Travel Italian Style is back with more advice from another fabulous & empowering woman in the travel biz!

Our very own Jessica had the pleasure of speaking with Metanoya this week about travel, style and how to stay true to yourself!

Metanoya believes you can create a life full of wanderlust & travel--here she shares her advice on how!

PHOTO COURTSEY OF GLOBETROTTING STILETTO

Ms. Webb represents the true spirit of the fierce, fabulous and fashionable female traveler. As the founder of Globetrotting Stiletto, a "digital lifestyle channel that celebrates the wanderlust in us all," she credits her own introduction to wanderlust to her mother who enjoyed traveling and instilled that love in her family.

Metanoya is of Jamaican descent and fondly reflected on her family trips there, noting Jamaica as her favorite place in the world. "I just think there's so much magic in the island- from the food, to the culture to the people" she shared.

In our exclusive chat with her, she recalled not wanting a typical Sweet 16 party and instead, wanted to travel: "For my sixteenth birthday I didn't want a party, I wanted to travel and I did a mission trip when I was in junior high school to Puerto Rico as well. I think that really exposed me to the rest of the world. I think that once you start traveling it's hard to stop, it's very addictive."

She continued her escapades abroad during college where she studied abroad in London, living there for a year and visiting places such as Italy, Spain, France and Amsterdam. According to her, returning to the United States did little to quench her thirst for travel so she went on to live in Costa Rica and then Belize. Now she calls Brooklyn home, and says "I figured out a way to be home, stay in one place, and feed my travel spirit."

Traveling the world sounds like an amazing lifestyle for sure, but how did it all start? Contributing to publications such as InStyle, Marie Claire, Cosmo, she eventually made the switch from traditional publications to digital media and worked on Globetrotting Stiletto at the same time. In the less than a year since she began to devote her full attention to her site, it has become a hot spot for women to explore content related to travel, style and empowerment.

PHOTO COURTSEY OF GLOBELTROTTING STILETTO

One of the coolest things about Globetrotting Stiletto, is their abundance of mood boards, created and curated by Metanoya's assistant. Similar to the visual inspiration that fashion designers draw from mood boards, "Globetrotters mood" focuses on the visions and essence of a certain place from Florence to Honk Kong to Hollywood. But they are much more than pictures, the content of this site encourages readers to learn more about the world and embrace their burgeoning wanderlust.

FLORENCE MOOD BOARD FROM GLOBETROTTING STILETTO — FLORENCE MOOD BOARD FROM GLOBETROTTING STILETTO

A globetrotting lifestyle does not come without blunders here and there. "My house got broken into when I was living in Belize. It cut my trip short because I was so scared" Metanoya shared. Going on to state that the experience didn't scare her off from traveling: "I had many eyeopeners while traveling but I think that overall it makes you a more well rounded person. I was a little more open to the unexpected and I'm comfortable in it now."

On solo travel, Metanoya shared that she was very into solo travel when she was a bit younger, especially because people's travel styles and capabilities vary greatly. The novelty and the ability to be as flexible or inflexible as need be appealed to her. "If I saw a great deal and I had the time off and my friends didn't, I would just jump on it and do it!" She credits her solo experiences as helping her be willing to be by herself and meet new people while traveling.

Her traveling is a mix of solo and grouped, business and pleasure, from a recent trip to Rio with girlfriends to plans to visit Asia and Cuba for the first time, Metanoya lives a truly global lifestyle. Her words of advice "Just do it. It's easier said than done but look at what you're afraid of. Dissect your fear because a lot of fear is just in our heads and that's what people have to stay away from. Go with an optimistic outlook and know that you're going to be okay.

On the benefits of travel, "You become a citizen of the world and not just of your everyday environment. Especially for creative people, you need to be inspired constantly. It can really spark something inside of you that takes your creative endeavors to the next level, seeing the colors of a country on the other side of the globe can really inspire what work you're doing back home. Travel has so many benefits; its more than just a leisure activity, I feel that it's essential because experiences mean more than anything you can buy!"

When asked about the benefit of trips such as Travel Italian Style's upcoming women's solo travel yoga trips, Metanoya said that a solo travel experience is "something every woman should have at least once in their life." She shares, 'sometimes we just need to retreat;other cultures tend to value and respect that more than American's.

I think that it's an imperative and great that we have that option now. I hope that that market within the industry continues to grow." She suggests that people consider what matters more, material things or the long lasting benefits of travel.

For more great tips from Metanoya, such as where to find this fabulous Dolce & Gabbana Portofino Italian Tote (that I must have by the way) follow along at globetrotting stiletto.com!

Interested in taking the last spot in our 2015 Women's Tuscany tour? See more info here!

Meet Jessica

Jessica comes from a large, loud Italian and Brazilian family that has inspired her desire to travel the world. An avid lover of Italian culture, feminism, iced coffee, pugs and all things cheetah print, she is very excited to be working with Travel Italian Style to coordinate research on Italian women and culture.

Women Travel Talks with Metanoya Webb of Globetrotting Stiletto