Stories From Around

Picture this: Adulting is kicking my behind, but I'm trying not to let it. Cheap flights season is upon us and Ryanair is becoming my first love, very very fast. I'm planning my first short trip this year, and everything's looking up!

Bless my soul, really.

On this episode, I catch you up on all I've been about the past 2 weeks, and where I'm going to on my first short trip this year! Consider it a rant with a happy ending:)

Love, Maryann x SFA.

Our Gutsy Person for this month is Mary Ann HallWell on Bridgerton, and Jessie Baek in real life! This has got to be one of the most favourite conversations I've had on the podcast. Jessie and I were introduced by a mutual friend of ours because she thought we had quite similar personalities. So we became friends on Instagram and have been sending each other memes and reels faithfully for the past few years. I love her life and how she carries it. So a few months ago, I sent her a DM asking if she'd grace me with her presence on the podcast and she said yes! So we had our first video chat not so long ago, and our conversation was so rich and so full, so we just picked a date to record the following weekend. We talked about acting, living abroad and other cool stuff:)

My life is a little more brilliant, having had and documented this episode with her.

And my only hope is that you enjoy it as much as I did:)

Dining out alone is quite a bold move if you ask me...an act of confidence in one's ability to handle stares and crowds. So I sat at one restaurant, and ordered a meal as I wrote an article about what I really thought about solo dining. I even went ahead and added a few tips...a guide of sorts. That article is now published on www.storiesfromaround.com. Try it out, give it a read and if you're more of a listener than a reader, then fear not, I came on here and read it out loud and that made me quite happy. So I hope you enjoy the dramatization of it on this episode.

Much, much love

SFA.

Last weekend, my friend Grace and I hang out and we had such a beautiful conversation. We always do. We had an interview session where for the very first time, I, the host, was on the other side of the floor...as the guest and I quite enjoyed it. Turns out I really love talking about myself. I should do this more often. Haha. We talked about what being gutsy means to me, things I've done in life that have led to where I'm at right now and how hanging out with myself is one of my favourite things to do. Have a listen, and let me know what you think:)

I'm currently reading a book called The Book Of Mistaikes (Yes, written like that) by Gyles Brandreth which is a little hilarious because today is all about human errors...my human errors that have led to funny events in my travel life. From running away from a dog in Greece to getting chased by the bus guys in Hungary. Ever done something and immediately after thought... 'nope, I shouldn't have done that'. Well, my life is filled with such moments. All so eventful, and funny now...they weren't funny then. Welcome, to some of them.

One of my favorite things to do every beginning of the year is make a travel wish list then check what countries I went to at the end of the year. Sometimes I go to the countries I've listed, sometimes I go to others I didn't even plan on visiting. So on this episode I let you in on my list for this year and bonus point...I asked my cool people on Instagram what's on their travel wish list for this year and the answers were quite cool! I hope we all get to visit the places we say we wanna go to!

Enjoy listening:) I enjoyed recording!

We did great guys, we got our Stories from Around wrapped and I couldn't be happier with how much support I've received from all of you!

It's been an incredible time recording throughout the year and having a quirky place to document my memories has been splendind! Travel has been a part of me this year as it always has been. I travelled to Zanzibar in Tanzania, Essex and London in England, Paris in France, Porto and Lisbon in Portugal and Budapest in Hungary. So on this episode I talk about the highlights from all the countries I visited and the things I loved most! I enjoyed doing the recap, so I hope you enjoy listening!:)

Another Wednesday another episooode. This one's about stereotypes and why we should ask questions. My travels have been filled with lots of questions from strangers about why I am where I am or better yet, how come I'm on this part of the world and I'm African? Funny, really. So I recap some of the moments I've been asked these questions, and what I think about them.

'Welcome to Europe, Maryann' is what my friend Ale told me when I didn't get my passport stamped at the airport in Sweden when we'd travelled from Estonia. Well, to be fair, I didn't know that European flights are sort of considered 'local' flights so no need to get your passport stamped. You literally walk in and walk out (well I could've said fly in and fly out but walk in and out sounds... better ahaha). Aside from that, there have been other contrasting features that I've found quite fascinating and sometimes hilarious which I couldn't wait to talk about. So on today's episode, I chat you guys up on some of the contrasts between living in a European country and living back home in Kenya🤎.

You're black, walking in the streets, minding your own business, then you see another black person, what do you do? Do you verbally say hi, do you stop and stare or do you ask them to hangout? None of the above. You do none of the above. You just nod and move along. That's how we black folk acknowledge each other whenever we meet in foreign countries, or in spaces where there's not so many of us and it feels great! No one teaches you or tells you to do it...but you just do when you cross paths. On this short episode, I talk about some of my life's highlights this week...and top of them being saying hi (nodding) at a black person in the streets. It's always the small things in life

Happy listening:)

Ever been out in nature then come out of it and back to reality and you feel slightly depressed? Well me too! And that happens when I travel as well and have to work so hard to get myself back up to speed. I just recently came back from Budapest and I've been in a moody bubble so I've been doing a few things to get me back on track. And I share some of these things on this episode.

And here's an exciting part...I'd love to hear what you do as well so please leave a comment for me and let me know if you have any rituals you do days after a trip, or if you're super human and snap back out of it like a boss:) I'd love to hear your thoughts!

We've had coffee shop conversations, long distance friendships conversations, travels with my Mum's best friend conversations...the whole gang. But, we've never had sleepover conversations so I thought well, how about we try that. And my people, it is such an honor to have this episode air, because I really and truly enjoyed recording it. My guest, Grace Muchiri is a good friend and an amazing soul, her views on life, travel, community and love are just as refreshing as it is to hang out with her. This was our sleepover conversation, and may it inspire you to record conversations with your friends when they come over to visit, because if your friends are anything like mine...then those conversations will be a big hug you didn't know you needed or, some good laughter to last you through the days.

Thank you for being here. Love, SFA.

At last! We paddled through the technical difficulties and we're finally here with part 2 of Long Distance Friendships! This one's for everyone who loved the first part (Episode 5) as much as I did. One of my highlights of recording part one was having people reach out to their friends after listening to the episode and saying they’d love to do better with their friendships, love better, and be more present. That made me quite fuzzy and happy inside.

And, I knew for sure that we had to have a part 2 at some point. So here we are!

To recap a bit, long distance friendships part 1 was about my friend Ivy and I navigating our friendship since uni days to life after uni and life in different countries thereafter. We’ve kept our friendship going and overcome the hurdles and challenges that come with any relationship. We are two very different individuals but the intentionality of our friendship fuels our days and gets us through life's moments.

So part 2 is an extension of our story 7months after the first episode, what has changed, what we've improved on and new things we've learned. I hope it makes you feel cosy and I hope you enjoy listening to it...and take a thing or two out of it! :)

Episode thirtyyy! What what! Couldn't be happier to be here. Thanks for some solid support for the past episodes y'all and there was no other topic that would be a better fit for episode 30! On today's episode I let you in on some of the countries I'd love to visit in Africa on my next trips. And I think they're all pretty cool! Who wants to go with me?

Ah, Kenya. The land of honey and nice things. Roadtrips, good food, good company and the sun on your skin. Which reminds me, I miss the sun, and it's only a day past summer. This episode takes you through some of the things I miss the most about taking a roadtrip back home. Recording this episode made my heart do a little dance...well, just like all the rest. So I hope you enjoy it! And...book your trip to Kenya.

As promiiised:) here's part 2 of #maryannontour. On this episode I take you through my time in Lisbon and London. Basically a party episode because that's all I did in these two cities! I did record and publish this episode but, had to re-record because the first one had an error. See my luck? But I finally managed to do it.

I do mention a few nice and cosy places I enjoyed and I also promised a list, so here goes.

In Lisbon:

1. Marquise- A cosy cafe in the heart of Lisbon.

2. African Arte Lisboa- For the a beautiful immersion into African art.

In London:

Old Queens Head- Just go here for the turn up and nice Kebab place opposite it after you've had your night's fun.

Enjoy listening:)

Happy new week y'all! I know, I know, we didn't have an episode last week. I was busy celebrating myself. Because...my birthday? But, it was all well worth it because I travelled to Portugal and got to spend time with one of my closest friends, Inês Nêves. And there was no better way to tour around this beautiful country than with a local. Bonus point, we got an episode out of it! We visited Porto and Lisbon and got to compare these two cities on our conversation and talked about other topics of interest revolving around travel. We had lots fun recording it, it was like an extended bonding time. And we extend the same love we shared over to you, dear listener. So thanks, for being here:)

A few years ago, I started re-thinking how I travel and what I want my experiences to look like. I wanted to see not just the food and culture of a country I was visiting, but also be immersed in the design experience of a place. So I started looking for unique places to stay in while I travelled, and I talk about some of these places in this episode. I loved recording it, and I hope you'll enjoy listening:)

Stories From Around, my little sunny place. In this episode I let you in on how it started and the bits and pieces that got me here today. Travel is at the core of it, but so is design and the love for finer stories in life. Stories about people and their places and their lived experiences too. Recapping this also made me fall in love with this little project all over again. So I hope it gets you excited about your own little projects too:)...no matter how long they take to come alive.

Happy Wednesday guyyys!

I hope you're cosy and having a lovely day. Today's travel story is about that one time I went to a traveller's hostel and my experience staying there. I wouldn't do it again but, it doesn't mean you shouldn't try it out! I hope you enjoy this short episode:)

Hi everyone! Another Wednesday another episode. Yay. My whole idea of coffee shop conversations was to have little talks with people, strangers or not at a cafe and just have conversations and ask questions while life unfolds around us. So it’s noisy and busy in the background but I’m really enjoying this little experiment. So today, we get to have part two of Coffee Shop Conversations. Our guest is Silja Paulus from Estonia, a former long distance runner and now a bikini fitness athlete and we discuss things fitness and travel. We cover topics like jet lag and how to get out of it. And how cool is it that she first packs her gym outfits before all other outfits when she sets out to travel! I on the other hand never even have enough space to carry all my clothes to begin with. So let's hear what tips and tricks she has for us! Enjoy:)

We travel and we know things haha. I love having conversations on the podcast! On today's episode, I have a very special human being with me...my Mum's high school best friend, Pauline. She is a lover of life and an all round cool human being. How she cruises along in life, living fully in every moment makes my heart dance. We've travelled together in 3 countries and just recently I visited her in England to spend some cosy time with her. Her and my Mumzy have been pals for a very long time and what better way to get travel and life wisdom than from someone who's been in the game for a while.

This was an awesome one, we laughed and got serious, then laughed some more. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

On this live episode, I let you in on my 3hour trip to England from Tallinn, Estonia. From getting ready, to hanging around at the airport and landing in the UK. My attempt at a live episode was quite the trip. I started out with my moods high up after a morning run and ended the episode with my body at its lowest, feeling quite unwell. It made me think about how funny and unpredictable life can be. And also somehow made me really seek rest on my trip since I had no other option. My greatest take home from this episode is how important rest is. Really and truly resting. Because that's what I've been doing. I've seen very little, but I've rested quite a lot, enjoying the quiet country and the peaceful fields.

Amsterdam. The city of love and lights and freedom to be anything you want to be. Well, at least that's how I experienced it. However, this episode is not about all of Amsterdam. It's a snippet. A specific moment that was my intro to Amsterdam, which I ended up writing in my journal because it was a core memory. So today's main part of the episode (the story) is read out from my journal I. I hope you enjoy listening! Because I for sure enjoyed recording it:)