Pink Sky Featured Traveler

The Pink Sky Featured Traveler for the month of March is Denise Moore! I met Denise a few years ago via Facebook. We are both fans of the Atlanta Falcons. I had the opportunity to meet her in person at a Falcons game and we've gone to an Atlanta Hawks game together.

Here are a few fun facts about Denise:

20+ years of service in the United States Army and retired in 2013.
Loves traveling
Loves sports and spending quality time with my family.
Considers herself a foodie.
Enjoys traveling to different NFL stadiums and have visited over 25 since starting in 2014.
Has visited numerous Caribbean islands via cruising and have visited the South of France, London, Australia, Egypt, East Africa, UAE, Thailand and Mexico.
Manages an all female sports group on Facebook called Atlanta Sports Loving Divas which brings women that represent the professional teams we have in the city together to bond, connect, network and make new friends.

I was able to catch up with Denise and ask her a few questions about travel.

To date, what’s been your favorite travel destination? What about this destination makes it your favorite?

I actually have two favorites and that’s Australia and East Africa. They are both different in their own right but the one commonality I feel they both have is the smell of crisp clean fresh air that just opens up my lungs and makes me feel as if this is where I belong.

Both continents are extremely beautiful in their own unique way but Africa gave me a sense of peace and my heart and soul was happy. I could see myself living in both locations one day.

What do you love most about travel? What is your favorite thing about traveling?

When traveling I love meeting people, interacting with other cultures and trying new things. I knew as a young kid that I would leave home and travel the world. I joined the military and that sparked my travel bug after getting stationed in Korea and deploying to Kuwait and Iraq. I was able to visit Egypt on a military mission as well and that was my first taste of Africa. I’m an introvert so traveling to other places gives me the opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone and do something different. I try to immerse myself as much as possible in other cultures and even try to learn some of the language.

Name something positive that you took away from your last travel adventure.

My last travel adventure was a trip to Cancun to celebrate my 50th birthday. Even though the trip didn’t completely go as planned I was thankful for my friends that took time out of their lives to travel with me and made it the best trip we could in spite of the unexpected circumstances.

When visiting the Massai Mara in the Serengeti I realized that the life we live shouldn’t be taken for granted. Seeing how they fend for themselves and how they survive off of the land makes me so grateful for what we have but I was also so thankful to be able to spend time with them and go visit the children at the schools and learn with them. They were still so very happy in the life they have and that made me appreciative.

Tell me about your favorite vacation picture and why it’s your favorite.

I have many favorites but the one I’ll go with is a picture of me in Australia 33/34 weeks pregnant. My pregnancy was a total surprise and because I typically plan major trips 2 years out when I learned of my pregnancy we were literally 4 months away from going on the trip. Major conversations and decisions had to be made, my travel agent had to jump through numerous hoops with the local vendors in Australia and I had to get clearance from my doctor. The decision on if I would move ahead and travel with my group was decided probably two weeks before departure because of the potential risks of the obvious, lol. Well, I went ahead on the trip quietly and as comfortably as possible but it was the fact that my now 5 year old daughter was in my belly and she unknowingly got to experience her first international trip and continent outside of North America. She now has the travel bug just like her mom. The sun shined perfectly on me and my bump.

Which destination is currently at the top of your travel bucket list? What intrigues you about this destination?

Antarctica is the next major destination I’m looking forward to traveling to because very few are able to venture there and it will be my 7th and final continent. I’m excited to experience the Drake Passage, seeing the amazing wildlife and setting foot on land that very few can say they’ve done so. This opportunity also allows me to visit my 6th continent at the same time since you have to go through Argentina to get to Antarctica. I also plan to take my daughter as she may never get that opportunity again and she will have the pictures of a lifetime always with her.

Here are a few more of Denise's favorite vacation pictures!