There's a First Time for Everything

So I've finally made it!

14 Hours later and I've finally made it to Frankfurt, Germany.

As you can start to tell, a lot of my post are about first time experiences, and there will be a lot more post like those coming, especially now that I'll be spending 2 months in Europe for a Study Abroad program with my school.

So let me give you a run-down of my last 14 Hours, where at least 6 of those hours I spent going through Toronto Pearson International Airport twice, even though I never left the country. 

My original flight itinerary was to fly from Toronto to Detroit, and then Detroit to Frankfurt, Germany.

Well because of the typical Canadian weather, my flight to Detroit got cancelled and I had to find a new way to get to Frankfurt. Thank God for Air Canada's wonderful customer service because, they were able to find me a direct flight but, I was on standby so that meant I didn't have a seat.

Since my bags were being directed to Detroit, I had to go find them and then check them back in to go to Frankfurt. Because I went through U.S Customs I was technically in the U.S while in Toronto Pearson International Airport, so I had to go through Canadian customs like I was leaving the airport and go to baggage claim to see if they could find my bag.

Once they found my bag and gave it to me I had an hour to go through the whole check-in my baggage and security process again. Since my flight was booked last minute I didn't have an assigned seat, I had to stand at the gate and wait patiently to see I got a seat. But Thank God I was able to get one.

And I should probably tell you that this is the first time I've EVER flown alone, especially so far away from my family, so I was super proud of myself of dealing with this all by myself without calling my parents crying.

One thing that made the 8 Hour plane ride comfortable was listening to Prince's new album Art Official Age, If you every get a chance to listen to it, do it, it's an amazing album, and it puts you in a good mood.

He's a link to the album on Spoify.

https://play.spotify.com/user/12169742864/playlist/0JLOl3eg71D8jXeGMNPmX0

#TBT Throwback Thursday// The Internet, SZA, Jhene Aiko

It's Thursday and you know what that means, it's Throwback Thursday.

This Thursday i'm throwing it back to Jhene Aiko's Enter the Void Tour at Sound Acadmy with The Internet and SZA as her opening acts.

It was my first time going to a all general admission venue in the winter and to be honest it might be my last, cause it was freezing outside waiting for the doors to open, but besides that the concert was amazing.

The concert started with The Internet opening the show. If you don't know who The Internet are they are their own group part of the  Odd Future clan. Their lead singer Syd the kyd, is the sister of Taco, Tyler the Creators right hand man and she is also one of Odd Futures producers.

I would say that The Internet's music is more of a jazzy blues sound, if you listen you most of the Odd Future artist music beside Frank Ocean, they are the total opposite.
Besides that they set a good vibe to the opening of the concert.

here's a little video I took of them performing.


After The Internet's performence, the beautiful first lady of Top Dawg SZA came out.
If you haven't heard of SZA, I would say start listening, she's blowing up BIG.

If you've been to a SZA concert then you know she is full of life and is constantly moving on stage, i've seen Instagram videos and Youtube videos of her performing, and the Turn up is real with her.

I even caught a video of her singing and dancing to COCO


She sang some songs off her S EP and also her See.SZA.Run EP, with hits like Advil, Babylon, Castles and Teen Spirit, the crowd didn't want her to leave.

And then the lady of the night came out, looking oh so beautiful.
Jhene Aiko looks as pretty in person as she does in all her photos, and you could tell she is so down to earth.

She performed everything, from her Souled Out album to her Sailing Souls EP.
She even took a female audience members phone while performing Lying King and sang to their ex-boyfriend on the phone.

Jhene Aiko is a real artist and she sound the same live as she does on her records, I would soo pay to watch her perform again, especially if she has this line up again.

To see more pictures,

 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure

Family , Fun and America // Maryland, USA

Last month my family and I took our annual 9 hour road trip down to Bowie, Maryland to visit family and friends for American Thanksgiving.

Usually we spend 2 or 3 days and then hustle back home for work and school, but this time we decided to spend 4 days, and you could feel the difference. since we spent a longer time, we were able to relax a lot more and had more time with friends and family.

Because of all the extra time we had, all us kids decided we wanted to go out, so we headed to Skate Zone in Crofton, MD. Skate Zone is an indoor roller skating rink. It was my first time going to a roller skating rink, and I would have to say Skate Zone had everything I envisioned, there was an arcade if you decided you didn't want to skate and there was food and music playing to that you could dance too.

Shanese skating and doing way better then me

Being a Canadian you would think I would know how to skate, since we are known for being the best hockey players in the world,but to be honest, I've never been ice skating before, let alone put on a pair of skates. Even though roller blades and ice skates are different, I've never been skating period, so this was an interesting first experience. 

Let me say, skating is not something that you can just pick up on the first try, well not for me, and I won't promise I won't try it again, but practice certainly means perfect, and I need all I can get.

To see more pictures,

 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure

Scenic Caves// Eco-Tourism

Two Tuesdays ago my Niche Tourism class took a trip to Scenic Caves to learn about Eco-Tourism and how it effects the environment and also to see that you can have fun with nature.

Scenic Caves is in Collingwood, Ontario, about a 2 hour drive from Toronto.

On our tour at Scenic Caves we did a Cave Hike, a 1000' escarpment Zipline, and a Treetop Walk and also checked out their Suspension Bridge.

Once we arrived we were split into 3 groups and were given our harnesses and ropes and started our trek up a mountain, which led us to a foggy but beautiful view of Blue Mountain, Collingwood.

A beautiful view of Collingwood, and rock Ekarenniodi

From the view you can see the rock called Ekarenniodi, which is in the Village of the Souls. The Putun People (Native Canadians) believed that the rock led to the underworld, because of how deep the hole inside the rock goes down.

It was, and still is a sacred symbol and is respected at scenic Caves.

After seeing this beautiful view, we continued our tour and walked through the caves.

Our Cave Walk then led us to our first Zipline which is 1000 ft tall. If you never been Ziplining, then you need to add it to your bucket list. It is an experience and a good way to overcome your fear of heights.

Luckily enough I was successfully able to pull out my phone and capture a video of myself Ziplining.

Once we were done with our first Zipline, we walked over to Southern Ontario's longest suspension footbridge, being 126 meters long. 

The bridge is 300 meter's above Georgian Bay, and on a good day you can see 10,000 square kilometers of the surrounding area. The bridge is probably one of the strongest bridges in the world, because it doesn't have a max capacity.

Our last activity we did at Scenic Caves, was the Treetop Forest Canopy Walk.

The Treetop Walk, is really what it is. We walked from tree to tree 300 ft in the air.

With the the help of our harnesses to keep us secured to the line, we made our way through 16 different trees until we reached our only way down, which was Ziplining down a 300 ft Zipline.

Myself in my harness on the Treetop Forest Canopy Walk

If You ever get a chance to head out to Collingwood, Ontario, make sure to make a stop at Scenic Caves and take a tour and venture through their land, I promise it will be worth the time.

To see more pictures,

 make sure to check out the Instagram @youngblackventure