When I travel alone, I don’t negotiate with discomfort. I trust my instincts in foreign cities, pivot when something feels off, and choose experiences that align with my standards. In dating, though, I’ve sometimes silenced this intuition. Solo travel taught me how deeply I know what feels good and how powerful that is when I stop apologizing for wanting it.

I had never been to Kenya before, but when I arrived, it felt strangely familiar. As a Black woman raised in America, I’ve lived inside systems shaped by disconnection. Standing on ancestral land, I realized belonging isn’t always about where you’re born. Sometimes it’s about where you exhale.

As the Year of the Snake ended, I found myself shedding more than I expected—a house, a job, and a relationship. What followed was open space.

According to the Chinese zodiac, the Year of the Horse is built for exactly that: motion, independence, and forward momentum. In a moment when many Black women are being pushed out of traditional work structures, this year’s energy invites movement with intention. For us, travel becomes more than leisure; it becomes repositioning, expansion, and a refusal to stay confined.