Hi! I am JaMeka, and I live in North Carolina with my husband, Meshach and our soon to be 6-year-old son, Tristan. My husband works for a local municipality and I am approaching 12 years in working as a TV Producer in Raleigh.

What passion drives you to collect adventures, and how did you discover it?

I think curiosity about the world and the thirst for experiencing new things play a huge driving factor. I also think I may have inherited it from my dad who always told me stories about his travels, people he met, food that he tried, and amazing sights. As a child, my family always took a road trip during summer break, and it was fun driving around the country. Now that I’m older with a family of my own, I want to take every opportunity to let Tristan experience this amazing world we live in.

What is your favorite memory from one of your adventures?

That is a tough question! There are so many favorite memories! I think our visit to Titanic Belfast on our Ireland trip was memorable. Tristan has a huge fascination with the history of the Titanic. It was a dream come true for him when we visited the museum and saw the actual shipyard where it was built. It was a surreal experience!

What is the most embarrassing moment from your travels?

I think the question is, when don’t I have an embarrassing moment while traveling! It doesn’t matter where we go on our trips, something crazy always happens. One, in particular, happened in Italy (before Tristan was born.) Meshach and I fell for an embarrassing scam while waiting to go inside St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. A man walked up to us and said he was a tour guide and that he could get us to the door quickly if we joined his group who were supposedly waiting for him at the front of the line. As tired as we were from other sightseeing that day, we agreed.

Little did we know, he walked us through the line of VERY angry tourists – basically walking through and cutting the line. And when he figured out we weren’t going to pay him, he suddenly jumped out and left us behind!

We apologized to everyone on our way to the very back of the line. It was so embarrassing, but we felt mostly ashamed of making everyone angry and falling for a scam.

If you could give someone advice about pursuing their passions and collecting adventures, what would it be?

I’d say, go for it! Find a way to fit it into your life. Make changes where needed to accomplish your goal. Meshach handles our budget, and we changed our spending habits years ago to help pay off debt and save money. For example, if someone wants to save money for a trip, you could easily do that by not buying lunch on work days and instead, bring a packed lunch from home. In one year you could save an average of $2600!

What are your top 3 life goals or bucket list items?

1. I’d love for my family to see all the places we want to travel to that’s on our travel wish list.
2. I want Tristan to have the opportunity to pursue whatever he is passionate about with the support of his family.
3. I want Meshach and I to retire early, maybe continue running his lawn care business that he currently does as a side gig, and do a lot more traveling so I can continue writing about it.

If you could travel anywhere in the world with no budget restraints, where would you go and why?

I am in love with Europe! I think I would take a couple of months off and literally travel throughout Europe.

What are 5 fun facts or quirks about yourself?

1. I played the violin pretty well throughout elementary school and junior high. Now I can’t play a single note!
2. We own backyard chickens, and their names are Mary, Catherine, and Elizabeth. Don’t worry, they are keeping their heads!
3. My nickname in high school was “Giggles” because I giggled a lot.
4. I have always loved astronomy and wanted to be an astronomer when I was a child until my dad said they just sit in front of a computer all day, so I changed my mind and got into writing scripts and stories. Ironically now, my job involves sitting at a computer most of the day.
5. I spent my early childhood years living in Hawaii since my dad was in the military at the time. It really is a beautiful place like in the photos.

What are 3-5 MUST HAVE items you always pack when traveling?

1. Definitely must bring our camera gear! We love taking photos and have gotten into creating videos too.
2. Hand sanitizer and wipes.
3. Our laptop and portable drive to back up our photos and footage at the end of each day.
4. An extra day’s outfit we like to call the “wild card” in case we change our mind on what to wear during one of the days on the trip.
5. A copy of our passport and driver’s license to keep with us at all times if traveling out of the country.

How can we find you?

You can find me here:

• Ramnaths Away 
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Pinterest
• Podcast

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