-WHY AM I ONLY A PART-TIME INSTEAD OF A FULL-TIME INTERNATIONAL GLOBAL CULTURAL TRAVEL BLOGGER, EDUCATOR & INFLUENCER LIKE THE REST…?

I have had and still very much currently have many passions and projects I would like to undertake in my remaining lifetime…!  This, even though time is going by and my biological age clock is most certainly ticking now more than ever before…! …And yet, my traveling goals and bucket list keep on piling up! This, even though as previously stated and unlike many travel bloggers, I have NO intentions whatsoever of visiting as many countries as I possibly can without them being on my actual bucket list or yet and still: every single country in our world…! This, not just because of my age but more so because of these following reasons:

1. There are 195 or 196 countries worldwide and I neither have (never ever did for that matter), the energy nor the stamina to constantly hop on and off planes like some of the “brave”, “daring” and “enduring” Travel Bloggers out there, of which some I, myself  follow !

2. I like to take short or long breaks in-between my travels as I very much enjoy being able to navigate between my steadfast paced part-time travel life but yet and still, very much enjoying my life when I am not traveling; as well as my cozy apartment in a city that I truly love and in which I have lived for the past twenty five years : New York City as it is one of our world’s most Multiethnic, Multiracial, Multi-diverse and Multicultural! cities !

3. I furthermore thoroughly enjoy exquisite wonderful quality times spent with my present male partner, my longtime friends, (my only sister out of five, who also lives in the states) and my relatives… Whether this be, long dinner get-togethers or house parties at one of our homes, going out to cafes or restaurants, hanging out at night at jazz clubs or lounges, attending a new art gallery opening or a new museum exhibit, catching a new broadway or a new off-broadway show or musical, going to see a play or a comedy show, attending a live concert etc… Or simply enjoying long walks and/or reading/writing and daydreaming at home, at my neighborhood’s Starbucks’ coffee shop or doing all of this at the park, especially my favorite one from which I live fairly close to!

4. It is absolutely undeniable that thanks to my Dear Beloved deceased mother (who was an international independent civil servant & diplomat for the United Nations) and who fed my sisters and I, with her foreign diplomatic on-going missions and official travels to meet other dignitaries in different countries, continents and parts of the world, I have ALWAYS had an outmost PASSION for traveling! It nonetheless was extremely important for me, (after a personal intimate failed four year relationship, which I was certain would lead to marriage); to pursue and fully live my passion while still creating a life balance between my travel goals and my other equally impassioned life interests and setting some time aside to spend wonderful precious quality with my numerous beloved friends and relatives…! I presently therefore believe that I am gradually succeeding in creating a harmonious life balance between my travels and my other life engagements while also including my present partner in it all, which most certainly is what makes both: my traveling and writing all worth it! This, I absolutely assure you !

5. As I am solely a Part-Time International Cultural Traveler, due to my other professional engagements (I have extensively written about my other professional obligations in a previous blog article…). You can therefore go back and  scroll in my blog history to read it in full if you wish to do so !

6. As I am yet and still an entirely Free-Lance Self-Produced, Non-Sponsored International Cultural Educator, Writer & Travel Blogger  (this will hopefully change in the future)! I nonetheless currently  100% absolutely finance EVERY SINGLE ONE of my cultural trips on my very own and traveling very much requires money…! I moreover clearly and distinctly separate my professional engagement travels from my cultural travels. This, as all expenses are covered for my professional engagements’ travels. On the other end, my cultural travels are specifically geared to feed and to nourish the depths of my yearning soul, to continue to explore the world as I please in order to grow as an International, Universal Writer but more importantly and essentially: as a Cultural, Humanistic World Ambassador to give free Educational & Cultural Positive Empowerment Motivational and Cultural Presentations & Workshops throughout the four corners of the world, for underserved and underprivileged communities as well as at: female shelters, family shelters, community centers, orphanages, schools, centers and agencies as I am a multilingual citizen. I moreover  presently share some of my “World Exploration” through this blog with my readers who have started to follow me via my public Facebook and Instagram pages and to therefore accompany me on my Travel Stories and Journeys !!! …I genuinely do humbly thank you/them each for this…! …I nonetheless still have ways to go, as I have just reached my blog’s first year Anniversary…! I have many aspirations for my blog in the next years to come…  As I just do not plan for it to be just another “Travel  Blog” but a venue through which I will also write and post about my hard work as a World Global Educational & Cultural Motivational Positive Empowerment Educator and Presenter, which I have been doing as a Professional this entire past decade and which I will continue to do throughout the rest of my life and through upcoming sponsorships.

7. I can truly become “lazy” when I travel on my personal time and on vacations (LOL )! Firstly because I work a lot on different projects and as a Professional Positive Motivational Empowerment Speaker and Presenter! Secondly, because I have not yet started to travel, to empower different communities and people around the world, which will involve much “behind the scenes” hard work & strategic planning! …This, most particularly in tropical sunshiny countries, where I have the leisure to take pretty lengthy afternoon naps if I feel like it and where I am neither constrained by time nor by anyone, as I have mostly been a Solo Traveler for these about already past ten years…! This is nonetheless gradually changing as I will embark on my very first trip with my present male partner and Love… ! I also invite you to go back to my blog history and read my blog article about my experience and recommendations as a Female Solo Traveler as my NUMBER ONE MOTTO, for anyone traveling alone but more importantly for females (as I, myself am a female after all & am led to speak from my personal traveling experiences) is to be CAUTIOUS & SAFE as MUCH as you FEASIBLY & POSSIBLY CAN …!

8. Most unfortunately (or perhaps was it just my fate), I have only recently decided to create my very own Travel Blog (I wish that I had done so several years ago, when online blogging was very fresh and new on the world scene)! …Thanks to the gentle but consistent nudging of a couple of my longtime close friends (do please once more feel free to go to my blog’s “ABOUT…” link, to find out more about how my blog came about , and as to why exactly I made the bold decision and took the giant leap of FAITH to launch myself within this presently extremely extra competitive Blog Stratosphere…), I finally decided to create my present on-line Travel Blog …! 

9. To tell you the truth, I initially honestly hesitated before publishing my very first blog article, which is about my trip to Montreal-Canada last year in May in honour of Montreal’s 150th Anniversary and of which some of the selected pictures I captured  during my trip, are posted above. This, after not having traveled to Canada since my childhood with my family ! I truly cannot believe that I have just celebrated my blog’s very first BIRTHDAY this past June as even though I traveled to this charming bilingual city in May, I actually published my first Montreal’s Trip’s article series in June ! -Why did I hesitate to publish my articles in my current blog…?, some of you might ask. …As odd as it may seem, I had the fear of publicly divulging myself to the entire cyber space world…!

10 …Indeed! …For even though I am sitting behind my computer anywhere I feel inspired to write and to type, once I have decided to put any of my articles in cyberspace, I am 100% fully aware that my series of articles are no longer exclusively mine but become the cyberspace’s public property just like when I submit my articles to magazines…!!! …And similarly to my very first magazine article submission several years ago (for an international magazine), this very same fear re-appeared and crept on me with regards to my blog articles! ….The real justified FEAR of my blog and series of articles not being read..! …And therefore I, myself not feeling validated as the International Cultural Blog Writer that I am slowly but most certainly becoming (amongst my other existent writing forms…)! This, even though I am tremendously once again humbled and grateful to even actually have some followers whether it be via both respectively: my public Facebook page or my Instagram page..! …I initially started with one follower solely on Instagram and was stuck on the number twenty (most of them being: my friends, family  and acquaintances ) for what seemed to be an eternity…!

11. I was a little afraid as well, about perhaps not always feeling inspired to write…  This, even as a “Born Creative Writer”, a Professional International Public Presenter and Speaker (where I methodically write and prepare my presentations and topics in advance)! I furthermore quickly realized that: creating and producing a blog’s content is quite different from writing a newspaper and/or a magazine article and simply submitting my articles to the designated newspapers or magazines with an editing staff on hand…! …As Bloggers, we must constantly feed our blogs and therefore ensure to always have enough content materials and subject matters to write about and format, edit, create and publish articles after articles after articles…! This, as long as we wish to remain in the on-line Blogging Business…!!!  I however DO NOT AT ALL ONLY see myself as a: Blogger but as I stated at the very beginning of this blog, I MOST ASSUREDLY see myself as a: as much as an AMBASSADOR of CULTURES as much as a TRANSPORTER of HISTORY, through my Cultural Presentations, Motivational Speaking as equally through my writing…!!!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

AND CONCLUSION:

-…Perhaps, are you furthermore as well not aware that most Blog Writers are not just “Seasonal Writers…” but actual Lifetime Writers! -How then did I conquer my fear?, you might once more currently be asking yourself… I quickly came to realize after talking about my feelings and venting to a couple of my very close friends, that the beautiful miracle of the cyber world is specifically that every single one of us (adults) can choose to have a space and a live online platform, simply waiting for us to POSITIVELY and PRODUCTIVELY use it if we wish to do so… ! This, as our very experiences are each OH so extremely UNIQUE and SPECIAL..! ….And CANNOT therefore possibly be DUPLICATED! …For these experiences of ours, are caught in a very specific TIME FRAME & INSTANT…!  THEY are indeed caught in a very particular moment in time that ABSOLUTELY NO ONE can take away… !!! …As a result, I very MUCH do hope that anyone who stumbles upon my hereby blog and browses through some of my articles, will fully be intrigued and interested to read most of them…! ….Be inspired by them and realize that she/he/they/YOU as well, CAN MOST DEFINITELY embark on your very own journey and commence whatever it is that fuels your Inner Spiritual Being… !!! Henceforth both, the title and the subtitle of my blog: “…Irene’s Inspirational Travels/Traveling To Inspire Others To Pursue Their Outmost Passions…!” ..This, despite the overwhelming competition and the obvious fact that many of the present bloggers (including myself), often unconsciously write articles with similar related or actually with the very same topics as the multiple presence of other bloggers via cyberspace! …Not because we voluntary and consciously plan to do so but moreso because we ALL live in the same contemporary world and therefore tend to gravitate towards the same interests and share the same feelings when traveling despite our wide age differences…! As for the purpose of my own blog’s creation…? It is predominantly to share my world travels, which I hope will fuel on-going lasting conversations as an International Cultural Travel Blogger, a Multicultural Educator, a Positive Empowerment Motivational Speaker & a World Ambassador (even though the entirety of me, has not as of yet set foot in Asia, The Pacific Islands, Australia and other parts of the world..)! …What nonetheless sets each one of us apart, are our writing and creative styles as much as our distinct experiences and travel story tales according to our respective genders, race, nationalities, ethnicities and cultural inherited backgrounds !

…And there you have it...! In addition to my blog’s introduction entitled “About Irene…” (of which I most certainly invite you to read in order to get the full picture of who I am and of my story), I have presently given you more background as to why I am only a part-time as opposed to a full-time nonetheless most assuredly still PASSIONATE Cultural Travel Blogger, Educator and Influencer as well as how I was inspired to begin my Travel Blog… ! Do therefore please make sure to ONE HUNDRED PERCENT fully invest and immerse yourselves in your very respective passions as I CAN NEVER write it enough: LIFE IS WAY TOO SHORT, to not LIVE your PASSION(S…!!! …This, as long as it is not SELFISH but on the very contrary: MOST ASSUREDLY & ABSOLUTELY SELFLESS…! This, as long as it motivates others on your street, your block, your neighborhood, your community or throughout your company, agency, organization… Or yet and still on a larger and broader scale, in your region, your country and/or throughout your continent and yet again still: throughout the four corners of our globe, to do POSITIVE things and become a ROLE MODEL for the next generations to come…!!!  …The sky is truly the limit…!  …With a STRONG Spiritual Foundation and a Fantastic Emotional Support of hopefully but not necessarily with your closest: family members, relatives and friends right there by your side, to support and embrace your lifetime passion(s) & goal(s) with you …!!! …As long as YOU… & YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING, believe in your VERY SELF …!!!