life lessons Archives • The Bliss Movement

Packing Tips: 5 Tips for the Over-Packer

My first trip of the year is coming up in exactly one week so you can bet I've been itching to pack for the last month! Unfortunately, I think there is such a thing as packing too early and have had to practice restraint. I made it until this past Thursday and couldn't take it anymore - in a heart-racing frenzy I pulled out my summer clothes and the packing began! If you've ever gone on a long trip or even a one week holiday, you'll understand me when I say that packing is a skill that is best when practiced to perfection. While there is a huge difference in packi[...]

Personal Development, Travel

A World of Possibility

Sorry for being such an inconsistent blogger lately I find it difficult to write engaging posts for you when I'm home, spending most of my time working and saving for the next adventure (and it's a big adventure). But being home and surrounded by family and friends brings with it a little bit of enlightenment, so I'll likely be sharing some of that with you lately with more reflection posts rather than actual travel posts. It's a funny moment when you realize how differently you view the progression of your life compared to those around you. It's exciting to th[...]

Barbados, Personal Development, Self-Care, Travel

4 Lessons Learned from Living on an Island

Before living on an island I had no idea what to expect. Warm weather, the sea and days relaxing on the beach, obviously, but I had no idea just how life changing it can be to immerse yourself in island living. It has shifted my perspective on reality and I am determined to incorporate the life lessons I've learned for the rest of my life. Island time is a real and inherent thing that you will come to love if you end up living on an island. As you embrace this concept of time, the stress and anxiety begin to fade and you finally begin to take in the life that[...]

Personal Development, Self-Care, Travel

It’s Time To Rephrase the Question.

I have grown up in a society blinded by the goal of having money. Money has always seemed to be the first priority and people around me work insane hours in order to make as much as they can. The result? We stop working to live and start living to work. I can't count the number of times visiting with my friends revolved around a quick dinner and spending most of that time talking about our jobs - and don't even get me started on the dating scene, where the first question is always what do you do for work? Every time someone asks me that question I want to bang my[...]

Mood and Mindset, Self-Care

The Practice of Being Still

The practice of taking moments of being still can be transformative for our mental wellness. I love the sound of silence, the stillness of a lazy morning or the setting of the sun. It feeds the energy in my soul, energizing and rejuvenating it. I come away from stillness feeling refreshed and truly ready to take on whatever the world wants to throw at me. When I lose sight of my intentions for this life of mine, I try to find that space of stillness. Life sweeps you away sometimes, the good and the bad of it tangle you up until you are tumbling around in it. Th[...]

Barbados, Caribbean, Mood and Mindset, Self-Care, Travel

The Traveler’s Shift

I zoom through. Cities, countries, museums and temples, I zoom through them all. That has been my past travel experience nearly everywhere but Thailand. It paved the way for the title of this blog, a whirlwind. A travel affair where I leave after one short, intense kiss. I land in one destination and move frantically through it, desperate to see it all in three days or a week and then I disappear, leaving a city or a country behind me without seeing but a sliver of it. I've questioned this way of travel before and yet I continued to justify it. In some places th[...]

Asia, Tips, Planning and Packing, Travel

10 Things You Will Learn After Traveling in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia has a special place in my heart and I think it always will. When I first decided to try out traveling, I told myself I wouldn't return to a place I had visited before until I had gone to all seven continents. Well, this summer I went back to Thailand for a second time. And during that trip I started to try to plan how I could get myself back there next summer. There is just something about that area that draws you back again and again. It could make you stay forever. Southeast Asia has also taught me many things. About myself, life, other cultures.[...]