Am I lucky to have had the opportunity to travel, or is it because I've traveled, I feel lucky to have the opportunities I've had. It seems like a strange sentence, but when you think about it, it means exactly what the words say.
In my lifetime I've traveled to 22 (and counting) countries and I believe that the places I've seen, the cultures I've embraced and the experiences I've experienced have shaped who I am today.
A notable time in my life was when I was only 20 years old and I was in Australia. Why was I in Australia? Because one very cold evening in the middle of winter in Lloydminster, AB, Canada where I lived at the time I was in a movie theater watching the movie 'Fools Gold' and decided 'Why do I live here? In the miserable cold.' I decided right then and there that I wanted to go somewhere hot, sunny, and beachy just like I was seeing in the movie. That night I called my best friend and said, 'Let’s go to Australia!' And she said OK. We applied for and got a working holiday visa and booked a one-way ticket to Australia. A couple weeks later we were down under. It was very impulsive, but we were only 20 years old. What did we have to lose!
I thought I had enough in savings to afford my travels, but only a few short months in I was broke. So, I had to find work. I worked at a night club, at Subway (yes, making subs), and even on a banana farm just to make enough money to get me where I was going next. After 8 months of living paycheck to paycheck and calling home for a lifeline it motivated me to go back home, apply for university, get my Engineering degree and to strive for success in my life so I could travel the world more. And that I did, my travels since have inspired me to not only continue with my career in Engineering but also to start Z & Joxa which has become the store it is today because of a trip I made to Uganda in 2018.
I hope y'all will love all the travel inspiration that I am transitioning to incorporate into the Z & Joxa blog and socials including 'of course' cute outfits as well. But since the store is inspired by travel, I figured I'd love to share my travels with all of you! Stay tuned.
- LaVerne (Z & Joxa Founder) 💛