About Us
Welcome to Tiny Suitcases Awesome Adventures. Hi, I’m CiCi—writer, traveler, and mom to an amazing little boy named Titian, who is already collecting stamps in his passport. I created this blog to share our adventures exploring our city and the world together. From tiny island villages to bustling cities, we seek out adventures to add to our travel journal. With an eye for culture, history, and the everyday moments that make travel meaningful, this blog is to share our experiences with you.
As a Black expat and a mom and son, our journey looks a little different from the typical travel bloggers. Travel isn’t always as carefree as solo travel bloggers make it seem. It’s diaper bags on ferries and naps in strollers while touring cathedrals, for example. Our blog is all about navigating new places while balancing motherhood. But it’s also about passing on a love of exploration, cultural discovery, and making connections with communities that reflect our heritage or core beliefs. Finally, for us, travel is discovering how to make anywhere feel like home.
Here, you’ll find honest stories of our travels, reflections on our expat life, and practical tips for exploring with a toddler in tow. From museum visits to cultural festivals, from island life in Belize to the concrete jungles of Los Angeles and New York. This blog is about more than destinations—it’s about embracing adventure, amid everyday trials and tribulations.
If you’ve ever wondered how to see the world while juggling motherhood, identity, and community, you’re in the right place. Welcome to our journey.
About My Son
My son’s name is Titian Shaka Callwood. He had a bit of an early arrival to the party, being born at 37 weeks, after trying to “disembark” at 17, 32, and 34 weeks. It seems he wanted to explore and get out just as much as I did. This blog is for him and our Tiny Suitcase Amazing Adventures. While I may write the words, he is the heart of every adventure, the reason behind every journey moving forward.
Before Titian even turned two, my son had already seen more of the world than many adults. Tours of ancient ruins, cathedrals, and museums, with flight miles to the Americas, Europe, and North Africa. When he was born, I took full advantage of the free and low-cost flights for children before 2 years of age. With a passport stamped before most kids even take their first steps and before he took his own, his journey is anything but ordinary. He isn’t just my travel companion. Titian is my inspiration, my reminder of resilience, and the reason I see the world with new eyes every day.
Traveling with a toddler is never easy, and traveling with a child who has a medical condition adds another layer of challenge. My son was diagnosed with epilepsy at 14 months old, and Autism at 32 months old. I didn’t allow those two diagnoses to define him, or what we did. It simply means that every trip requires a bit more preparation and planning. There are medications to pack, doctors to keep updated, and the constant awareness of how unfamiliar environments might affect him.
But here’s the truth: the rewards far outweigh the challenges. Watching Titian light up as he hears new music, explores new hotel rooms or Air B&Bs, tastes new foods for the first time, or sees the reactions of people from different cultures to him has been the greatest gift of my travels. He's a real charmer and has made friends everywhere he’s gone. Titian may not remember every stop we make right now, or the people that have joined his international web of friends, but these experiences are shaping him. They are teaching him flexibility, adaptability, curiosity, and to extract joy in the little things. These journeys are also fostering his independence and sense of identity.
This blog is as much his story as it is mine. Together, we are proving that travel isn’t only for the carefree. It’s also for the strong, the determined, and those carving out a different kind of journey. Through his eyes, I am reminded that every trip is about more than checklists or landmarks. It’s about resilience, connection, and discovery. Together, we’re proving that travel isn’t about waiting for the “perfect time.” It’s about embracing the journey as you are, with who you are, and making the world your classroom, your playground, and your healing space.
About Me
Greetings,
Hi, I’m CiCi—writer, traveler, mom, and storyteller. If you’re looking for real, unfiltered stories about what it’s like to travel and live abroad from a perspective that defies stereotypes, you’re in the right place. Coming from a family of strong women who traveled independently for longer than I can remember, the itch to travel is intense in my blood. I want to share my travel adventures with you through blog stories, audio journeys, reviews, and tips on how to make the most of any trip. Be it across the globe or to the park. This blog is where I share my journey navigating the world as a Black expat, a TESOL professor/instructor, a mother to a tranquil but curious toddler, and a woman learning to balance life’s challenges with joy and resilience. Through this blog, I aim to create a space for others who often lack representation in the travel world. My stories celebrate culture, connection, the reality of globetrotting pre and post baby, balancing motherhood, one’s mental health, and self-discovery.
I am a bipolar mom who overcame postpartum depression, and one of the most powerful tools I’ve found for managing my diagnosis has been travel. Planning trips lifts me during my lows by giving me something to look forward to, while the act of physically traveling provides a grounding, productive outlet during my highs. Travel isn’t just movement for me. It’s therapy, structure, and freedom all at once.
My perspective on travel is shaped not only by the cultures I’ve explored and taught but also by the seasons of life I’ve lived through. I’ve traveled before and after motherhood, fallen in love and married abroad, and then navigated the painful process of separation from a foreign spouse. I am also raising a beautiful son with an epilepsy diagnosis, and his journey has added new layers to the way I experience and tell stories of family, resilience, and adventure.
This blog is where it all comes together: the joy and the struggle, the beauty and the chaos. It’s about what it means to travel as a single Black mom, being a Black expat, being a woman learning to balance bipolar disorder, and raising a son with Epilepsy while still embracing my adventurous spirit. I hope that by sharing my stories, I can help others. I can offer representation, encouragement, and act as a reminder that even in the hardest seasons, there are still places to discover, connections to make, and reasons to keep moving forward.
I dedicate this blog page to my first travel companion: my late service dog, Wednesday Nicole Callwood. I would not be where I am or who I am without you. I miss you every day. Your pawprints are forever on my heart—the OG travel partner.
-
In all honesty, I just do it. I plan for a few weeks of where I want to go. Then I usually implement the 3,2,1 rule. 3 months out from my desired date I pay for the most expensive thing. Be it the flight or the accommodations. Two months out I pay for what I didn’t pay for the month before. A month out I pay for any planned excursions that I want us to partake in, and any pre-payable transportation like train tickets or reserved cars. Then fly out with the budget for food, transportation, and experiences. I try to keep my trips under $3,000 all in with flights, accommodations, and excursions so I am not over extending myself.
-
There are many things in life to be fearful of delays, bad weather, transportation issues, or plans falling through. Those are things I can’t control. But what I can control is how I respond. I can make sure I always have my son’s medication, I can manage my emotions, and I can choose not to let fear define the experience. Fear itself is natural, even healthy, but being paralyzed by it is something I don’t allow, especially when I’m traveling.
I have a little human who depends on me completely. I can’t fall apart because a flight is delayed; instead, I reframe it as extra time to explore the airport or squeeze in one more diaper change before boarding. I prepare carefully too, researching destinations, asking other moms who’ve been there, watching videos, and even turning to books. I also put trust in the universe.
When I’m at the airport, I push negative thoughts aside and focus on the moment. My son will only be this age once, and I want to capture it. Whether through photos, writing, or simply holding the memory in my heart. That perspective helps quiet my fears. It’s not just my first time in a new place; it’s our first time together, his first time. So yes, fear exists, but I choose not to live in it.
-
Do it. Go. Explore. Don’t wait. Don’t be afraid.
So often, we moms wait for the “perfect” age, the “perfect” time, the “perfect” setup, or the “perfect” person to travel with. But here’s the truth: there is no perfect moment. My biggest advice? Just go. Do it. Explore.
When my son was little, it was actually easier to travel. He went where I went, whether it was museums or other adventures. Now that he’s older, it’s been even more rewarding watching him discover new places touching new textures, sleeping in different beds, walking on new ground, playing in unfamiliar spaces. Kids will always be kids. They’ll cry, tantrum, get cranky, or even get sick whether you’re at home or halfway across the world. Don’t let that stop you.
Instead, prepare. Pack what you need. Then step out the door. The “perfect time” doesn’t exist. The world is waiting, and your child deserves to experience it with you.
And don’t overpack. Remember, there are kids everywhere. Diapers and essentials exist all around the world. I bring just enough for 3–4 days, then buy the rest at my destination. That leaves me more space for souvenirs and memories that matter.
So stop waiting. Take the leap. Travel now. Explore together.