I watched the movie years ago and was curious what a Totoro stage adaptation in London would even look like. More specifically, I wanted to see how they would utilize animatronics to bring Totoro and his friends to life.

I can confidently tell you: the show did not disappoint.

A Family Friendly Theatre Experience

Before the show started, the actors playing Mei and Satsuki came out to share house rules. They let us know this is a relaxed environment and the house lights will stay on. We were encouraged to move around, cry, and laugh as you please. But mostly importantly have fun.

There were also lounges, dedicated play areas, and a 20-minute intermission (also referred to as an Interval) at the show.

The Set Design Was Pure Imagination

The set design was whimsical and extended beyond the traditional stage, stretching left and right into platforms that housed the musicians. The main house part of the set rotated like a lazy Susan, revealing different rooms and levels. It was as close to the movie version as one could imagine.

The recreations of the forest scenes were breathtaking.

Honestly, of all the shows I’ve seen in the past two years, sets design is what consistently leave me in awe. The imagination and discipline required to construct these worlds is extraordinary. Every time I leave a theatre, I find myself wondering if I should study set design. That’s how deeply it moves me.

The Animatronics Were Shockingly Believable

What surprised me the most was the how the used animatronics and puppets to create Totoro, his friends and the soot sprites.

Not that I doubted it could be done, but I wasn’t prepared for how believable it would feel.

My mouth dropped open when a sleeping Totoro was revealed. He was gigantic! It was magical. Even the little faces around me were viewing in amazement. The scale. The movement. The tenderness in the design. It was beautifully executed.

Why it Hits Differently as an Adult

Watching the play more than a decade after first seeing the film, helped me understand new themes that I hadn’t noticed before.

Viewing childhood anxiety through my now adult lens hits differently.

Totoro isn’t just fantasy but a true symbol of safety during instability. A safe presence when life feels uncertain. That symbolism feels deeper now than it did years ago. And maybe that’s why some adults cried.

Who I’d Recommended It To

I would recommend this show to anyone. But more specifically:

• First time London theatre West End experience and you don’t know what to choose
• Fans of immersive stage productions and animatronics
• Solo theater goers (like me)
• Families looking for a show both children and adults can enjoy

Would I recommend My Neighbor Totoro in London?

Absolutely!

I would see it again.

I also realize I haven’t seen any immersive shows in the U.S. yet and will so that I can compare the experiences.

I really enjoyed this show. The artistry of the production team and the believability of all the actors.

The post My Neighbor Totoro appeared first on TravelingNatural.

Hello

It’s been a minute. Life has a funny way of grounding you when you get off balance. I’d been operating in survival mode for so long that I forgot how fulfilling it is to post updates on this site, a site that has always served as a home base for travel, life, and growing-pain musings.

But it feels good to be home.

With renewed energy, a mountain of lived experience, and the perspective of a woman now entering perimenopause, I’m returning with a different lens. I think I was around 25 or 26 when I published my first post here. Sixteen years later, at 41, I feel like I’ve changed so much, and yet, not at all.

The Pause

2025 was… a wreck. Did it feel that way for you too?

I left Washington, D.C. after eight years and returned to my home state. I left my federal career, and a fully remote job I genuinely loved, after uncomfortable workplace conditions created by DoGe. At the same time, my health plummeted: unmanaged low ferritin, leaky gut, fibroids. Applying for jobs in this market has been exhausting, and I wasn’t prepared for what life without structure would actually feel like.

More honestly, I hadn’t realized how dysregulated my nervous system still was.

I thought this new era of “funemployment” would naturally usher me back into creative pursuits, acting, blogging, YouTube, and eventually income from my personal endeavors. It didn’t unfold that way. No one really talks about how difficult it is to plan a future when your nervous system is frayed and overwhelmed.

So I did what felt most aligned with restoring peace: I traveled.

Two weeks after my final day as a federal employee, I went to Japan, a place I once believed I’d only see after retirement or with three consecutive weeks of approved leave. I stayed for about three weeks, celebrated my birthday there, gained weight, lost weight, and rediscovered parts of myself I hadn’t accessed in years. Being there felt like a long exhale after holding my breath through multiple administrations.

Japan was exactly as magical and grounding as everyone says. I documented some of it on YouTube, and I’ll share more reflections here in time.

What the Pause Taught Me

In the months I wasn’t posting, I realized just how much the creator landscape has changed. Flashy short-form content dominates now, while long form writing and blogging feel quieter, almost rebellious. I’ve had to think carefully about the voice I want to carry forward here.

I also learned that freedom without structure can be destabilizing.

After Japan, I sat a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat in Nepal. It left me empty in both good and uncomfortable ways. It confirmed that I’m resilient, that I can do hard things, but it also forced me to confront who I am when life isn’t scheduled, mandated, or externally organized.

The hardest part hasn’t been meditation or travel. It’s been finding myself again in unstructured time and finding work in the midst of it.

Why Writing Still Matters

I still love blogging, even in a world dominated by Substack and short-form platforms. Writing grounds me, and I often wonder why I’ve always started and stopped.

But lately I’ve been asking a different question:
What would happen if I didn’t stop?

When I first started, I told myself to give it three years. I’m not sure I ever blogged three years consistently. But during the 2011–2014 era, it was joyful. I met people through natural hair and travel blogging communities. When travel slowed, I questioned what I had left to say.

Now I see it clearly: it was never just about travel. Or hair. It was always about becoming.

Witnessing the becoming, mine and others. That’s what draws me to stories, podcasts, and memoirs. So that’s what I’m leaning into now.

What to Expect Going Forward

I’ve been returning to activities I loved as a child, and I’ll be sharing more about that. I know I’m not the only woman rediscovering herself in her forties, and I’d love to find my people along the way.

This space will be slower. More reflective. More honest.

I’m also learning to be publicly vulnerable, not perfectly, but intentionally. I’m less afraid of being seen than I once was. Life is too short not to live as the artist I know I was meant to be.

Closing

So, if you’re interested in keeping up with my antics, I’d love to have you here. If you’ve been reading since the beginning, thank you for staying. And if you’re navigating your own season of uncertainty, reinvention, or becoming, I’m glad you found your way here.

Let’s do it together.

The post Coming Home to the Page: An Outline appeared first on TravelingNatural.

But I am so curious to know if anyone still reads blogs? I feel like short form content like Tik Tok and Instagram have people glued to their phones now. And no one is interested in in reading blogs anymore. If you run across this post, can you comment what your thoughts are on this topic? What is your current go to form of indulging in content?

I haven’t done an update it a while and am getting ready to leave life in D.C. Can you believe I have been living here for eight years?! Time flies and I am so ready to go lol. Anyway, just wanted to pop in and do a pulse check to see who still reads blogs. My site was down for almost a month, and it made me realize that I actually do miss writing about my travels!

I will be back consistently on November 1st, 2024, regardless of if anyone still reads this content or not. This use to be a heavy passion project of mine and it is time to get back into it. I have some major updates to share next month when I return. I hope you are all well. And to whomever is still reading this blog, I see you :).

The post Pulse Check! Do You Still Read Blogs? appeared first on TravelingNatural.

As far as an update let’s see.:

• I ended up going back to school for a second graduate degree in August 2021. I ultimately left the school because I didn’t feel supported and the program I was doing was actually accredited. I made me realize the life lesson that “cheaper isn’t always the best option”. Why did I come to this realization? Well, I got into a great Erasmus program which would have me do one year in Sheffield UK and one year in Paris. But I was on the wait list for the scholarship. The cost would have been $18K. I had that about that much saved as disposal income to augment a scholarship and stipend. But the school I chose actually gave a scholarship and a part time job. It turned out not to be the better decision. And I wonder what would have happened if I chose the option that scared me the most (mainly because I would be living on a shoestring lol)?
• I went back to working a full-time job. I quit when I thought I may move abroad for school.
• I decided to pursue an old passion of training as an actor. I applied for a yearlong acting conservatory auditioned and got in! I am two months away from graduating! I am so tired and looking forward to it. But it has been a great experience thus far.
• I still post content to YouTube and Instagram. Kind of low volume now as I finish my training.

That is pretty much the update. Oh! And I am still in D.C. for now. I hope to move next year and take a sabbatical. Okay now you can check out the new travel series that I have on YouTube and my traveling to Mexico video. Have you been to Mexico City? Let me know in the comments. Also let me how you’ve been lately.

Watch the video here!

Until next time – Tamara

The post Traveling to Mexico City! appeared first on TravelingNatural.

Now as I am in this season of revamping the blog I’ve been reading through their resources. That’s when I stumbled upon all of the shows. I think my favorites so far are:

1.Trade Show

2. WI-Finers.

3. Second Act

Check it out: https://mailchimp.com/presents/

My newsletter has been dormant for a while. Mostly because I haven’t had any ideas of what to post. With travel at a standstill and my plans to move to Singapore in limbo. Well, not really in limbo, the world is literally shutdown to all of America right now. My intentions have always been to send helpful travel and life tips. Onetime I even posted some Travel Affirmations that I created. But I made the mistake of posting the content in a popular travel group on Facebook and saw my idea rebranded and marketed *shrugs*.

I don’t really know who reads this blog since only one person responded to the audit and a handful opened it. But after nine years of blogging content will surely change and readers will come and go. At this point my intentions are to share the resources or pintable’s that I create. Also, any fun information from D.C., my journey with soap making, and how I plan to move abroad after the pandemic.

Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Until next time (originally written in 2020).

The post MailChimp the next Netflix? appeared first on TravelingNatural.

If you checked out my last update (you can read it here: https://travelingnatural.com/a-travelingnatural-update/), you know that I applied to graduate school last year.

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this on the blog, but I completed a Master’s in Women’s Health back in 2011. It was one of the worst and best experiences of my academic career to date.

The graduate program was unorganized and ended up costing me $60K in student loans. However, it did allow me to do a semester in Spain, which was nothing short of amazing!

I don’t feel completely fulfilled in my career and decided to return to school to get new skills and a global perspective in my field of interest.

I was pleased to find tons of information about free, fully funded masters and Ph.D. programs worldwide.

I will be sharing all that information I found on the blog and YouTube channel and starting with information on the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degree Program.

The post Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Program(EMJMD) appeared first on TravelingNatural.

2020 was rough, and I know I am not the only one glad it is over. Little did we know that 2021 would be a part 2.

Today I want to write an update on where I’ve been and the future of this site. 

2020 – Perspective

Did I already say it was rough? Of course, I’m not going to talk about covid-19, but quarantine gave me time to reflect and gain a new perspective on life and the relationships I have with family and friends. Here is a list of the unique insights I gained: 

1. Family is important. 
2. If you don’t hear from family or friends EVER during a PANDEMIC, maybe they are NOT your family or friend? Let that marinate. 
3. Happiness is a choice. And doing tasks every day that excites you can help to maintain your happiness levels.
4. Tracking your daily expense is essential. 
5. Having a plan or budget is important. 
6. How you manage $1000 is how you will manage $100,000, so build good money habits. 
7. Learning to invest is a game-changer. I paid $1200 for an investing class, and it was worth it. Sometimes you need to invest in yourself or a coach to get the knowledge you need to prosper. 
8. Good fitness and nutrition habits take time to build and 30 days to destroy >_<.
9. Working from home is so amazing! I am no longer around office gossip or office politics from middle-aged adults. 
10. Lastly, trying new hobbies is fun, and you are never too old to do so!

Just a few tidbits that I mulled over in 2020.

Thanks for Taking My Survey!

I posted a survey to gauge this blog’s readership and whether or not I should shut it down. Thank you to the few people that shared input. I appreciate it. I have decided I will never shut this site down. It’s a part of me now and needs to grow as I grow. I launched it in 2011 after pondering whether or not to start it in 2009 and 2010. It’s been alive for ten years now! Can you believe it? June 2021 will officially be tenth year. Honestly, I must admit that it has been a little discouraging in the past to see other bloggers flourish with readers and income but exist in a shorter amount of time. But I remind myself to never compare my efforts to anyone else. 

After all, how consistent have I been?

We will celebrate the TravelingNatural.com anniversary, and I am going to do a giveaway!

Consistency

Let’s touch on consistency. I have been struggling with it over the years. Not only with weekly blogging but in other aspects of life too. For example, fitness and vlogging for YouTube. I made the goal in June 2020 to post a YouTube video every Sunday from July to December. Also, in 2019 I decided to take my fitness seriously and lower my body fat percentage. I started powerlifting, and I genuinely love the sport. I had to stop because of having a torn retina. 

You can watch a video of my fitness journey below:

You can also watch my most recent Youtube video below:

Shaving My Head

I created TravelingNatural.com to document my solo travel journey around the world. And to note how I take care of my naturally curly hair as I move about in spaces where my hair texture was considered foreign or unique.
During quarantine, I contemplated shaving my head. My hair became an afterthought, and it looked unhealthy. As a result, I decided to shave my head. It was the only way for my hair to grow back healthy. In a painting by Toyin Ojih Odutola called “Representative of State,” the black girl with the beautiful afro is my muse. I talk more about my shaved head and the painting in the video below.

Learning New Hobbies

Coding

Let’s talk about hobbies and changing the trajectory of your life. I have been learning to code since 2015. And by learning, I mean procrastinating because my consistency was abysmal. I started a blog while in the Peace Corps to document my coding practice. I made one post! Girllll! Lol, I can’t stand myself sometimes. I started and stopped over the years. During quarantine, I picked up with my Colt Steele Udemy course again. From April to May 2020, I practiced every day.

Then fell off AGAIN. In November, I logged in only to find that Colt had revamped the course. My progress bar, which was almost halfway, was back to the beginning. I told myself I would start over in December or January. I have been practicing for at least one hour a day since the second week of January 2021. Once I finish Colt Steele’s Web Developer Boot camp, I will complete the FreeCodeCamp course that I started in 2016. As a motivator, I created a 28-day coding challenge on my other website www.modestlymagnificent.com. Check it out if you are into coding , exploring the GROWTH Mindset or learning to shift your negative mindset.

Applying to Graduate School

From September to December, I focused on applying to graduate school. Yes! Your girl is going back to school if someone accepts me. I have applied to two European schools and one American. I plan on making two videos to discuss the European Erasmus program. If you watched my June update video or How to become a diplomat video, you know I’ve been applying to become a diplomat for several years. I’ve decided that I will try one more time this year and then stop. Along with blogging for ten years, I have been applying to the Foreign Service for the same amount of time. At some point, you have to realize that God has other plans for your life.

Soap-Making

The last hobby I want to touch on is soap making. I have posted about soapmaking briefly on this blog. When I was in South Korea, I wanted to do a class. The class I found mostly used glycerin. At the time, I didn’t know this, but I wanted to learn cold process soap making. It’s a very therapeutic hobby to practice. I thought I would start soap making in my retirement years. But I love it so much now. I will start selling my soaps. I have way too many bars, and my family and friends have told me to start selling. It should be a fun little side hustle.

Final Update

Oh D.C., I love you, but I think it is time we part ways. The District has been in the news way too much in the last four years, lol. The energy here is anxiety-inducing.

I wish I had made a move to SINGAPORE in 2016 after returning home from the Peace Corps. But I wanted to “save money” and “pay off my student loans” first. Now look, we can’t even travel!

Unless someone wants to hire me to be a Full Stack Developer with experience in AI and Machine learning to work at their company and help me with my visa??

Oh, my dream. It will happen. Moving to Singapore, it will happen.

I don’t know how or when, but it will manifest. But as for now, I need to break up with D.C. I will update you on where I end up. Until then, thanks for reading this super long post. Leave a comment if you read to the end. I want to know how you are doing.

See you soon! Or follow me on Instagram.

The post A TravelingNatural Update appeared first on TravelingNatural.

Enter Chloe Ting!

Her videos found me on YouTube because the algorithm keeps judging lol. But I watched a ton of the reviews and results video of her program. Then decided to do the full 2 week shred challenge. You can find the program here: https://www.chloeting.com/program/2019/two-weeks-shred-challenge.html

It’s the shortest of her challenges and the most reviewed on YouTube. I really appreciate all the free content the fitness content creators make!

I started the 2 week shred on August 3rd and completed it on August 16th. I won’t leave too many boring details here, you can watch the video below.

But I will share my key take aways:

• Documenting your food intake is really important while on a fitness journey. It will ensure that you are in a caloric deficit.
• Completing some form of workout everyday is possible AND easier if you have a written plan.
• Chloe Ting is a really fun and enthusiastic instructor, I recommend her, 10 out of 10.
• I WILL NOT get shredded in two weeks…unless I am losing a ton of water weight??
• I will not get ABS in two weeks…PERIOD.
• You can form a habit in less than 21 days. I did with this challenge.
• Documenting your workouts can help with maintaining accountability to yourself .

If you were looking for a sign to jump start your fitness, this is it!

Side-note: I love and believe in people getting signs, but am really bad paying attention to my own. But this post might be inspiration.

I will continue working since I am not at my goal body yet. But will use video from other YouTubers that also incorporate dumbbells. I remember when I lived in South Korea I would do the Zuzka Light and Blogilates workout videos. They were fun and effective. Check those out too if you are looking for suggestions.

Maybe I will do weekly updates on my fitness journey here? We will see

Anyway, let me know if you are trying to get fit in 2020. Eating a healthy diet and working out everyday is about the only thing we can control now in 2020. Stay motivated!

Until next time!

The post I Did The Chloe Ting 2 Week Shred Challenge appeared first on TravelingNatural.

You’re probably wondering why? Well let me explain. Years ago when I was taking graduate classes in Spain we went on a weekend trip to Biarritz, France. It’s a cute little seaside village near the Basque region of Spain. I remember frolicking around the boutiques and stumbling upon a small soap shop. The smell was amazing upon entering and the owner seemed content organizing her copious amounts of soap.

My assumption was that she retired, started her business, and takes delight in selling to tourist or just sitting alone with cheese and wine people watching. Three years later I visited Biarritz again with a friend and found the same shop and woman, still content and unbothered.

Visiting Biarritz, France (again)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLqx2DHuCK8&t=23s

From that moment on I decided that will be me in my retirement or before, classy and UNBOTHERED. Bar soap is always one of the easiest souvenirs to bring back from my travels. Most of that time though, soaps were saved for my research lol. The art of soap making is something I’ve always wanted to learn and have no idea what took me so long!

This year in February, I turned my tiny dining area into an office and craft space. Then I searched online for soap making kits to help kick start my cold process soap making experience. You have no idea how much I LOVE DIY hobby kits! I bought one a few years ago to learn embroidery. You can see my designs in this video. DIY hobby kits are always thoughtfully put together and saves you multiple trips to the craft store.

The Search

The quote “when the student is ready the teacher appears” is really fitting for my experience.

Pretty sure I have searched for cold process soap making kits in that past but maybe they were not sufficient? I also searched amazon and wasn’t happy with what I saw at the time.

Finally, I found the kit from a company called Brambleberry. It had EVERYTHING I needed to get started AND to continue with my own recipes. The package was delivered in about two weeks. And I loved it. Here is the soap (my FIRST ever soap) in this video.

Two weeks later I ordered another kit from this company, which was also amazing. I haven’t had to buy any new equipment since purchasing the kit. All I buy now is oils, essential oils, and other additives like clays. Once my equipment gets rusty and overworked, then I will invest in new ones.

I am totally IN LOVE with this new hobby It is not difficult and working with sodium hydroxide is not that scary. All the soap I make now is shared with my family and friends. My focus is to create soap for skin like mine that may suffer from rashes, inflammation, or dryness. The sister to the cold soap process is the hot soap process. I have not dabbled in that yet but it utilizes a crock pot or slow cooker!

Hobbies Relieve Stress!

Cold process soap making has been very relaxing during this stressful pandemic. Ironically is was the pandemic that pushed me to start experimenting with this craft NOW instead of waiting. It just goes to show that if there is something you want to do in life just find a way to do it because tomorrow isn’t promised at all.

Hobbies are a really great way to clear your mind from feeling hopeless.

Actually, for my birthday, my little brother got my a DIY box kit for making bath bombs which was amazing. I made a video about my birthday and showed the kit. But you can get if off Amazon below:

What I did on my Birthday!

I’m trying to get better about documenting my journey on my blog. I know my hiatus to travelingnatural.com has become far too common. Baby steps. I’ve been walking a lot around D.C. so will documenting all that I find interesting. With the pandemic tourism has been super low. But most of the outdoor monument are still open and visiting with with very little crowds has been great. I’ve been documenting it on YouTube. But of had neglected to share it the blog. Here is the first video.

Hopefully you enjoyed reading about my new passion for the cold process of soap making. And also learning what I’ve been up to the past weeks! More updates to come.

I really want to interview some Returned Peace Corps Volunteers that were affected by the pandemic. Stay tuned for that! If you are a RPCV reading this, that was sent home in March and wouldn’t mind being interviewed, please reach out. I know you all have great stories to share.

What hobbies have you started in 2020? Or during the quarantine? Please share below. I am always down to learn something new!

Until next time,

The post Cold Process Soap Making appeared first on TravelingNatural.

The Five Paths Discussed Are:

1. United States Department of State
2. United States Agency of International Development
3. United States Department of Agriculture
4. The Rangel Fellowship
5. The Pickering Fellowship

The post How To Become A Diplomat appeared first on TravelingNatural.