Paradise Perspectives
Welcome to "Paradise Perspectives," where island vibes meet personal transformation! 🌴
I’m Riselle, the Traveling Island Girl, and I’m thrilled to have you here. This podcast is all about helping you live your best life—whether that means traveling the Caribbean. starting a new business, shifting your mindset, embracing change, or simply finding the courage to chase your dreams.
Drawing from the beauty and inspiration of my Caribbean home, St. Maarten, I bring you real stories, practical tips, and a whole lot of motivation to help you step into your power. Every episode is designed to empower you to create the life you truly want, with a little bit of island sunshine and a lot of heart.
We’ll dive into topics like career pivots, entrepreneurship, personal growth, and travel—all from the perspective of an island girl who believes that every day is a chance to start something amazing.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a stay-at-home mom, or someone who’s just feeling stuck, this podcast is for you.
Join me on this incredible journey as we explore how to make bold moves, live authentically, and enjoy the ride. Let’s turn those dreams into reality, one sunny day at a time.
Ready to live your best life? Subscribe now and let’s get started! 🌟
Paradise Perspectives
What It Takes to Create Your Dream Travel Life with Alyssa Ramos from My Life's A Travel Movie
In this episode I chat with the fearless Alyssa Ramos, a.k.a. My Life's a Travel Movie, who has transformed solo female travel into an art form and inspires countless others to chase their wanderlust.
If you are curious about what it takes to maintain a a positive outlook while you weather the storm of social media negativity or you have been dreaming of becoming a content creator and influencer, this episode is for you.
Alyssa and I share our secrets to a positive mindset, from creating a morning routine that sparks excitement and positivity to a simple mindset change to help you create sustained mental well-being.
Alyssa shares about her struggles with finding healthy, loving relationships as a single solo female traveler to now being in a supportive relationship, living on a vineyard with her fiancé in Sardinia.
Learn how she's built a supportive community around her globe-trotting lifestyle, and find out how you can connect with her, and her beloved dog, Oscar, and travel with her Tribe to exotic destinations all over the world.
Get ready to be inspired to live your best life, no matter where the journey takes you.
Get Alyssa's book "Yes, I'm a Woman and I'm Traveling Alone" here.
Follow Alyssa on Instagram, and Facebook, and check out her blog.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get over your fears and start creating the life you want with Riselle's Fearless Transformation 1:1 Coaching Program.
Meditate with Riselle and other like-minded women, join the Transform to Thrive Tribe.
Sign up for the newsletter and be the first to get the details about upcoming retreats and live events.
Visit the website for travel stories that will inspire, empower, and motivate you to step into your greatness.
Follow Riselle on Instagram and watch her YouTube channel for more travel and transformation tips.
Get in touch with Riselle at hello@thetravelingislandgirl.com. Send in your questions and topics, and be featured on the show.
For those looking to visit Saint Martin, get your copy of the Ultimate Local's Guide to Saint Martin here.
*I may get a commission if you purchase or book any product or service mentioned in my podcast episodes. Thank you.
...
Welcome to Paradise Perspectives. I'm Rizal, the Traveling Island Girl, and I'm here to help you start living your best life, no matter where you're at, whether you're dreaming of traveling to exotic destinations, starting, we'll explore how to shift your mindset, find your purpose and take bold steps towards the life you deserve. So grab your favorite drink and let's dive into some real talk about living your best life, one sunny day at a time. Good morning from Portland. Yes, I made it and I am happily bringing you today's episode from P-Town. If you're a bit confused and you're like okay, rizal, what are you doing outside of the Caribbean and in Portland of all places? Well, you must have missed the first episode of this season, season three, so I suggest you go listen to it so you can catch up. All right, I'm going gonna wait right here. Okay, are you back? All right? It's a beautiful gray day here in Portland today. It's absolutely gray outside, but I'm still loving it and I am currently dog sitting for the most adorable, fluffiest of small dogs ever named Bijou.
Speaker 1:I have many reasons why I decided to temporarily move to Portland, and one of those reasons is to try out a website that I was recently introduced to. It is called Trusted House Sitters, where you get to house sit, cat sit, dog sit, animal sit, whatever kind of sit you want to do while you travel. Of course, this is a great way to save on accommodation, and you still get that very authentic local experience while you explore and discover new destinations. So that's what I'm doing. My main reason, though, is to give this whole digital nomad thing a try. Oh, well, temporarily, because, let's be honest, I don't think I want to give this whole digital nomad thing a try. Well, temporarily, because, let's be honest, I don't think I want to do this full time, at least not right now. So I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, which is, of course, the Caribbean, and I want to discover something new. I want to try something completely different.
Speaker 1:My mission this year is to do something that scares me every single chance I get, and in doing so, I'm hoping that this all will lead to some kind of beautiful and necessary personal growth and who knows, even some career growth while I'm at it. I'm open to anything really, so let's see what the universe brings right it. I'm open to anything really, so let's see what the universe brings right. But one of the persons that was super influential in getting me to start my own travel brand to begin with, and she still is actually today. That person is Alyssa Ramos. She's better known online as my Life's Travel Movie, so if you've never heard of her before before, please do go to the show notes after this and check out the links that I've let that I've put in there so you can check her out, because she's amazing at least she is in my honest opinion.
Speaker 1:She has consistently been at this for 10 years and she's become one of the most well-known female solo travelers out there. She has written for publications like Matador and the Huffington Post. She's been featured in the Daily Mail and the Mirror UK. She's had TV interviews on Inside Edition. I mean, she's been all over the place.
Speaker 1:I have learned a lot from Melissa over the years and I continue to do so today. She remains one of my favorite online persons to follow and to learn from, so you can imagine my delight when she said yes to being on Paradise Perspectives. I must have like done a happy dance in my living room for like half a minute. Alyssa Ramos today is so much more than just a travel influencer, though. She's not just a solo traveler. She's not a group trip host. She is so much more.
Speaker 1:I'm seriously so happy that you tuned into this episode because it's a juicy one and we get to dive a little bit into the mind of a very hardworking female solopreneur who has built a life she loves to wake up to every single day. So sit back, relax and enjoy this episode In the virtual studio with me today, and I am so excited to actually say this is one of my favorite content creators online the travel expert, as I like to call her, alisa Ramos from my Life's a Movie or my Life's a Travel Movie. So I think you have both names right online. You have my Life's a Travel Movie on Instagram and I think your website is my Life's a Movie. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:So my website, first of all. Hi, good to see you. My website is originally named my life's a movie. That was from when I used to write about hollywood life and la life.
Speaker 1:Um, now it's my life's a movie and also my life's a travel movie, so it'll redirect either way, but I go by my life's a travel movie I am so happy that you could make time for this today, because I've been looking forward to this and also to for you to be the first guest on the Paradise Perspectives, the new Paradise Perspectives show. So thank you so much for making the time. I see that you have Oscar with you. Who's another one that?
Speaker 1:I admire deeply my little travel pup. Yes, exactly so let's go into a little bit about who you are. For those of you who and I can't even imagine those who do not know who you are why don't you give a brief introduction into who Alyssa Ramos is?
Speaker 2:Okay, sure, I'm Alyssa Ramos, better known as my last travel movie to some on the interwebs. I was one of the very first travel influencers, before the name even existed. I was a travel blogger back when there was only a handful of them, so I started out as a solo female traveler. I very much am still a solo female traveler. However, I have grown quite the awesome community through my group trips, which I call my let's travel tribe, and now I have plenty of people to travel with and, yeah, I'm just kind of going with what the universe is throwing at me. I've been to 132 countries now, all seven continents, multiple times. I'll be going to Antarctica for the fourth time in December. Um, and, yeah, my main thing is doing, you know, social media work and then my group trips. I've written the book, I'm working on another book, I'm now doing foreign real estate investment and most recently, I am engaged and living on my fiance's winery in italy for the summer oh my gosh, it's like.
Speaker 1:So I mean, I'm listening to this and I've been following you for a while, so I've been actually following all of these steps and all of these parts of your life until today, and I had the pleasure of meeting you and your mom in 2019. It's going on quite a while ago. It's five years ago.
Speaker 2:I can't believe it yeah, but it was it was such fun and it was actually.
Speaker 1:You know, what sticks with me of our meeting is how hard you work there wasn't a time, there wasn't a second really, of when we were, I was showing you guys around c martin that you were not working in some capacity. So you're always, always working. So I want people, I want you to tell um the listener that you know, for them to kind of like get an idea of how much work goes behind every single post that you put online or every single blog post for that matter for sure.
Speaker 2:Um, it's a actually thanks for bringing it up, because it is a common misconception that people think all they have to do, or all I do, or all we do is we take pictures, we post them and then, boom, you're successful at being a content creator or blogger. And I hear so many people that are like, oh, I should start a blog, or oh, I should be doing travel influencing. And I just quietly shake my head because most people don't want or aren't capable of keeping up with the amount of work that goes behind it. And ever since I started, 10 years ago, my mantra has always been dreams don't work unless you do. And I knew I wanted these dreams to come true and I promised myself that I would never stop working hard. I would never. Even if I became successful, I would never stop working my ass off for it. And to this day still, 10 years later, you know I do the same thing. I wake up in the morning, I do some yoga or some exercise and then I get right into work and I don't stop working usually until it's dark outside.
Speaker 2:So just to give you an idea for one post, let's say it's a video post, because that's all popular right now.
Speaker 2:It takes several hours just to film the content for it, another couple of hours just to edit it, probably an hour and a half to two hours just to write the caption, do the posts and things like that.
Speaker 2:And then you have to spend hours, of course, engaging on it, sharing it on your stories, and most of the time it doesn't even get that great engagement. So you're putting in a lot of hours in hopes, you know, of something going viral or getting good views, but a lot of times it doesn't and you have to just maintain your, your self courage, I guess, to continue posting, um. And then there's also the blog posts, which take a lot longer. It takes normal people probably one to two weeks to write a full blog post, edit it, link it, put photos in, everything like that I am crazy and I usually write them in one day, but I absolutely hate editing and formatting so that it'll take me another couple days. And then, finally, you have to then again promote it on all of your platforms, hoping that it will get seen, hoping that google will pick it up, and yeah, it's just.
Speaker 1:Everything is a long process, everything I am so happy that you're mentioning it, because a lot I'm getting, you know, people that come to me also. It's like, oh, I'm thinking of you know, becoming a content creator and, like you, I'm also, I'm also like please don't do it, don't do it. Because, I know that the majority of people are just not ready to put in the hard work that's necessary to get to where you need to be, and it really takes so much time.
Speaker 1:And you did not even mention all of the editing that goes on behind the scenes of when you're putting on a blog post, because, yes, those pictures are great, but there goes a lot of work that goes into it. And I need to thank you, by the way, for all of the information that you have been sharing to other craving or to other content creators like myself, on how to do it, because if it wasn't for you, I would not have learned that trick on how to, you know, edit from your phone when you're um, at the same time recording with your gopro and there was like so many like really, really good tips that I got from you, but you know, yeah, and a lot of people also.
Speaker 1:You know you don't realize it's like we need to make it look like fun at the same time. Yeah, so it's hard work behind the scenes and we're cussing and we're like breaking down at times, but it needs to look like it's the most fun ever. Yeah, and you meant we're like breaking down at times, but it needs to look like it's the most fun ever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you meant you just mentioned breaking down at times. That's something really important to mention, because people don't realize how much exhaustion occurs. Like you have to understand. Like we're not, we don't, we're not, we're not on vacation, like we still have to fly like like up to like 24 hours most of the time to get to these destinations. Then it's a car ride, then it's drop your stuff and go out and then it's constantly like go, go, go, go, go, get all the content, go, go, go and like maybe you sit down for an hour for lunch and relax, but it's just constant movement and exhaustion and then and then you have to go back home and put it all together yep, and then start entirely all over again, and also try to keep your audience engaged by still, while you're on these trips, still sharing what it is that you're doing on a daily life on instagram stories, which is also exciting.
Speaker 1:So I mean kudos to you, because I follow you, like I said, and I look at your instagram stories and it's a lot of work to go into it. But what I wanted to know from you, alyssa, is what kind of mindset did you have to develop to be able to do this on a daily?
Speaker 2:basically, the mindset is that this is what you're going to do, this is what you want to do for a living. This is what you want your life to be. You want to commit your whole life to it and you have to, like, really be ready to show yourself and your life sorry, there's a screaming baby, I don't know what to do about it. Um, you have to be just like ready to commit basically your entire life to being your job. Like it's not like a regular job where you go into work, you have the work persona. You know you're one person to your co-workers. When you go home, you're another person.
Speaker 2:It's like you have to constantly be putting yourself on display. You know, yeah and yeah, it's just, it's a big commitment to make. You have to sacrifice a lot of, you know, friends, family, relationships. I did. It took me a really long time to find a relationship that could keep up with what I was doing. Um, so, yeah, it's a life commitment. It's not something you do as a hobby or something you do so that you can travel for a few years and then stop. It's something that, like, you're going to be doing.
Speaker 1:You have to commit everything to it yeah, but you have built it's, uh, quite an empire, doing all of that hard work too. So you know it has not been going unnoticed, that's for sure so let's talk.
Speaker 2:You mentioned it.
Speaker 1:Let's talk a little bit about. Uh, well, before we go into dating which is something that I really really wanted to kind of like pick your brain on, because I'm so intrigued in all that you've been sharing about your fiancee, and we'll get that, get to that in a little bit but what kind of mindset exercises do you do in order to you know, kind of like? Well, first of all, get rid of all of that negative energy that is constant, because being on social media 24 7.
Speaker 1:It's not easy and it plays a huge negative. It can play a huge negative role on your mindset. So what kind of um do you do any kind of like activities? Is it meditation? I? I see that you do yoga, so is there anything that you do to kind of like keep that positivity in your life?
Speaker 2:yes, so one of them is I have my wine time.
Speaker 1:I love how you just ordered your little prosecco while we're here and I'm looking at your background on this little piazza in beautiful italy. It's just gorgeous that's my mindset.
Speaker 2:Now I'm taking up their space. So he came over, I had to order something and it I wanted the gelato, but it's too far away, so he came to anyway. Anyway, my mindset yes, my mindset it's very important. So I I suffered, like everyone, from the negativity that comes with being a public figure on social media in my early days. These days it's different.
Speaker 2:I have had my followers for quite a long time. I don't get too many troll comments. When I do, it still stings a little bit, but all I can really do is be like hey, thank you for engaging on my post. Please say something else so that I can continue getting your comment counts. But it does take a toll and I know so many people who have given up everything, given up quit. They quit trying, they quit posting because they're so afraid of what people are going to say, and that's a really bad mindset to have. So what I've done is I actually, if you look at my screen time on my phone, I only spend about five hours per day on my phone in general and that is solely to work.
Speaker 1:So I only am on there to post. Wow, I need to applaud that. That's amazing that you can actually limit it to only five hours.
Speaker 2:I didn't even try. I just don't want to see it. I don't want to see social media. I'm so sick of it. Everyone's posts are the same to me want to see social media. I'm so sick of it. Everyone's posts are the same to me and I I hate looking at the new, the US news, the politic news the only time I ever. The only thing I really look at is cute animal posts or have like. My whole feed is basically funny. It's just basically funny. Like animal posts, uplifting quotes and like and like cute clothes, I guess.
Speaker 2:Um, and then all started, like the algorithm that was all started in your post. So, um, I really try to limit my time and I just try to live in my own life, live in my own moment. Uh, and it helps as well with not getting jealous, not feeling like I'm not good enough, not feeling like my content's not good enough, not worrying about how other people are getting more views, more likes than me. Um, I just in my mind, I'm like'm like okay, well, people want to see my stuff, they're going to see my stuff. This is what I'm going to post. I'm going to keep posting it. I'm not going to give up. I'm just going to keep going, and as long as I'm still, you know, making money and able to travel, I'm going to keep doing it for as long as I can. So, and I don't have to wake up to an alarm clock.
Speaker 2:So that's my first mindset. And then I say in my mind I say I'm going to lay here for a little bit more and I'm going to think about the things that I want to do today Not that I have to do, but I want to do today. And then I wake up, I cuddle my two cute kittens and my cute fluffy dog. My fiance is usually off doing something and I enjoy having just like an hour in the morning to like just do normal things, like I get ready, I get dressed.
Speaker 2:I was a lie. I was a complete lie. The first thing I actually do when I open my eyes is I check my email for anything important.
Speaker 1:And then I star it.
Speaker 2:I star it to come back to later. I just check it really quick just in case, because for me anything important is exciting, like maybe it a collaboration offer for somewhere I really want to go to, maybe it's a reply from one of my sponsors, you know, maybe it's one of my group trip people who have a question, or maybe someone wants to do a trip, so it's exciting for me. Every morning, like literally every morning, is like a little Christmas present, like, oh, okay, what goodies do I have this morning? I don't have anything really. That's like, oh, I have to do this. You know, right, I don't want to do something, I'm just like pfft, bye.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I check the mail, but then I put it off until I'm done during my me time and then, after I'm done with my me time, so I do the yoga and I practice being grateful. You know, taking out negativity and just being grateful for where I'm at. Sorry Oscar's, escaping what I've done. You know in life how many people would want to be doing what I'm doing. You know, having finally found someone who matches my vibe, um, and it's quite a vibe to keep up with.
Speaker 1:It's not easy keeping up with you.
Speaker 2:It really isn't a big vibe. It's a big vibe to keep up with. But yeah, and then I um, I sit down. Before I open my laptop, I sit down with all my animals, or, if I'm in a hotel, on my hotel bed, and the first thing I actually do is I hand write out what I have to get done today, what I want to get done today, and then just things I would like to do, like ideas that I've had in my sleep or something. So that kind of sets the tone for my entire day. So I get all like motivated. I'm like, oh yeah, I have this list of things I have to do and then, if I'm done with the have to do, I can do the things that I want to do, and then I kind of like plan my day out that way and that's what keeps me motivated.
Speaker 1:And you know, as a longtime follower of your content, and I can tell you that it's so amazing to hear what goes on, you know, in your personal time, when you wake up and how you set the tone for the day, because that's exactly what I started doing recently, which is the reason for the change in my podcast right now. So I want to show people that, yes, you can get there too, but you need to be willing to put in the work, uh, to be able to live that beautiful life that you're envisioned for yourself. But I am so amazed to hear you say it and, as a follower of your content, I have seen that growth in you. I've seen it not only in your posts and it's how you're expressing yourself online now and also, of course, in the love that you now share for your fiance, which is amazing.
Speaker 1:So let's go into dating, because you have, of course, like all of us, a dating history and, um, you know it is not always easy. How do you maintain dating life, of course, when you're traveling as much as you do? And let's talk about how you got into now being open, because, let's be honest, you needed to be open for it, too, to actually be with somebody who doesn't travel as often as you do. Yep, first cheers, cheers to you. I wish I had a Prosecco right now.
Speaker 2:It's so good. I need water too, but he ran away before I could ask Um, okay, so these are. This is a great question. So, like many solo female travelers who started traveling, so there's two types of, I feel like, female travelers, it's the women that already had a partner and then they went and traveled on their own and they still maintain their partner. Okay, if 90%, I would say women who don't already have a partner, who choose to go travel solo, have a really hard time finding one. Really hard time, like when you start, like if you're already married, and then you're like, oh, I'm gonna go travel by myself. There's a good chance your partner is already committed to the point where they're like okay, sweetie, have fun, I'll see you when you get back when you're single.
Speaker 1:That's kind of like my story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm married and I travel, and he had to get used to it, though in the beginning, yeah, and now it's like, yeah, but he's not gonna read, he's not gonna leave you and be like, oh no, that's gonna be too much work, he's gonna stick with you. But for us single girls it's a different story. You cannot date a normal guy who doesn't travel and then tell them your love for traveling. They just they won't have it. And I've experienced this so many times where it's like, okay, I understand what you do, I understand you love to travel, let's try, and I still want to be with you. And then you go on your first trip and they're having like a panic attack and they're like angry, they're acting like a two-year-old that's having like attachment issues.
Speaker 1:And they realize really quickly that they can't do it. So they either can't handle you, the jealousy also that you probably you know there are other men looking at you, because a lot of men who are not on, who are all these unhealed men that go around? The one thing that they're thinking is that, hey, I'm not good enough to keep this woman, so she's probably out there looking for somebody else exactly, exactly, um.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, that's a big problem. That was a big problem, um, and then I last year last January, not in 2023 I did a complete mindset makeover. I got out of a relationship. I was like, okay, no more. Um, I'm gonna look for, I'm not gonna look, I'm not gonna look anymore, I'm gonna let people come to me. And no more dating apps, no more. You know, muchisimo gym head tattoo guys. Um, I want to date someone who's financially happy, not doesn't have to be rich, just has to be happy with how much they make, not intimidated by how much I make, not going to complain about how much money I like to spend on my lifestyle, and just like self happy, like not too much trauma that reflects onto your partner, just a generally happy person all around. And I had, quite like, the universe threw quite a few men my way and it was like almost like a test yep.
Speaker 1:I was like, and gets a couple of frogs before you got to the prince really A couple of toads for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2:But it wasn't until I was traveling solo. I had just done Successful Girl Summer with one of my gal pals in Amalfi Coast and I was like, okay, I need some alone time. So she went home and I was like I'm going to keep going. So I came to Sardinia looking for beautiful beaches and boats and I ended up getting collaboration here with a woman who does trip planning and she told me about this little town called Tortoli where I'm currently sitting, and yeah, so she hosted me. I went on a boat trip and then she was like, please come see a vineyard here, they're really beautiful. I'm like I don't want to. And then she was like, please come see a vineyard here, they're really beautiful, I'm like I don't want to, I don't have time, but okay, but it's wine.
Speaker 1:At the same time it was wine.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah. So I was literally traveling solo with my dog, drinking wine two things I love to do and this guy walked by and ended up asking me out via Google Translate because he didn't speak English and I didn yeah, is that how it started?
Speaker 1:I didn't even know that part. I knew that the you know because you did tell it in your stories how you got to to the town where you are right now, is it? How's it spelled? Totally, totally, totally, totally right, yeah. So of course I followed that story, but I wasn't. I didn't know about that google translate part that is so funny.
Speaker 2:He didn't speak any english. He didn't speak any. He didn't speak any English. He didn't speak any English. He didn't speak any English and I didn't speak any Italian.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, you have been practicing, girl.
Speaker 2:You have been practicing, so you can actually now have a conversation.
Speaker 1:Pretty much yes.
Speaker 2:So now I am a conversational Italian speaker, so I can actually speak to his family and his friends now, because no one here speaks English, and he has done a really good job learning English from me. So we are benefiting each other, we are contributing to each other's lives. He is definitely on my level of boozy brunching and long lunches and nice dinners and he'll go to the beach, but that's about as far as it goes, so I'm still very much the only traveler in this relationship, but he has already handled it fine. I left for two months right after we got engaged. He was good, he was supportive, he didn't cry too many times and, yeah, here I am.
Speaker 1:That's just so beautiful. But I'm I'm so proud of you for actually staying to yourself that you were done with all of the toads you know, and you, you put in the intention of what it was that you were not chasing anymore, you weren't looking anymore, you were just gonna let the universe do what the universe does best and you just opened yourself up to what she was trying to give to you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I manifested it and I'm doing a manifestation courses to try to help people like set refresh their intentions about dating and life in general. Um, and I am writing a mini book for fun on my blog about this whole story of how we met.
Speaker 1:Yes, perfect, very pale which is going to further inspire all of the other uh, you know single ladies out there that are trying to uh, manifest the same thing. So thank you for that. Yeah, of course. So now you know, before I let you go, is I know that your phone is dying. We don't have a lot of time and I wish I could sit with you right there on the piazza right now drinking prosaco and talking a little bit longer on all the things that I want to talk to you about, but you have some travel groups, of course, that are coming up. How did that start, actually? How did you start going into travel groups and how does it go from traveling solo the entire time to now travel with a group of people?
Speaker 2:So I was. I'm going to go ahead and self-brag here. I was the first travel influencer blogger to start these group trips. I know now everyone's trying to do them, but I was the very first one to do it.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, no worries, no worries, Everyone's doing it. And I did it. I started eight years ago because people kept sending me messages saying I want to travel too. Can I come with you? And I was like, no, I'm a solo traveler, that would defeat the point. But so many people were saying it that I was like, okay, let me see if they all want to get together and we'll do a trip together. So we did that eight years ago to Iceland. It was like 12 people. It went really well and I've been planning them ever since, but I try to keep often with my group trips we're doing this year Papua New Guinea and Madagascar, and then next year we'll do Socotra Island. We do guerrilla trekking almost every year and, yeah, places that are hard to get to and slightly dangerous.
Speaker 1:Yes, of course, because you need to keep it interesting. Yeah, Otherwise you can just go anywhere anytime on your own. Yeah, but how was it for you personally going from, you know, always having to only worry about you, and maybe oscar sometimes, when he's traveling with you but and then to go worrying not worrying, but having to keep everybody else's interests, um in mind as well?
Speaker 2:um, the hardest part probably is keeping my energy up, because I was never very extroverted. I'm an outgoing introvert, so my energy gets drained very fast when I talk to people. Um, and when you do group trips you have to be on like 24 7, so that was the hardest part and always smiling yeah yeah, yeah. So I'm really planning is easy, executing is easy, organizing is easy, um, making sure everyone's good to go is easy, but it's just the keeping up with the conversations and energy that oh my gosh, that's the draining part.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I um onboarded one of my good friends, so I work with my good friend Jenna. She's my co-host and she's a fitness instructor. She has unlimited energy, so that has helped me a lot.
Speaker 1:Wow, okay, amazing, amazing. So you are now doing all sorts of other stuff as well. You are doing real estate. You've done a whole course, I think, on real estate. If I'm not mistaken, you bought property in was it Barcelona and Mexico? Mexico? Just Tulum, okay, just in Tulum. How did you get into that?
Speaker 2:I just wanted to have a home, so I looked around. I often go to Playa del Carmen when I have downtime and I didn't find any good pricing there and I ended up realizing that there's better pricing in Tulum, which I didn't like Tulum, but I liked the pricing and the apartments there and then I grew to love Tulum and I actually really, really miss it and I'm excited to go back there in October for a few months are you going to bring any of your groups to Tulum soon?
Speaker 2:probably. We'll probably do a small uh manifestation ceremony there you know that would be amazing, that would be really amazing.
Speaker 1:I'm already looking forward to that. So okay, so just for the listener how can they find you? Where can they find you?
Speaker 2:Where can they find you? Anywhere online? My Life's a Travel Movie on every platform.
Speaker 1:Okay, my Life's a Travel Movie. Now, before you go, what about the book? Because I am so excited to get my copy. It should be coming in this week, so I'm really looking forward to it. And I have this thing that I don't want to just do an audiobook and I don't want to just listen to it online or read it online. I want to have it the physical book in my hand.
Speaker 1:So, um, how was that to write it? But to also how much time went into it. How did you find the time to do it?
Speaker 2:I. I wrote it during lockdown, so I had three months where I couldn't do anything and I wrote a book. That's why it's taken me so long to write the second book, because I don't have time anymore, yeah.
Speaker 2:But yeah, the book is just yes, I'm a woman and I'm traveling alone, and it just explains the struggles that I had. The struggles and the success I had as one of the first solo female travel influencers, when everyone was hating on it, making fun of it, doubting it, telling me it wasn't a real job, telling me, ask me why I'm alone, ask me why I don't have anyone to travel with and how I got through it and ended up succeeding perfect.
Speaker 1:Is there anything that you want the listener to know?
Speaker 2:uh, when it comes to, like, what you need to do in order to be living a beautiful life that you love, yeah, you need to stop listening to other people and just do what's going on in your head, because at the end of the day, people are just gonna be jealous of you for doing cool things, for traveling and for doing what you love. And they're not doing it. So why does it matter? You know so. A lot of people don't do their dreams because they're worried about what other people think. Once you stop worrying, you end up in beautiful places like this piazza in.
Speaker 1:Italy. Oh my gosh, look at that piazza, it's just gorgeous.
Speaker 2:And with a fluffy friend, with a friend yes, so the fiance waiting at home for me on our vineyard to cook me dinner, perfect.
Speaker 1:And if there's anybody that wants to become a fan of oscar, like I am, what how they can? How can they find oscar?
Speaker 2:you just go to mine. I don't have time to keep up with his Instagram.
Speaker 1:I tried, although he does have his own Instagram he has my life to travel yeah, poor, thing. If only he had thumbs, I would have made it a little easier. Thank you so much, alyssa, for your time. Thank you so much, and have a great dinner with your fiance later thank you, let me know if you come to.
Speaker 1:Italy? Yes, for sure, and I am looking forward to all the great things you keep on posting. Thank you, good talking to you. Oh, so much good stuff in this episode, don't you think? Here are your takeaways.
Speaker 1:Dreams don't work unless you do. Going after what you want requires hard work and discipline, and discipline. It's important to cultivate a daily morning routine that sets you up for a great day. Every day, remove toxic people from your life, remove yourself from toxic situations and be open to what the universe brings you. If you have never heard of Alyssa before or her brand, my Life's a Travel Movie, then you need to do that right now, and if you want to know more, go check her out on social media. You can find her under my life's a travel movie on instagram, facebook, on her blog, and if you want to travel with her to exotic destinations all over the world, check out her my life's a travel tribe. That's also on instagram and, of course, on her website. I have left some links in the show notes, so definitely check that out once you're done listening to this episode.
Speaker 1:I want to sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to listen in today. I am so grateful for you. My friend, if you are listening to Paradise Perspectives on Apple Podcasts, I would greatly, really greatly, appreciate you leaving me a review. Share this episode with those you think who need us, because in doing so, you are, single-handedly, you're helping this podcast grow and reaching more listeners like your fabulous self. All right, well, it's time for me to get out there, take Bijou for a walk and pick up some dog poop from the sidewalk. Oh, the choice of pet sitting. No, seriously, I'm loving every bit of it, even the doodoo picking part. And until the next episode, ciao, adios. Sayonara Rizal is signing off. Thank you.