GRIEF AND LIGHT

How solo travel helped this Latina find herself again with Bianca Alba

• Nina Rodriguez • Season 4 • Episode 98

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Sometimes, healing begins in motion. In this episode, Nina Rodriguez sits down with Bianca Alba, founder of This Latina Travels, to explore how grief, identity, and travel intertwine. What starts as a conversation about exploring the world becomes a deeper story about returning to yourself.

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Video available here

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Her story begins in a single-parent household where vacations felt like something other people did, faraway dreams that didn’t belong to families like hers. Today, Bianca has traveled to six continents and uses her platform to show women of color what’s possible when you give yourself permission to go. Her work reminds us that representation isn’t just inspiring, it’s necessary.

Nina and Bianca also reflect on the power of community, having recently shared virtual space as speakers at the Latinas in Podcasting Summit 2025. The conversation moves through grief, identity, purpose, and the courage it takes to keep expanding your life after loss.

Bianca opens up about the Lola Challenge, a three-day running event in Puerto Rico that connects her to her body, her resilience, and the island she now calls home. She recounts a deeply emotional moment on a beach in the Virgin Islands that reminded her how grief meets us wherever we are.

They also explore the complexities of traveling during political and social turbulence, including recent US disruptions affecting travelers. Bianca speaks honestly about the privilege and guilt of being a travel content creator during difficult times, and how she balances joy with responsibility, visibility, and awareness.

Her love for Puerto Rico weaves through the conversation—its beauty, its challenges, and the hope she carries for change. Bianca shares her vision for future retreats on the island: spaces rooted in culture, learning, healing, and community. Places where women can breathe, honor their grief, and rediscover parts of themselves that got lost along the way.

This episode is an invitation to rethink how movement, land, and connection can hold us through grief. A reminder that healing isn’t linear; it’s lived, mile by mile, moment by moment.

Key Takeaways:

  • Travel can be a companion to grief, offering new ways to process loss.
  • Representation matters—It can be life-changing for women of color to see themselves in spaces historically closed to them.
  • Grief and joy often coexist, and choosing adventure after loss isn’t forgetting—it's honoring the fullness of being alive.
  • Community heals—from podcast summits to shared stories, connection lights the way forward.
  • Travel during turbulent times is complex, and it’s okay to hold both gratitude and discomfort as you navigate privilege and responsibility.
  • Puerto Rico holds deep lessons about resilience, culture, and what it means to belong to land and community.

Guest: Bianca Alba

Hosted by: Nina Rodriguez

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Grief is one of those topics that's not really talked about, especially within the Latino-Latina community. And for me, I think it really goes a bigger layer because of being immigrants. I literally remember my great-grandmother passing away via phone. And I remember my mom just on the phone crying, crying, crying, because our great-grandmother had passed away, her mom passed away like that. And so I feel like grief in that sense has always been...

like a hush-hush subject because we couldn't even physically go there. And that is just heartbreaking even to just to say out loud. You just lost your loved one. Now what? Welcome to the Grief in Life podcast where we explore this new reality through grief-colored lenses. Openly, authentically, I'm your host, Nina Rodriguez. Let's get started. Sometimes the path back to ourselves after a loss takes us far away from home.

or it redefines our sense of home. After losing loved ones, today's guest found herself traveling the world, not to escape grief, but to move with it. Through solo travels, she discovered that healing happens on planes, new cities, and in quiet moments between destinations. Today's guest is Bianca Alba, and she is the founder of This Latina Travels, a vibrant platform blog and podcast that shares the unfiltered journey of a first-gen Latina

exploring the world one country at a time. As a little girl growing up in a single parent household vacations were just a dream. But now Bianca has traveled to six of the seven continents and is on a mission to encourage and support women of color to chase their own travel dreams. Let's get into it. Bianca, welcome to Grief and Light. Thank you so much, Nina. What an honor to be here. And again, thank you so much for having me. It is an honor and

I'm so glad to be having this conversation for many reasons, but you are in Puerto Rico right now. And for those who may or may not know, that's where I'm from. I have a strong affinity to the island. I miss it so much. So it's wonderful to be talking to you for all the reasons that we named and to share a personal story about grief and travel and those connections. We were both featured speakers in the Latinas in Podcasting Virtual Summit 2025. So shout out to Paulette Errado who

created this wonderful space for underrepresented voices to be heard. so anything you'd like to share about your experience with that before we get started with our conversation? Sure. I mean, I just think community is everything and Latinas and podcasting really is all that. And if you haven't heard about Latinas and podcasting, shameless plug, go check it out. I mean, they are...

And you don't even have to have a podcast to be part of it. If you're interested in podcasting, if you love podcasting, I always tell everybody the worst that could happen is that maybe you just don't listen or don't take a peek, but come on in and join our community. is, and it's a wonderful community from all walks of life, different parts of the world, different viewpoints and everything. And I really appreciate the way that it's space has brought us together. So shout out there. had to plug them in and you have a lot of big things coming up, especially tomorrow. I think it starts, you have...

three very intense days. Anything you care to share about that? Sure. So tomorrow is the beginning of this run challenge called the Lola Challenge here in Puerto Rico. Like Nina mentioned, I live here in Puerto Rico. I've been here in PR for almost 10 years now of my life, which is so crazy to even say out loud. I used to be a runner. I grew up playing sports, soccer, basketball my life, but I didn't start running till my mid-20s.

And I feel like running really saved me in so many different ways. But I also, you know, it's hard. Running is not, you know, for everybody. And I also say it's hard for everybody, and especially different tolls of your life. So I haven't run like a distance run in a while. And so this run is also new because I've never done three days of running, which means like tomorrow I start my 5K, which is three miles. And then on Saturday,

I'm going to do a 10K, which is six miles. And then on Sunday, I'm going to do a half marathon, which is 13.2 miles. So three days in a row consecutively waking up at one in the morning every single day. Because if you know here in Puerto Rico, it's always hot 24 seven all year round. So we have to start early. So all my runs start at 4 a.m., which is also insane because I'm not.

I'm a morning person as much as I used to be. So I will be going to bed at 7 p.m. for the next couple days. After this, you're to be going to sleep. Exactly. I'm so excited. think running is just a beautiful thing because it's all about you. At the end of the day, doesn't matter how much you weigh, what's the color of your skin, how old you are. You know, there are runners out there who don't even have legs and still do it. There are women who are pregnant that do it.

That's to me, like such an awe. And that's why it motivates me to continue going. I'm not a fast runner. I call myself the party pacer. My little bachata or my merengue is slowly in the back. But you know, I always say slowly, but surely I'll win the race. And that race is like for me. But yeah, thanks for asking. I'm really excited. That's huge. And I'm supporting you in.

good vibes and I wish you the best. These experiences are really something that nourish. I saw my husband run his marathon and at the end of it he was like another person. There was some deep connection with yourself and a sense of accomplishment. So I'm sure that's something to what you're touching on about running and about that connection. And also travel. I'm imagining that travel has that same link as perhaps what you described with running. tell us who is Bianca today and what does travel mean to you?

Yes, travel definitely means all that and some, you know, when I was little, I didn't get to travel as much. I love saying this quote because I really, really believe it. It's like what our parents traveled for necessity. We're out here traveling for joy. I'm a proud immigrant. My parents are immigrants. I came to this country when I was six months. So it's like that's only the big travel that I knew for the longest time in my life because we were immigrants. We didn't have the money.

Traveling's expensive when it comes to traveling and family. so growing up, I just dreamed about beaches. I dreamed about just Disney World, all the things that think kids fantasize. You see your neighbors, your friends. Even though I didn't get to do all that stuff, I still had so much love in other sense, right? Like I mentioned, I played sports all my life. So that was a way for me to get out of my comfort zone.

For me, what travel really did and what it changed, it was when I started traveling by myself. And that wasn't until after college and then I moved away from the DMV area, DMV area, DC, Maryland, Virginia. And so I really got to know who I was as a person and as a woman. And for travel, it's hard, especially when you come up from an upbringing where they're told like, you shouldn't travel by yourself because you're a woman.

Or like, what do you think like you're doing just like going to these different places where you don't know anybody. And then the guilt also of traveling, right? Because sometimes, again, like I said, like your family never did this. So you're going to feel that sense of guilt of like, maybe I shouldn't spend my money on this or that I've had to learn on my own. Like it's okay for me to travel. It's okay for me to love myself in a different matter. That wasn't maybe what my...

mom, what my other family members did. And that also shows that I'm like breaking those barriers. And that for me is what at the end travel means to me. you for sharing that. And a lot of people take traveling for granted, but for many of us, didn't grow up that way. We didn't grow up traveling the world. And I'm curious, did you ever feel resistance from your family about these travels? You said there's some guilt and you got to the part where you gave yourself permission to do it, but was there any pushback from your family for the times you

went to travel and were away from home. I think the biggest pushback that I got was when I was in college because I just moved out of the house and I was completely on my own. I started traveling up and down the East Coast to different college campuses because of my Latina sorority that I was part of. And so I remember my mom always questioning, why are you going to Delaware this weekend or why are you going to Jersey this weekend? What's up there?

But the big pushback was when I, you I just started going to college, but it was a different type of pushback. It wasn't the most common pushbacks that I think in the Latino communities fall under, which is like, okay, you shouldn't, you know, go to this or the judging or the feeling of guilt because most of my family is still in Bolivia. It's not like my family's right next door, right? Or like I see them all the time for holidays. But I will say for the...

Most part because I'm the oldest. I also think I got that like way in the sense that I did whatever I want, which is not also in it depends, right? It's half and half some older siblings. Like I feel like that's the way they have to do it because you're like that survival mode because you've always been told you need to do this by the book. You need to go to school. You need to make the money. But then at the end of the day, too, I'm like, I need to live. And I feel like that's exactly what travel did. It allowed me.

to and to finally put myself first. I resonate with that and I love that. And yes, I'm also the oldest and it is a different experience depending on the family that you come from. Your family system believes because there's that parentification that you're expected to be almost like their third unofficial parents in the family and an extension of them more than you are your own individual, especially in the cultural context. So I'm glad that you had that understanding and knowing for yourself to say,

Yes, and I want to live my own life and I'm worthy of living my own life. So where does grief come into play in all of this? So grief and travel, how do those two link up for you in your personal story? Yeah, so I always feel like grief is one of those topics that's not really talked about, especially within the Latino-Latina community. And for me, I think even it goes a bigger layer because of being immigrants. I literally remember

my great-grandmother passing away via phone. And the reason why is because back in the day we had the phone cards when you would go to the little bodega or the store and your mom would make you go in there and scratch off the thing by. I have these memories because I remember my mom just on the phone crying, crying, crying because our great-grandmother had passed away, her mom passed away like that. And so it's, I feel like grief in that sense has always been.

like a hush-hush subject because we couldn't even physically go there. And that is just heartbreaking even to just to say out loud. And I feel like I really experienced grief when the closest family member to me, pastor, which was one of my aunts, and it was during COVID, when unfortunately there was deaths going around. And I also worked in public health at the time. So I feel like it was a double sword. You're in it because of your career. And then two, you also have to experience this because of your family.

And I feel like I had to be that strong eldest daughter mode. We're gonna be fine, we'll send money, we'll figure this out. But it wasn't again until I was by myself, I'll never forget. And I talk about this trip all the time and this is why I always think traveling solo is so key to everybody, man, women, or however you identify, because it really allows you to get out of your comfort zone and reflect and be in stillness, which I think is so important. And I was in...

the Virgin Islands and St. John to be exact. I woke up one morning pretty early, went to the beach and I was there by myself in this beautiful beach called Trunk Bay. And I just remember tears rolling down my eyes when I was in this ocean. And I kid you not, I feel like my aunt, my grandmother, all these people were there physically with me and I was there just crying. Crying in one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been.

And I just remember just feeling that like lift off my chest of being able to finally cry and properly grieve them. And again, I feel a lot of Latina women, especially being the eldest daughters, can say that they can relate to that. Because I feel like we do bottle our feelings a lot. And we do hold it because we need to hold it together. Because that's what's been graved in us since we were young. And I want to give your listeners and anybody listening to this like

to give yourself that space, to reclaim that you do deserve to also cry, you do deserve to be sad, and you do deserve to feel all these emotions however you want because we're all different and it's okay. So yeah, so that was my big experience when it came to grief and travel. There's so much there that I want to get into, but one of them is it's okay to cry in beautiful places and also sometimes that peace whenever you're in a peaceful place.

It actually unearths the sadness you haven't allowed yourself to feel in so long. So it's not that rare to just have that moment of quiet and feel like, woo, look at this beautiful space. And all of a sudden, you just well up with emotions inside. And also you talked about in certain families, that's not a thing. We don't grieve.

So much of that is because of the ancestral struggle, because of the nature of immigration, just saying we don't have time to deal with all these emotions. We just have to make things work. We have to, we have to keep going. And in that, when you're living in survival mode, we often don't feel our feelings. And I've heard so many times where somebody will say, can't cry. My person passed or I experienced this thing and I just can't cry.

And it's not until they have a quiet, peaceful moment, all of sudden that comes flowing. It's a moment when we are able to feel what we haven't. And I want to preface that the conversation we're talking about travel literally as there is a government shutdown impacting travel all across the U.S. This is being recorded in November 2025. There is an active government shutdown for almost over a month already.

and it's impacting people's ability to travel. So we can talk about how nice it is to travel and to get away. And also we're living in a context where this is increasingly restricted for different reasons, including immigration, including politics, including everything that's happening right now. So what are your thoughts on these things? Yeah, it's definitely a hard subject. I think about this, especially a lot this past week, I had a moment to

to just disconnect, to be honest, Nina, because it is heavy. You for me, as a content creator, blogger, podcaster about travel, I feel even guilt posting about travel, knowing everything that's going on in our country. I'm over here, like, trying to balance that out because I do want to post about how to get to XYZ place, the tips on this, because that's, you know, again, my platform was built to educate and motivate women, especially women who look like us.

But I'm like, but I'm like over here crying every single day because I'm seeing our communities being completely torn apart. So I think it's just a balance. At the end of the day, I'm going to continue giving myself this advice, whether some days I take it or not. But we have to give ourselves balances because that's how we're going to survive through this. We're going to have to be in community. That's why I appreciate all the different communities that I know me and you are part of.

because it's so important to remind ourselves to have these days that it's okay to feel low and it's okay to not want to do everything full force, but also to remind yourself that you are important, that you also have a voice, that your voice matters at the end of the day with everything going on. So just giving yourself this grace. For me, traveling, especially now, it is hard because I want to go to all these places, but I also realize

the state of what our country is going through, it does scare me. Even though I'm a U.S. citizen now, even though I have the U.S. passport, which to this day is still such a privilege. When I would travel like a bunch of countries and have this passport, you would never get questioned. So I feel like right now my answer at this moment is just all over the place because that's how my emotions are. But I'm just reminding myself day in, day out.

of why I started this, know, what my purpose is. And I feel like everybody needs to remind themselves that because when you are grounded in your purpose, that's when you're the strongest. And also that's what you're going to put out at the end of the day. whether that's, know, journaling, disconnecting, being talking to community, like do everything that you need to do to live in your own purpose and be at your best potential. Absolutely.

And thank you for bringing that up. And like you said, you're thinking of, this is the content that I put out. This is what my brand is about. This is what my podcast is about. So how do you integrate both the grief and the joy of traveling in times like these? What would you say to somebody who maybe doesn't feel like they have permission to travel right now or?

How do you integrate those two opposing feelings? I would say the first thing is we have to let go of these expectations. I'm Latina, I'm a child of immigrants, the oldest. It's like we have these expectations that we need to have all our ducks in a row, right? That we need to have all the money, that we need to have all the PTO, that we need to have all the rules, have a house, be married, have kids. But no, those expectations are changing.

And I think with that in mind, I feel like you will alleviate a lot of those things to give yourself that permission. And I'm going to share just me as an example for the longest time. I thought I was doing it wrong. I'm just getting married next year and I'm 36, proud of 36. I don't have kids yet. And if I do, it'll be great. If I don't, I don't. I don't own a house. I proudly rent and I love it. I have a beachfront condo that I...

clearly can only afford because I'm renting, which is great. But for the longest time, I'm like, Bianca, you graduated college. You went on a full ride. Don't have any debt to your name. Not only do you have an undergrad, but you have your master's. Like, you did all that and then got a government career. And then they took it away from me this year. So it's like, you did everything right. It's not on you, but I've had to give myself that permission. And I've had to put those expectations aside because if not, you know, like, I feel like

That, like that itself, like grieving my career this year has been so tough. I know when we think of the word grieving, a lot of times it is, you know, physical people, but I've learned also this year with a lot of therapy, like I have the right to grieve my career as well. And that's something that I am getting used to it because it's still like some days where I just cry my eyes out because I'm like, what did I do wrong? Like, what did I do to deserve this? But also,

I'm like, didn't do anything. Being like, okay, Bianca, like, remember, you have to give yourself permission. You have to let go of these expectations that society, unfortunately, has put. Thank you for touching on that. Yes. So much grief that people experience, they don't know it's grief or don't know what to call it. Grief essentially is the human response to life altering loss and change. And that includes job loss, especially a career that sounds like you loved. We're going through a lot of challenges.

in the collective where people are losing their employments and the way it's looking, it's probably going to continue happening. So if you're listening and that happened to you, there is nothing wrong with you. This is really part of the zeitgeist of what we're experiencing right now. And I'm curious what advice would you have for somebody who's going through that right now? And how do you give yourself permission to release expectations? That could sound so easy, but it's actually kind of hard to do sometimes. it's so hard.

And I would say also I feel like I'm a hypocrite with giving this advice because I feel like some days I'm I needed to step back But I think something that really has helped me is just speaking good About myself to the world and what in that sense what I mean is like every morning I wake up and I tell myself like I'm beautiful I'm a badass so like I got this like speaking words of affirmation into my life and You may think that it's silly and people do it in different ways like words affirmation prayer. However, you want to

talk to yourself or to a higher power. But I do believe how you start every morning really does affect how your day goes plays out. So my biggest advice first is doing that even waking up so many times like we forget that getting out of bed is a win. Getting out of the house is a win. Like, there are so many days where I did not want to get out of bed, you know.

And I'm like, I am so grateful for my dogs. And I'm just like, wow, little things like that. Like I'll go and walk them. And I just say, thank you. Thank you for getting me out of bed because I can breathe, because I can walk, because I have the power to do all these things that just may be easy to some, but to people who are grieving, people who are going through these emotions is just so tough. So I'm going to start there, like, you know, just doing little things.

to remind yourself of the good community. I have an amazing supportive fiance who sees me sometimes more than I see myself. And you don't have to have a partner to this. can have friends, some of my girlfriends that I know that I could say like one little thing and right back, I'll get beautiful messages reminding myself, okay, now I'll be good.

And I think another thing that I do now, I have in my email, I call it, are a badass folder, and emails that make me happy. So when I'm having those down days, I'll go through that folder because that reminds me again, like, you know, reassurance, like we are human beings at the end of the day and you are entitled to have a bad day, but remind yourself that you are also good and that you clearly all these people.

think that you're a badass too in some way, somehow. And so those little reminders have definitely helped me on my off days as well. There's so much wisdom in your words. I love what you said about even getting up as a wind, walking your dogs, getting fresh air. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Getting those small wins in your day, if you will, or those small moments of presence. They add up and they help us build resilience and move forward no matter what's happening.

I call it collecting evidence, like collecting evidence that life is still worth living in the days when things get very confusing. And similar to you, I have a folder, it's labeled like just the heart, just like things that touch my heart or that was very nice or whatever. like you said, it's helpful to see that as evidence of, hey, even if today's a bad day, doesn't mean tomorrow will be or even the next 30 minutes will be. And that helps us reframe. And I'm curious is...

tomorrow's race or the next three days worth of race part of this process of, you know, moving through the grief and maybe getting back in touch with yourself? 100%. Yes. Like even yesterday when I went to pick up my race bib, there was like this one.

Chiropractor doctor she had a section that said like what are you doing this race for and the first thing I put I was like me myself and I because Last night I'm crossing by myself This race but like jokes aside like yes, I'm doing this for me But I'm also you know doing this to like for everything that's going on in this world like I just feel Like it's just so heavy times right now that running really helps me alleviate that while each mile I told myself I'm gonna dedicate it

to an emotion that I'm feeling. So whether that emotion is like, why the heck am I here? To, you know, I'm gonna fight for women's rights. Like I ran my first marathon back in 2017 and I have this shirt and it says like, love is love. What does, black lives matter. Climate change is real. Immigrants make America great. And then the last line says, women's rights are human rights.

That was back in 2017. Like I still strongly believe in all those phrases. And that's what also goes through my mind. Like I run for all those things and more. And yeah, would say running definitely is part of my healing process. Whether I like it or not, because I have a love-hate relationship with it, it's part of it. I love that you have that point of connection with yourself, your purpose, and just the greater world, our greater world.

Marathons are part of building that community. It's part of reconnecting. And I love that you're dedicating every single mile to just a different cause. That's such a beautiful driving force. And talk to us about the experience of living in Puerto Rico. I grew up there until the age of 11, but so much has changed since. I still have family there. I was just there earlier this year.

for our anniversary. And so much has changed. And right now, Puerto Rico is front and center in so much of the political discourse. And I know that there is grief living there as a resident, seeing the world from the inside out, not from the outside in. I don't have a specific question here, just maybe something that's in your heart to share about the experience of living in Puerto Rico as much or as little as you want to say about that.

I definitely would. I want to always say that it's a privilege for me to live here in Puerto Rico. I'm not Puerto Rican by blood, but I always say que soy boricua de corazón, which means, you know, I'm Puerto Rican by heart because I've been here for so many years. I moved here two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit. Two weeks.

And I had been in and out of the island, prefacing it a year and a half before because of the Zika response at the time I was working in public health. So I was in and out of the island being a Spanish woman speaker and because that was like my role here. But when I moved here, will vividly always remember probably 13 people on my flight coming into the island. And when I got off, there was like, I don't even know how many people in the airport waiting to get out.

And what people don't know is, imagine literally losing everything. And not just like losing everything, but not having power, not having water for, at that time it was already two and a half weeks. People were just trying to get out and there was no flights. And if there were, they were charging like a thousand to $2,000 one way to Miami or Orlando. It was something insane. So I just remember also that heaviness of.

coming into an island that I already had so much love for, but being boots on the ground. And that's why I decided to say yes when I moved here during that time, because I knew I couldn't just sit in the States and just watch things unfold like they were. And that was my first experience of really what an emergency response was, even though Zika was an emergency response. No, like when I moved here after Maria, that was when I really saw how Puerto Ricans are treated as second class citizens.

Like when I tell you as somebody who worked for the government, and I'm very open about this and on my platforms, it was very devastating to see just how everybody was treated here. The reason why Puerto Rico has gone through ex-catastrophes and survived is because of community. And that's what keeps me here at the end of the day. It's community. It's the people. But it shouldn't be that way. We pay 11.5 % of taxes, which is the highest in taxes.

There's no stability with power or water. Last week or the week before, I had no water in my apartment, which is insane. Like, it's like, how does this happen when we pay so much money? And so it's just frustrating because year after year, it's the same thing over and over again. And I think it's time. Like, it's been time, but I think it's more time than ever that we need a change and we need to have these conversations with our parents, with our theos, with our grandparents.

because it does stem a lot from back. And I will say that because it is very scary seeing it firsthand here how much of an influence TV politicians have on our older communities because they scare them. They scare them that it's going to be, if something changes, we're going to be a Cuba, we're going to be a Haiti. And it's just like, no, that is not what's going to happen. I'm not saying change is going to happen overnight.

But we do need a change from what's going on in these past 10 years. So that's my perspective. I know that everybody has very, very strong sentiments about Puerto Rico. I just want, at the end of the day, I adequate health care systems. I want teachers to make more than $18,000 a year. They have master's degrees and they're paying $18,000. Like, what? I want their...

to be animal shelters. There's over 600,000 animals on the island. Like, we're the size of Connecticut. There should not be 600,000 animals. That's a public health crisis at the end of the day. Like, that is not okay. When there's so much money embedded, it's like, where is this money going? I want roads that don't have potholes. I want signs that just should be put up. There's signs still that haven't been put up after Maria. Maria happened how many years ago?

It's just a lot of things that, yes, I get frustrated and I know that, you know, you have to be in the community, you have to be in these leadership roles. So I've been thinking more and more, I'm not going to lie, Nina, I think maybe it is time for me to change careers completely and go into politics. You never know, but there comes a time where it's like, all right, if I'm not going to be a politician, I'm going to be an advocate. Like I want to be part of these teams to help like people understand like there's, there needs to be a change. And it starts with.

with us, our community, in having these conversations. Thank you for saying all that. I always say that the living in Puerto Rico and being Puerto Rican experiences carry inherent grief. If you know the history of the island, if you've been there, if you've lived there and really connected with it beyond just tourism, right? Because tourism does not give you...

and a tenth of the full picture of what's actually happening on the island and what the experience is actually like. If you know beyond just visiting as a tourist, you know there is so much grief, there's so much injustice, there is so much pain, there is so much that needs to be fixed. And it starts with educating ourselves on its history. It's interesting, I was just there.

May of this year, and we went to Vieques, which is one of the islands off of the main island. when we left, when my family left in, I'm going to say it was 95, so mid to late 90s, they had the marinas. So the military was in Vieques and in different parts of the island. And some of the testing that they did resulted in children getting maimed.

and dying and incredible pollution of the natural ecosystems and people getting cancer. The highest cancer rates were in Vieques. So there were certain incidences that resulted in the locals managing to essentially kick the marina out of Vieques. When we were there in May, there was this Uber driver that was taking us to the port and we're talking to her. She's a local and she's telling us like, I remember in the late nineties when this happened.

And I wrote a dissertation on it and she was telling us stories from back then and we were just horrified. We were like, my gosh, I remember this. And also your stories are just awful of what was done to the locals. And to hear that now they're remilitarizing and reopening certain bases on the island is just incredibly painful to hear. And also who knows what effect this is going to have. I don't necessarily foresee anything good, but.

To your other point about maybe you switch careers, I'm a fan of if it's in your heart and you care about something so deeply and you really are educated and you know what you're talking about, especially with your background, having worked in the government and also in public health, like that's how we make a difference. Yes, no, I 100 % agree. I know I joke around with it, but seriously, when I tell you, I feel like we do need people to make change. We need change makers at the end of the day.

And I think that's something that I could say I'm passionately, yes, involved with the community when I want to change, like make it happen. And I know it takes more than just one person, but even if I could just impact somebody to be even because there are great politicians out there. I do believe that there's great leaders out there. We just need to put them in the forefront even more and have these conversations and not let fear dictate our votes. 100 percent.

I do believe that with each crisis as dark as some things may seem, that's when new types of leaders emerge, the ones that are fit to meet the moment and the future as it is. So maybe a lot of this fear and a lot of this darkness is because we're using old frameworks and mindsets and a paradigm that is evolving so quickly and in such a massive scale that we need people who understand this and we need people who are willing to do the work that it takes in this context.

That's a whole other conversation. We went from travel to like, well, thanks, but it's all tied together and grief is political. Grief absolutely is political in every single way. In grief, we tend the pain and adjust the suffering. The pain is the unchangeable element. So I lost my job, my person died. This major life change happened, this diagnosis happened. There's not really anything we can do about that. It's a done deal.

where we can affect change or adjust or navigate with agency is in the suffering. And that's where we can choose to make meaning out of a situation where we could choose to live differently, move differently, show up differently in the world. That's not necessarily only related to death. It's all related to all the things that we talked about. So for example, when I see you, this Latina Travels brand, even the hat you're wearing today, it's yellow, it's sunny for those watching on YouTube.

You always have such a beautiful, bright smile. You always have this really joyful energy. And also so much of what drives you, sounds like, is this integration of loss and making new meaning and finding new purpose in life as you move forward. So I see you, I guess is what I'm saying. I see you. I see what you're doing. And I know that one of the other things that you were thinking about doing is some retreats in Puerto Rico.

Is that something that's still on the map or is that something that would be shifting with your new desire to go into perhaps politics or advocacy? Yes, no, for sure. I've always said like in my dreams, I would love to have women come to Puerto Rico, especially because I've seen here and I lived here. So this past year, I hosted a group of 25 students from Penn State University.

They have a program called Alternative Spring Break. And so I hosted them. This Latina Travels hosted them. I was able to link them up with local tour guides here. We stayed in Ajuntas, which is in the southern part of the island. We did like really hands-on work. Like when I tell you like we worked at the shelter in Cabo Rojo. Twelve of the students were able to bring dogs and become flight angels.

We learned about Bomba and Carolina. So it was a really hands-on experience. And that is what really touched me. Because I was like, I know that I have it in me to really bring people here and not just get the life flu-z, like margaritas or mojitos and beach in Puerto Rico. No, like truly, like not only learn about yourself, but like support local. And if that's something about my brand, like it's always going to be like, you know, how to support, how to really help out the community.

So yes, I would love, love, love to host and manifesting like women retreats, especially for Latinas, because I think again, like I resemble that I know like, you know, I know we all have different upbringings, but I know that we all have very similar struggles and whether that's in mental health, whether that's through grieving, whether that's through just life, like life be life thing. I think coming to Puerto Rico and just escaping from that reality, but also learning. So I want to.

have a learning component. have amazing women in my life that are amazing therapists, that are amazing doers, educators. And I can envision having a beautiful beach retreat and just being able to even just write in our journal on the beach about things that, again, we never gave ourselves permission to do while growing up. Taking an authentic cooking class, right? Having that time to just really learn what these...

roots and vegetables came from. I think there's also so much in that history, in that sense, when it comes to fruits and vegetables, especially here in Puerto Rico. And then of course, the music. For me, music is everything. And if we know the history of Bomba y Plena here in PR, it's so, so deep. And I've made beautiful connections with Bomba y Plena instructors. I know the history. Then we'll tell you about Loisa and that.

will show you. You actually will take the class and get into those roots. And you don't have to be Puerto Rican to love and appreciate this music. And this is coming from somebody who isn't Boricua, but you you learn to really embed in. And at the end of the day, we all are related some way, somehow. I always say we all have African roots.

And you get to learn that and see that firsthand when you experience things like this. So yeah. So to answer your question, my vision, definitely I want to have these retreats. I'm going to manifest them and continue speaking about it. And when they are out, I'm sure you'll see them all over my website and social media. I would love to partake in some of that and be a part of these beautiful offerings. And earlier I said that so much of the Puerto Rico and being Puerto Rican experience involves grief.

The other side to that is the joy, the real attunement to what's really important in life, the resilience and the spirit that we have in the island and just as a people because there's, with struggle comes or can come resilience and joy. And one holds the other within when we expand our capacity to do that. So much of that is through music.

and food and community and all the things. And that is really where Puerto Rico shines and in many other ways as well. But I love this. I'm having such a beautiful moment of connection and appreciation for your love for the island, your experience and you being there and sharing from within as well. I really, really appreciate that.

And if people wanted to connect with you and This Latina Travels and your offerings, maybe they heard like, you hosted this event, they want to plan something with you. Where can they find that information? Yes, they can find all that information on my website, thislatinatravels.com. But I'm on all social media platforms at This Latina Travels. I always say my inbox is always open. I love to connect to community again is everything to me.

So yeah, shoot me a DM, shoot me an email. If I don't know the answer, because I don't know the answer to everything, I will find somebody who does. I love that. And I know you have a wedding coming up soon. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. obviously tomorrow, the next three, I keep saying tomorrow, but it's three days of a race and all the things that you have going on in the next year. Is travel in your future in the next six to 12 months, or is that on pause until further notice until you, you know?

get all these other milestones accomplished? So yes, in the sense that we have our honeymoon location show. So I'm getting married in February, so February 15th, to be exact, because I'm a sucker for love. So I wanted a Valentine's Day, but it was just too crazy. So was like, you know what, next day will be fine. So we decided on Iceland. So I've never been to Iceland before.

I'm super excited. It's a beautiful, magical country. We're hoping to catch the Northern Lights. But more so, I just can't wait. I can't wait to just check off another country that's completely different. I'm usually sun, heat, take me anywhere that I could just lay on a beach or just relax. This is opposite. I will need a lot of layers. It will be very cold.

Not too, too cold, but it'll be cold, but it'll be an experience. Iceland is just absolutely something else. So I'm looking forward to it. That's definitely one of my dream locations, especially when you're in the heat. I'm not in Puerto Rico heat, but it's still South Florida. Like we don't see the leaves turning. We don't get cold winters. We make it like a chilly day or two and that's about it. So it's really nice to have that contrast and it's really nice to see something completely different. And speaking of that actually, what has traveling changed in you?

How has it changed you? Oh, it's changed me in so many ways, but I think the first thing that I will say for sure, it has just allowed me to be okay with not being fully okay, if that makes sense. So for example, back in the day, I used to want to know everything. I used to want to plan everything to the T. It was really bad. My friends would say, Pia, you're OCD. I would have morning breakfast, lunch.

stops everything. But traveling has allowed me to slow my pace and allow me to realize that it's okay not to know everything. It's okay that not everything goes by the book. Because some of those memories, the ones that like literally were unplanned, have been some of my favorite memories in my life. So that's what I would say. I would say that it's okay not to know everything. It's okay not to plan everything. Just, you know.

Take it day by day, but allow that time for things that are unplanned. I could use a dose of that. like I need to go travel again soon. And as a follow-up to that, how or what has traveling taught you about the world and your place in it? So it has taught me so much. First,

Just the cultures, that when you get to travel and you see the beauty that's out there, and I'm not talking about like a luxury five or 10 star hotel, no, I'm talking about like the deep culture. for me, some of like the most priceless things have been having a meal with my homestay mom in South Africa, or having that one-on-one time in Egypt in Luxor for...

with my travel guide who I had no idea that this was gonna turn into that, but we had like a whole dinner like set up. Like those moments to me are so rich, like in every way possible because I'm getting to experience someone else's culture and someone else's life and just seeing how happy, happy so many people are around this world and they don't even have like nearly half the things that we do. So it just goes to show them.

Yes, money definitely buys and helps in so many different ways, but there's other ways to see richness as well. And I think by traveling, I've gotten to experience those different cultures that I would have never been able to do if I just sat in my hometown or where I grew up. Absolutely. there's some people, there's a movement against traveling, which I find so bizarre sometimes.

I, similar to you, I've found that not only your capacity to understand the world, understand and even break some of the biases that we have just by being in our bubbles, that sometimes we don't even know we have certain biases until we visit a new place and realize how things actually work or a different perspective on how others live that is maybe opposite to what you were taught. To me, it just feels very expansive and very eye-opening. And if anything, it just

makes me feel small in the best way possible. Like in a sense of, like look at the magnificence of our world and everything that we have yet to discover if we just open ourselves up to it. Because I feel it's very closely tied to a lot of this resistance that we're seeing here, at least in the US, of not engaging with people who are different from us. And I feel maybe you can share something about this, but I feel like traveling.

breaks those walls down, or at least can, because a lot of it is one's attitude. Some people travel and they get absolutely nothing out of it other than like reinforcing their biases. But for the most part, I find that it expands us as humans. Has that been your experience? Oh, 100%. I mean, think about it like this, Nina. In the United States, we're told that English is the dominant language. English is the supreme language, right? And that's it. Most people who

grew up in the United States or from the United States, only speak English. When you start traveling and you see your tour guide know seven to 10 languages, I'm always in awe. Like, I'm like, what? And this is coming from someone who does speak two languages. I'm fluent in both English and Spanish. And I think I'm all that. No. When you start traveling and your tour guide, like I'll never forget my tour guide in Peru this past year, she knew.

English, Spanish, Japanese, German, French. I was like, how do you know all this? It was just so, it is beautiful. So just that aspect of language, right? The fact that knowing more languages is actually a beautiful thing and is 10 times better than just knowing one language. Being able to speak more than one language is 10 times better. So I would say even something as simple as that.

And I definitely wish I knew more languages because it just opens doors to connections to even having a completely different experience. You're able to appreciate the little side conversations on the streets or the colloquialisms or the expressions or something that maybe if you don't speak the language, you just completely missed out on because you don't. So that's not to say you need to go and learn 10 languages by all means. Do it if you can, but it's just a wonderful way of experiencing the world in a way that.

we normally wouldn't. So thank you for that perspective. And we're getting to the end here. I want to ask you, is there something that we didn't touch on that you want to include in the conversation? I mean, I just want to reiterate, I feel like solo traveling is such a beautiful thing. And whether or not, you, I think everybody in their being has the right to do it. And you don't have to go far. Like I always tell people, just go to the next city over or go to the next state over, but do it for you.

do it, especially during these hard times. And even if it's just disconnecting for the weekend to a cabin or something, but travel your little heart out and you don't have to be a millionaire. I always tell people, I'm not a millionaire yet. And I've been to so many different countries. So if I can do it, you can too. And stay connected, stay connected to amazing people like Nina, like myself, because I know that we just want the best for you. And especially for a topic like this.

whether you're grieving somebody, grieving a career, like it comes in ways and just give yourself that permission to not be okay, but to also to be okay. Wise words once again. Yes. Thank you so much for your perspective, for sharing your story and for whatever it's worth. You're a millionaire in experience in my eyes, because I think being able to give ourselves permission to have these experiences enriches our lives in many, many ways, tangible and intangible.

And as a final question, Bianca Wood, would Bianca today say to Bianca embarking on her first solo trip? I think Bianca right now would tell her to spoil herself. Like, yes, girl, you deserve it all. You better treat yourself. Like, in that one episode of Parks and Rec, treat yourself, treat yourself. Yes, because there are so many times that I didn't treat myself. So that's what I would tell her.

beautiful. And if you're watching or listening, take this as a sign for you to book that trip and travel and treat yourself. Bianca has been an absolute honor. Thank you so much for your time, for being you. And I am so excited to see what's next and to cheer you on in the next three days. I hope you have a wonderful time and we'll be in touch. Thank you. That's it for today's episode. Be sure to subscribe to the Grief and Light podcast. I'd also love to connect with you and hear your thoughts and your stories.

Feel free to share them with me via my Instagram page at griefandlight. Or you can also visit griefandlight.com for more information and updates. Thank you so much for being here, for being you, and always remember, you are not alone.


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Nina Rodriguez

Host
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Bianca Alba

Guest