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Maribell ✞

@yourfavemanhattanite

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Your well-traveled friend seeing all 195 🌍
49 down. 146 to go.
Love God. Love thy neighbor. ✝︎

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📍Busan, South Korea 🇰🇷 You blew me away.

AND I got to experience it all with my BFF for our annual trip? Hellllo. ☀️👯‍♀️ 10/10.

If you’re planning a trip to Busan, these were at the top of the list:

1. Take the train from Seoul to Busan. It completely won me over.
2. Ride the Sky Capsule. The coastal views are unrealllllll. 🔥
3. Grab a banana iced coffee from a convenience store. @veroszcz ‘s recs did NOT miss. 🔥 🥵
4. Spend a day at the beach 🏖️
5. Explore the Culture Villages. (Gamcheon and Huinnyeoul).
6. Explore the seafood. It’s one of a kind. You’ll either hate it or love it.😉 taken in Busan, South Korea by @yourfavemanhattanite

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3 months ago

📍Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

*** Holding all of Rio in my prayers this week ***

I started the year off inside one of the largest favelas in the world. 🌎

While traveling, I’ve driven past the largest slum in Africa (Kibera, Nairobi) and had shantytowns appear in photos behind me, like in Guayaquil, Ecuador. But this time, I finally had the precious opportunity to enter one myself.

📝👩🏽‍🏫 First:
• Favela: Brazil’s version of an informal community.
• Slum: Overcrowded area with poor living conditions (global term).
• Shantytown: Makeshift homes built from scrap materials.

Not letting others’ fears dictate my choices paid off ~~as it always does~~ — I went with a trusted guia through Rocinha and learned so much. Life here has real challenges, but joy still shines through. Gangs set rules, soccer fills the streets, and I even had the best kite-flying moment 🪁⚽️

Thank you, God (Obrigado, Deus), for the opportunity to witness life around the world, gain perspective, and reflect deeply as I travel and journal safely. 🙏

#Rocinha #RioDeJaneiro #Favela #Travel #Brazil #Brasil taken in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil by @yourfavemanhattanite

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a year ago

POV: You booked the flight. Mongolia did the rest. Proof that the road less traveled is worth it. 🇲🇳✨

📌 Save this for your July 2027 adventure.
Ya welcome 👋🏽 taken in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia by @yourfavemanhattanite

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3 months ago

After just one day, Vietnam climbed to the top of my ranking of countries around the world. That says all you need to know 🇻🇳

A little glimpse of the real Hội An, plus learning all about the original cao lầu-making process. Interested in exploring Hội An at sunrise? DM me for details. It’s not a big, widely advertised tour- happy to connect you. 🛵 see you soon;)🌱 by @yourfavemanhattanite

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13 days ago

A little first look at LUMINISCENCE inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, one of the world’s most famous cathedrals ✨ Doors open to the public this Friday. A million thanks @bbbaardaa @veroszcz ❤️ taken in St. Patrick's Cathedral by @yourfavemanhattanite

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17 days ago

☸️🇹🇭One of the most unique experiences I had in Thailand was visiting 📍Wat Phra Dhammakaya วัดพระธรรมกาย, a massive Buddhist meditation center about an hour outside central Bangkok.

I’m so grateful for this time well spent! 😍 The center is open to everyone. As a follower of Jesus, I visited as a respectful observer, not a religious participant, listening, asking questions, and learning about their beliefs and practices.

They offer free tours through a department dedicated to welcoming international visitors. Reservations are preferred, but they welcome those who simply show up! They drove me around the enormous grounds in a golf cart while explaining Buddhism, life as a monk, and the practices followed at the temple.

I also learned about and practiced their meditation and breathing techniques. Those who are Buddhist or would like to experience their practices more fully can attend weekend meditation gatherings and ceremonies for extended time.

This is one of the best (if not the best) reasons to travel: to listen, learn, and better understand how people around the world live, what they believe, and how they practice their faith. Try it out sometime, I promise it’ll bring you closer to understanding and appreciating others (& yourself).🇹🇭 taken in Wat Phra Dhammakaya by @yourfavemanhattanite

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2 months ago

Bangkok, Thailand day trip idea 🇹🇭

Start at Maeklong Railway Market, where vendors literally pull back their stalls as a train passes straight through the market, then head to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market! Unlike Amphawa and Taling Chan, which are weekend markets, Damnoen Saduak is open during the week. Hop on a boat and shop from local sellers for food, souvenirs, ice cream, snacks, drinks… you name it! 🛶🥥

Consider this your sign to plan that Thailand trip! taken in Damnoen Saduak Floating Market - ตลาดน้ำ ดำเนินสะดวก by @yourfavemanhattanite

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2 months ago

The Northern Lights… in tropical Singapore?! 🇸🇬✨

Borealis is an immersive light-and-sound installation that recreates the aurora borealis above the Supertrees at Gardens by the Bay. It was one of those attractions that do in fact, “live up to the hype.” 10/10 go!

🗓️ Every Saturday, Sunday and Monday
⏰ 8:00–8:30 p.m.
🎟️ Free admission

Save this for your Singapore trip! 💫 taken in Gardens By the Bay, Singapore by @yourfavemanhattanite

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2 months ago

Dear China,

I can’t believe it took me this long to get to you. I already knew you’d be incredible, but you still exceeded every expectation. I arrived alone in a country of 1.4 billion people, where little English is spoken and the digital ecosystem is completely different from everything I know, yet I always felt welcomed and never truly lost.

You challenged everything I thought I knew, blew my mind, and gave me some of my favorite photos ever. 📸

I’ll see you again soon, if God permits. 上帝若愿意，我们很快再见。🇨🇳

With love from America, 🇺🇸
Maribell taken in China中国 by @yourfavemanhattanite

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2 months ago

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA 🇨🇳

4 out of 7 Wonders of the World. ✔️🌍

The Great Wall measures more than 21k kilometers and was built across different dynasties over ~2k years. But if you add up every section ever built, some estimates say it’s more than 50k kilometers.

That’s enough wall to wrap around the entire Earth like a belt..and then some. WTF?!!!!!

Most of the wall today was built during the Ming dynasty to defend China against the Mongols, who had a MAJOR advantage with their horseback skills. (Go view my Mongolia posts 🇲🇳).

God, I’m so grateful. taken in Great Wall Of China - Mutianyu by @yourfavemanhattanite

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2 months ago

Chongqing by day is impressive. Chongqing at night is another universe. 🌃🏍️

Some places look cool online but don’t live up to the hype in person. Chongqing gives you both. It’s absolutely insane!

This wild motorcycle photoshoot was a 10/10. Do not leave without experiencing the city in full cyberpunk mode. taken in Chongqing by @yourfavemanhattanite

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2 months ago

Only in Chongqing, China can you enter a building on the ground floor, take the elevator up 22 stories… and walk straight outside onto another ground floor. 🤯

No rooftop. No skybridge. Just an entirely different street built into the mountainside.

Welcome to Chongqing, China’s “8D city,” where the ground floor depends on which side of the building you’re standing on. This city doesn’t have levels. It has plot twists. 🇨🇳

Save this for your China bucket list. You have to see it for yourself. 📸🏙️ taken in Chongqing by @yourfavemanhattanite

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2 months ago