Aloha Melani

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Aloha Melani

AlohaMelani.com is where I share my love for Travel, Food, Experiences with the Spirit of Aloha! N

08/07/2023

♌️🦁 𝑳𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 🦁♌️

🥳 Celebrating Life. Grateful. Eyes Open. 🥳🥳🥳

This is my 2nd year celebrating my Birthday in Panama.

This photo is from last year…it amazes me how much can change in one year.

Last year I didn’t know many people in Panama. I was getting my bearings, gratefully living abroad and learning a new culture. I was also on the verge of death but didn’t know it. My senses were overloaded…so much so that I my vision wasn’t clear.

This year I am feeling alive. I know many people in Panama. I constantly have people wanting to spend time with me…and I’m so grateful that I that I can spread Aloha because I truly love human beings and I just want to continue being a light…

but my light is not for everyone.

No matter how much I want to love, not everyone knows how to receive it…let alone give it back.

I’ve dealt with that my entire life. I blamed myself in many cases saying that I’m not everyone’s cup of tea…

and the clearer my vision, the lonelier it gets. Sometimes oblivion is bliss.

All I can do is conduct myself in truth and love. How anyone else takes that is on them and how they act on it is their karma.

My nature wants to continue to give. To keep giving the benefit of the doubt. But spirit tells me there’s doubt for a reason.

Either way…I’m a Leo…I can’t help but be a light. I will continue to love. I will continue to be a winner.

If you rock with me you’re on the winning team..I promise!

🌺 Aloha Always!!

📸 Photo taken in San Blas Kuna Yala Panama 🇵🇦

07/31/2023

Las Independencias is one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in Comuna 13 of Medellín, Colombia.

Once run by guerrillas, today it’s a hilltop community with a hip-hop vibe.

I’m not big on touristy tours, and I was lucky enough to be pointed in the direction of and that gave me great insight on the history and the current state of the community.

It’s a must see in Medellín and I can’t wait to show you more of my captures and tell you what I learned about this neighborhood of 14k people.

This will not be my last visit… Medellín has captured my heart!

🌺 Aloha

04/26/2023

🌋📖𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 📖🌋

It meant so much to me three years ago. I took in the moment. I didn’t always do that, but I was in awe. It takes a lot for me to be in awe.

I held onto the vision of it. To hold me over until I could leave home again.

If it weren’t for that vision, the notion of my new home would never have come to fruition.

Now I’m standing in front of it. Three years later. A transformed being, still in metamorphosis, and still a baby.

It was new then and it’s new now. I will never grow up.

Arenal Volcano 🌋
✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽

That was how I felt when I saw this photo. NOT when I took the photo.

On the x Mentorship Trip to Costa Rica, our mentor Glynn held the first session about storytelling.

The exercise Glynn assigned was to look at a picture and tell a story. I didn’t expect to feel what I felt. I had to suck in my tears as I put pen to paper. I was engulfed with emotion, but I can’t honestly say I conveyed the emotion in my writing…I was overwhelmed in that moment…so much so that when I reluctantly read it allowed to our group of Black and Brown women (a safe space), I burst into tears.

See, I took a photo in front of Arenal Volcano on my 1st trip to Costa Rica in February 2020…I flew “home” in March and the world went into lockdown.

Grateful that I had taken that trip, the photos from the trip kept me sane…until it didn’t. As an empath, “all the things” led me to want to leave the United States.

I told the story on my feed in 2021 when I decided to become a Nomad. Little did I know then all of the changes I would go through that led me to my new home in Panama…next door to Costa Rica…by choice. I also didn’t know I would have dramatic experiences that forced me to become self-aware.

When I traveled, it was the only time I lived in the moment because I was unplugged from everyday life.

I’m learning to live in the moment today…even when I’m still.

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There’s a lot to unpack in that story…depending on how you know me, but I’m an open book, so feel free to ask me in the comments or in a DM.

🌺 Aloha

10/11/2022

🧺 Throwback Fall Picnic

This is my second time trying to upload this post. When Instagram has a problem with posting a simple photo carousel then you know it’s getting bad!

I actually just miss taking photos and not having to worry about video all the time!

So, no this is not a but it’s a memory of a nice fall picnic back when curated picnics were just becoming a thing!

and I had a wonderful time shooting this picnic at Davis Islands but we weren’t worried about making reels back then.

The last photo in the carousel is me trying to drink with and getting bloodshot eyes! 😅 random!

I still have tons of photos in my phone from taking extra pictures!

Now that Instagram wants to be TikTok what am I gonna do with all of them?? 📸 I’m posting! 🤣

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Does anyone else miss looking at photos on Instagram? Will this post even be seen since it’s not a Reel? Is IG even fun anymore now that it wants to be someone else?

09/29/2022

Do You Believe “The Legend?”

I just wrote a story on .app about the legend of the Taocabaga Indians “Blessing” that causes Tampa Bay to never get direct hits from Hurricanes.

I’ll throw the link in my stories when the NewsBreak editors approve it and it gets published.

Tampa was spared, again. The eye of Hurricane Ian didn’t go over Tampa Bay.

I lived through Charley that was supposed to hit Tampa in 2004…almost identical to the way Ian turned and went to Southwest Florida instead.

I also lived through Hurricane Irma that was supposed to hit Tampa in 2017.

Every hurricane that spares Tampa makes “The Legend” feel more true!

This is a photo of me in Safety Harbor in front of the Espíritu Water mural.

Above me is a Tocobaga Native Man and next to me is the Spanish Explorer Hernando De Soto. Safety Harbor is a big key to “The Legend.”

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Did you know that present day Safety Harbor was “Old Tampa?”

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Have you heard of the blessing over Tampa Bay…that it won’t get hit by hurricanes?

Go to my stories today or hit the link in my bio to go to my NewsBreak story that explains “The Legend” once it’s published.

Tampa still gets tropical storm winds during hurricanes. Tampa, tropical storms are dangerous so please be safe today and during the aftermath.

For anyone not fortunate enough to dodge Ian’s path, I’m praying for you. I’m also praying for those dealing with Typhoon Noru in Asia.

🌺 Aloha

08/26/2022

McDonald's is offering $100,000 in Golden Grants to Educators & Individuals with activities that benefit Florida K-12 Students.

McDonald's Vanity Duran

https://www.instagram.com/p/Chs9QFjDrWa/

08/04/2022

Panamanian Murals

This is only a 5th of a huge mural painted outside of the fruit market I frequent called Mercado San Felipe Nerí on Avenida B in 🇵🇦 Panama City, Panama.

👉🏽 Swipe to see the full Mural

It’s a Mural in Tribute to Panamanian Women

This mural actually shows 5 ethnic women, who are black, white and indigenous in typical Panamanian costumes. The women in the photo have their neck painted in 2 tones, a reference to the mixed cultures and races in Panama.

Artist: Mario Saldañasaldanaart

You can actually see Mario’s art all over Panama City…when you see it you know it’s his. Distinctive and Beautiful.

The local government created this project that consists of 26 murals in 26 districts of the capital to tell its ethnic history. How can I not love this place!!

I was just shopping for fruit this day, so I didn’t expect to want a photo.

I’m so plain in comparison to my backdrop in this photo.

I’m used to “standing out” because in the mainland US (not when I was growing up in Hawaii…which ironically Panama reminds me of at times) I am different because I am of mixed ethnicities.

I blend in here.

This is what I’m considering a plain old post. No music now video.

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How do you feel about Instagram being all about Reels now?

Tell me…👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

07/11/2022

𝑷𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒍𝒊, 𝑰𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒚 ...𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑻𝒖𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑻𝒐𝒘𝒏?

🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹

On my road trip through Europe, I made up my itinerary as I drove. After leaving Milan, Italy it was my mission to see the leaning tower of Pisa once we got to Tuscany.

I had a “miscommunication with my GPS in Italian,” and instead of Pisa I ended up in Pontremoli.

Pontremoli ended up being the most favorite place that I visited in Italy! The feel of Pontremoli is “Old world Italy” and there was not a tourist in sight.

𝑰 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝑰𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒚...𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕!

That day I realized that THIS is what travel is all about. It’s not being a tourist gawking at all the same stuff as everyone else. (I felt almost smothered in Florence, Italy by the swarm of Summer tourists)

I learned that I always enjoyed learning the lesser known areas and nuances of countries and the people in them. I’m a traveler, not a tourist.

Don’t get me wrong…I still went to Pisa and I still got my photos in front of the Leaning Tower…

but the cobblestone streets, old Catholic churches, 15th century architecture and little mushroom shop in Pontremoli really captured my heart…

and as a foodie, I believe I made the best pasta of my life with the Pontremoli mushrooms I brought home to Tampa!

🍄🍄🍄

06/22/2022

I CAN be a Plant Parent with Grow Light!
🌱🪴🌱🪴🌱🪴🌱🪴🌱🪴

I’m making it a habit to stop saying that I have a black thumb! I’m putting it out there in the universe that I Have a Green Thumb 🙌🏽 and I’m taking the first step to allowing my indoor plants to live by using a

Confession… If you’ve ever seen beautiful plants in my home in the last it’s because HubbyStanks took care of them!

This Grow Light:

🪴 Easy to Assemble
🔅 Adjustable Height
🪴 7 Color Modes & Dimming
🔅 Wireless Remote Control 30ft
🪴 4 Flexible Lamp Heads

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Are you a plant parent? How do you keep your indoor plants healthy?

Click the Link in my bio to get your own today!

06/07/2022

𝗟𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀 "𝗜 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗰𝗸" 𝗚𝗼𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗰𝗸! 🤧

My streak since 2011 was broken by The ‘Rona!

I traced it back to my flight coming into Tampa on memorial day weekend. Since I didn’t fly who still requires masks, my flight was 98% maskless.

When I landed I went to a party, had dinner with a friend and then the next day went out with friends again and none of those people got sick because I wasn’t contagious yet.

Thankfully I’m not asymptomatic because on Memorial Day I felt I had jet leg so I stayed in my hotel room and boom that night I ended up with a fever… so I tested positive & quarantined. Thankfully I’m triple Vaxxed so my symptoms were only cold symptoms.

My daughter‘s birthday was coming up the next weekend so I was determined to be the fastest person to get over COVID-19…and I did it in 3 days.

My Remedy:

🚫 I cut out meat, dairy and gluten
🥤 I drank 20 ounces of fresh pressed celery juice on an empty stomach every morning
💊 I took vitamin D3, C, Zinc & Melatonin every 3 hours
🫖 I drank Ginger & Elderberry Tea & Lemon & Honey
💊 I took Spirulina, Tart Cherry & Turmeric supplements daily
🥔 I only ate plain baked potatoes, fruit and salad

I also ordered the pills that kept me from ever getting sick before every flight called VS-C on Amazon. After a day of taking them I tested negative!

So since I’ve been a nomad for about a year after I sold my house in Tampa I’ve been slipping on all of my supplements especially the VS-C!

Why did I slip on my supplements during a pandemic?? 🤷🏽‍♀️ I guess I started to feel like I was invincible?? Or Pandemic fatigue is real. Either way I’m not slipping again!

I’m not used to being sick and I don’t want to feel sick ever again! I hope I can bear my 10 year streak… but at least I can still say I’ve never had the cold or flu since 2011! 😁

📸 Photo of me in Tulum about to go into a fresh pressed juice bar after buying a visor on the street!

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So what are your thoughts on my remedy? Be honest!
👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

05/23/2022

Witness the longest Cuban Sandwich in the World being made this Sunday, May 29, 2022, at the Cuban Sandwich Festival in Centennial Park!

04/26/2022

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝑻𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒔 ...𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝑻𝑨𝑴𝑷𝑨 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓!
📸😂😅😂😅📸

HubbyStanks (my unofficial photographer and videographer) is a good sport.

Thankfully he’s a Yelper and a Foodie so he understands that the camera eats first.

However, when wifey is an influencer he has to wait to order food too! 🤣

Oh…swipe through to see the photos of the tacos from 🤣

Happy Taco Tuesday!
🌮 🌮🌮🌮🌮

🤷🏽‍♀️
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Would you have stopped to take a photo in front of this mural BEFORE ordering tacos?

I mean, there were no cars parked there for once!

📸

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Website

http://Alohamelani.com/

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Aloha Melani - Traveler | Foodie | Hawaiian Raised

The purpose of my blog, https://alohamelani.com is to inspire you to embrace what is different and what is familiar and find the beauty in both. To see what the world has to offer in terms of Travel, Food, and a multitude of culture!

Aloha Lifestyle: I spent all the wonder years of my entire childhood in Hawaii from age 5 to 14. Due to my upbringing I live my life with the spirit of Aloha and no matter how far away in the world I am, Hawaii will always be in my heart and a part of me. My multicutural household and my Blasian background has allowed me see the world through several different lenses and I invite readers and followers to take a peek!

Major Foodie: I’m a 7 Year Gold Elite Yelper in the Yelp Tampa Bay Market and I am the reigning YelpTime Achievement Award winner. Along with my husband we also reign as the Yelp Couple of the Year. Reviewing food and experiences are my thing! It brings me so much joy to share how great it is to now be a Tampanian! We really have it all here. I also Yelp around the world!

Wanderlust: I have traveled to all but 3 states in the US. I have been to 21 countries and counting. I always have my next adventure or 2 planned. As much as I enjoy Tampa Bay the travel bug bite has infected me for life. My love for travel has led me to write about my experiences and adventures and I want to inspire everyone to step out and embrace the beauty of the world and all its cultures.