Thousands travel to Ireland for many reasons. Some go to visit family, as a bucket list travel spot, to trace their roots and many other reasons. For myself, I can honestly say that Ireland has been a place that has always been embedded in my soul. When I saw pictures as a little girl I always felt this sense of belonging.

And when I reached Jr. High and fell in love with The Cranberries, once I realized they were from Ireland (2 years after listening to them) the love that I had for the country deepened. Sadly, life happened and the thought of ever being in Ireland went away. I just accepted that I would never physically be in the country and made peace with it.

Fast forward 2 decades later, my friend wanted to travel out of the country. She literally told me to pick anywhere I wanted to go. I said Ireland and mentioned 2 other destinations. She had never traveled to Ireland and happily agreed.

I was BLOWN AWAY because I thought “there is no way I’m about to travel to Ireland”. I felt like it was all pretend, but if you know my best friend, then you know NOTHING is pretend and when she wants to travel somewhere it happens. And it did.

Of course, my little brother scared the shit out of me before my departure. He told me that everyone in Ireland was racist and that there were no black people there. He said that I would probably be called a racist name. So, traveling overseas and not feeling my best because my body was not at a great place, being a darker toned American and being afraid I would be called racist names had my anxiety at an all time high.

Little brothers can be the BIGGEST “little” shits ever. Ha!

Traveling to Ireland was life changing for me. Once I was there the feeling that I had when I was younger grew. YES, there are darker toned people there so that was the first thing I noticed. And next, I was so embraced and loved by the Irish. It was amazing. My people, the Irish! THE IRISH WOULD NEVER!!

I visited Ireland for over a week and it was jam packed. I wish I could share every detail but I want to highlight some great travel tips about going to Ireland.

We flew in to Dublin and were only going to be there for 1 day/night. As soon as we landed we went to our hotel, checked in and dropped off our luggage and then hit the Dublin streets. We had to catch a transit bus to Dublin because our hotel was about 15 minutes away. We visited Guinness and tasted some delicious beer but my favorite was The Book of Kells. It was absolutely beautiful and knowing about the history was it holds just made everything special. This is a MUST if you go to Dublin.

Dublin is a city. It’s beautiful with primarily cobblestone streets and they are busy. It reminds me of walking around New York, Chicago Magnificent Mile or Boston Newbury Street. So, if you don’t like that kind of hustle and bustle I would not plan a trip to Ireland and only stay in Dublin. That is defeating the purpose of going to Ireland.

Dublin night life is poppin’. So, if you love the nightlife I would say that Dublin is most definitely the place.

It was a rainy day when we visited the cliffs but it did not stop us from going. I love the Cliffs of Mohr. The scenery is breathtaking and you can even go on a little hike to get further to the cliffs. They also have a restaurant and many stores since it is a high tourist attraction.

These are some key highlights from South Ireland. I love traveling overseas because they take care of ALL historic places. So, you could be driving on the highway and castles all around you. I did not get to go to North Ireland, but next year that will definitely be our next ultimate travel guide blog.

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