Melanie 🌍💕✈️

✨ South Africa 🇿🇦

South Africa will always hold a special place in my heart.

It was my 30th country and, looking back, the perfect birthday trip. 🎂✈️

I went during a season when life felt more settled than it had in a long time. I wasn’t completely satisfied at work, but I knew I could change that when the time was right. There was peace in knowing I didn’t have to solve everything immediately.

I spent my actual birthday in wine country 🍷 with a group of strangers from New York who adopted me for the day. By the end, I was part of the crew… right up until I passed out from all the wine. 😂

I explored Cape Town’s history, joined a food tour with fellow travelers, wandered the V&A Waterfront, shopped, saw the penguins 🐧, and checked off all the iconic tourist spots. The landscape reminded me so much of Brazil that I started believing Pangea 🌎

The trip also taught me a valuable travel lesson: if you’re just connecting, do your layover in a domestic city and then fly direct. Save the international layovers for places you actually want to explore.

South Africa was unforgettable! The perfect introduction to Africa and a reminder of why I love seeing the world. ❤️

Here’s to country 30 and many more adventures ahead. 🌍✨ - December 2025

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