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Flyin Ostriches Travel Kits!

Flyin Ostriches Travel Kits

Making Travel More Ridiculously Special

For all those romantic, anxious, and wild travelers out there looking to make their travel experience a bit more ridiculously special <3

“Don’t act like you would just buy this shit individually from Oriental Trading”

“You will most likely forget something you need, remembering this novel travel kit!”

“Why not with your one free carry-on take something useless but cute?!”

NOW ON ETSY! https://flyinostriches.etsy.com

Flyin Ostriches Romance Travel Kit

Spice up Your Next Flight!

A solid gift for some lovers, friends, enemies, that random person that sits next to you on the flight…

Now Available on Etsy!

https://flyinostriches.etsy.com

Flyin Ostriches Flight Anxiety Travel Kit

Still Terrifying But With a Sense of Humor!

A solid gift for anxious travelers who have a sense of humor, anyone who remembers mid-flight that you are in the sky, that random person on the flight who looks terrified..

Now Available on Etsy!

https://flyinostriches.etsy.com

Flyin Ostriches Party Travel Kit

Even if Your Destination Isn’t Vegas!

A solid gift for that next trip to Indiana, for first-time flyers/kids, for the adults who are kids at heart and are ready to bring the party to the sky, for that random business person on your flight who looks like they don’t appreciate the magic of flying anymore…

Now Available on Etsy!

https://flyinostriches.etsy.com

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Learning Love through Travel in Sao Paulo

Find the Small in the Big

Embrace Where You Are

Everyone Loves Thongs

Find the Small in the Big

What a relief that getting to Sāo Paulo was a quick plane ride in lieu of the wild Mariokart tracks we raced to our previous destination: Caparāo. You would have thought we were on ‘Café Canyon’ where each turn wraps around the coffee fields with the mountains painting the distance. 

Arriving in Sāo Paulo’s airport is like any other, but it’s the preparation for the city itself which has you really feeling the grandness. Unlike NYC, Sāo Paulo houses double of NYC’s population by not up in skyscrapers, but by wide. Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (Art Museum) offers one of the most amazing views of the skyline. The balcony wrapped rooftop on the 8th floor gifts an immersive view into one of the biggest cities in the world. 

The perspective is gentle. Studying closely you can really peek into society. You can see the Soccer/Football games and hear the cheer of children. You can count the red cars of traffic with the busy highway and hear the dull unified roar of engines. You can find families strolling to the park and imagine the skipping sounds of little shoes eager for the playground. But as you raise your gaze higher, you see the buildings fading into the distance. 

The intimidation of the vast city is so impressive that even NYC seems moderate sized. It really is a part of the challenge to not only figure out how to transport, but to actually travel and explore. 

Parque Ibirapuera is probably one of the most amazing treasures of the city. It may be easily missed if you are always on the search for museums, but this enormous park seems to have the hearts of so many locals. To be honest, stumbling our way through a simple conversation & website in Portuguese just to rent pedal bikes seemed pretty expected for us, but none the less, we all were entertained. It was hands down one most fun we had flying down little hills, exploring every little pond, running into Mickey Mouse, and laughing as we navigated narrowly missing other pedalers. 

Despite us feeling mutual intimidation to be a single droplet into this entire glass of metropolis, our bond for exploration continues to help us find the most of anything even for simple or small moments like a “walk in the park”.  

Embrace Where You Are

Arriving at the hostel, there was something promising about the map showing quite a few restaurants, a grocery mart, and even a little café within a few blocks walk. My confidence in my hostel choice was shining as I was the one to book the accommodations for Sāo Paulo. It had good Google reviews, was advertised “good for couples”, moderately priced, and had a private room with connecting bathroom. The room was…interesting. There really was not a window to the outside because the entire hostel was squeezed into the middle of a city block, so the window really just faced an club-like area of a bar open to the street. It was fine though. We were taking a break in the room before the night and it felt like someone was slowly turning up the volume outside. The music gradually crescendoed permanently and the sounds of conversation grew. We glanced out the window to find quite a few people at across the staircase sipping their cocktails and a DJ arranging his table. We glanced at each other surprised that this hostel must be housing quite a few travelers despite the size. 

We got ready and hopped over to club-like area to grab our first caipirinhas for the night when we really queued into the roar of conversation. There is something entirely hilarious about looking over the edge of the hostel’s balcony to see the entire street now filled with endless young adults socializing, laughing, and enjoying their Thursday night completing realizing…you booked THE Party Hostel. I busted into laughter looking at David’s knowing very well we probably are going to lose some sleep. 

Thankfully, we are both very easy going and laughed verifying that on Google it did indeed label Garoa Hostel as a Party Hostel. It was kind of the best scenario for us to really get the best night life experience of local bars, restaurants, and club scenes. 

Everyone Loves Thongs

On our final night in Sāo Paulo, we spent some time conversing at our hostel’s bar people watching planning the next day’s exploration at Liberdade Street Market to see much of authentic Sāo Paulo dancing, art, and music. (Only on Sundays, but encapsulates the entire main street for vendors, performance, and culture). 

Surprisingly, Saturday night seemed more tame than Friday party-wise, but the DJ was still playing clearly some hits as small groups sang and danced along. You could see different groups, some from work, some school friends and some that seemed like on group dates all embracing socially. It had been some time as CoVid had slowed and some recent political tensions had loosened which seemed to glow through everyone. There were familiar beats that resembled tunes we knew as if it was more of a guessing game with our limited Portuguese. One melody though…seemed surprising. We smiled watching some sing the chorus aloud, hearing each note…then it was too familiar as 

Sisqo’s ‘Thong Song’ broke through our language barrier. Yup, it was probably about 30 people all singing the ‘Thong Song’ with PASSION. 

So, I guess everyone loves thongs. 

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Learning Love through Travel in Rio De Janeiro

What is more important than fear?

The Mind Has Mountains

Love as a Higher Perspective

What is more important than fear?

As much as they love travel, these ostriches be terrified sometimes. Some possible reasons why…

  • Pre-trip conversations with parentals who project their fear of what they do not know and have bias against other countries like Brasil, deeming them unsafe, when ironically the US has equal if not greater reasons to be concerned for your safety in daily life.
  • Canadian wildfires that created zero visibility conditions that grounded flights in New York the day of our flight to Brasil.
  • Travel always involves nudging yourself out of what is known in your comfort zone and into the unknown

UStriches were a bit distraught as we made it from our first flight out of Detroit to the New York airport for a 10 hour layover awaiting our overnight flight to Brasil. You would think for a travel couple we would look excited and be enjoying every second of what we love to do – to travel the world, especially to Brasil, a destination that we have mutually desired to visit together since our first date many moons ago. Yet, here we were dragging our talons to our gate after an epically long layover that gave us a ton of time to fully feel the fears, anxieties, and stresses of travel.

And even though we could have cancelled our trip, when our boarding group was called we chose to cross the threshold of gate security and get our plumes onto the plane. It is an experience of feeling fear but being driven by something that is more important than fear. It’s your life. It’s adventure. It’s the real you that inner voice that moves you forward to experience fullness. It’s love. All it takes is taking a step forward through the fear, then another, and then all the magic happens.

The Mind Has Mountains

We landed in Rio, after one more flight from Sao Paulo, and made our way to an Uber to get to our hostel. Aquarela do Leme Hostel is located pretty close to Copacabana Beach except from the beach you need to go straight up a mountain into what is technically a favela to the doorsteps of this stunningly vibrant hostel. After traversing this mountain, we were greeted by a colorful lobby complete with two dogs and two kids running across the floor naked. The owners of the hostel, whose family coordinated the welcome scene, were incredibly warm and we quickly were drinking a welcome Caipirinha while being shown to our room that had a balcony with a hammock overlooking the ocean.

After taking in the view for like 32 seconds, the winter darkness hit like a blanket across the sky. We had to immediately break every rule we had read (don’t go out at night/walk along the beach at night) because we needed to find some dinner. Even though it felt intimidating to now go down this mountain at night in search of food in a city we did not know and barely speaking Portuguese, we were met only with warm positive interactions as we found our way.

After reclimbing the mountain, plus 4 flights of stairs back in our hostel, I found myself with a throbbing calf cramp that left me limping to walk. Now on any ordinary day this would be non-ideal but this just happened to be the day before the Rio Marathon…a marathon I signed up to run and Pidge signed up to run the 10k her first international race!! Waking up with my leg feeling tough to walk on started to eat away my confidence that I would be able to run at all the next morning. In addition to this, Pidge accidentally filled up our water bottles with non-filtered water and so my cheeks began quivering. Really ideal before a race.

We went to sleep and I got up at 3am and proceeded to hobble my way down the mountain to an Uber to get to the start line. When the race started I realized that I could still feel my calf muscle tighten but that I could run. I then realized that the racing shorts I had bought at the expo, were way too big for me and were slipping off my butt crack. I was holding them up like a 90s high schooler holding up their pants! At many times during the race, I had thoughts of stopping and quitting. I don’t know what kept me going, maybe the fun-spirited Brazilian culture where everyone was dancing through each tunnel we went through or the cheering along the beachfront course. 1km turned to 2km turned to 20km and when I reached around 34 km’s I texted Pidge and told her I would be making it to the finish line – just slowly. It made me tear up. I was proud of myself even though it took me almost 5 hours to finish. My mind has always had mountains and it amazes me how the highs seems to be just around the corner when there is a low. This was my 13th marathon and my 5th continent. Only Australia and Antarctica to go! …and getting my cheeks back up the mountain for some rest (thanks Pidge!) Also congrats to Pidge for finishing her first international 10k race!

As a celebration the next day we went parasailing! I was kind of scared but after Pidge went first I felt less afraid 🙂 And there is something more important than fear…new experiences, full living, love.

Love as a Higher Perspective

The next couple days I was more mobile than I thought I would be and we were able to do some adventuring. We relaxed on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches and tried some Brazilian cuisine…and more caipirinha’s! We somehow managed to do a Samba dance lesson and then go up the Christ the Redeemer mountain for some 360 degree views of Rio De Janeiro. We visited the Santa Teresa neighborhood for some local art, authentic Brazilian food, and views of the whole city. Our time in Rio concluded with an amazing Churrasco on Brazilian Valentine’s Day. As we sat there and laughed with some friends we had met at our hostel while trying a million types of meat, I had some thoughts crystallize. I felt such gratitude for the treats of Rio – the views of the mountains intertwined with the ocean reminded me of how a larger perspective helps you see how everything fits together. The brilliant balancing between the land and the sea, the known and the unknown, reminds us of how love includes it all – the highs and the lows, the mountains of the mind and the valleys of the heart, the fears like waves on the surface of the ocean and the depth below I feel of peace and gratitude of being in love with Kait/Pidge.

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Learning Love Through Travel in New Orleans

Overcoming Lows Together in the Voodoo Room

Life-Work Balance Reimagines Life 

Tandem Biking Is Actually as Cute as it Sounds

Overcoming Lows Together in the Voodoo Room

So, we booked the India House Hostel for our first two nights. It was cheap. It was hostel-y. It was honestly pretty dope. We get to the front desk and they tell us we can’t check in for a few hours. I had a zoom call to do so I set up my laptop by the pool to prep for what was about to be the worst zoom meeting of my life. For real. See, I created an innovative virtual childhood centered social justice education fellowship program and little did I know it was about to fall apart into little pieces. It was something I had worked on for over two years with a team based on over ten years of my heart-work with all my mentors. It’s a long story but the best part of what happened is what happened after this shit-show.

In what felt like one of the lowest points of my life, we then had to check in, and the guy at the front desk informed us that we were given “The Voodoo Room.” I went “Okay, let’s see it.” We walk through the hostel, out the back, and then up a crooked piece of wood to two little one room huts over a pond. It looked kind of cute from the outside. The door creaked open. There was a giant painting of the devil, skulls everywhere, red paint marks across the walls like blood. For a moment we stood there and I looked at Kait. I knew everything was going to be alright…if I just quickly went back to the front desk and checked if they had any other rooms available. Turns out the hut next to our was open and it was not voodoo themed..it was tropical vacation themed. That will work. That is what I needed. Kait was there for me on that day like I have never experienced. As Mr. Roger’s used to say “When there is a disaster, look for the helpers.” And how he might have said “When you get put in a voodoo room, you gotta find a different room.”

Life-Work Balance Reimagines Life

This was our first attempt at bringing our work on the road. Well, Kait had to work some of the trip and I acted like I had work even though I was on three weeks of vacation between jobs. We checked into our nice AirB+B, Kait got to working, and I got to walking a few blocks to get us some groceries. I remember thinking about how maybe this is one way in which we can be free by being able to work from anywhere. And how work is currently being reimagined by a new generation that values new experiences over security. Now more than ever the idea of buying a house in the suburbs and living there until you die is becoming less attractive. As lifestyles change and people feel more adventurous to live and work in a variety of places, the entire concept of work is being transformed. I appreciate how Kait opened my mind to this lifestyle. Before I met her, I had only really worked at brick-and-mortar jobs where I drove to the same place everyday for work and then went back home. It re-inspires my imagination to see the possibilities that are opening up for us as a couple as we both have become established in digital nomad careers. Love is opening up my life. Kait is gently showing me life beyond anything I imagined for myself. And I love it!

Tandem Biking is Actually as Cute as it Sounds

We found the central park of New Orleans and soon were loaded onto a Swan Boat, as couples do. About a split second after taking off from the shore I realized I had to poop. So, we re-docked and I went to do just that. We then swan boated together. It was nice. I did not know if anything could be as romantic as swan boating.

Until a few days later when we came back and decided it was time for us to tandem bike. We got a picture on the tandem bike at rest right before we “took flight” just in case the flight didn’t go so well. The picture looked good. We looked solid on that tandem bike together. The first attempt at taking off was like a baby bird stepping out of the nest the first morning of flying lessons. It was as Ludacris says “Jiggy jiggy jerkin” as we found our balance together and rode off slowly into the distance! I was so relieved that we didn’t crash and we started to find a rhythm with it. Until up ahead there was a large tree branch in the way over the sidewalk and I yelled “duck” to Pidge and she bent down just in time a millimeter enough for it to graze over her. She is one tall ostrich. We made it to our destination of “The Bird’s Nest Cafe” and rested our butts there for a while before riding gracefully to the lake for some video coverage and then safely back to the rentals place. What at first was most nerve-racking was now my favorite part. We learned to work together to get the cleanest gliding starts. I loved feeling that synchronicity with Kait as we glided almost off the ground together like… Flyin Ostriches.

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