEW APPRECIATION FOR WHAT GOES ON OUTSIDE OF NEW YORK CITY.

PLEASE SUPPORT BY PURCHASING A HAND-MADE SKETCH OF A UNIQUE SOUTH AMERICAN ANIMAL. THE PHOTO THE ART IS CREATED FROM IS CREDITED. HERE ARE SAMPLES OF MY WORK:

Based on a photo via Flickr River

Based on a photo via Violet Darkling

Based on a photo via Flickr

ALL DONATIONS ARE APPRECIATED!

Please visit IYLI’s website for more information about the organization: www.iyli.org

To donate via PayPal online, go to:

Iyli.org, and click on the “Donate” button. Please put “JazmynBrazil 2013″ when making the donation. 

Thank you for your contribution!

If you would like to purchase a sketch or have any questions about IYLI, please feel free to contact me at: travelabroad.iyli@gmail.com

I will be taking requests in April for any other South American animals you would like to see on the webpage that are not already there. I will also be taking special requests if you have a friend, family member, or pet you would like drawn in return for an additional donation. Just send a photo of him/her to the email above.

Thanks again for your support!

JAZMYN

Hey, all!

Happy New Year! We’re already one week into 2013. Crazy, isn’t it?

2013 is already shaping up to be a big year for me and Husband J. That’s because……..

At Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. I’ll definitely write about this.

We’re expecting a little Baby TAO! I am due with our first child late March/early April.

So far pregnancy has been pretty good to me. Most days, I feel pretty good, and I am trying to remain as active as ever while balancing preparing for a baby and getting some ducks in a row professionally before this child’s arrival. I find much of this preparation to be overwhelming. Due to the information hog in me, there’s a lot I’d like to learn about baby care and pregnancy, and lots of gear to research in an effort to try NOT to buy it. Trust me when I tell you there is so much to out there you supposedly “need” and should buy (or have people buy for you) to the point where it’s a bit ridiculous, in my opinion. You know your life is changing when you spend a half-hour discussing crib mattresses with your mate instead of where to go for the evening. Although this isn’t a lifestyle blog, I promise that I’ll write a post about some of my observations about pregnancy.

Speaking of writing posts…have you noticed a distinct drop in my blogging output? Yeah, pregnancy wasn’t so helpful with that. The first trimester can make you feel awful. I usually write in the evenings, but that was also when I felt the worst in the first few months. People may call it “morning sickness”, but I felt horrible from 2pm until it was time to sleep. It really knocked me off of my schedule and blogging flow (for lack of a better word). From then on, it was hard to continue to be motivated on a regular basis to blog since my routine was all out of whack.

A few people have asked if we’ll still continue to travel, and my answer has been, “I hope so.” Obviously where and how we travel will change, but we hope to continue to do it. I have no idea what personality this child will have nor what kind of parents we’ll be, so that’s a factor in determining future travel plans. I’m not going to assume anything, but I don’t think I have to pack away a passport now that we’ll be expanding our family. We’ve already gotten a little blowback from one member of Husband J’s family at even the suggestion of taking future Baby TAO to visit my family in Antigua, a three-hour direct flight from and in the same time zone as New York. Go figure…

I’ve still got so much more to write about Iceland and India, and just a few more posts regarding Argentina, so definitely stick around.

Well, hello there!

Life has been kicking my butt lately. How has your summer been?

I thought I would do a brain dump of what’s been on my mind lately or what’s been up with me. Here it goes:

1. I discovered Instagram.

I am totally tardy to the party, but I thought I would join Instagram. I’m still not exactly all that active on it, but feel free to join me over there. I’m @TryItFoodTravel there, too.

I’ve been primarily been taking pics of places around New York City and not much of me.

In the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn

Missoni & David in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan

The Notorius B.I.G. in Fort Greene, Brooklyn

2. I’ve been looking at a lot of art.

This is primarily for my 101 in 1,001 days list. It’s been fun pushing myself to see more art. I got a chance to go to the Keith Haring exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. I enjoyed this since I actually remember Keith Haring just a little. I could see a lot of old New York City from the ’80′s and much of his artwork was used in early AIDS awareness public campaigns throughout the city. Here’s an thought-provoking quotation from him.

One of Haring’s pieces

3. I’ve been visiting farmers’ market quite a bit. 

Another 101 in 1,001 days item for me has made me into a lover of the farmers’ market. It’s more of an effort, but I’ve been loving the summer produce I’ve been getting these past two months.

4. I’ve been eating some new places.

With all of the farmers’ market trips, I’ve been cooking a little more, but that hasn’t really been totally true. Come on! It’s me.

 The Salty Pimp from Big Gay Ice Cream Truck – vanilla soft serve ice cream, dulce de leche, sea salt dipped in chocolate

Red Snapper Tacos from the Stanton Social for brunch. It was free! Thank you, Roo Mi!

The Filet Mignon Sandwich from Pat LaFrieda at Citifield, home of the Mets

So, yeah. That’s my summer. It’s been fun, if a little uneven. It’s been parts uneventful and parts super busy.

How has your summer been? What have you been up to?

Another turn of the sun, and it’s another year with Husband J. Today is our third anniversary .

I joke with people that it feels like we’ve been married much longer than that. That’s a good thing, I think.

Husband J really is my biggest support at this stage in my life, and I am sometimes amazed. I’m am the Queen of Independence, and yet I can’t picture life without him. Some moments when I don’t want to blog (they happen) or do certain things, Husband J is always there cheering me on and pushing me forward.

Husband J was the one that pushed me about planning my trip to India. “Have you booked your flight? Have you booked the tour?” became common questions in the TAO household. I’m glad to say that he supports my craziness. Granted, he was a little shocked that I was going to be away for so long when the trip was all planned.

I remember going to the airport the evening I left for Delhi and walking through the security line. Three weeks in India was the longest we’d be apart since we’ve been a couple, and while it’s not as much as military and other families who live apart, I couldn’t believe how freaked out I got. The possibility of us not seeing other again deeply affected me, but the ability that we had to let each other go knowing we’d be back together soon calmed me down.

Here’s hoping to 100 times 3 years more of life together.

Hiking Esja in Iceland

On my second trip through New Delhi, I had come to the end of my tour with Team Ozzie and Pancham. We had gotten into the city on an overnight train that I’ll tell you about in another post, and I knew there were two places that I felt I still needed to see in New Delhi. What can I say? I cannot be somewhere and not try to explore. I’m a restless traveler.

Yet I was a little tired after so much of what we’d seen. I wasn’t necessarily physically tired, but in some ways I was emotionally tired. During the course of our two week tour, I hadn’t really taken the time to recharge spirtually in the way I usually do. Breathing/meditation, prayer? Nope, that went out of the window. I think I was just so overstimulated (adults can be overstimulated, ya know); and every night that my head hit the pillow, my mind was racing with what I’d seen and learned that day while traveling through Rajasthan.

I’m glad that I decided to go to the B’Hai Temple because it gave me a few moments to slow down. By the way, here’s a little on the B’Hai faith. While I like my own faith orientation, I have to admit that I am little intrigued by the B’Hai.

When you get off the subway and begin walking towards the temple, it resembles this futuristic structure rising out of the ground.

After going through gates with metal detectors, you get to walk through the temple’s gardens. I have to admit this was the most grass I’d seen to date in Delhi, which can be a fairly dusty place. It was nice to be surrounded by so much greenery.

I joined the crowds walking towards the temple.

Honestly, I had no idea where I was going and what I was supposed to do when I got there, so I just followed the crowds climbing the stairs towards the temple’s entrance.

I admired the pool in front of the temple. They spared no expense building this space.

After dropping off my shoes, which is required to enter into the actual temple itself, I lined up with the crowds waiting to enter the temple.

We got a basic introduction with facts about the B’Hai faith before entering the temple.

I wish I could actually show you pictures of the inside because it has such a calming and majestic feeling, but visitors are not allowed to take pictures. It actually reminded me more of a modern church than anything else.

I sat down. I closed my eyes, and I took several deep breaths. I said a few prayers and just released. I don’t know why I hadn’t done this before during my time in India, but I finally felt relaxed in the B’Hai Temple in a way that I had not for the previous two weeks. You can stay in the temple as long as you want, and I took advantage of that. I was happy for a little refuge from how harried and crowded Delhi can be. Since I don’t usually travel for such long periods of time, I wasn’t used to having to spiritually recharge. If I ever travel for over three weeks again, I’ll have to remind myself of how important and necessary it is for me to reconnect with this aspect of my life.

How do you stay relaxed, take care of your mental health and/or stay spiritually connected while traveling?