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2022 Gamble Family Reunion in South Carolina

2022 Gamble Family Reunion in South Carolina

by Lisette Austin | Aug 31, 2022 | Travel Stories

Be sure to check out the photo gallery at the end of this post…. At the beginning of August, my biological uncle Robert and I attended the 2022 Gamble family reunion, held in Charleston, South Carolina. Black Gamble descendants have been meeting annually since...

Travel podcaster also known as Jet Set Lisette, host of the award-winning Globetrotter Lounge Podcast. A Black biracial adoptee, Lisette is currently traveling her roots.

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Got lucky Seattle style! 🎊🎉 #happynewyear20 Got lucky Seattle style! 🎊🎉 
#happynewyear2023 #seattlelife #spaceneedle #happy2023
Not sure how this happened, but I’m glad that it Not sure how this happened, but I’m glad that it did. 😂🥳🎊 #happynewyear2023 #momsgotmoves #over50andfabulous #friendssinceforever
This is me in Kauai at the beginning of the year w This is me in Kauai at the beginning of the year watching the sun set. I had no idea all that was coming. My word for 2022 was ✨Illumination ✨ and despite many challenges I do feel it was ABSOLUTELY a year of illumination for me. I step into the New Year with so much more clarity, purpose and focus - and with priorities in order. 

As the sun sets on 2022, I’m wishing you clarity, abundance, health, love and grace in the New Year! 🎊 And of course, much travel. 😉😁

📸 @willaustin

#womenwhoexplore #blacktraveljourney #blackgirlmagic✨ #lovetheworld #travellust #kauaihawaii #happynewyear2023
12-22-22. We passed the solstice yesterday so the 12-22-22. We passed the solstice yesterday so the days are getting longer again.👏🏾 And since it's the last 22 day of 2022, I’m sharing a 22 story.

Back in September, as we were exploring a medieval village in eastern France with our friends, we came through a beautiful courtyard, went up some steps and found this door. The address drew me as much as the vibrant red color (which also happened to match my dress 😂). 22 is my special number (I was born January 22), so I pay attention when it appears.

That door reminded me that you never know when magic and good fortune are around the next corner. It felt like a blessing. 

And this photo reminds me that I have an adventurous travel self. I’m inviting her into my daily life, to uncover treasures hidden in the ordinary, instead of waiting until the next trip. 

2022 was a powerful year for me, different than I expected and often difficult, but full of illumination and special moments like this one. I hope this year also brought you important gifts and reminders that you can carry into 2023. 🙏🏾✨

📸 @willaustin

#womenwhoexplore #blacktraveljourney #blackgirlmagic✨ #lovetheworld #travellust #francephoto
This is me with my birth father Willie Ray and bea This is me with my birth father Willie Ray and beautiful sister Mary. Finding them is where it all started. At 50 years old, I finally knew who my people were. 

I still love getting to know them and uncovering our family's history. I love that just a few days ago I got to attend a huge annual gathering celebrating my grandmother (who I look like), the family still honoring her birthday decades after she left this earth. I love that I now can travel my roots, going to the places where my ancestors lived. 

Sometimes it still doesn’t feel real. Almost 3 years later it still seems like a crazy miracle. It's like stepping into a parallel universe – a life and identity I could have lived, but didn't. 

Grateful I get to explore it now...even with all the complexities it brings. All of my threads are finally weaving together. 

📸 @willaustin 

#adopteevoices 
#travelingmyroots
#adopteestories 
#blacktraveljourney 
#ancestrydna
✨Jump for joy✨ Story time y’all. 22 is my lu ✨Jump for joy✨
Story time y’all. 22 is my lucky number so surely 2022 would be golden. It started with ending the Globetrotter Lounge podcast, celebrating 30 years with @willaustin, and quitting my job to start @travelingmyroots. It was going to be a special year.
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And it was. But not in the way I anticipated.
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This year I was diagnosed with an incurable auto immune disease. I was challenged in ways I haven’t been before. There were ER visits, sleepless nights, baffling symptoms, incorrect diagnoses and confusion, scary weight loss, and an increase in seemingly unrelated health problems. It was a disorienting and chaotic time.
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I went from being vibrantly healthy to constantly being in medical appts. I canceled nearly all of my trips. I went silent on social media. I stopped attending social functions. Self care became my sole focus. The illusion of being in control was shattered.
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But as Thanksgiving nears I have much to be grateful for. My condition is improving under the care of a great team. Being able to not work has been a tremendous blessing. Health challenges have brought profound and transformative insights I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Priorities are crystal clear, I don’t waste time with things that irrelevant or will interfere with my wellness.
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In September I felt ready to try international travel, despite major food restrictions and ongoing symptoms. Will and I went to France to visit dear friends - being able to stay with them made it feel doable. 
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One day in Paris I jumped for photos in front of the Eiffel Tower. We had so much fun, Will suggested we make it the theme for the trip - jumping around France.
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And that’s when I got the most important lesson of the year. That no matter what life throws you, there is always still room for joy. In fact, it is a necessity when things get hard.
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Unexpected difficulties remind us not to take any moment of this wild and precious life for granted. Allowing joy in, even when it feels like you are lost in the dark, is like taking a leap of faith… to believe that light is coming.
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Wishing you much joy this Thanksgiving holiday. ❤️
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📸 @willaustin
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#gratitudes #jumpforjoy #thanksgiving2022

Exploring ancestral places, family stories, Black history, the legacy of slavery, the immigrant experience, the complexities of being adopted and multiracial – and ultimately my own identity.

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