Shot with a film camera way back in the day. You can click the photo for more options or check out my old Prague gallery here. Due for a new trip over to the Czech Republic.

Have you been to Prague? What did you think? Please share below.

When snow melts away, this is what we get during the summer in Sweden along with 20-22 hours of daylight at its peak.

Click on the photo for more options or view a few more landscape shots I’ve loaded so far into my Swedish Lapland image bank.

Have you been to Sweden during summer? What did you think?

I’m long overdue for a latest news and work updates post. Been busy on many fronts but more importantly, I’ve been prioritizing my workload and inching closer to a more balanced work <-> family time ratio.

Image Bank

As you may have noticed, I’ve been sharing a lot more postcard photos from my image bank which is a work in progress. I’m currently editing and sorting through thousands of photos from countries I’ve explored – many of which will end up in the image bank as well as National Geographic’s image collection.

Once I reach a good enough point in this seemingly never-ending task, I’ll open the photos up for purchase as well for those of you who are interested.

Slow Travel Stockholm

Since my last update, I’ve launched Slow Travel Stockholm. It is a spinoff of Slow Travel Berlin which was founded in January 2010 by my friend, British guidebook author, travel journalist and photographer Paul Sullivan.

In a nutshell, “Slow Travel encourages us to slacken our pace, re-consider our motivations (and itineraries) and embrace a “less is more” instead of a “fast is better” ethos. It emboldens us to take pause. To think. To saunter instead of rush and enjoy the details instead of blurring past them.”

The aim is to establish a repository of eclectic information about the city from a range of perspectives to encourage deeper, more varied exploration and promotion of small, locally-minded businesses and services.

It’s a project I’m passionate about and since we’re still in our infancy, we’re looking for equally passionate contributors. Right now, we’ll be publishing twice a week until we gain some momentum.

Freelancing – Writing/Photography

I’ve also been freelancing and have a few confirmed pieces below with a few more in the pipeline (will share once the others are finalized). Overall though, I still have too many pieces in the “No Word” or “Interested” stage (please refer to my annual pitching charts). Much more than I’m comfortable with and I hope the next six months turns things around on that front.

Upcoming pieces: BBC Travel, Qatar Airways, National Geographic Traveler’s Intelligent Travel (IT), Fodor’s, Women’s Adventure, Sweden.se.

Awards

Extremely honored to have been chosen as the regional award winner representing Africa in the Hot Mommas® Project.

So what’s the project about?

The Hot Mommas® Project is the world’s largest women’s case study library, providing free online access to stories of diverse female role models and mentors. It is the recipient of a National Coleman Foundation Case Award, and was founded by the instructor of the nationally award-winning Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership class at the George Washington University School of Business. The Hot Mommas® Project is included in the mission of the school’s Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence.

Needless to say, I’m extremely honored and it looks like I might be heading to DC this fall to pick up the award. Special thanks to my friend @dcIfy for the nomination. Definitely humbled as I also consider her a role model.

Check out the full press release here.

I also picked up two Solas Awards for narrative travel writing earlier this year.

Interviews

A few personal musings about life, my work, the travel industry, and Sweden below:

World Travel Market

Powderzine

Black Women Living Well

Travels

The first few months of this year took me to Marrakech & Casablanca (Morocco), short trip to Amsterdam (Netherlands), Swedish Lapland, Berlin (Germany) and Lagos (Nigeria).

Lots of upcoming travel kicking off with Dublin & Cork (Ireland) for the Travel Classics conference as well as Belfast (Northern Ireland). Then it’s off to the US & Canada for TBEX Toronto. Most of June & July will be spent exploring Sweden and soaking up our glorious summer days and then it’s off to the Balkans and Turkey (more on that later).

Also in the very early stages of a return trip to South Africa but for now, I usually go month by month in terms of my travel plans with the prefix -> “God willing”.

What have you guys been up to lately? Any upcoming travels? Please share below.

You can click on the photo for more options or view more Cherry blossom photographs over on Slow Travel Stockholm.

Have you seen cherry blossoms this season? Please share links to your photos below.

Shot of the amazing Ann Lombardi of The Trip Chicks making a quick stop as we rode through the desert towards Al Qusayr.

You can click on the photo for more options or view more photographs from Egypt in my image bank. I’m still loading hundreds of photos so it’s an incomplete set right now.

Have you been to Egypt? What did you think? Please share below.