Solo Female Travel Blog - Home - Kesi To and Fro

Home

Kesi To and Fro

Local. Off the Beaten Track. Long Term Travel.

Years of Saving Money for A RTW Trip

Years Traveling the World

Countries visited

Continents. ONLY AnTarctica LEFT

Who is Kesi To and Fro?

Kesi is an Ivy League grad who quit her NYC, finance job in 2015 to travel the world. She left behind her Soho apartment, and started a life of unknown adventure. The mission of this blog is to teach nomads how to sustain long term travel, inspire people to travel to less frequented destinations, and to connect travelers with local people and experiences. Come along for the ride and #FollowTheFro

More About My Story

Recent Adventures

Read about my favorite travels below and find more destinations here.

Gorilla Trekking in DRC

Largest Lava Lake in the World in the Congo

Homestay at a Maasai Village in Tanzania

Instagram Feed

Follow @KesiToandFro on Instagram for current travel adventures

kesitoandfro

Ivy Grad. Quit Wall Street to see the world
4.5+ years
60+ countries
Authentic.LongTerm.Travel
👩🏽‍🍳:@iamnot.a.chef
👩🏽‍💻:@journeytobeatravelblogger

Your girl has turned 30!!⁣ ⁣ I know my birthda

Your girl has turned 30!!⁣
⁣
I know my birthday post is a little late, since I turned 30 on January 17, but I have a valid excuse. I was too busy living in the present and fully enjoying my birthday.⁣
⁣
How did I celebrate the big 3-0?⁣
⁣
I rented a beautiful villa in Nicaragua, and had 25 friends fly in for the long weekend. Most people who decided to come, only knew me, but by the end of the weekend I know everyone made at least one new friend. ⁣
⁣
One of the cons of constant travel is that I don't get to see my friends often. I meet new people every day, but I yearn for deeper connections. ⁣
I cried many times this past weekend because I felt loved and lucky to have a great group of friends in my life. People traveled from Japan, New Zealand, Brazil, USA and Germany to celebrate with me for 4 days 🥰.⁣
⁣
Some people call me a unicorn, since I can bring together a group of random people and ensure that everyone has a great time. Although I didn't take many photos from this weekend, I will still keep all the memories. The second photo is some of the group.⁣
⁣
My twenties did not go as planned, but I know I have lived my life to the fullest. I have explored more in the past 5 years than people get to experience in a lifetime. ⁣
⁣
Now that I'm 30, what should I do next?⁣
⁣
Thanks to everyone who sent over birthday messages! Sorry for not responding individually, but I didn't feel like being on my phone during my birthday. But I appreciate all the love. ⁣
⁣
⁣
#Followthefro⁣
#Followthefro30⁣

This is how I jumped into the New Year.⁣ ⁣ Tha

This is how I jumped into the New Year.⁣
⁣
Thanks to whatever human captured this photo of me living in the moment at @willy_t_bvi in the Virgin Islands, while working for The Yacht Week. ⁣
⁣
Backstory:⁣
⁣
My friend: "Kesi, let's go jump off from the top"⁣
⁣
Me: "I dunno...I don't really like jumping in water. I hate getting water in my nose and eyes"⁣
⁣
My friend: "But it'll be fun!"⁣
⁣
Me: "ok fine."⁣
⁣
Another friend: "Kesi you should go naked"⁣
⁣
Me: I shrug my shoulders and oblige. "You don't have to ask me twice"⁣
⁣
⁣
Cheers to a new year of being free, and always saying yes to random adventures.⁣
⁣
(Although this year I'm trying to say "No" more often. I need to slow down and stay in the same place for at least a couple weeks at a time. Please don't tempt me with a good time, because I'm bad at saying "No")⁣ P.S - sorry Mom. ⁣
#followthefro⁣
#theyachtweek⁣
#sayyestorandom⁣
#willyt ⁣
#britishvirginislands

Would you ever feed a wild hyena?⁣ ⁣ After I c

Would you ever feed a wild hyena?⁣
⁣
After I crossed the Danakil Depression off my bucketlist, I needed to decide where to go next in Ethiopia. I heard through the grapevine that there's a city where you could feed wild hyenas, and immediately knew that would be my next destination.⁣
⁣
I hired a private driver to go from Addis Ababa to Harar (took 10 hours), and I had one thing on my mind the entire ride, which was I CANT WAIT TO FEED HYENAS!!⁣
⁣
My knowledge of hyenas is solely based on the movie The Lion King. When I told people in Addis Ababa about my strong desire to feed hyenas they looked at me weird. They said hyenas are gross animals and that I shouldn't want to be close to one.⁣
⁣
We arrived in Harar right at 6 pm and our driver asked around for the feeding spot. We pulled to the edge of the walled city and behind a dumpster we saw a man with a box of raw meat and knew we were in the right spot. We tipped the hyena man and then it was feeding time!⁣
⁣
Feeding the hyenas was not scary. I know they are wild animals and have a mind of their own, but it was easier to feed a hyena then it was to feed a bird (you can see in my post yesterday). Plus, I think they are kind of adorable.⁣
⁣
And yes...hyenas do laugh like they did in The Lion King!⁣
⁣
How did feeding hyenas start in Harar? Well the hyena men wanted to stop hyenas from eating their livestock so they started bringing meat to feed the hyenas. Then they realized tourists would be interested in this and bam! ⁣
⁣
Feeding a hyena wasn't as cool as I expected (I needed more adrenaline), but at least I have street cred.⁣
⁣
Also, Harar is a beautiful city, which I'll take about in another post. ⁣
⁣
#followtheFroEthiopia

𝐄𝐱𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐀: Kesi, The Bird

𝐄𝐱𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐀: Kesi, The Bird Whisperer⁣ ⁣⁣⁣
.
𝐄𝐱𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐁: How I really felt - why did I think feeding hawks with giant claws and wings was a good idea?!⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
𝐄𝐱𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐂: Behind the scenes⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
Not going to lie, feeding Kites at the meat market in Harar, Ethiopia was not as easy as it looks. ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
I was terrified! I mean haven't you seen Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds?!⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
But heart-pumping activities like this are what I enjoy most. I need to make sure that I'm still living. ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
I love that I can walk up to a meat market, tip a guy $1, and feed a big bird! ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
I think I looked pretty confident feeding the kites on my 3rd attempt. 😏 What do you think? Am I a bird whisperer? Would you want to feed them?⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
#followthefroEthiopia⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
#Harar #Ethiopia ⁣⁣⁣
#kitefeeding ⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
.⁣⁣⁣
#teamkaptainkenny #visitafrica #visitethiopia #thisisafrica #discoverunder10k #travelbloggers #passportcollective #womenwhotravel #sheisnotlost #blackgirlsblogtoo #iamtb #girlslovetravel #blackbloggersclub #creatorsofcolor #blacktravelclub #blackgirlstraveltoo #girlaroundtheworld #solotravelgirl #femaletravelbloggers #blacktravelgram #femmetravel #backpackerstory

Do you think staring is ⁣ ... A compliment? ⁣

Do you think staring is ⁣
... A compliment? ⁣
... Rude? ⁣
... Curiosity?⁣
...A sign you're doing something wrong?⁣
⁣
For once I'm sharing a photo that doesn't have me in it. (Instagram can be vain, eh?)⁣
⁣
I do not remember this man's name, but he made an impression on me. ⁣
⁣
His stare in this photo is familiar, because he would not stop staring at me. On the drive over to Dallol, this guy was sitting in the front seat and I was sitting behind him. The car was full with 5 people total and I was the only tourist. I swear for 80% of the 2 hour drive this guy was staring at me from the front seat like he is in this photo. ⁣
⁣
I don't know why he was staring.⁣
⁣
I also didn't know exactly how to react. ⁣
Sometimes I would smile.⁣
Other times I would pretend I didn't see him.⁣
I would look at my tour guide next to me and ask via body language "why is this guy staring at me?!)⁣
⁣
My guide thought it was a bit funny and mentioned that he was staring because he thought I was attractive. ⁣
⁣
I didn't mind the staring, but it was a bit awkward. He literally would just stare with no facial expression, no smile or anything. ⁣
⁣
I thought that maybe I dressed inappropriately? We were visiting the hottest place in the world so I wore a crop top. I could've surprised him with how much skin was out. (I put on a jacket during the car ride once the excessive staring started) ⁣
⁣
⁣
Background: He did not speak English. He is from the local tribe, and showed us the way to Dallol. He let us know where it was safe to drive and walk. ⁣
⁣
P.S - I love how he's a natural model. His stare works perfectly in this photo and I'm happy to share it along with the Mars-like landscape. ⁣
⁣
In the comments let me know:⁣
◾your thoughts on staring ⁣
◾any stories about uncomfortable stares ⁣
⁣
#followthefroEthiopia ⁣
#dallol ⁣
#DanakilDepression ⁣
#ethiopia ⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
#exploreethiopia #discoverearth #discoverethiopia #discoverafrica #solofemaletraveler #thisisafrica #africa_beauty #ig_africa #beautifuldestinations #passionpassport #iexplore #travelanddestinations #blacktraveljourney #femaletravelbloggers #iamatraveler #cntraveler #traveldudes

Load More... Follow on Instagram

Don't Miss a Beat!

#FollowTheFro and sign up for email alerts for new blog posts

Pin It on Pinterest