Jogging shapes the way I look at life

I feel like we all played soccer in second or third grade. That's like the gateway sport for kids. Soccer wasn't my thing though. At that age, I hated waking up early on Saturdays for soccer games. I needed a few more years for that active gene to kick in. So in sixth grade I started to play basketball. I played for three years. I wasn't good. Like at all. But what I lacked in basketball skills, I had loads of in stamina. It was actually one of my basketball coaches that suggested I run track (was that shade?). For whatever reason, it wasn't for me in eighth grade, but in ninth grade I decided to trade my basketball shoes for track spikes. Because I didn't know the differences between sprinters, mid-distance runners or long distance runners, I just went with the sprinters. *Sighs in embarrassment* The coach put me on the 4x1 one time and they never made that mistake again. But I guess I was decent at mid distance because I was on the 4x4 and 4x8 the rest of the season.

Anyway, my 4 years on the track team in high school isn't the point of this. The point is to give you some context in to why jogging is my chosen form of exercise. I enjoy getting into a rhythm and pushing myself - getting better and faster. It's shaped how I look at life. It's not a race. It's about finding your rhythm and becoming a better version of yourself along your journey. When I'm jogging and I'm tired and want to stop, my inner cheerleader pops in my head and pushes me to keep going. The farther I jog, the further I feel like I can go in life. So if you ever see me doing my morning walk or out jogging, just know that, for me, it goes deeper than staying in shape.

Road to my first 5K

Since getting back into jogging, I've decided that I want to run my first 5K in 2025. I feel like it'll be a challenge, but that it's doable. I'll be training 2-3 times per week, increasing my distance over time leading up to the 5K in April. If you want to follow along, I'll be providing updates on my progress via Instagram.

I think my goal in 2026 will be to run my first half marathon!

I've been vegan for 6 years

When people ask me how long I’ve been vegan I always have trouble remembering because it always feels longer than it actually has been. But I did the math y’all. So I gave up meat in 2015 and I slowly started switching to plant-based milk shortly after. Once I was only drinking plant-based milk I finally went 100% vegan in 2018. So it’s been over 6 years vegan and next year it’ll be 10 years meat-free. The hardest part about being vegan is that not enough of the people in the world are. While I would LOVE for everyone to be vegan, I would never push veganism on anyone.

I'm on what I like to call my Vegan World Tour. I'm sharing the amazing vegan restaurants and dishes I partake in via Instagram.

I also plan to share food and drink recipes that I'll be incorporating into my diet. If you're interested in getting notified when I share new recipes, be sure to subscribe to my blog!

Plantain tacos from Tierra Verde in Playa del Carmen | Photo by Chantel White

I'm documenting my journey

So I've decided to do something a bit (a lot) out of my comfort zone. I'm documenting my 2025 journey. Not just in writing, but on camera too. These last several years, I haven't wanted or liked to be on camera. I'm not sure when the aversion started, but I want to include myself more in my captured memories moving forward. So I'll be using my blog, my Instagram and Youtube to share my journey; not just with the world, but with myself as well. I think it'll be really cool to be able to look back on my writing and photos and videos and see the evolution. Plus, I hope that by sharing my story, it'll inspire someone to start their solo travel journey.

Playa 72 in Playa del Carmen | Photo by Chantel White