Michelle Antunez| Blogger and Owner of MCH Vacations, Inc | @michelles193life
Hi I’m Michelle, of 193 life. I am 30 years old and on a mission to see the world. This year I decided to dive into blogging as I have a lot to share! Before we get to the good stuff, I wanted to give you a little history about how I got here and what you will get out of following my 193 Life. Read on to learn!
- Safe Travels, Michelle
just book it!
L to R: Hector (Dad) , Maria (Mom & business partner), Michelle (Me)
My first trip to Europe was in 2010 and that’s when I got the “Europe bug” as my mom likes to say. The following year I was helping a client with a trip for their honeymoon and I saw an incredibly affordable cruise to Europe which to this day, I believe was an error on their part, and I decided to give my name and $100 deposit . I just booked the cruise without giving it a second thought. My sister and I had a “gap semester” before we could graduate with our bachelor’s degree and I remembered about the cruise I had booked months ago . I talked her into joining me on a European adventure.
Since we typically file with frequent flyer miles and try to find the cheapest prices, we ended up spending 21 days and traveling throughout 10 countries on our own. While we were on that trip she had mentioned how great it would be to 1 day move to Europe for a few months in a specific country. The trip ended, life moved on and we never brought it up again.
making dreams a reality
Later I moved to Charlotte, NC for law school my sister, Caroline went on to teach 1st grade. I ended up getting sick and having to leave Charlotte and we both remembered that day we mentioned this dream we thought was unattainable and decided to do some research. It turns out that 6 months later Caroline took a leap of faith and went off to Brno, Czech Republic and I went off to San Remo, Italy. We both stayed in our respective cities for 1 month and traveled throughout Europe before and after our total stay in Europe was 3 months. Dream accomplished.
One day I mentioned to someone that I had a dream of wanting to see the whole world and not just the main tourist attractions, but I wanted to visit every country in the world to see how they work to see how they’re different. I was told it was impossible so of course being as headstrong as I am, I said I’ll do it! Watch me.!
As of 2011 I have made it happen. I have tried to visit as many countries as possible. It’s not always glamorous, it can definitely be exhausting, but it’s something I’ve set out to do. That's where 193 Life blog is born. 193 blog is my journey to visit all 193 countries of the world and share my experiences with you all. I love to not only encourage people to take these trips, I also have a gift to help plan! My agency MCH Vacations, Inc does just that--we plan your trip from flight to finish so you can Travel with Confidence.
There are challenges...
Traveling has become my lifestyle, not just a hobby . Something I plan my life around it and I’ve been very fortunate that my job and circumstances have allowed me to do just that. In 2015, I got misdiagnosed with Lupus. My inflammations levels were so high that the doctors could not understand what exactly I had (which in all honesty has been the story of my life). As a result, of constant testing and trying to put all of conditions together I was diagnosed with severe case of psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. I was in a doctor’s room with my mom and I was just told I had 4 different auto-immune diseases. In a moment, my life was drastically impacted by this news. However, I refused for my life to change because of it. I had 5 trips planned for the rest of that year and I was determined to go and fully enjoy. My doctors were also aware of my lifestyle and they knew how much it meant to me. They knew that nothing would change.
MY PAIN, YOUR GAIN
Yes! I live my life in constant pain. I am constantly trying to find the most natural way to be pain free. I’ve had to adjust my travels to accommodate my conditions. However, I refuse to let it stop me from travelling. It has taught me more about life and myself than I ever thought it would. I have come to realize that at 30, every day is different with my pain level and some things might need to be adjusted and that’s okay. It has taught me that life is short and we don’t have that luxury to wait until later to go somewhere. We need to make things happen for ourselves and see as much of the world while we can. In life we all need to acclimate to different things and this is my thing. I will go into more depth into each of my conditions in hope that I can help someone struggling with it also.
I'd like to shed light and awareness on auto immune diseases, obesity and stigma's associated with it because not everyone understands what auto immune diseases are or how they can affect someone. Hopefully in the long run there will be some cures or more help to make them manageable so people with auto immune diseases like myself can continue living a normal life.
These are the types of topics, issues and trends 193 Life will be spotlighting in 2018!
- Destination spotlights
- Where to stay
- What to eat
- How to get there
- What to wear
- Not so nice reviews (not every place is fabulous)
- How to travel solo and safe
- Traveling as a single woman
- Causes
- Puerto Rico Relief
- Traveling with Autoimmune Disorders
- Natural Remedies
- Accommodations and Tips
- Product Review and fashion (Including +plus size)
- Resources and Tools
- Packing lists
- Apps and technology