Ep 1: Travel Beginnings: Unveiling My Origin Story

In this episode of "The World is Your Stage Podcast," host Ayana Major Bey shares her travel origin story, from her first plane ride at two years old to her international trips to Guyana and Europe. Growing up in a family of travelers and adventurers, Ayana's love for travel and performing was shaped by her experiences of flying solo to visit her aunt and participating in performing arts camps during the summers. She also reflects on how her professional career in musical theater and working on cruise ships has merged her passion for travel and performing. Ayana invites listeners to share their own travel origin stories and discusses her plans to explore travel reviews and tips, as well as interviewing travel experts and performing artists who travel for work. Join the conversation and discover why "The World is Your Stage" is more than just a travel podcast - it's an exploration of the intersection between travel and the performing arts.

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Email: theworldisyourstagepod@gmail.com

Website: www.ayanabey.com
Instagram: @ayanambey 

Transcript

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Hello, and welcome to the world is your stage podcast. I am your host, Ayanna Major Bay, and this is a podcast focused on education and inspiration on world travel, the acting business, and the lifestyle that encompasses both. So today, I want to focus on my travel origin story and to just give you a little background on how I started traveling. And so I was pretty young, y'all. My first plane ride, according to my parents, I was two years old, and we flew from New Jersey to California to visit some family. So that was my first plane ride. But then my first international trip, I was six years old, and we went to Guyana because my mom is from Georgetown, Guyana. So my parents took me and my sister back, and that was my first international trip. I was six years old. And so, yeah, I've been traveling since I was young. It is something that I was exposed to and that I'm very used to. I would say, though, that my formative travel came from the summers, that I would go to my aunt's house, and I say that because I was on a plane by myself. And so this was in the. Was before 911, and my parents would walk me to the gate, and they would hand me off to a flight attendant and make sure that I got boarded on the plane. And then I would be on the plane by myself for about two and a half, 3 hours, the length from New Jersey to Atlanta. And it was just me, like, in the air by myself at a window seat. I'm an aisle girl now, but I used to be a window girl, but I was at the window staring into the sky, just in awe that I'm on a plane and I get to travel. I get to do this, and I'm going to see my aunt. And so, for me, that was just so incredible. And I also think subconsciously, it might have been like, hey, ayanna, you can get on a plane by yourself. It's okay. Like, you get to travel. And this is a lot of fun. And, of course, my aunt would meet me on the other side in Atlanta at that gate. And it was an incredible experience, because also, during those summers, yes, I would fly to her house by myself, but also she would put me in performing arts camp. And so for those two weeks, I'd be in camp, like, during the day, and then we'd get to hang out in the evenings. So I was traveling and also getting to perform as well. And so I was traveling and performing before I even knew I was traveling and performing. And within that time, I also had my first trip to Europe in middle school. In 8th grade, the french class that I took in school had a trip over to Europe. So I went to England and France when I was in the 8th grade. And then we also took family vacations internationally and nationally. We did do some road trips through some states. So I will say that my parents definitely informed my love of travel and adventure and also helped it along. I'm very, very thankful for that as well as my aunt. My aunt did as well because she's a traveler. And so I come from travelers. I come from adventurers. And I recall my mom telling me about, like, she took a solo trip to Jamaica once, and she took a solo trip to San Francisco to see some friends, which reminds me, she told me that the ticket was $99. Her airplane ticket was $99 round trip from New Jersey to San Francisco. And I was like, I'm sorry, what? Come again? $99 round trip? She goes, yeah, it was cheap back then. It's like, wow, okay. And then my father studied abroad in Egypt, and then when he was done studying abroad, he backpacked. I mean, he doesn't use the word backpack, but I use the word backpack. He backpacked through all the countries of northern Africa. And so I just come from travelers and people who like adventure. So there's that. And then they also exposed me to it, and I'm very, very thankful for that as well. And so, yeah, that's just a little bit about my travel origins and how I started traveling. And, yeah, I would say from college, because in college, I went to Italy, and that was. Oh, that was performing, too, y'all. Now that I think about it, my old high school choir. Yeah, because I was a freshman in college. So the summer between freshman and sophomore year of college, my old high school choir invited alumni back to come sing with them in Italy. So, yeah, that was my first trip to Italy was performing. I was performing. Look at again, before I even knew that I was traveling and performing at the same time. I was traveling and performing at the same time. And, yeah, that was Italy. And then from there, I graduated college and then, you know, working professionally in musical theater. So that had me traveling to different states and then started to be international with working on cruise ships as well. And so, yeah, I do have a lot of traveling and performing at the same time. Now that I'm really sitting here thinking about this and saying it out loud, it's like, yeah, I do. But that's just a little bit about my travel origin story and also why I wanted to create this podcast. And I'm so excited to do travel reviews and tips, but also interview travel experts and planners and performing artists who travel for work because it is a little bit different than vacation. It is, but it's still fun. It has its pros and its cons and I just want to give a glimpse into the lifestyle that encompasses both traveling and performing at the same time. Also, I would love to know other people's travel origin story, like let's get this conversation flowing and going, y'all. So please email me at theworldisyourstagepod@gmail.com. Again, the world isyourstagepod@gmail.com. I'll drop it in the show notes so you can click on it, but please email me your travel origin stories like how you started traveling. Or better yet, if you want to start traveling, I want to know. You can also follow me on Instagram at World is your stagepod again, the Instagram is at worldisyourstage pod again, that's in the show notes. I would love to get a discussion going and a conversation to make this a collaborative effort because like I said before, I want to expose and educate as well. So there's going to be episodes about travel reviews and travel tips, but also with travel experts and kind of explaining what they do, but with performers who travel for work, y'all, because that is who I am as well as a performer who travels for work. And it's a different lifestyle. It's a beautiful lifestyle, but it's different than going on vacation. So we're going to get into that as well. So please feel free to email me at the worldisyourstagepod@gmail.com. Let me know your travel origin stories or how you'd like to start traveling and let's get this thing going. Also, remember that the world is more than your oyster. It's your stage.