My Story: The (Not So) Glamorous Midlife Reset

I’m Melanye (aka Mel) and I love storytelling, especially through visuals. Before I started this journey, my life looked very different.

Back in 2021, I hit a breaking point. After 20+ years working in content creation— instructional design, corporate training, and eLearning and educational video production—I was done. Professional burnout? Check. Existential crisis? Oh yeah. So I quit my job, sold my stake in the house to my friend, packed my bags, and set off in search of…something new.

Did I find what I was looking for? Not exactly. But I did have some life-changing experiences:

• A nutrition retreat in the Costa Rican jungle transformed my lifelong struggle with food into a (mostly) peaceful negotiation.
• Ayahuasca brought some answers, helped me heal physically, and led me to mend my relationship with my mother.
• And somewhere along the way, I rediscovered my love for photography.

After lots of encouragement from friends, I’m here to share the real story of moving abroad—no sugarcoating, no overhyped fairytales, just the glamourous and gritty truths. Plus a dash of drool-worthy culinary and travel photos with a sprinkle of creative soul-searching.

Is This Site for You? Let’s Find Out.

If you’re craving adventure but secretly wondering if you have what it takes, welcome. You’re in the right place.

You’ll Probably Love This Site If:

• You appreciate real talk. You don’t need a highlight reel—you want the messy, beautiful truth about life abroad.
• You crave reinvention and freedom. You’re not just looking for a new location—you want to rediscover yourself. Life is flying by, and you refuse to wake up in 10 years still wishing you had taken the leap.
• You’re done existing—you want to feel ALIVE! Whether it’s travel, creativity, or self-discovery, you’re ready for something more.
• You value ethical wanderlust. You want to explore the world without being part of the problem. You value sustainable travel and cultural respect.
• You want financial security—without soul-sucking work. You want more time, control, and satisfaction in how you earn an income, not just another 9-to-5 grind.
• You’re creatively curious. Whether you’re an artist, writer, or just a lover of beautiful things, you want a life infused with creativity.
• You overthink everything. Planning, researching, analyzing? Yep, same here. 🫣
• You hate clickbait, fake ‘dream life’ narratives, and sleazy sales tactics. No get-rich-quick schemes here.
• Or maybe… you just relate to me: A Black, queer, solo-traveling woman figuring out where in the world she belongs (a place that aligns with my spreadsheet criteria and my heart). A former corporate cog turned accidental creative entrepreneur. Someone who left behind a life that no longer fit and is boldly crafting a new one—fear and all.

If you’ve ever thought any of the following, we might be kindred spirits:

🔥 “I’m done waiting for someday—I want to live NOW.”

🔥 “If they can do it, I can too.”

🔥 “I want a life where I wake up EXCITED about what’s next.”

🔥 “This is my time. I get to rewrite my story.”

Fun Facts

3 Ways to Describe Me

• Unintentionally-brave (I swear, I don’t go looking for adventure. It just happens.)
• Multipassionate (not fickle, thank you very much)
• Bougie hippie (I was gifted this nickname at my tantra and yoga teacher training—still wearing it with pride)

Some of My Favorite Things

• Partner dancing, even though I now have to take ibuprofen after and recover under a pile of ice packs. Aging? Overuse? Who knows. Either way, it suckity-suck-suck-sux!
• Being in new countries, but not the actual planning or traveling. Those are just necessary evils. Someone please hurry up and invent teleportation and beam me the heck up.
• Cooking with friends — bonus points if there’s good music blasting too loudly.
• Making spreadsheets or pros and cons lists… then sometimes ignoring them in favor of my intuition. Yes, Tam, I’m admitting this to the world. 😆
• Everything written by Octavia Butler. Full stop.
• Food photography, because you get to eat your “models” after the shoot.