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What I Learned Traveling With Transitioning Hair

  • May 29, 2017

Traveling with transitioning hair is a complex endeavor, especially for a long duration of time. The summer after my junior year in college, I decided to study abroad in Madrid, Spain. Since I transferred universities, I was two classes short from graduating on time. So, it seemed like the perfect time to fulfill my dream of studying abroad, while fulfilling my credit requirements.

Once everything was set, I had to figure out what I’d do with my hair. Since I started transitioning in June of my sophomore year, my hair was very fragile. So I had to pick a hairstyle that wouldn’t take too much time to maintain, needed limited products and lasted long.


What is transitioning?

In the natural hair world, transitioning means you stop doing whatever got your hair in its damaged state, and letting your natural hair grow out. So if you’re getting relaxers, you stop getting touch-up’s and let your natural hair grow. If you constantly straighten your hair, you transition from heat damaged hair. Transitioning is the alternative from going natural through a big chop (BC). A BC is when you get rid of your damaged hair and start fresh with a short cut. In my case, I was transitioning from a relaxer.


Why transition to natural hair?

Everyone’s natural hair story is different, so I can’t speak for anyone else besides myself. I wanted to transition because I was tired of the long and tedious touch-up routine.

Every 3 months, I’d waste 5+ hours in the salon getting a relaxer in my hair dealing with:

  • The burning scalp sensation that came with relaxers
  • Sitting under a dryer indefinitely
  • Leaving the salon with a headache and almost $100 down the drain

And for what? I couldn’t fully enjoy life with a relaxer; Having to avoid sweating, swimming or any other form of precipitation. I realized that relaxers weren’t ideal for my lifestyle, limited time and income. I also wanted to live a healthier lifestyle and knew I’d have to give up relaxers. There are many health-related issues associated with perms and I knew I didn’t want.


How long do people transition?

It varies on how long someone wants their natural hair to be after chopping off their relaxed ends. My goal was to transition for 1 year and 6 months (super specific I know); I did make it to that goal, but not without some bumps in the road.


How did I prepare my transitioning hair for traveling?

I figured a protective style would be the best idea for my transitioning hair while abroad; so I decided to get senegalese twists. You can read more about things to consider when traveling with natural hair here. I packed: oils, shampoo, conditioner, gel (for my edges) and a spray specifically for the extensions. I made sure to wash my hair weekly or bi-weekly, depending on how my hair felt; some weeks using shampoo, other weeks using a conditioner and water mix. I felt like I did everything correctly; but there were a few things I didn’t anticipate:


My experience traveling with transitioning hair

I had a lot of ups and downs when studying abroad with transitioning hair. While the senegalese twists cut down the time I needed to get ready everyday, there were a few fails that I’ve learned from.

A day trip to Cercedilla
Fail #1: Never dealing with synthetic braiding hair prior to going abroad.

For some reason, I didn’t test how synthetic braiding hair would react with my hair. I didn’t realize my scalp would react negatively and get EXTREMELY itchy and flaky with the synthetic hair. I found myself frequently washing my hair because my scalp was itchy and the oils were creating more build-up.

Fail #2: Not bringing a deep conditioning (DC) treatment!

In hindsight, I’m really unsure why I didn’t bring a DC product; seeing as I did this treatment weekly during my transitioning process. So, I didn’t DC my hair the entire time I studied abroad, which was a recipe for disaster.

Fail #3: Being impatient during the take down process.

After studying abroad, I went straight to Miami for a few days. I couldn’t deal with the extensions any longer, so I started taking out the synthetic hair. Since I didn’t moisturize my hair underneath when taking the synthetic hair out, the relaxed ends started to break off. The same day, I went to a stylist who claimed to have knowledge in transitioning hair; I should’ve known she was sketchy. Once I sat in her chair she took a comb through my dry hair! Basically ripping out most of my relaxed ends.


I hope this post helps anyone who is traveling for an extensive period of time with transitioning hair. It’s possible to travel with two hair textures, as long as you probably care for it; and make sure to not make the same mistakes I did.

The only fortunate thing that came from this was that my transitioning process was almost over. I was a year and one month into my process, so my hair wasn’t really short. Once I got home, I went to my TRUSTED stylist to give me a proper trim. There were still a few strings of relaxed ends left, but at least my hair wasn’t completely ruined from the entire ordeal.

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(Finally) Sharing some photos/videos from my 30th (Finally) Sharing some photos/videos from my 30th birthday trip to #Kenya — leave it to me to post this 9 months later 😅 

Read my blog post for a full recap (🔗 in bio) on where I ate, played, and stayed in #Kenya🇰🇪 (#Nairobi and #Lamu) including @ololo_lodge, which was hands down one of my favorite stays because: 

1. It's located in #NairobiNationalPark: Making it a great option if you're short on time but want to experience a safari 🦁🐒🦓🦒
2. Their staff is very attentive and friendly, especially their manager, James!
3. Your stay includes complimentary breakfast, lunch, dinner, and beverages (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)
4. Their amenities include a spa room 💆🏾‍♀️ and even a pool to enjoy in between the morning and evening #gamedrives
👀 Watch me go from a #silkpress 🔙 to my curl 👀 Watch me go from a #silkpress 🔙 to my curls 👩🏾‍🦱

Does anyone else love the first #washday after getting a trim? Your ends are healthy, detangling is a breeze, and your curls just act right 🤣

I've posted a couple of these "revert silk press back to curly hair" videos on the ⏰️ app, and enjoy making them because it's fascinating seeing how much my hair shrinks with just water, it's like magic ✨️😍

I love getting silk presses because I get a brief break from my curls and get my necessary trims. However, nothing beats my #naturalhair! I wish I appreciated my curls more when I was younger and not striving for straight hair or a looser curl pattern, but I'm happy I do now 🙏🏾
🏡 I'm officially a #homeowner and Georgia resid 🏡 I'm officially a #homeowner and Georgia resident! 

In celebration, my long overdue guide on where to eat, play, and stay in Atlanta is live! (🔗 in bio). 

🥂 cheers to my new home, to new memories, to abundance, to community (and being closer to family), to self-love, and building generational wealth ✨️🙏🏾 

‼️ For all my homeowners, please share any tips and advice you have!
🎉 This month marks my 8 year #naturalhair anniv 🎉 This month marks my 8 year #naturalhair anniversary! On September 4, 2015, my stylist cut my relaxed ends, starting my #naturalhairjourney. 

To celebrate the occasion, here's my usual #lengthcheck from my recent #silkpress and trim.

Embracing my natural hair was one of the best decisions I made in my early 20s. This is the healthiest (and longest) I've ever seen my hair 😍 but it took a lot of patience and mistakes to get my hair where it's today. 

I've never really shared some of these mistakes, but there were many — including: 

• Experiencing heat damage (my stylist and I were able to fix this and have since stopped using high heat towards the front of my hair)
• Accidently cutting ✂️ a piece of my hair when unraveling #passiontwists 😅 (thankfully, it was towards the back of my head and has since grown out)
• Having protein overload (I underestimated how strong @aphogee's protein treatment is 😬) 

What mistakes have you made in your hair journey?
#ad What's your least favorite part of pre-travel #ad What's your least favorite part of pre-travel 🤔?

Thanks to @taskrabbit, I was able to hire a Tasker to pick up last-minute items I needed for my recent trip.  

This allowed me to focus my time and energy on more important things, like packing and doing my hair 👩🏾‍🦱.

@kayak and @taskrabbit have teamed up for a sweepstakes where one winner will get a $500 gift card towards travel from KAYAK + $500 in Taskrabbit credit. 

Enter by September 15 → Visit @taskrabbit’s Instagram for more info! 

#taskrabbitpartner #taskrabbit #packingtips #traveltip #insidertravel #travelescape #travelcommunity #mytravelcrush #darlingescapes #jetsetting #travelisthenewclub #aroundtheworld #blacktravelers #femaletravelbloggers #melanintravel #essencetravels #wegotoo #hardlyhome #blacktravelista #blackwomen #iamatraveler #travelhacks #blacktravelfeed #travelgram #blackandabroad #travelbloggerlife #luggagetag #suitcase #suitcasetravels
Do you wear your #naturalhair 👩🏾‍🦱 whil Do you wear your #naturalhair 👩🏾‍🦱 while on vacation?

For 90% of my trips, I put my natural hair in #minitwists or #minibraids. Both are great low-maintenance styles, keep my hair moisturized in any climate, and are versatile to style.

My favorite hairstyles for mini twists and braids are: two buns, a low ponytail or bun, or wearing a scarf with my twists/braids out. 

For the other 10%, my hair is either: blown out and styled, in a protective style (mainly #passiontwists or #senegalesetwists), or silk pressed. It really depends on factors like: the climate at the destination I'm going to, activities I'm getting into, and duration of trip.

• Slide 1: Mini braids with twists at the ends in Kenya 🇰🇪
• Slide 2: Mini twists in Peru 🇵🇪
• Slide 3: Mini twists in the Philippines 🇵🇭
• Slide 4: Mini twists on blown out hair in Portugal 🇵🇹
• Slide 5: Mini twists in Costa Rica 🇨🇷
• Slide 6: Regular sized twists in Canada 🇨🇦
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