Beyond Borders: Naeemah Leonard's Travel Stories of Connection

In this episode, we explore how travel shapes our understanding of the ever-changing world. From the rise of technology to the spiritual awakening happening all around us, Naeemah reminds us of the power travel holds in broadening our horizons and embracing the unknown.

Luxury, exploration, and spiritual wellness take the spotlight as we uncover the many facets of travel. Naeemah shares her experiences of finding family connections in unexpected places, immersing herself in vibrant local communities, and indulging in the magic of unique destinations.

Travel, according to Naeemah, opens doors to compassion and deep connections. By embracing new experiences and perspectives, we break down barriers and foster empathy in a world that sometimes seems driven by fear. She encourages us to approach our personal and professional journeys with openness and curiosity.

So, grab your favorite drink, lean back, and get ready to be captivated by Naeemah's incredible stories. Tune in to this episode and let travel ignite your sense of adventure, expand your horizons, and remind you of the beauty and diversity that exists in our world.

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Transcript

Kelly Groehler: 0:06

Hello and welcome to things that make you go WTF. A podcast that brings you the unvarnished banter behind the scenes of our YouTube series women travel, art and food. I'm Kelly brailler, CEO of fine art licensing agency Ellis riot and co host of WTF. Join me, Diana Ogilvie and our guests each week for straight talk of how we manage our careers, entrepreneurial endeavors and personal lives as we seek out exceptional food and art experiences around the world. Is it worth the effort? fuck around and find out. We are so privileged to be in the same stratosphere as this next guest. Actually our first like special guests besides Carrin. Reverend Naeemah Leonard, I've known her since we were in college. And over the years, we have just kept in touch. No matter where I am in the world, we just make sure that you know, we check in with each other. And she has been one of those grounding people this light in my life that I will never want to start with. And now you want has done a fair amount of traveling. So when we started talking about branching out and talking about talking to women who have traveled. I was like, I know somebody, she's in Italy right now. But when she come back, I'm gonna talk to her. And thankfully, neighbor has agreed to join us on this podcast. She's a recent grandmother. And she's also a recent reverend. So I've nicknamed her Reverend grandmother

Diana O'Gilvie: 2:42

Welcome to WTAF

Naeemah Leonard: 2:46

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's some introduction. I mean, man. I'm like blushing have I thank you.

Kelly Groehler: 2:55

And I said, I think it's important for us to say these things out loud to the women who matter in our lives more than ever, we have to we have to do it. So thank you so much for joining us. Where are you joining us from?

Naeemah Leonard: 3:06

Well, right now I'm joining you from somewhere not so glamorous, which is a U haul because I'm about to get on the road again. We're, we have a pickup truck. We're trying to get a U haul storage unit. And we're gonna haul that across the country from New York to LA. And I'm moving my mom to La she wants to go to LA. So I told her, you know, let's not pay some movers, when we can just do it for you. And really, very selfishly, I wanted to see the country because, as Diana said, I've done a lot of traveling, but I don't think a lot of people travel in the US, you know, we don't really see our great country and experience, experience all that it has to offer. So yeah, I'm gonna haul my mom's stuff across the country while also seeing it. That's exciting. I'm in the U haul.

Kelly Groehler: 4:03

That's terrific. You know, and

Diana O'Gilvie: 4:06

you could do something like a U haul travel series.

Naeemah Leonard: 4:11

Thank you, Diana. Yes,

Kelly Groehler: 4:12

I liked that idea. Let's let's take that one offline and talk about how we make that what happened? Because I think I think that you are probably right, especially, I would say with more recent generations, certainly not doing as much on the travel and, and probably you know, you think about access and opportunity and whatnot from from different communities as well in terms of the ability to travel even across the US. Full disclosure, though, and everyone knows this about me. I grew up in a very small farm town in southwest Minnesota. So we are smack in the middle of the of the Midwest. And the only thing that was really excited going through our town was interstate 90. And so I had parents who literally we were like the Grizz wolves in the 80s and they dumped us in the back Have a station wagon and drove us all over the place. And I, I got motion sickness when I was a kid. So I was like the puking kid in the backseat. But um, what are you excited to see on the on the trip? I mean, because New York to LA is really I mean, you're going end to end of the continent. So what are some of the stops? You're excited to see?

Naeemah Leonard: 5:22

Okay, so number one, you would think that I would have done a little bit of planning, I have not haven't have done zero planning. The only thing I planned was the pickup truck and the U haul. That was it. So just from my knowledge, what I guess this country has to offer, I really want to see some of our national national parks like that's, that's really what some of that beauty. I just want to take in. A mom's been saying Yosemite, the redwoods, some other stuff that I just don't remember in the moment, something like the Tetons or something, but I thought that was in St. Lucia. And we won't go there. But there is there is something very similar across the country, as you go through the mountain ranges or something like that, she sent me like a link, I have yet to read it. I have not planned the route. I know there's a northern route, I know this is southern route, we have not confirmed in which we are taking, and we're within less than 24 hours and getting on the road. I figured that that it will unfold, you know it will unfold as we are on the trip. So it's a little, you know, there's there's obviously our country is ever evolving. And there are a bunch of things that we are waiting to be like, mindful of in traveling and stuff like that. But yeah, we're just gonna get in the truck and map it out as we go along. And I have the Grand Canyon. So that's something that I'm very excited to see. I've never been to the Grand Canyon before. So that's something I'm really excited.

Kelly Groehler: 7:07

Well, I think that just set your route for the southern route. Yeah, so

Naeemah Leonard: 7:12

definitely. Definitely excited.

Kelly Groehler: 7:17

Oh, that's just awesome pictures and

Diana O'Gilvie: 7:22

You know, I was asking someone who has been traveling for quite a number of years. What, what can you sum up? What What does travel mean to you, like what has done for you. And I know this last trip to Italy especially was one that was more moving than others. But if you could tell us what travel has done for you? Well,

Naeemah Leonard: 7:54

I think travel for me represents freedom. And it represents an opportunity to expand our consciousness in probably ways that we all are not even aware of including myself, but you know, when you're traveling, no matter which city you go to, even if it is Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, wherever, you know, in places where people say there's nothing to see, but an interstate or something like that. There's still a beauty to those experiences, because you're exposed to a culture. And there is even culture in those places, right? There are people with perspectives, with different things to offer, they may not be the things that we're always used to. And it may not be the big city that the lights you know, those types of experiences. But it really exposes us to the, I would say I'm gonna get spiritual because that's just how it goes with me. Yes, it's a bit of a multi dimensional diversity that this planet offers us. And I say multi dimensional because, you know, you're you can be exposed to in the same way exposed to many different people, you can also be exposed to many different different plants, animals, all sorts of flora and fauna experiences that, you know, you just won't encounter anywhere else, you know, some somewhere in Wisconsin or Nebraska is not the same as the Maldives, you know, or Fiji, you know, or Europe. It's just completely different. And I feel like if you're not traveling, and if you haven't figured out how to travel, then your view of the world is very small. So travel for me represents an opportunity to expand your view and your knowledge. We were moving I think as as you know the planted, but also really humanity. We're moving into an unprecedented time, right? We're moving from the industrial age into essentially a very heavy technological and spiritual age. Part of that is going to be interstellar travel. And if you're not able to open your mind, you know, it's gonna be a tough journey for you this visual in my head of, please let us teleport sometime soon, it will make everything more efficient. I'm curious to know, Nyima, when you say, when you talk about the type of travel, tell us more what you mean. Because I think you know, people have different visions of what that could how that comes together. Yeah, I mean, I think I think it so it means something different for everyone, right. And I think everyone's experiences are different, because people like to travel in different ways. For me personally, how I like to travel. Three words that come to mind, for me. First and foremost, is luxury. And I don't always, you know, I'm not always traveling five star, six star, if I can travel six star all the time, you know, I'm not gonna turn it down. But I do need some some level of luxury, and that that can come in many different ways. That second word would be exploration, I need to really be able to, I'm not the person that's going to stay on a sandals, and just stay on that all inclusive, like I need to be able to get out of the experience here and really interact with the people interact with what's happening locally, in and sort of, like ingratiate myself with, with the local experience. And that third thing would be spiritual wellness, what I call spiritual wellness. And that's how my mind, my body and my spirit, connect to where I am at that time. So, you know, if I, if I have to give an example of what that could look like, I went and I visited, you know, Guyana and Jamaica. And I did stay at a four to five star resort because it was a place that I actually love, but it happened to be a family owned place. So I got a little bit more of the local experience. And then I was able, it's not an all inclusive, so we had to go off of the resort. On the bus, we took the bus across the islands, to see Diana and then we drove into the Blue Mountains. And we were in the in the woods, you know, in the Blue Mountains. Voluntary, you know, experience and, and with the locals, and that was just, that, to me is like priceless, those types of experiences. For me, it doesn't like I recommend that even if you're staying on an all inclusive, that you would lease get off of that property and have a local experience, obviously, within, you know, depending on the country that you're in, but making sure that you are touching base with with the local experience. It's so important. And I think for me, also, I'm a very, I'm a deeply spiritual person. So if I'm not feeling the vibe, I'm not traveling there. I go where my spirit tells me Oh, so like I just came from Italy. And that was a very much like this trip that I'm about to make right now to Cali, very impromptu. One day. I was like, a friend of mine invited me to the wedding. And normally I would have been like, that's too far. I'm not going to go. But I was like, great. I'm gonna go to Italy and I literally woke up, booked the trip. I booked the hotel within a week of us leaving. It was it was every part of that trip was not planned at all. Even the road trip. We decided to fly into Milan, then drive from Milan down into Tuscany. I had no route plans. I said I was going to plan a route. I think I even told I was planning the route. No route was planned. And I just sort of I think Diana told you guys like I quit my job the day before I was leaving Italy and then I went to Italy and I sent her that sex from the plane. And that was how we went into the trip. Energetically we went into that. Just being open. And I think travel is also openness I should have said that from the beginning, travel is also about being open. We cannot learn to have compassion for one another, we cannot learn to connect with one another unless we are open to each other's experience and open to understanding those experiences. So that's what travel means. I don't know if that answered your question. I want to be your best friend. Thank you. Let's do this is so good. Yeah, it does. And I think you've just shared so many enriching things. And why is nugget than that? There's so many things you can take away from travel that just really expand your mindset and views and thoughts and ideas. And I think it's just such a wonderful, beautiful thing.

Kelly Groehler: 15:49

Thank you. Yeah, I also just want to shout back out to the fact that you said the word Interstellar, which is in my top three of movies of all time, because I appreciate the interpretation of what that could be. From that director standpoint, from Christopher Nolan standpoint, and I get like so wigged out, and I almost almost every day, I listened to the interstellar soundtrack in my office. So that's amazing. It's incredible. I also want to go back to what you were talking about, like, you're going to be cutting through the Midwest. And, and like I said, I, you know, that's, that's my, my space that I came from. And, you know, I think that, you know, probably friends of mine are like, Why are you director to go, the southern route should go, the northern route should comb through our space. And one of the things that I've always appreciated with it was more so with business travel, where I could wake up in the morning in Manhattan. And by that night, I'm driving, you know, Southwest, across Minnesota after my plane landed, chasing the sunset on those big planes and those big skies, and just that ability to have that, you know, to be able to have two entirely different experiences in one single day. And just your perspective, and that the whole idea that you have the opportunity to see something like that is something I've always just really held very close and personal in terms of something I value. I also gotta give you props for more of the spontaneity because that, that is definitely the way I travel in the way my husband and I traveled together. We actually are going this Friday, we're taking our son, he turns 21. I'm not sure why he's down with hanging out with mom and dad in New York for the weekend. But he is bringing a friend but but we fly out on Friday. The only plan we have is for dinner Friday night, we're taking him to Peter Luger, the steakhouse in Brooklyn. That's his 21st. That's his 21st birthday gift. And then basically we're saying, now we're not going to see until Monday at the airport, go get out of here. And then we don't I mean, I think my husband wants to go to Coney Island, because we've never been there before. That is like the only like, tentative plan that we have. But I love going to places and just like what's going to come at us and be open to it and be ready for it.

Naeemah Leonard: 18:12

I think I mean, I know that that can be really scary for people. And this is some of like, the work that I'm doing just sort of in my in my ministry, and just in the way that I work in the wellness space is, you know, this, this idea of fear, which is really heavily sold to us in all aspects of our lives. And in sort of like as we move about the planet, whether it's through our mobile devices, or it's on television, or it's just passed from one person to person. This, I know that the idea of spontaneity and travel does frighten a lot of people. So what I would say, for those people, I will say two things. One, if you need to plan out your trip, that's great. But make sure that you are adding just a little bit of spontaneity to your experience. So maybe you don't exactly know where you're going to go to dinner. And you just want to experience you know, the culinary magic of the place that you you know, that you land in, take some time to explore that culinary experience without making reservations through the hotel concierge, you know, and maybe that is the extent of the spontaneity that that you can handle and that's okay. At the same time, it's also grounding us in the realities of where we are. We are spiritual beings who are having human experiences. And we are spinning on a rock in the middle of nowhere, literally. Nowhere this rock is traveling at a speed that I don't even understand That's right. And we're on it. And we've been on it. And so, you know, what about that fear?

Kelly Groehler: 20:09

It really puts perspective in terms of how small we truly are. And, and you're right, you said that about how we're moving to the universe. And if you follow any of the Instagram accounts for like NASA, for instance, and they have, they have separate accounts for the NASA Webb telescope, and then that, you know, the Hubble telescopes and all the different telescopes. And then you get into these spaces where people are creating animated models of what it's like for us to actually move through the universe. You know, we think that we're in this static place, and we're just spinning around the sun. It's like, oh, no, we're all moving really fast. And like, we're going like this to the universe, all of us. And it's almost dizzying. But yeah, in case you don't know that people were already on a trip through the universe. So get out and see that

Naeemah Leonard: 21:01

You know, it's not just woowoo thing. It's not necessarily, it's not, you know, we're not talking about something that we're making up. It's actual science, right? Like, we really are traveling through the universe, we really don't have anything, I think people have this sense of, I need to be protected. But we're on this rock, there is no protection. We're just here. And we're here for this experience. And so what better gift to give yourself than the gift of experience and knowledge and expanding your wisdom. That to me, is where you can give yourself through travel.

Kelly Groehler: 21:38

Where has been the most exciting place you've ever been? In all of your travels?

Diana O'Gilvie: 21:44

You better say Jamaica

Kelly Groehler: 21:48

I mean, the Blue Mountains are incredible there. And I hope you took her to dub club on Sunday night.

Naeemah Leonard: 22:02

Man, that's a really hard experience to to navigate like, I What is my favorite place? I mean, I have to say that Italy was pretty spectacular. And the reason Italy was so spectacular was because of the quality of life and what their culture actually represents. And so I found that impressive. And actually, Diana, we got into the conversation, my mom and I have what was the difference between the lifestyle in Jamaica and the lives in Italy? And I would say that virgin, I love Jamaica, Jamaica is like, Diana was right. I can say Jamaica, because it's like my home away from home. But the quality of life is different in the sense that it's a necessity, it seems to me, yeah. For Italians, to make sure that they are really living life to the fullest of their, their, the extent that they can live it. And and that extent is through the lens of your friends, your family, your ability to take care of yourself to take a nap in the middle of the day. I mean, how many of us can say that we're taking naps in the middle of the day. How many of us can say like where I am right now is bloom, right? So when we were there, it was gloomy and rainy on some of the days, and those people decided that they were not going to do anything. And I asked I asked one of the hotel owners like what are you guys going to do today? And she said, Relax. And and and that they were okay doing that. And it's foreign that I wouldn't be able to do that. Like why wouldn't you not? And so I found it very beautiful, that there is a culture on this planet that is actually choosing people over productivity. And I think in Jamaica, in Jamaica, it's you know, everything is Irie, right. But it's a different lens. It's a different Its economic. Its economic. Its economic.

Diana O'Gilvie: 24:29

The Hustle Yeah.

Naeemah Leonard: 24:30

Yeah, yeah. So I wish I could say like, Jamaica was my favorite. I'm at work, I am in New York, we're in the pickup truck, we are trying to figure out how we're connecting the hitch, and the U haul cargo unit, to the, to the to the pickup truck. It's a whole experience, let me tell you, first, I didn't know that most rental companies don't really want to rent you a truck, that will allow you to haul all of your stuff across country, they're not down for that experience. So we managed to get a truck, I won't shout out the company who has done it, you know, but but it is a company that has a green label. And, you know, they represent, if you're not an entrepreneur, or you are an entrepreneur, you own a and and that's the company. Let you fill in the blanks. And and then yeah, you all are trying to figure out, you know, if you all will be able to, like, help us this cargo unit attached to the, to the pickup truck. And then once we do that, there's the act of actually getting our stuff out of the storage, getting my mom's stuff out of storage. And then where are we going to park the U haul unit and truck, because, you know, it'll be at least as long as a small, you know, truck or trailer. That's half the country moves myself. So I've wanted to see a kind of where you were going, because it's the progression. I went from Minnesota to California, and then more recently, California to Florida. But I also wanted to ask because I'll be in LA tomorrow. And I was like, maybe we can be best friends in LA and the next couple of days, and I'll take you out for the best coffee in town. Yeah, that would be amazing. So I will we can all connect. And when I land, we can figure something set me up. That would be amazing. Yeah, so we haven't even gotten on the road yet. And I think, this experience of figuring out that the very operational stuff, at some point, I'm going to look up what the southern route is, we're gonna have to start a tech chain, and you're gonna have to send us photos along the stop so we can follow along on the journey that actually I'm starting. Okay, so this is something that I started a while ago. And Diana, you'll remember this. My daughter, myself and a girlfriend of mine, we took a trip up the PCH. And this was actually, meticulously, we planned this trip meticulously the day that we were leaving, and we didn't know that. So we were like, Okay, we're planning this trip. The forest fires were happening. This was a couple of years ago, the forest fires are happening. But it's okay. The forest fires are nowhere near where we're trying to go. It's great. So we planned our trip, we knew the hotels, we knew everything that we were doing. And I don't even think the original. The original trip did not even call for us driving all the way up to pch, it was that we were going to hit a few cities, like Oh, hi, Palm Springs, etc. The night that we've left, the forest fires did some weird reading into the areas that we wanted to go. And when we landed the air b&b, and we were supposed to be staying in was threatened by the forest fire. So when we landed, when we landed, the woman had to cancel our reservations, we had nowhere to stay. All the places that we were going to go started to then say we couldn't come there because of the forest fires. So my friend was flying out. I'm already in LA, my daughter is already in LA. And we were like, What are we going to do? And my brother at the time was like, why don't you just rent a car and drive up the PCH and see what happens. And I was like, great. We rented a car. We got in it. With nowhere to stay. We have no hotels. And we just got on the road and drove at the PCH. And we we booked our hotels the very night that we were going to stay there. So any city we popped into, we did hotels.com with and we booked it and it was just it was a fantastic experience to just experience the world. I imagine the way that maybe some of the people who first came here to this, you know, to this country to colonize the country when they were traveling out west how they did it except we weren't on a stagecoach we were in like a an SUV. You Imagine how that experience was. And we also had hotels, you know, so the little bit different, you know, different experience, but just the not knowing where we were actually going to be at any given moment. And, and, and meet so many amazing people along that journey was just absolutely amazing. So I'm hoping that it's going to be the same experience as your country.

Kelly Groehler: 30:29

Let's hope it's the same experience without the forest fires for you this

Diana O'Gilvie: 30:33

forest fires. Yeah, I want to do that. Now. You must. So if you want to do that, in your lifetime.

Kelly Groehler: 30:38

Oh, my gosh, my husband and I are that's on our bucket list of things to do. Yeah. Do the PCH. Yeah,

Naeemah Leonard: 30:44

yeah. So, um, my partner and I, him and I, we just did it. And I want to do it again. This time, we want to go from LA to Washington, and back down. Yeah. So that'd be incredible to connect on that trip. Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh, think of the wine

Kelly Groehler: 31:03

country that you're going to hit as you're on your way up there. Cut through Oregon that will that Valley area? Bring me all the wires? Diana, you won't drink them. But I will. I do. What a story about adaptability, though. And flexibility when you travel? I think I know so many people who are so derailed if you will, when when the best laid plans have some sort of an alteration to them. And they freak out and they don't feel like they're in control. And I've always had that mindset that I was burned out. Yeah, but but travel travel is is never something that's perfectly in control, because of all the different areas that you're going.

Naeemah Leonard: 31:46

Yeah, yeah. I just wanted to be on record that I was freaked out. I was freaked out. I was angry. I was like, I was all the emotions that a human being can experience when they're well laid plans are offended by some force you can control. But that, to me was the beauty of the experience. Yeah, that was the beauty of experience. We all lay out plans every day. And they and they sometimes don't go the way we want them to,

Diana O'Gilvie: 32:19

you know, the famous the famous quote, you want to make God laugh? Plan?

Naeemah Leonard: 32:23

Yes. Exactly.

Diana O'Gilvie: 32:28

Throw, throw you back a little bit, too. When you did your ancestry. And you found out that you had a lot of Cuban in you. And you actually took your family, your sister, your daughter, and y'all went to Cuba to find your rules. And we're like, I think that would be like our Yeah, as we before we close that I really wanted to talk about that.

Naeemah Leonard: 32:51

Wow, okay, yeah, you are taking me back. And it kind of takes me back to like Kelly's conversation of, you know, what was my favorite place. And the reason why Cuba didn't come up first was because I will say, and I leave it to Diana to always take me back into my emotions into my feelings. See what is very deeply personal for me. So I think it's not one of the places that I think of is I just traveled there. Yeah, it was a real pilgrimage. I, you know, I was doing my ancestry. I knew that my mom, my mom was half Cuban. My grandfather was cute, Cuban from Cuba. But I didn't know much beyond that, outside of what my mom had told me of, you know, the, her grandmother and, and then my grandfather, and I had letters, letters from my great grandmother, but then also love letters between my grandmother and my grandfather when he was in Cuba. And that was really all I had no reference. My mom had not actually spoken to anyone down there was kind of a little bit of strange from that side of the family. And I call Diana, as I Tana, I'm Cuban, I need to go to Cuba. And I don't really have any frames of reference at all. I have no frame of reference side. So my family and a few friends down to Cuba who also wanted to travel a time. And this was when this was when sort of you could travel freely. This is before Trump. So like right before he put into place the rules and regulations that he put in. And we went down there and we had an absolute blast. And I would tell you of all the places on this planet to go to actually travel back in time, and I mean truly travel back in time. Cuba is that place And it was just absolutely an assault in a good way, on your senses, sight, hearing, sound, smell, taste, it was really the ultimate aphrodisiac, I have to say that's how I would describe the experience. And armed with those letters, and staying at Airbnb ease, and telling my story to the owners of the Airbnb ease, who then helped me to traverse, like they actually went with us to these addresses where my family no longer lived. And they made calls, and they talk from one person to the next all over the island. That led us to various different letters to various different addresses, again, where my family didn't live. We at the end of that trip last three days got connected in my family. While this thing was the wildest thing, part of it was spirit. And I'm just going to say this, we there was a dead end that we reached my grandmother's my grandfather's favorite meal to make us because I'm a vegetarian, he would make us plant and us and rice and beans, black beans and rice, my dual dose, which is like sweet plantains, and black beans and rice, and then a little garden salad. And I remember us reaching the dead end, and just being like, I'm hungry, like we didn't know where else to go. And I was just like I'm hungry. And I need to get something to eat so that I can think about what we're going to do next. And I turned around and there was a little restaurant downtown, downtown Havana, there was a small, tiny restaurant very unassuming place. And everyone was like, Okay, let's go in there and get something to eat. And I had the thought I remember feeling the thought spirit. You know, whatever resonates with you. Stay turned around and eat in that restaurant. And I turned around, we went into that restaurant. They had three tables in the restaurant. That's how tiny it was. And it was a chef in there who had studied in France, but was Cuban. And he brought back what he learned in France, to Cuba, but he had a little tiny Mom and Pop restaurant that he was making food. We went in there and we were like, I don't speak Spanish. He didn't really speak English. But yet we were able to communicate somehow. And he was like, I'll make you something special. He made my doodles, black beans and rice, and a little small garden salad with avocado. And he was like, this is like the staple. And it was like it was it was it was he was making it to show us that we were friends and family. And that was how him and his family treated us. And then once he understood what we were trying to do, I showed him the letters where I was trying to go, who we had spoken to on the island. And he said, If you walk down the block, we were able to deduce on the map he like showed us walk down the block, turn left, knock on this house, you'll be able to get to where you really need to go. My Airbnb the owner of Airbnb went with us. And the woman was in that house knew the family and was able to give

Diana O'Gilvie: 38:48

Yeah, and this held you girl they held you they carried you

Kelly Groehler: 38:56

are you oh my gosh.

Diana O'Gilvie: 38:59

Yeah. Yeah, then

Naeemah Leonard: 39:01

and my my girlfriends were there to witness that. Diana wasn't able to make that trip. But other friends said that I did have there were they were like, mind boggled because the dead end that we reached, it was like a true dead end. It was like That's it. The letters are from, you know, way their way back in like, like literally before the 50s I mean, the letters were so old. It's like, there's no way I'm getting connected to these people. It was it was amazing. And not only did we get connected to my family, we got connected to my grandfather's best friend growing up his family as well, which is also like our family. Yes.

Kelly Groehler: 39:42

What an experience.

Naeemah Leonard: 39:48

it that remains one of my all time best trips. Another thing that happened on that trip is that we went to a beach and I think it was and I may be butchering the name Am I not remembering it correctly, but I believe it was a beach club. And I know that a doddle. And we took a car there, we held a car on the, on the corner of the Airbnb that we were staying on. And when we got in that car, the driver was had some very odd behavior. And we got to the beach. And when we got out, he was like, he turned around, and he didn't speak English, but he spoke English well enough to say, I will wait for you guys, because I was very depressed, before I picked you guys up, because I was not making any money. And I I've been here he was from Santiago, which is where my family is actually from that's all the way on the other side of the islands. And he was in Havana, every day that man drove from Santiago to Havana, so that he can make money. And he drove there that day, and he had not picked up anyone. And so he was getting very stressed because he was like, you know, I'm not going to make money, I'm gonna have to drive back across the island. And he was like, I saw wait for you guys. And so we hired him for the whole entire day. We hired him. Yeah. And at the end of that trip, for that day, we were gonna give him a tip. But we all didn't have the right amount of cash on us. And so we exchanged phone numbers, and we were like, We will text you. So you can come back the next day and pick up the tip that we want to give you. If anyone has traveled to Cuba, you know, the phones don't work well down there. We didn't know this. But we learned that cell phones don't work right down there. The way that the Wi Fi and stuff like that is hooked up. Chances of connecting with people are very challenging. We couldn't get in touch with him at all. Two days went by the night before we were leaving. We happen to be walking with just like, wow, it's it's a bummer. Because we only paid him for the trip. We never actually gave him a tip. And the very last day, we happen to be walking by one of the main tourist spots. And he was just sitting outside sitting outside on the steps sitting there looking like he lost his best friend again. And literally, we saw him again and we're able to give him the tip. We took a photo with him we exchanged email addresses. It was it was just an amazing trip. And never. I've never felt so at home than in Cuba. Yeah, I feel at home in Jamaica.

Diana O'Gilvie: 42:45

fine. It's fine. It's fine. Because we're cousins. Because you can see Cuba from the tip of Jamaica and Portland like Yeah. Do you remember driving the Blue Mountains? We were picking up Cuban radio picking up? Radio? So that's how close we are? I mean, yes, that is just a reminder that, you know, travel is just this wonderful connector, this thread that just fuels us. I mean, if you were brave enough, and smart enough that we can actually come out and find those connections. I mean, that Cuban trip. Yeah, I still have goosebumps just hearing your recall.

Naeemah Leonard: 43:35

Exactly. And I was gonna say like my grandfather, he had passed away. So he was not able to actually help me walk through this experience. And then growing up, I remember he was a musician. And he traveled all around the world. And played with some of the most amazing artists of our time of our of human history. He played with some of those people. And I remember this one image of him with Nat King Cole. And I was never able to get that photo. And when I went to my family in Cuba, my my aunt had a photo, so I was able to get that. So it's just amazing to see that chip was also a confirmation of what I was kind of alluding to earlier when we started this conversation. And I didn't say it like this, but I'll say now, we are all family on this planet. No matter our differences are perceived differences because that's what it is perceived differences, regardless of our color, regardless of our religion, regardless of our spiritual practices, regardless of anything that we perceive that sets us apart. We are all a universal family. Well, we're spinning on this rock together and we'll spin off this rock together whether we like it or not.

Diana O'Gilvie: 44:58

And with that guy you will Reverend Leonard, I mean, thank you so much for being with us, or WTA, our special guests in our summer series. Yeah, I'm always enriched and energized by conversations with you, my friend. And thank you for sharing your experiences, your views and your love and your light with us today.

Kelly Groehler: 45:21

Absolutely. And please, thank you for having Sure. We're gonna get on we're going to make sure we're following along on on your posts, make sure you're posting frequently and often on your journey across the US. Yes, definitely.

Naeemah Leonard: 45:36

Yes. So actually, I told you just one one thing I told you about the the PCH trip because I actually do a live feed on WhatsApp. So Diana will connect on what that looks like. All right.

Kelly Groehler: 45:49

Sounds great. Thank you so much.

Naeemah Leonard: 45:53

No problem. Thank you all.

Diana O'Gilvie: 45:55

Love you my friend safe journey. Thanks for stepping inside our heads this week. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow W TAF women travel art and food on Instagram and Tiktok things that make you go WTF is a production of Alice riot MLC. We connect brands and contemporary women artists. Drop us a line at Hello at Alice riot.com