Wine Down Wednesday: Taliya Maya

Wine Down Wednesday: Taliya Maya

Aired: November 24th, 2021

Audio and Photo Source: Taliya Maya and Instagram

Episode Summary

We were crushing so hard on TCT OG Taliya, we just had to have her back for Wine Down Wednesday! We've proclaimed her the digital nomad-ess with the mostess, having been to 30 countries and counting and living abroad full-time. This WDW is brimming to the top with travel sage advice.

In this Wine Down Taliya talks about the importance of finding community, how to make the most of a bad situation, and how challenging times can really propel you into some of the most amazing moments in life. Taliya drops gems on all things travel; how to make it cheap, to how to make it easy, and how to do it safely. So wether you are looking to jump start your Digital Nomad journey or just trying to get the tea on Taliya's travel Do's and Don'ts tune in!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BlackTravelBox ® Clean Beauty (@blacktravelbox)

 

Episode Transcript

Wine Down Wednesday: Taliya Maya

 

Orion Brown (00:00:05):

Hey, Hey, it's Wednesday, Thanksgiving, Wednesday. Ooh, look, Alma curls are kind of pop in the day. What's going on? What's going on. Look at that hyaluronic acid coming through ow. Hi everyone. Hey, come on in. I'm so excited. So it's Wine Down Wednesday and I need it. I hope y'all do too. I hope you got to drink.

Orion Brown (00:00:37):

Okay, Ms. travelwithtaliya, she's coming in. Do I have enough light in my over lit my underlit well done.

Taliya Maya (00:00:45):

Hey.

Orion Brown (00:00:47):

Hi.

Taliya Maya (00:00:48):

Hello. Hello.

Orion Brown (00:00:51):

Welcome to Wine Down. Ooh, curls popping to, I see you ow.

Taliya Maya (00:00:56):

Thank you, now all I need is just some wine. I forgot the wine.

Orion Brown (00:00:59):

Oh no.

Taliya Maya (00:01:01):

But I have water.

Orion Brown (00:01:04):

Excuse me. I'm still getting over a cold and okay. I'm done. I'm done.

Taliya Maya (00:01:12):

All good. At least you have a view in the back.

Orion Brown (00:01:14):

Yes. Yeah. I brought my fancy glass out tonight cause it's like, you know, Thanksgiving.

Taliya Maya (00:01:26):

I've got this one. I can do this one. I'll just transfer it.

Orion Brown (00:01:29):

I like it. It's you know, it doesn't even matter the container. Hey, y'all come on through. Come on through Dine down Wednesday a I see the people coming in for those of you who don't know me. My name is Orion brown. I am the founder and CEO of the BlackTravelBox, theblacktravelbox.com. Um, we are a personal care products company for travelers of color. That means we make dope stuff for when you are not at home. And it is my passion, but I also love having Wine DownWednesday, where we just talk about everything, travel beauty, being black, whatever happens to pop up. I am so glad to see all y'all.

Orion Brown (00:02:14):

Hey y'all Hey y'all and um, y'all know the drill, yelling the drill. We're going to do intros and then we're going to hop into it and it's going to go where it goes. I, you know, I got my, this is, this is it. This is in celebration of all of the Home Goods finds that I will get on Friday. Cause this a Home Goods glass. It's a Home Goods and that's a Home Goods glass y'all and I'm about, it's about to go down on Friday. Friday morning is going to be my Zen time. So I'm super, super excited. Um, Hey miss. I'm so glad you're here. Thank you. Look, y'all we've been having folks like come in in a pinch. We're sending you some fun stuff, girl. Cause um, you know, we, you, you came, you came and slid through. I appreciate you.

Taliya Maya (00:03:03):

Thank you for everything!

Orion Brown (00:03:03):

Um, yes, of course, of course. Uh, why don't you introduce yourself and tell us, uh, where you live, where you're from and how many stamps are on your passport and if you're going anywhere for Thanksgiving.

Taliya Maya (00:03:20):

Cool. Yeah. So, Hey everyone. My name is Taliya, @travelwithtaliya and I am originally from Chicago, but currently I'm living in Mexico city. So I had no plans of being in Mexico city. When I came here, I did not like it for the first three days. And then next thing you know, it's like two months later I signed a lease until March because I fell in love with it. It's like the New York of Mexico. So I decided to stay here for Thanksgiving. Cause that dope. I was like, I don't even want to go home to visit the family. I'm not ready to do that. So I will be spending Thanksgiving with some strangers and I don't know how I traveled, but I think about 30. Um, I've been traveling for the past six years nonstop, but I have not counted yet, so I probably should count stamps on my passport.

Orion Brown (00:04:08):

Okay. Hey, there are so many things I love about this. Um, and Thanksgiving with people you don't know is, I think one of my favorite things like doing holidays with people, like whether you get snowed in somewhere, whether a friend invites you or whether like, you know, randos ended up at your Thanksgiving, if there is something really cool about breaking bread with other people and just kind of like connecting on that thankfulness and, and that friendship and that just comradery that you kind of get in that space. So a that is super dope. And two, you just decided I'm going to live in Mexico.

Taliya Maya (00:04:47):

Yeah. I was in Oakland and I had to leave Oakland and I was like, all right, what is the cheapest flight from here? Where has good wifi? So I have planned to live in or stay in Mexico city for like two weeks and then go to Wahaca. But after visiting Wahaca for like three days, I'm like, ah, this is just like a week vacation, but Mexico city can be home. And it has been home for a minute now. I pretty much figured out how to live for free here in Mexico city, which I will share later. Um, now that I, now that I figured out the key, I'm like, all right, now I can live anywhere in the world that I fall in love with for free, with this key. So I'll share that a bit later, but yeah, if you guys haven't been in Mexico city, 10 out of 10 would recommend it is so digital nomad friendly. The wifi is great. The food is amazing. It costs like $2 to go anywhere by Uber. So yeah. Going back home to Chicago for Thanksgiving would have been a scam for sure. It would have been scam.

Orion Brown (00:05:49):

I too, I'm not going to Chicago for Thanksgiving. I'm from Chicago as well. I have resolved that I don't need to be cold like that. I just don't need that in my life or um, so we got to do some Thanksgiving in July or something cause it ain't happening this year. Uh,

Taliya Maya (00:06:06):

Exactly. I just, I'm not ready for it. It's already, already got cold here and I don't have a jacket and all the clothes are so expensive. I'm like, you know what? I'm going back home for the holidays in two weeks, I will freeze for two more weeks before I bought a $200 jacket. I have no idea why shopping is so expensive here, but I will more than gladly keep wearing the same hoodie every day 'til i get back home

Orion Brown (00:06:28):

Look hoodies are - they're kind of the bomb it's like - so wait, let's roll it back. What is - what constitutes cold in Mexico city?

Taliya Maya (00:06:38):

So anything under like 75 degrees for me, like I have to be in like a coat, like a full-blown puffy jacket and, but it's getting like 50 degrees at night and like 65 during the day. And that's already too. I'm not about it. I don't like it. Where are you right now?

Orion Brown (00:06:57):

What's up?

Taliya Maya (00:06:58):

Where are you based right now?

Orion Brown (00:06:59):

I am in Denver, Colorado. And so it just started snowing tonight. Um, but I don't think it's going to stick. Um, but I'm flying to Florida this evening. So I'm taking like a red eye, which it's only like half a red eye. It's like two, it's an extra red eye. I don't know what you would call it. My eyes will be extra red when I get off of like midnight to 6:00 AM when I land on the east coast. But it was only a three-hour flight. Um, unlike, you know, LA to the east coast where you can actually get a decent amount of sleep. But, um, yeah, I was looking out and I was like, Ooh, I'm leaving just the time. Um, but it doesn't get that cold here in comparison to places like Chicago and Minnesota and stuff like that. It's, it's very mild. So when you said 50, I was like, I wouldn't be mad if it was 50 right now that wouldn't be bad.

Taliya Maya (00:07:45):

And I thought, I really thought Denver got colder than Chicago because of the mountains and everything. But I guess that's the thing.

Orion Brown (00:07:53):

Yeah. The snow is in the mountains most of the time, but in the city, I mean, we're basically valley leading up to the front slope and we get like random 77 degree days. Like that November has been like 60s, seventies. Um, yeah, so it depends on the day. And then all of a sudden the snow comes in and then it melts like three days later, which is its own thing. So for those of you who know places like Chicago and New York and Midwest it snows and the snow stays with you and it turns all the colors of the wind over the course of the winter here, we don't even have that. I haven't seen brown snow, dirty snow, like anything yet. And I've been here six years, so,

Taliya Maya (00:08:36):

Wow. So is this season, would this be considered like high season? Because like all the couples are trying to go be in the cabin in the woods and do all the skiing and all the things, or is summer high season for you guys?

Orion Brown (00:08:48):

Well, I mean, so again, like the city is very separate from like places like Vail and all that. Although you can drive to them fairly quickly, like within an hour or two, three. Um, but I would say for skiing, I think the season is technically like October to like March. Um, I am not a skier, so I don't know. I just come when people invite me to hang out at the chalet and then I'm like hot cocoa, cute boots. I got you. I'm here for it. Um, but yeah, it's, it's definitely, um, from a, from a tourist perspective, like hanging out in Denver, I think Denver is much more of a summer city, but summer is broad, right? Like it gets pretty warm like may to September, October. So, um, it's very, and it's sunny. We get more sun than Florida.

Taliya Maya (00:09:41):

Yeah. I've been wanting to go back to Colorado so bad, but after I was living in Bali for eight months this year and everything, like when I got back to the states, I couldn't even look at the many without wanting to like punch it. I was like, why? Everything just felt like a scam. I felt like I was being ripped off. Every time I paid for an Uber, I was like, get me out of here. And I was like, I was supposed to go to Colorado last summer. And then I caught COVID really badly.

Orion Brown (00:10:06):

Oh no.

Taliya Maya (00:10:08):

That that would a drain, like that would have drained me like the cost of our like five-day trip is what I'm paying for like a month in Mexico. And it's just like ridiculous at that point.

Orion Brown (00:10:19):

And see, I don't even know how you would ever come back to the states after that. Like, I have friends that have just come back to the states after living in Columbia for like the last three or four years. And I remember when they moved there, they, they did a whole, like, here's the rundown of what our expenses actually look like. And it was like for what we paid, just for rent an apartment, you know, in Chicago or wherever we got a double the size apartment, massive patio. We have a cleaner, we have somebody that like comes in and cooks for us. We have all that. I was just like, I'm doing it wrong.

Taliya Maya (00:10:55):

Have you lived abroad before?

Orion Brown (00:10:57):

I have not lived abroad. I've traveled a lot, but I haven't lived abroad

Taliya Maya (00:11:01):

I need you to come to Mexico City

Orion Brown (00:11:02):

Look, everybody. So here's, my thing, I was feeling like Mexico was going to blow up on the Rona side because everybody would melanin has been in, in Mexico for like the last year and a half. And I would see all these videos of people being like, yeah, we in Mexico and they're partying and it looks like, it looks like the matrix movie where everybody's just like in a cave, just like, I'm just like, what are y'all doing? I get, I get nervous. But how does it feel like so Mexico city, I haven't heard of a lot of people being in. I mostly like Tulum and places like that, where they're partying. What's the vibe in Mexico city right now in terms of COVID and like people and like, are people masked up? Is it just open? Like what's the deal?

Taliya Maya (00:11:46):

So I actually I've been, um, so I worked for a travel channel and we spent all the 2020 traveling and we got to see like, which city was, you know, following the correct procedures. And consistently we were seeing like, who's wearing the masks for real, not just on social media and I'm not going to lie. Like Mexico city has been the place that I've noticed has been the most consistent with wearing masks, like every place, but there's no curfew. And, um, there's no like harsh lockdowns or anything right now. It's been really great. But in regards to like the influx of people, the Black community here has just been growing day by day by the hundreds to the point. Well, just the ex-pat community, not just the Black ex-pat community, ex-pat community, all in all I swear, getting in, you would think that it's going to be a breeze. Cause Mexico is one of the easiest places in the world to get in. They give you automatically in 180 day visa upon arrival, but they've been giving people like 4-day visas because people have just been overstaying.

Orion Brown (00:12:51):

Too many.

Taliya Maya (00:12:52):

Yeah It's just been too many people coming in and not leaving. Cause a lot of people's stories is the same as mine. I keep for two weeks and then I never left. And so a lot of people are getting in trouble with immigration. A lot of people are having to go home and schedule, um, meetings with their embassy so they can get their working permits and come back and they're not letting them back in. And so yeah, Mexico city is one of those places right now. You want to be up, but you just need to make sure that you're following the rules a hundred percent when it comes to the visas.

Orion Brown (00:13:22):

So you got to have your stuff together trying to show you, can't just show up and party. You gotta be like, ready? What are some of the things? So like, so what are some of the things, if somebody is like, yeah, I want to go down there for the 180 day visa. How do I get that? Is that something where you don't where you don't tell them that you're there vacation and you tell them that you're there for business. What kind of things do you need to have in place to just like even get in and kick it?

Taliya Maya (00:13:48):

So if you know that you're going to come here and that you're going to work online, you can apply for your work visa, with your embassy or immigration agency back in your hometown or wherever you can get an appointment. It has been a bit difficult to get appointments. Um, so definitely schedule those in advance. But if you're planning to come here just for vacation and you you're just going to work online while you're on vacation, you can just get the visa upon arrival. So right now I'm on a regular tourist visa because I came here for what I thought was supposed to be two weeks. So when I go back home that I'm going to apply for my work permit and then come back. Um, which should be a bit easier since I have a lease and I can show them that I have obligations here that I'm on contract here. Um, so if you do come here and you do sign a lease, it will be easier for you guys to get your visa.

Orion Brown (00:14:37):

Oh, so basically squat, basically, I'm just going to squat. Like I'm here now. You can't, I got papers.

Taliya Maya (00:14:46):

That's pretty much. Yeah, that's pretty much what everyone's doing,

Orion Brown (00:14:49):

I'm not mad at that. I'm not mad at that. So tell us about, and I wanted to also talk about, cause it sounds like you've been a number of number of places this year. And I want to really hear how that transition that full digital nomad kind of transition from country to country has been, especially with like COVID and stuff like that. But what I really want to talk about right now is these people that you're kicking it with for Thanksgiving. How did you find this group and whose mama is cooking?

Taliya Maya (00:15:17):

Right. So I'm not cooking, cause I don't like to cook. I don't like cooking. I don't have time for that. I, the first one, when they sent the Google doc, I was like, I'm bringing cookies, I'm bringing brownies. I know how to bake. And that's all you asked me to get. It's safe. It's all Black people. I'm intimidated. I'm like, I can't cook like your grandma. So I'm going to bring the brownies and cookies. They can go ahead and make the Mac and cheese and the sweet potatoes and the Turkey. I not being responsible for any of that. Um, but yeah, it's pretty much a potluck organized by my friend who owns the Black Digital Nomad group here called Diaspora and Diaspora was made to connect everyone because originally when he came here six years ago, there was no Black community. So he created diaspora. And right now like the WhatsApp group chat is full. Um, but he has an Instagram page, diaspora_CDMX. If you guys are interested in looking into like some events that are going on here for the Black community, but there's going to be about 25 of us at his house on his rooftop, just kicking it drinking, eating. And I haven't met pretty much any of these people before. So yeah. I'm excited to dine with strangers and he has a hot tub. So you're going to do that.

Orion Brown (00:16:32):

Oh so it's on. It's basically on your, like it's a turn up Thanksgiving. Yes. It's going to be one, that's the beauty of having a friends giving, cause you can't really do that with family. Like grandma y'all want to kick it in the pool. Like she not trying to get in the hot tub with you or have like, you know, an old fashioned. Maybe she is depends on who your grandma is. I don't know. But that sounds so, so dope. So like how did you get plugged into that community? Was it something that was just sort of, you know, you were already kind of aware of being in the travel field or was it like, did you connect with someone who connected you to that broader community?

Taliya Maya (00:17:09):

Yeah, so normally when I travel abroad, the first thing I do is I go on Facebook groups and I try to find people who are talking about their groups, that they're a part of or groups that they they'll like send me recommendations. I usually put up a post a couple of days before I arrived and say, Hey, what, what's the move? What groups do I join? Where's the salsa community. Where's the hip-hop clubs. And then people send me their WhatsApp groups. So, um, that, wasn't the case for this time around, I actually was at a salsa club and I saw a Black guy and I was the only Black person as well. And we were immediately like sup. And so I walked up to him or he walks up me, something happened and um, I got his Instagram and he invited me out to the rooftop the next night. And then he introduced me to like all the Black people. And then he introduced me to the owner of that group. And so like I said, that WhatsApp group was full, but he had like kicked someone out and added me in right away. I feel blesssed that that happened cause it was, it was so it's been so hard for all of the new people to get into that group. But I'm going to go ahead and drop their name here. If you guys want to come to Mexico city

Orion Brown (00:18:18):

A look we about to get some gems dropped. I have never been to Mexico city, but it's definitely on my list. And um, we will definitely am a pin that, I'm a pin that right quick. So y'all better get at it. Hold up. Well, let me pin, there we go. Get at it. Y'all and for those of y'all who just joined, um, my name's Orionn Brown, I'm the founder and CEO of BlackTravelBox. We are talking with Taliya of travelwithtaliya, am I saying your name, right? Yeah. Taliya. Okay. Okay. Cause some people be like well its [inaudible] and you're just like what? I don't know. Um, so we're chatting with Taliya of travelwithtaliya and she is in Mexico city, kicking it for the Thanksgiving. She's just kicking it in general. She's living and kicking it there and she's she's kicking game us so that we can live and kick it there.

Orion Brown (00:19:06):

But more importantly this week is Thanksgiving week and hopefully somebody is drinking and eating really good. She's going to be drinking and eating really good with the brothers and sisters down in Mexico city. I am so here for it. So tell me, so, so you have a contract to be down there. You're doing work down there. That's, that's kind of compelling you to be in the area, but like how has this, you know, kind of country hopping been for you in this last year? Like what is, what are some of the highlights of, of kind of just bouncing around, especially in kind of this unique environment and with everybody with the, with the Ronas and stuff.

Taliya Maya (00:19:46):

So honestly I think the best part about hopping around has been the ambiguity of it all. I really love being in unknown destinations, not knowing what the hell is going on. I like arriving and being super curious. I love a good challenge. So I think that has been my favorite part is like figuring everything out from scratch. Um, I get really, really bored when I feel like I'm in a routine as much as I need a routine. I finally, today I think I established my routine like today after like a year of trying to establish a routine like literally today, I think I got it down,

Orion Brown (00:20:28):

You know what I'll drink to that.

Taliya Maya (00:20:28):

It's a hard journey.

Orion Brown (00:20:28):

Cheers.

Taliya Maya (00:20:28):

Cheers.

Orion Brown (00:20:30):

Get that routine girl, get that routine.

Taliya Maya (00:20:32):

I've just been so used to just having this random sporadic lifestyle. And that's what I've always loved about traveling. But I think what made this trip very different for me is that this was the slowest trip I've ever taken. Not once have I looked up, what are the best things to do in Mexico city? Not once have I looked up like best restaurants near, near, near me, I just go with the vibes. I don't have anything on my bucket list because I don't want to have any disappointments. I just kind of go where the day takes me. And if I have a really slow or bad day, I don't think of it as a bad day. I just think of it as you know, I romanticize every moment of every day and I really try to learn something from every single bad moment. Cause I've had a lot of bad days here.

Taliya Maya (00:21:15):

I've had a lot of good days here, but I think this trip has really allowed me to be, has really taught me to be grateful for each and every one of those moments. Whereas like in the past, um, like for example, my first digital nomad experience was in Puerto Rico. Um, my first month there or I lived there twice, my second time living there the first month was really, really depressing. It was really, really bad time. But now that I look back at it, I wish I would have been more grateful for all those experiences, taking two buses an hour away to go do my laundry. Cause I was too broke for $10 Uber. Like those are moments now that I laugh at. And so, um, I think this trip has really shown how much I've grown. Yeah. Um, so out of all the trips I've taken this year, I think this has been my favorite for sure.

Orion Brown (00:22:04):

And I love that because you hit on something that I think we can all relate to just given. And I hate to say the times we're in, cause you know, every 10, 20 years some stuff goes down, let's just be honest. Let's, let's be honest. Everybody got some stuff, but I think being locked in, even if you don't have to be so like you're outside of the country, but like there's still restrict like you can't just do whatever you want. You can't just go wherever you want at this point. And it, it almost forces you to be a little introspective. What's important worrying about family who may be exposed or things that may be happening. Like a lot of the times we talk about on here, you know, the fun stuff and the travel and stuff, but we're all still people who are related to people who know people who love people and not everybody's doing well right now.

Orion Brown (00:22:51):

And so being able to have that moment of introspection and be like, be fulfilled by the moments being grateful for the moments, hello, get Thanksgiving being grateful for the moments that you have is a theme that I've been hearing from a lot of people right now, whether they've not been able to travel and they've been kind of forced to spend time with themselves in a very like introspective way or whether they'd been using travel as that escape, but even still kind of still becoming introspective as they kind of express themselves out in the world. So that's really, I definitely relate to that. I know a lot of us can. That's cool. That's really cool. And you're also living there too, like, is this one of the longest stretches that you've been in one place or no?

Taliya Maya (00:23:37):

Um, so the longest stretch was in Bali. I lived there for eight months. Um, and then before that, yeah, that was, yeah, that was the longest. And that was really, really easy to adjust to you right away. The hardest thing was like learning how to drive a scooter. I crashed my first week

Orion Brown (00:23:55):

You drove in Bali y'all.

Taliya Maya (00:23:58):

I felt like I was in the movie rush hour. It was so scary. But after crashing my first week, I was like, okay, this was terrible, but it wasn't that bad. Let me try again. I know a lot of people who don't drive at all and they've been living there for a years, cause it really is that intimidating. But I was the favorite parts about living in Bali.

Orion Brown (00:24:20):

I'm like so impressed that you drove in Bali because I remember being on the road, I was not driving cause I got, you know, I love my life. Um, and, and I'll drive in New York ya'll but Bali, I was like uh, but I remember he was walking past me on scooters and it'd be like two people on a scooter, a basket and a dog in the front. Like it would just be so many things piled on little kids standing up like between their parents, like,

Taliya Maya (00:24:47):

Like three dogs. But that wasn't really one of my favorite parts about living in Bali was like our nights out would be on the back of my boyfriend's bike and we'd just be riding in the wind and the cologne. And I was like, this is the best. It's like those little, little, little moments out of all of the luxury villas and luxury restaurants. And out of all those things, like those moments is what I get flashbacks on the most. You know? So yeah,

Orion Brown (00:25:13):

I got a noodle flashbacks because I am a noodle Fein. And as soon as I got there, I was like, oh, I could have noodles for breakfast. If I want, it was a wrap. It was a total wrap. I don't even know. I don't even think that's the thing there, but I I'm like, I'm an agent I have to have, I have to eat all the noodles all the time.

Taliya Maya (00:25:31):

Ever since we got back to Bali. We would have to quarantine for like five, five days. And all they served at the hotel was Indonesian food. So every day was like three different types of noodles. And they were actually so damn fire. But when we weren't in quarantine, we didn't eat indonesian food. It's like, you know, when you have something and you don't realize how good it is, cause you just always have it. It was now that we were forced to eat it. That's when it was okay. Like this is dope. This is amazing ten out of ten.

Orion Brown (00:25:59):

That is so funny. I remember going to Johnny rockets, I think it was in Semarang. And I was like, I hadn't been to a Johnny rockets since I was like 15, no joke. Cause Johnny rockets, I'm not gonna lie. Y'all in the states at least. Well actually, maybe there too. I would say the burgers are over pricede. They ain't fire burgers. They're not like if you're coming for the experience, I could not get over it. And I don't know if you went to Johnny rockets while you were there, but folks were dancing and singing. Like I have video of them. They had like a little choreography that they had put together. Like you could see, they were just super, super chill. And this was like one in the morning sitting at Johnny rockets. I don't remember the burger. I don't remember the fries. I just remember people. They gave us the order and they squirted like a catch-up smiley face on the burger.

Taliya Maya (00:26:50):

It's a special place. Semarang is a weird, special place.

Orion Brown (00:26:57):

It's it is. And I was like, it was across the street from a club and I was just like, this is, this is the strangest, but most wonderful thing ever.

Taliya Maya (00:27:05):

Our thing there is this restaurant called the forge and it was like the only American bar pretty much in Bali. And so that was like our guilty pleasure. They had chicken tenders, they had the onion rings, a mozzarella sticks to Philly Cheese Steaks.

Orion Brown (00:27:20):

Was it alittle dirty. Like, was it a little like, like sports Bari? Like

Taliya Maya (00:27:25):

No it was actually huge. It was like two stories, but it was very sports Bari.

Orion Brown (00:27:30):

Oh, I've been there. Yeah. But like you sit at the table and you're like, I don't know if I want to put my hands on the table pre-COVID. I don't know if I really want to, could y'all come away from this right quick, but

Taliya Maya (00:27:40):

That's at every burger place. Yeah,

Orion Brown (00:27:45):

Yeah. That's that is so funny. I remember going there. I think they had like live music. They have like a stage on the second floor, maybe towards the front. I don't know. Um, oh my gosh. But I love where did you actually stay when you were in Bali?

Taliya Maya (00:27:59):

Um, so we had gotten a Villa in Chengdu and it was like 10 minutes. It was 10 minutes outside of the Chengdu, but it was right on the beach. Like we open up our back gate and we're on the sand. So it was like one of the most incredible experiences. It had two pools, five bedrooms, like full staff rooftop, sunset views. And what's crazy is that that Villa was $26,000 a month, but we negotiated down to 5,000 a month. So like a thousand dollars per person to literally live in a beach front resort.

Orion Brown (00:28:37):

The last crazy.

Taliya Maya (00:28:38):

Yeah. And a lot of people don't know that you can negotiate with Airbnbs and that you can negotiate.

Orion Brown (00:28:44):

Yeah.

Taliya Maya (00:28:44):

And can you just pay that price, but people that have, um, listings up on their, on their website of choice, whether it's booking Airbnb, they are anticipating that someone's going to negotiate. And so their price is as high as they think someone would pay. You know what I mean?

Orion Brown (00:29:02):

That's a really good tip. That's a really good tip. I feel like, shoot your shot. Like I am every ugly short dude at the club. I'm like, I know you said that you want these standards. However, this is what I got. I love that. I love that now was that price differential, like really driven by COVID and like lower demand. Cause you know, like I look at places like, you know, the Denver area, people will laugh you out if you're like, yeah. Can you bring that down a little bit? Because this is so many people trying to get into the locations and they're willing to pay for it. You know, the big chalet type homes with the deer heads freak me out by the way. Um, but you know, that kind of thing. So what kind of drove that big price jump or is that just normal? Like you should just expect that they over, they overinflate it

Taliya Maya (00:29:58):

They always over inflate it. It was overinflated and you can always negotiate even pre COVID, but we definitely got lucky because we came, when the borders were closed, we have our investor's visa. So it's a two year long investor visa where we're able to do business there legally and all the things. Um, and so we were there and there was no tourists, so we didn't really have much competition. Um, so we were able to get that price because we got a long-term rental versus it being like a couple of weeks or a month, you know, we were there for about four months in that Villa. Um, and then we also got another Villa that's like, um, it was like in a jungle type setting infinity pools, three stories, same thing. And they listed it for about $16,000 a month and we got it down to like 4,000

Orion Brown (00:30:44):

And it also doesn't hurt that you're trying to stay there a whole month. Like not like a weekend where it's like, I wasn't gonna make that much money on you in the first.

Taliya Maya (00:30:51):

Exactly, exactly. So we definitely got lucky, but a lot of people don't know that, um, you can negotiate. So I didn't even just watch it run with that.

Orion Brown (00:30:59):

Jim's dropped now. I'm immediately being like, Hmm, I got a few, I keep a running wishlist in Airbnb. I just do. Cause I'm like, even if I don't, if I'm not going to a specific city or a specific country, you know, sometimes they like cycle through little things, you know, to entice you and I'm like, I'm gonna save it. I'm gonna save that. I'm not gonna buy it right now, but I'll save it. So I'm now going to come back through and be like, you know what? Forget bringing all these friends, let me just buy this. Let me just rent this myself. Exactly. And negotiate it down. I'm not mad at that at all. Exactly.

Taliya Maya (00:31:35):

You have. If you'd like a videographer photographer influencer or something, you can always pitch to collaborate with them as well. Um, or if you're a social media marketer and you can provide, um, any type of copyright for them or just any help for their website. So if you do SEO, a lot of villas are owned by these little old people who don't know what the word SEO is. And they're like, what is the Twitter? What does Tic Toc? These tick tappers.

Orion Brown (00:32:03):

Oh, wait don't, don't talk about me like that. Don't talk about me like that.

Taliya Maya (00:32:08):

You can promise them some deliverables. There'll be more than happy to give you some money off to.

Orion Brown (00:32:13):

So bartering is a very valuable and I would say like, bartering works better outside of this country than it does in this country. I feel like people are like, no, I want some cash. You can Venmo me. I don't know. Yeah.

Taliya Maya (00:32:25):

We tried to negotiate the only place that we tried to negotiate. Um, in V the states where we had like a significant price difference was in Miami. We had got this like penthouse overlooking the water. It was like, what? 30,000 a month? And we got it down to either six or 10,000. I don't remember. Um, but it was a really, really amazing place. And they were expecting to make 30,000 to 6,000. So that really just shows all that you can save if you just shoot your shot, you know what I mean? There's just shot.

Orion Brown (00:33:01):

I be the short dude at the club do it. Um, I'm not nothing wrong with short dudes, but they, they have some, some nerve more than the, than the, the obvious dude. They come through like, Hey girl, tapping on the shoulder. Hey girl.

Taliya Maya (00:33:18):

Yeah. They definitely have more confidence in tall guys here. Cause everyone in Mexico is short Everybody. So like I had these little heels that I have to wear. Cause I don't want to be at the club. Just like literally taller than everybody and their mama. It's just ridiculous. My friend just came here. She's from New York and originally from Nigeria and she's six feet tall. And we were just at the club, literally

Orion Brown (00:33:42):

Like Towering towering.

Taliya Maya (00:33:45):

And she finally found someone who's six foot tall, met him on Tinder. They went out, they were vibing and then we all went out. So I met him and he was cool and all, but of course he ended up being a dumbass. I'm like literally Tinder outside of like just Tinder everywhere. It's just - Tinder everywhere is a mess. But it's just so sad that she's just so tall here that she has, she literally has to use tinder. I mean

Orion Brown (00:34:14):

The box though, she should just stack two of them. Like, you'll get the size you need. Like just this the two-part I don't

Taliya Maya (00:34:24):

Exactly. So yeah. Dating. Yeah. Dating and Mexico city. Everyone has told me has just been a mess for the Americans just because the men are four foot tall. Um, but other than that,

Orion Brown (00:34:34):

Yeah, you got AC

Taliya Maya (00:34:39):

Like on some real, like, I'm sorry if you're four foot tall, Mexican here and I hurt your feelings, but it's just how it is.

Orion Brown (00:34:48):

I'm not mad. If you got swag, you can be tall, short, skinny, fat. If you got the right kind of swag and the right kind of vibe, you can make it work like that's but it's, but it is funny when you're like in an environment and you're like, I don't know how this is actually going to work. I don't know how that's going to work.

Taliya Maya (00:35:06):

And there's like stole. So my roommate was just telling me that they, he, she found a catfish on hinge. There's like a lot of catfishes here, supposedly like where they don't post their face, but they'll have this normal conversation with you. Um, and they'll just be persistent, like persistent I'm meeting up. And then when you wanna meet up, they just ghost, you. So just be careful. Like if you want to be a digital nomad for the first time, and if you want to meet new people and you want to use these dating apps, like don't get too excited because I heard it's a mess.

Orion Brown (00:35:42):

I mean, so back when I used to just like date and I'm like, now I'm like, I'm on full hiatus. Y'all can keep that. But, um, I, there was definitely a point in time where I was just like, I almost hope they don't show up. I just want to sit here and enjoy my drink and people watch and have my appetizer and you know, peace out. So I think, I feel like, again, there's some, there's some attraction to Mexico city for me.

Taliya Maya (00:36:15):

Yeah. I don't know, like the thought of having to like meet someone and then be like, so what's your favorite color? How long have you been here? How long have you been traveling? Like to have to reshare that story? I'm like, literally just follow me in Instagram, read my captions, figure out my life. And then after you go through my page, cause I don't even want to have that conversation with anyone. Like I don't want to have that conversation with girls guys. I'm just like, so I actually, haven't been like actively trying to look for friends. Like the friends that I do have here, like all four of them. They're like, you need to be more social. But I came here to work on my projects. I came here to focus on me and my growth and my routine. So I'm like, I really don't care for new friends. Like I had like four really good best friends back in Chicago and four really good friends here. And that's already like very overwhelming to me. I'm like talking about why are you Facetiming me at 4:00 AM?

Orion Brown (00:37:09):

No, no,

Taliya Maya (00:37:10):

My best friend, she's here now, I love you.

Orion Brown (00:37:17):

Look, I have sleep hours on my phone. I discovered that years ago. That was like, if it's a fire, y'all call me two, three times out. It'll be fine. Like there's you can, you got other ways to get to me, but otherwise this whole like, well you up, nah, I wasn't up. I was asleep right now.

Taliya Maya (00:37:35):

I am not awake. No, not like what?

Orion Brown (00:37:44):

Oh my gosh. So, so tell, can you share with us what you're working on and like, or is that like, is it under wraps until it's uh, revealed?

Taliya Maya (00:37:54):

So I haven't revealed it yet, but since you guys doing this live, um, so I'm actually working on a course to help people transition into digital nomads. And I want to teach people how to travel the world for the fraction of the cost or damn near free, right? Because I do a lot of my travel for 75% less than what most people would have paid, but 10 times more luxuriously because I know these travel hacks, being a travel agent for the last six years, only the travel agency and being a producer and travel planner for one of the largest child channels on YouTube. So all the Ls that I'd taken in the last six years of traveling and all the wins, I'm about to downsize and afford a six hour course. So people can just jump start their digital nomad journey and hit the ground running and have their blueprint at hand because I didn't look up one blog or one YouTube video on how to travel. I was just taking those Ls on site. I did. I just, I just let everything hit me and I let everything be learned live. And I really got to have the experience of the lifetime. And I want to be able to show everyone how to do that in a quick course.

Orion Brown (00:39:10):

Yeah. I love that. And one of the things, you know, I personally feel like we're in a course bubble in the world right now. Like everybody expert, nobody's actually a professional, but I love that. You're actually backing it up with experience like, oh, I did this, not the, let me teach you how to sell things to people. It's like, what's the thing you so how to sell things to people like, you know what I mean? Exactly.

Taliya Maya (00:39:32):

I know a lot of people who are selling courses on like how to, how to start a business one-on-one and their, their contacts is like how to start an Airbnb, how to start a Turo, how to start, like get my boat. I'm like, you don't have a boat, you don't have Touro and you don't have an Airbnb. So like, just because you have a business, why are you trying to teach people? Things that you don't know? You know, I just read some girls bio the other day. It said like five plus countries, DM me for travel consultations. Everybody wants to start a course.

Orion Brown (00:40:05):

That's the, that's the thing like it's it's to some extent it is relative. And I do give props to people who are like, look, I have enough knowledge to be dangerous. And I know who my customer is. Like the person who's never done X, the person who's never experienced Y. Because I can give them sort of the basics. I'm a few steps ahead. But baby, these people are unnerved me when they're like, I am a guru and they haven't done the stuff that you've done. Like, I, I, you, you said you took the L's you, you said you did the negotiations, you've done all of these different things in different places. You're living outside of the country. You're not somebody in Nebraska on their computer being like, this is how you travel. So tell us a little bit about, um, you know, some of the Ls that you can look back on and laugh at now. Like, I feel like when you get through, like, you know, you have these moments where in the moment it's like, oh my God, this is terrible. And then you look back and laugh at yourself. And you're like, I can't a either believe that I thought it was that terrible or B it was so terrible. I can't even understand how it happened. Like it's laughable. Like what are some Ls that you're like that?

Taliya Maya (00:41:19):

Oh my gosh. Okay. So I went to, um, I went to Columbia for what was supposed to be two weeks and I loved it. I stayed for two months. And then toward the end of my trip, I met a bunch of amazing Argentine and girls fell in love, started traveling with them. They were speaking Spanish at the time. I had no idea. Like I couldn't speak a word of Spanish. They couldn't speak a word of English, but we were vibing. We traveled together for like two weeks, went all over. We went to the border of Venezuela. We did all the things. Then we went back to Cartagena where we met and we got really drunk. One night, woke up, hung over, went to the beach. And I left my phone on the security desk. And as I was taking like a motorcycle back to like our hostel, I was like, oh my God, where is my phone?

Taliya Maya (00:42:10):

The motorcycle turned back around. They, the security said they couldn't find it. Even though I know they stole it. I was so broke. I couldn't even afford to pay the $2 motorcycle for taking me back. So he was. He was going to leave me stranded at the beach, which had no electricity past 6:00 PM. And it was just a mess. I couldn't afford to do the rest of my trips. So I had to fly back home and then buy a used phone off some random app. And that I had like $500 left to my day to come. And I was like, all right, I'm just going to move to Puerto Rico. Then $500. I can do it. I have $500 and a credit card with like a $2,500 limit. And I was like, I'm going to start a new life. Fuck everybody. And I swear, I just went there and moved in with friends.

Taliya Maya (00:42:59):

Um, and yeah, the end of that L ended up being like the biggest win for me. And it really jump-started this entire Travel withTaliya brand that I have. Um, because I was really one of the things that I did. And that was remember in the beginning of the live, when I said that my second time living in Puerto Rico was a mess. And it was like, so this was that I moved there. I thought it was going to be the best thing ever. But I moved in with some guy who was absolutely crazy. I remember he locked me out and I had to like climb up on the roof and then climb down, use our AC as like a stepping stool to like break into our window.

Orion Brown (00:43:39):

You turned into a cat burglar in your own place.

Taliya Maya (00:43:40):

And you're like, it is seven in the morning. But the reason why I had to break into the house at 7:00 AM was because after losing my phone in Columbia, having to buy a new phone, he left my phone in the Uber, like three days later, like three days after I moved to Puerto Rico.

Taliya Maya (00:43:57):

So we get into this huge fight. He kicked me out for accusing him of losing my phone, even though he did. And then I had to break into my own house. I didn't have a phone. I don't know what happened to his phone. I had to like drunkenly walk to the nearest McDonald's a mile away and like ask the cashier to use her phone, to call Uber, to call my mom, to do all the things. And then eventually Uber got my note and they returned it. They stole the money I had behind my phone case, but they returned it. They returned the phone. That's all that matters. But it's just like things. I was like, why is my roommate crazy? There's just so many things about this guy.

Orion Brown (00:44:36):

Well, look, I, I know what to get you for Christmas. I'm going to get one of those. Like the round, the neck phone case holders

Taliya Maya (00:44:44):

I used to where

Orion Brown (00:44:45):

We gotta get you one for Christmas. Cause girl, you can't, you can't be losing that phone. Now. You can't be losing that phone no more. Oh my gosh. But I feel you though, like, it can happen at any time where somebody could steal from you. I was in New York. I was like at an event, we're talking, we're at a bar. We're talking chatting. It's like, it's not a closed event, but it's like all a big, big group of people. And I set my phone down to pick up my glass and I'm talking to somebody and then I felt the waiter walk around me and clear the table. And I was like, okay, cool. He cleared the table. But then I turned around and I'm like, my phone is in here. He clear, clear the table.

Orion Brown (00:45:29):

I'm like, we don't know. We didn't see anything. We don't know. Um, I was in the grocery store and somebody picked my pocket and took my phone. I thought this lady was too close to me. And I was wearing a big puffy coat. This is in Chicago. We're in a big puffy coat of Mariano's looking at the suites. Cause their sweets counter y'all if you ain't never been the Mariano's, they got everything. Um, it's like, you can have a date night at Mariano's and not be mad at your date. Like I like legit is that kind of spot, but I'm standing there and this woman was so close to me. And I was like, in my head, I was having an argument myself. I was like, and this is a, this is a, a masterclass and listen to your gut people. Even if it doesn't sound rational to you at the time. But I was like, she just looking at cakes, what's wrong with you? And like she too close, but she, she way too close, like weaning and all this stuff. And I'm like, you need to stop. You need to stop being suspiscious of people you need to be more open. Don't be more open. She pulled it right out of my pocket.

Taliya Maya (00:46:31):

Yeah. My mom owned, um, a nail salon on Chicago and Damon. And they would always get robbed like every couple of months, like someone would just come in and Rob them, but they would do it in the most random ways. And they would like come in and pretend they were a customer and ask all these questions and just take people's phones off the counter. Someone just came in and swipe the laptop right off the receptionist desk. And it was just ghetto. I was like, you don't need to be living here. And when I moved to like South America, all these places, people would be like, oh, it's so dangerous. Blah, blah, blah. I'm like the only person, the only, the only thing happening is me losing my phone. Like I'm the only destructive person here.

Orion Brown (00:47:13):

Oh my gosh, that's too funny. And that's, you know, that's a really interesting thing. Cause like you can go to certain parts of Mexico and like you hear these stories and they're real like new stories. People be disappearing, being drugged. All of that port of Bayada is like evidently well known for this. I did not know that until I got there. And that was very interesting. Um, but also by the same token, there's this like kind of frenzy thinking that, oh, if you go anywhere South America, Central America, uh, you know, some spots in the Caribbean, you just go and disappear. Cause you know, they just want to do all the awful things to Americans. And I was like, well, number one, nobody's gonna snatch me up. Cause they ain't gonna get a ransom. I can tell you that right now where people would be like, oh I'm broke. Can I get five from you? Um, so, but, but it's interesting that you say like, sometimes these calamities are just like situational drama, calamities. Not necessarily like crime as it were.

Taliya Maya (00:48:15):

Yeah. People are people shouldn't overthink traveling. Cause the same thing that'll happen abroad having to you and your hometown

Orion Brown (00:48:21):

Girl yes.

Taliya Maya (00:48:22):

Yes. And it's just not, it's nothing. I feel like safety should be the last thing that you should worry about. Like of course you don't want to go and live in like Haiti right now. Like obviously be aware of the situation that every country is in. But if someone tells you, Hey, uh, thousands of us live in Bali and we're digital nomads and this is what we do. And we've been doing this for eight years to not trust them if that's your fault.

Orion Brown (00:48:55):

Yeah. Unless you're the dude that starting the community in Mexico city, um, which it is something very different to travel as a man. Um, like let's just acknowledge. But that being said, you're spot on. If there's a community there that you can plug into, then the fear factor is really more in your head than what's actually happening. Is that

Taliya Maya (00:49:17):

Exactly? Actually it didn't. Um, I love living in Puerto Rico. It was beautiful. I had a lot of fun, amazing experiences, but there's not really a digital nomad community there. So that's something that a lot of people should research before they go. Like, it's not just, oh, I want to live here because it's beautiful. You need to really be aware with yourself. If you like to be around people, if you want to make new friends, you need to read these blogs and see if people are friendly because in Puerto Rico, people don't just come up to you and they're not just like, Hey, let's be friends like in Chicago at Wrigleyville, at a bar. Like people aren't like that over there are though the locals are gonna come up to you and they're going to, they're going to talk to you and they're going to ask you questions and they're going to touch your hair. You know, they're going to be curious in Puerto Rico. It was a very standalone. Um, the same was when I was living in Sylvia, Spain, I was there for three months studying business. And honestly they have such a, uh, they have such a social culture right. As,

Orion Brown (00:50:15):

Yeah. They're so nice. I tried all kinds of strangers there.

Taliya Maya (00:50:19):

Yeah. Yeah. They have such a social culture. They're always in groups. They always want people to join your groups. And then you realize like, hold on in America, we're such individualists. We want to meet, we do things alone. You go to bars alone, we eat alone. In Spain you will never do that. Like that is not even, even business meetings are taken in bars. You know what I mean? So your research and see what type of person you are. And if you match that vibe for sure.

Orion Brown (00:50:47):

I mean, arguably, I would say, you know, you, you, if you want to be a hermit, you can be a hermit in those places. It's just that you're swimming upstream. Right? Like it's like, if you're like, I want to just eat a meal by myself and people watch, you make eye contact with somebody in Sylvia and they're going to start talking to you, which I've, I I'm personally a slightly anti-, just a smidge anti- , just a smidge, just a little bit, depends on the day just to, just to just a little sprinkle. Um, and that, that was really interesting to me, but also like I was, I've been there for business trips and it's just like, okay, so we're having, we're doing business stuff. I guess I'm going to go back to my hotel and they're like, no, we're going to hang out for the next six hours. And it was actually really dope.

Taliya Maya (00:51:31):

Oh 4:00 AM. I'm like, do you guys have families? Like, why are we out so late?

Orion Brown (00:51:36):

Oh my gosh, I, I have not taken like drunken selfies since my early twenties. And I was in severe like, like it was like with piles of people. I was like, I don't even remember that guy. Where did they? Um, and what really? So my impression was that they were rather wholesome partiers in the sense that like people have asked me, are you not feeling too well? Like we can walk you home. Like that kind of stuff, which is kinda nice. Like it's not like going to New Orleans during like Mardi Gras. Um, there, there weren't peeing on the streets or getting arrested. It was just very good, clean, fun, and really chill and really chatty.

Taliya Maya (00:52:20):

Yeah. That's how I felt about Carnival in Colombia. It's the second biggest carnival in the world, but it looked like very organized, very chill, very family oriented. I'm like in this for Americans, like there would be ambulances. People would be like on the floor, black out everywhere. The only person be ratchet was me like the American, like smoking in the port-a-potty like smoking my weed. Like just ratchet. I was like 19. Me and my mom decided to backpack Columbia, which was a mess. It was, but it was a mess.

Orion Brown (00:52:55):

How did that happen?

Taliya Maya (00:52:59):

She was, so I was in Ecuador and I fell in love with this guy. I met at this hostel and I went down south and I was like, meet me in Peru. And he's like, yeah, we're going to go to Peru. We're going to do all these things. And so I was right at the border. I was like 10 hours away at the border. And he was on his way, but then he caught a parasite and he had to fly home. And I remember I was crying. I was like, we're not going to get married on Munch Pichu. This is the worst thing in the world. And then I was like, I'm going to go to Columbia. I don't want to go to Peru without him. So I took like three, 12 hour buses up north to Columbia and I was like, mom, come meet me here. Let's get it. So she met me there. We spent two weeks traveling all throughout. We took like three planes. So many buses went to Carnival, there was like a 1% availability on the Airbnb. And I got the very, very last one for us. And we just, we just, winged it the whole time. It was crazy.

Orion Brown (00:53:57):

Now was your mom already a traveler? Like, is that where you get your travel bug or was this something that she was just like, well, I'm gonna go make sure my baby's okay.

Taliya Maya (00:54:06):

And she's not a big traveler, like she's on family vacations and things like that, but she's not the one to like solo travel. She mostly travels if I invite her somewhere. Right. So like in Mexico, um, I invited her to stay with me for the first two weeks. For example, um,

Orion Brown (00:54:20):

Two weeks you thought you were just going to be there?

Taliya Maya (00:54:22):

Yeah. I just thought it was going to be a random vacation. Um, but yeah, I definitely want to have her travel with me more and that's why I want to start this course and be able to be more independent, um, remotely, anywhere. Right. And I want to be able to take her with me. I want to be able to take my grandma with me to these places. Um, me and my grandma backpack do Nicaragua like full on staying at hostels. Like it was, let me roll this.

Orion Brown (00:54:52):

Let me roll this back right quick. When your grandmother stayed at hostels and backpack. Yeah.

Taliya Maya (00:54:59):

Well we say,

Orion Brown (00:54:59):

Grandma, are we talking? Are we talking like, is this the Tik TOK video where they got like six generations and they're all like 12 years apart from each other? Or like, is this like grandma had been around for a minute, but she just, she tough, she rugged. She got it,

Taliya Maya (00:55:14):

I think she was like 63 when we went. So she was pretty young. I think that's pretty young. Yeah.

Orion Brown (00:55:22):

Well, I guess it depends. I mean, most of the 63 year olds in Chicago or like the way my arthritis set in,

Taliya Maya (00:55:28):

I don't know she was moving more than me. She was like, let's go to [inaudible] got from lunch. And I was like, yeah, let's do it. We were on a four hour bus for lunch. Like she was the person who taught me to be a traveler, even though she's not a traveler somehow, she was just like with the shits. I don't know what got into her, what the shits she was about staying at the hostel. She loved it. She had so much fun. We were ATVing. Um, we would do all the things, but, well, it's crazy. I always share this story. But, um, we had, after there are three weeks Nicaragua, I went to go to Puerto Rico for a month and she was going to join me the first three days. Our second day there, we were staying at a hostel and I went to go to the beach with some other people.

Taliya Maya (00:56:15):

I met there and she was taking a nap. She just, just tired from the flight, wanted to shower and sleep early. And I got a call, someone else working at the hostel. And they were like Taliya, the hostels burning down. And they said it so casually. I was like, what are you talking about? The hostel was burned down. They're like, no, seriously, the hostels on fire and your grandma's inside. And I ran, like, I took my shoes off. Me and my friend ran so fast. Like that 10 minute run turned into like a five minute run. I've never ran so fast in my life. And when we got there, the entire hostel was inflamed. The house next to it was burning down. People were running around frantic. I couldn't find my grandma. And then she came out of nowhere after like 10 minutes. And after that emotional, um, meetup, that "oh my god your alive" meetup, I was like, oh no, I'm gonna travel the world and everyone else's opinion because I could have just died. My grandma could have just died. So carelessly. I remember at first I was like, oh no, I have to graduate in four years because who am I going to throw my cap with in the air? When we take her graduation pictures, I would worry landing on

Orion Brown (00:57:27):

The bed.

Taliya Maya (00:57:28):

Yeah. I worry about the dumbest things. And then when I stopped worrying about what everyone else thought was normal, you know, like the four year college path and the grad school and the nine to five, when I stopped, considering those things as normal, I was able to move in my own divine way. And so, yeah, it was just crazy. Crazy.

Orion Brown (00:57:51):

It really is. One of those things that you react to those moments in one of two ways, one, you're just like both of them, I think are Trump trauma. Right? But like the response to the trauma is either to shrink back or to really lean in. And there's like, I feel like there's no kind of middle ground. Um, but having those moments where you're just like, it. Like I won't be, I won't be, um, stupid about the risks that I take, but I cannot plan anything. The craziest thing can happen at any given moment. So I might as well take the opportunity because all the things that you can have go through your head that could go wrong. It's like it could, and it, even if you didn't do it, so go, I love that. Now. What, how did your grandmother get out? Cause I need to know this is one of those that we can't to be continued to the, to come back. I need to know how she get out. And was she just like smoking a cigarette, watching it burn out?

Taliya Maya (00:58:55):

It was what happened after it was actually hilarious. So she told me that she was running down our, so the steps were very steep in the rear metal. So I imagine being very hot. Um, but she didn't tell me if it was hot, but I can imagine, you know, they're just straighten metal stairs on fire. So she was running down the stairs. She said the fire was literally at her back and the fire hit our rooms, burn the shoes at the door, but didn't go in our room. So it didn't burn our stuff. But a lot of the, a lot of the was damaged for sure. And then next door house, that was a tap. Like that was pretty much touching. The hostel burned down and someone was showering and died. And so all the dogs and all the cats on the property died as well.

Taliya Maya (00:59:40):

So it was a very, very intense situation. We didn't know about the deaths until like two days later afterwards, we were like, all of us were in the street, all the guests, we were just laughing. Like, did we just make it out of their life? And I busted out my tennis racket and I was like, does anyone want to play tennis? We were literally on the street, like playing racketball. Like this whole building is engulfed in flames. And I was like, well, I gotta be the one to break the ice here. Let me just bust out my tennis racket, Keep playing and laughing and just like thanking God. And then they moved us to another hostel. And then we all got like Turkey legs on the street. And we were just sitting there eating her Turkey black.

Orion Brown (01:00:23):

I don't want to go through a fire, but I do want some gang. I'm not gonna lie. Was it smoked? It wasn't,

Taliya Maya (01:00:29):

It was real. And then it was like barbecue sauce. I will always remember that Turkey leg. That was like my first class Turkey leg. I hate turning it off.

Orion Brown (01:00:38):

We as an association, are you just like, don't just, just, wasn't a thing. And like that moment you just happen to want it.

Taliya Maya (01:00:45):

I just don't like to just drive Puerto. You just do all their food, different Puerto Rico due to some of the best, but I don't know American, like Thanksgiving, Turkey. I never looked forward to it and it's always trash.

Orion Brown (01:00:56):

Gosh, people over cook it. They overcook the Turkey. I used to serve a Turkey that is not juicy. If it's not juicy, it's not Turkey at that point. I just don't even there's I remember this is totally not a travel story, but my aunt who she passed, um, last year, um, I used to do Thanksgiving with her because she had like arthritis and it was just crazy for her to like, try to pick things up out of the, of it and all of that. So I'd be like, look, I'll cook with you. I'll be your hands. What do you want me to do? But also I don't, I don't mean I don't need my greens to be that cooked. And I don't need my Turkey to be bringing a Turkey because I was like, I'll bring it. So you don't even have to like carry it or do anything like that.

Orion Brown (01:01:42):

I'll bring it with me. I'll be at the house at 10 in the morning. Now mind you, this is like a 16 pound Turkey. Wasn't a huge Turkey. She's like at 10 in the morning, like it's going to be raw. And I'm like, we're not eating until three. You only need like, uh, you know, a certain amount of pounds. And she just was like, it's going to be rough to the point that I wouldn't, even when I took it out the oven, she's like, it's wrong. It's going to be wrong. It's going to be wrong. And then cut into it. Oh, well look, I guess it is.

Taliya Maya (01:02:16):

Yeah. That's why I don't want to be the one that cooked dinner. I want to be the one a host. I want to bring people to my future home, my future Bali Villa, as I've got everyone else to cook, I don't want to be respond. I want to be, um, someone else's IAG live. Like they made the drivers Turkey.

Orion Brown (01:02:34):

See now, yes, I totally get that. But see, here's the thing. That's where you have to have like your signature. I love cooking. So I'm biased. I absolutely adore cooking. I think I did my first Thanksgiving. I was a teenager, like 14 or 15. And so for me, like Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it's so centered around food. Um, you know, Christmas people do different things. Um, and, and, uh, Latin culture is oftentimes you're doing like late night, midnight dinners. And it's a little bit more of a feast. Other places it's not, it's not even about that. It's just about the guests, all of that. But I'm like Thanksgiving for everybody is how many different sides can we make at once? There could be a Turkey. There could be ham. There could be three other types of meat. Like it's, it's my happy place. I'm not even gonna lie. And me and a Turkey. You gotta flip it on the breast side, cook it on the breast side. All the Jews go to the breasts, the get plump. And then you keep being dry.

Taliya Maya (01:03:35):

Well, I refuse. I like don't even touch Rami. Cause I'm scared. I'm still good. I don't touch me as a ho. I'm like, I feel bad. I'm like, oh, the poor little dirty animal. I'll eat all the meat I want like outside of the house, but inside. I'm the weird, I'm sure men hate me. Cause I'm like not the best cook. If you're still watching, I apologize in advance. I'm going to get better. I promise.

Orion Brown (01:03:58):

And you don't have to be anything for anybody. Cause you can just go through and be like, I know what I need in life. I need a partner that can cook. Cause I ain't about to do it. I will be cute. I will sit here and be cute and entertain you, but I'm just, you know, and do that. Like, you know, for me cooking is a passion, but I am very much, um, since I'm knocking on forty's door at this point, I'm like, [inaudible] know the bleeds. Nobody do what pleases you. And you'll find people that you know, will gravitate towards that. Um, and there is nothing like dating.

Taliya Maya (01:04:37):

I said, I'm working on setting boundaries and not being a people pleaser. I usually am, but I'm working on it. It's part of my eat. Pray, love Mexico city trip.

Orion Brown (01:04:47):

Oh your dad's up in the comments here. I'm reading the comments. Hey dad. I mean, there is something beautiful about having that synergy and college. I cooked a lot and my friends, we had like this sort of symbiotic thing going where, you know, I would make like midnight breakfast and stuff like that. And they, they knew they were on dishes duty. I hate dishes. If I have to clean a fork, I'm like maybe I should just eat with a spoon. That kind of person that I am. Um, so you know, you just find your people and hopefully during your Thanksgiving, with your new, with your new cohort of friends, y'all will find like what that symbiosis is. But you coming through with brownie. So you're good, good,

Taliya Maya (01:05:31):

Most

Orion Brown (01:05:32):

Important part, not mad at it at all. I'm looking at the time I realized we've been on for an hour already. Just like kicking it. This has been so much fun. Now I'm hungry. I'm not even gonna lie. I'm hungry. Now I'm thinking about street meat. I'm still thinking about Turkey. I'm wondering what kind of random stuff people are going to bring to your Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving does kind of like change based off of where you are and what ingredients are available. I'm like I said, I'm going to Florida. The first time I went to Florida for Thanksgiving, somebody made dressing, not stuffing with seafood. And I will say that I didn't like it. I didn't love it because it was, to me, it wasn't dressing like I grew up with. But it's interesting to see how those things change and stuff. So yeah,

Taliya Maya (01:06:21):

I'm excited for it. Cause these ingredients, I went shopping at like 7:00 AM this morning to beat the rush. And I was like, why can I not find cookie mix? There's no cookie mix. The brownies just weird brands. I'm like

Orion Brown (01:06:35):

The next is it's flour and sugar. It's butter and eggs.

Taliya Maya (01:06:39):

We do all that.

Orion Brown (01:06:43):

Okay. I got you. I got you. That's recipe and you can find it on all recipes.com or just Google it. It's called spritz SPR ITZ spritz cookies. Like they are the, I ain't got mixed. Cause I'm not, I'm not mad at you. I am a fan of get the cake mix all it I'm like, why am I doing? Like, I can add stuff to it, by the way, if you add like pudding to any cake mix, it will turn into bomb cake just instantaneously. But it's yeah. It makes it more moist. It makes it more springy. So if it's like a 99 cent box, like Duncan Hines or whatever, and you just put like a box of jello in, you know, Joel putting with it, baby. Um, there's little things. Cause so I'm like the semi-homemade times too. I'm like, are we ain't got time for all that. We still do it stuff in the world, but um, I completely lost. Oh yeah. The cookie mix. I'm totally with you, but there are some really good, simple recipes and I am trying to be the avail Vangelis for cooking. Cause I just really love cooking. Um, but you do, you GU you do you and I bet your brand is going to be bombed anyway. So whatevs

Taliya Maya (01:07:54):

I'm going to get better. No, no, this is not this Thanksgiving catch me. We'll do another live next next year on the 24th. And we'll see where I'm at. At that time,

Orion Brown (01:08:03):

We're going to do a check-in we're going to do a check-in. We'll definitely. Um, I I'm, I'm going to have to hit you up in Mexico city. Cause I need to get the heck up out of here at some point I'm going to Morocco, December. I'm excited about that. But um, next year is the year of 40. And I say this every week, cause I'm like so hyped for it. I've never been so excited to get old since I was like eight, you know when you're like seven and you're about to turn eight and you're like, I'm 73 quarters. That's how I feel about 39. And so next year I'm just like, I need to be everywhere next year. I don't know how I'm going to do it. I don't know how I'm going to make time with it. I work, I run a company. I have all these different things going, but just like you said, it. Like get it done. It will work itself out. Be reasonably responsible, but keep it moving. And so, um, yeah, I'll definitely have to tap you and you definitely definitely have to come back. Tell everybody. I mean, I think everybody in the comments knows you. Like you brought your whole crew a crew and I hope y'all are following black travel box and

Taliya Maya (01:09:10):

Great things on the way.

Orion Brown (01:09:12):

Oh my gosh. But tell everybody where they can find you on the interwebs, how they can get in on your trips and um, where we can find pictures of this food. Cause I'm looking for food porn, I'm be eating poop food while watching other people eat food. So where can we get the food porn?

Taliya Maya (01:09:30):

Yeah. So no food for me. But if you guys [inaudible] course that I was talking about where you can learn how to travel the world for a fraction of the cost and become a digital nomad. I have a link in my bios to scroll all the way down. And then if you go back to my bio, you can follow a TBL tourists. I'm going to be hosting my group trips very soon. Once the borders open, if they ever opened, it's just been closed for so long now. Um, but I plan to have my epic new trips running. If you want to travel with me and my team, we do so many amazing things around the world. And I also have trip planning services, do TBL tours as well as you can take a look at that on their website. And yeah, that's all for me.

Orion Brown (01:10:11):

I love that. I love that. Thank you so much. This has been so much fun and y'all she came in in a pinch cause we were like I'm S so if any of y'all, this is, these are one of those moments where I'm like, let's talk about being trifling. Can we, can we talk about being traveling? Um, we do wind down Wednesday every week. I've invited people on every week. We're actually booked out until like February right now. Um, which is insane. And so I know people are loving it, but then they're also like booking so far ahead that they don't put it on their calendar. And so we have to pull in bomb. People like see it to be like our, our guests. And I'm like, I love it. I'm so glad you came. I don't know, like I'm not going to shave the person that was supposed to be here, but I'm glad we talked. So we're going to send you some swag. I can't wait to see your next adventures. I, and you've dropped some amazing gems. Y'all make sure you negotiate everything. It's just shot. Be the short dude in the room. Don't leave your grandma and hostel. She might. I'm just kidding. [inaudible]

Orion Brown (01:11:25):

burn it down. Um, you know, there's just so many good gems. I'm going to try to put it in the recap. If you just joined us, y'all gonna have to watch it on IETV cause I'm out. I'm tired. It's late. Um, I know you I'm sure you're going out. I'm sure she got the shoulders ready. We have a meeting in two minutes, so I'm perfectly perfect for my schedule. So thank you for having me. Thank you for thinking of me. I love it. Thank you so much for coming. Have a wonderful week. Thank you all for watching. I hope this was a highlight. Is the hump day highlight for your week? Have a wonderful week. Have a blessed Thanksgiving. We'll talk to y'all soon. Bye guys. Bye.

Also in Travel & Slay | The BlackTravelBox® Blog