We know our FTLO alum are pretty cool, but we wanted to share how cool.
That's why we put together the FTLO Alum Series: Travel + Tell, where our alumni dish out the deets of their travel experiences with FTLO – the good, the wild and the amazing!
Read on to see what these millennial movers and shakers are doing as they explore the world with a new group of friends.
#FTLOALUM: Mackenzie Meyer
FTLO Lapland, 2019. Photo courtesy of Mackenzie.
FTLO Trips:
Meditation and Margaritas in Isla Holbox, Mexico 2017
South Africa, October 2018
Lapland, February 2019
Morocco, October 2019 *Booked*
Vietnam, Feb 2020 *Booked*
Current City: Jersey City, NJ
Age: 27
Profession: Event Planner
Horoscope sign: Scorpio ♏
Images from Mackenzie's FTLO trips to Mexico, South Africa, and Lapland.
FTLO, Travel + Tell
✈️ I love to travel because...
"I love to be pushed out of my comfort zone, and I don't think anything does that as well as traveling does. It's amazing to be able to explore new cultures, try new food, and immerse yourself in activities that you don't "normally" get to do. I also love to meet new people and traveling with a group like FLTO allows me to not only meet new people, but make incredible memories with them, which leads to awesome friendships (and sometimes more!)."
"Sometimes I get caught up with work, and life drama and it feels like my problems are so big -- I love that travel helps put everything into perspective."
✨ Memorable Moments...
Mexico 🇲🇽: "Receiving reiki from Kelsey (yoga guru) while sitting on a sandbar in the ocean."
South Africa 🇿🇦: "While on safari, we got to see a leopard eating an impala while up in a tree AND watch an ostrich give birth. In Cape Town, watching the sunset on lion's head with a group of some of my favorite people while drinking Pinotage (<3)."
Lapland 🇫🇮: "Sledding down the hill the day we were staying in the glass igloos -- I don't think I've had that much fun in a long time. Also, this was the trip I met my now boyfriend on, so that was pretty memorable! (We joke that it's like we met on the bachelor, our first dates were unreal -- running around at night while it was snowing, watching the northern lights from a hot tub while drinking prosecco, sharing wine and conversation while eating reindeer steaks, trying reindeer heart jerky, jumping into the Norwegian sea, in February, literally unreal!)."
🍜 Best Food Experiences...
"LOVED the food we had while visiting a Cape Malay woman at her home during the South Africa trip, it was AMAZING! Also, rusks and the picnic we had at one of the vineyards in Cape Town. The Pinotage from South Africa is also something I miss. OH and the food on the sauna boat cruise in Lapland."
🌎 This travel experience was different for me because...
"As an event planner for my day job, the last thing I want to do when I'm taking time off is have to plan things to do. What made these trips so amazing is that I could show up and know that everything was going to be taken care of. Even when things went "wrong" as they inevitably do (hurricane hit while we were in Mexico, so no fishing excursion -- a personal issue for one of my friends came up while in SA -- our bus broke down in Lapland) everything was taken care of -- and heck, some even led to great stories (we tried to pick up guys on tinder to come get us when the bus broke down, ended up at a local bar where we met some military men and got to play heads up and take a picture for one of the guys to send back to his friends!)."
📍 Recommendations
South Africa 🇿🇦: Check out the VA Waterfront for some great shopping; try to fit a hike up Table Mountain on your trip (there are a couple different routes, Skeleton Gorge takes you up to a reservoir on the top of the mountain that you "can't swim in" ;), the water is basically red and very cool!) Also, if you have a free day or an extended period of free time, check out the Silvermine Dam. There are places to have a "braai" and the water is very nice to swim in!
Lapland 🇫🇮: Go sledding, try the moon shine (it'll make your eyes tear, but you can say you did it!). Don't follow in the line while snowmobiling; explore some of those frozen over lakes outside of the line, and GO FAST! Try all the food. It might not be what you're used to, but it was all pretty good.
💙 Next FTLO trip I have my eyes on...
"I'll be heading to Morocco in October 2019, then hopefully Vietnam in February 2020!"
💡 Want to travel with FTLO? My advice...
"Get out of your comfort zone and out of your head. Just be you. These trips give you the opportunity to be your true authentic self, take it! There's no one to impress, just opportunities to miss out on. Plus, the way I look at it, you have your whole life to make money –– the same can't be said for travel. There will never be a 'perfect' time – so just jump in and do it!"