BrownGirlsFly

Travel is about cultivating the spirit of cultural curiosity for another locale. My latest cultural affection? Korean soap operas! See why …

Mark Twain was right. “Travel IS fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” My experience in Munich reminded me of this truth.

A friend stopped by for lunch today and during our excited ponderings, we discussed some of my craziest travel adventures, including my encounter with the ticket-stealing Grandma on an Italian cross-country train. After he left, I began to reflect on the complexities of trust and relationship building when you’re on the road. Have your own culutral pespectives on safety and relational norms affected the way you interact with others while you’re traveling? Here are some tips, gleamed from my own experiences on the road, for how to achieve this balancing act.

It’s undeniable … the free-spirited queen of NeoSoul, Erykah Badu is a brilliant wordsmith. Whether or not she represents your personal life philosophies or your preferred music genre, there’s something to be said for her fearless pursuit of self-reflection, uninhibited self-expression and continual reinvention.

For someone like me who’s been obsessed with sitting in the window seat since I was six years old, I implicitly understand the draw of her latest single and had to see what she was really vibing about. Indulge me as I muse about Erykah’s Window Seat lyrics and what they say about this traveling brown girl’s emotional journey.

Despite an excited start, the BrownGirlsFly chicas have been quiet for the past couple months. The daily grind and family commitments pilfered some of our spare time, leaving us little head space for blogging. And, our own lull in globetrotting left us lacking some internal inspiration. But, now, it’s time to get up and dance!

By 1911, International Women’s Day became a global institution which nearly 100 years later still serves as a strong vehicle for women’s rights protection. This movement has shaped my life as a women in America, and I want all women to experience the same freedoms. But, there’s a fine line between protecting an individual’s rights and respecting (and thus protecting) a culture and its practices. And, quite frankly, I don’t know which side of the line I fall on. Do I challenge a rite of passage because of its physical and emotional impact on a women? Or do I accept and embrace it as a cultural tenet? There are more questions than answers, but the resolution begins with dialogue and desire to understand. Join us in the conversation.

I’m on the fairer end of the color spectrum, but one glance at my stature, my facial structure, hair texture, eye shape, and you’d never for one second think I was Korean or otherwise of Asian descent. So, why is my newest nickname — one that I’m quite proud of, I might add — “Korean Girl”?