What’s your real name and what’s your age?
mz april lynne. i am 39 years young! :)
Where are you from?
born and raised on the south side of chicago, illinois. in addition i have spent 10 of my adult years in portland, oregon.
Where did you attend college?
attended bradley university located in peoria, illinois where i received my bachelor of science degree in retail merchandising and marketing. fun fact: immediately post graduation i was able to put my degree to use at a fortune 500 company where i had the amazing opportunity to work with other creatives for 13 years and 7 months.
When and how did you start traveling?
born to travel! during my childhood my mom would take me and my grandmother on an annual vacation. we’ve traveled to florida, cancun mexico, toronto and we also went on an amazing disney cruise adventure that made a few stops to local islands. so from early on my interest in travel was peaked. it since has become a tool for healing in my personal life. i continued the travel tradition throughout my life. i love exploring new countries, cultures, and meeting new people. my longest travel experience was during my sabbatical where i got to spend a month exploring europe, which really escalated my curiosity around international travels and living a nomadic lifestyle.
How do you travel so much?
queen of ‘free’ — i wish i could travel for free all of the time, but that is not the case. however, i try my best to find the best deal [i think is] possible. also, the power of your credit card is pure magic. i am not saying swipe swipe swipe, but i make my money work for me [blog coming soon] — reward / points add up and if i am going to spend my money anyway on groceries, gas, and such i may as well collect all my points by using my credit card. there are so many options for affordable and even free lodging in most places.
ps. a lot of my international flights have been less expensive than traveling domestically within the united states of america — go figure! so before you count it all out look into traveling to places that you’ve always dreamed of going to.
tips: 1) create a budget 2) research trips [go during off-season] 3) start saving towards your travel fund even if it is a $1 a day 4) just book it! 5) enjoy your time making memories all over the world!
How did you save enough money to travel?
live a frugal lifestyle! i love nice things, but i believe in investing in memories versus things. post college graduation i was blessed with an amazing career that afforded me 13+ years of hard work, dedication, and investing + saving my coins. i made sure early on that i paid off my student loan debt instead of splurging when those pay checks started hitting my bank account. in some capacity i managed to always pay myself first — after tithing of course! i lived below and within my means, which helped me stay out of debt and have funds to play around with.
Why do you travel alone?
solo travel is freeing for the mind, body and soul! i love creating my own itinerary and sticking to it or just going with the flow and not having to be sensitive to other travel mates. also, my current lifestyle has gifted me with the opportunity of a flexible schedule allowing me to explore this beautiful world at my leisure.
while i love to travel alone — there is still fun and adventure when traveling with a group of people. i think a healthy balance to your liking of both is a great combo.
Ps. truth be told, if i waited for others to travel with me i’d still be sitting in my living room in chicago, illinois. lol!
How did you start blogging?
this blog has been in the making since 2017 —
2017 i registered the domain [on 2.26.2017] and started working on building the website, but then life happened — things completely turned upside down and a lot of ‘change’ was happening physically and emotionally so i put things on pause.
2018 i wanted to start blogging but was always consumed with working and ‘adulting’.
2019 my spiritual awakening healing journey kicked off and i finally had some free time on my hands. i used that time to start building a platform to share my story. — this time around i was seriouS and set deadlines!
2020 exactly 3 years later — the vision was plain and clear — i finally went ahead and launched my blog on the exact date i registered the domain, february 26th!
you can read more about my calling to create a platform to share my story here!
2021 info coming soon.
2022 info coming soon.
2023 my soul called me back to puerto viejo, costa rica where i have been able to press reset. my main goal was to reflect + release + receive + restore. my journey has been amazing thus far and my creative juices have been flowing non-stop, which has led me to finally launch my retreat experience for the collective. i am so excited for beautiful souls to experience the harmony + ease immersive solo retreat experience in the lush jungle of costa rica. the kick off goes live on Monday, march 6th [yikes! … i actually did it :)]!
Do you allow others to travel with you?
at this time i am a solo traveler! — but in the future, there could be a possibility for international retreats. be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you won’t miss any announcements as the mz april lynne tribe will have first access.
Where are you traveling next?
known by my friends as “where in the world is carmen san diego” and “dora the explorer” lol! one of my friends even sent me a text one day that said “are you on earth? i figured you might be traveling to jupiter or something. — you’ll be like nasa called me last week and wanted me on mars!” lmao!!!
so trying to figure out where i would be next is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. i just go with the flow of life and allow travels to find me.
however, you can always keep up with me on instagram and check out my travel blogs!
Where else can I find you online?