Welcome back to travel! Whether you’re just getting back in travel mode or have been at it, this editorial, brought to you in partnership with American Airlines, is for you.
Briana Rice is a world traveler that has been to 39 countries, traveling professionally as a regulatory scientist. The 35-year-old from the Inland Empire, California began travel blogging in 2020 to share her unique experience as a traveler and launched the Love and Light Movement.
“Black travel is revolutionary and all travel is valid. However, I wanted to serve the specific niche of urban professionals like myself who work hard and are willing to invest in a luxury group experience when they can invite ease into their lives and be surrounded by like-minded professionals to celebrate our unique culture.”
A military brat, Briana attended UC Riverside, where she majored in biology. Today, she remains involved with the UCR Black alumni and says her tenure at UCR fostered her ability as a servant leader.
With science having always been her passion, she initially planned on becoming an OB-GYN. During her pre-med internship, however, Briana found the lifestyle of a physician and some practices within clinical medicine unsettling.
Now, working as a biologist for a non-profit organization in the transfusion and transplantation field, Briana is able to help increase patient safety worldwide, operating in her passion while traveling the world.
Through her Love And Light Movement (LLM) Briana aims to heal, motivate, and inspire others through agape love. This movement was designed to have a positive impact by spreading love and light around the world.
“The Love and Light Movement includes exciting adventures, unique experiences, and luxury travel designed to bring more love and light to your life. It is our mission to promote collaboration between Black businesses to create a safe space and opportunity for growth and healing. We endeavor to ignite a spark in your soul so you can carry on with life filled with vigor anew.”
LLM also hosts community events like blood drives with the American Red Cross and feeding the homeless with non-profit Foster the Millions. The movement was officially birthed on Italy’s Almafi Coast in 2019. Having traveled the world for the past 12 years, Briana typically served as the go-to person amongst her friends to curate bachelorette trips or girls getaways.
“In October 2019, I curated a luxury getaway for a friend and I during a business trip to Europe. Not only did we have an amazing time traveling, but it fostered a safe space for us to have meaningful conversations that were cathartic and healing.”
During that trip, Briana was contacted by someone from a Black travel company who saw one of her Instagram posts and encouraged her to go into professional travel curation. This person encouraged her to start a blog to share her experience and use her travel expertise to begin curating group travel.
“I will be honest, prior to this I just saw myself as a traveling scientist. But this individual and my friend helped me realize that my decade of experience in booking and executing travel made me more than qualified to do this.”
With their encouragement, Briana decided it was time to share her vision. She took the leap and launched her travel blog on September 1, 2020, while travel was halted during the pandemic. She began by hosting community hikes in Southern California and simultaneously launched her travel and adventure business with a luxury tour Halloween weekend in collaboration with the Black Travel Club.
In addition to luxury travel, a major goal of the Love and Light Movement is to encourage travelers to prioritize self-care and kindness for themselves and others. Elements such as hot air balloon excursions and hikes add adventure in your life, while self-care is encouraged through yoga, sound healing, gratitude and meditation/manifestation.
“I am a big proponent of meditation and sound healing to bring yourself fully present and to bring you to a place of peace. I often travel with sound bowls to keep myself grounded through the unsettling chaos and anxiety that inherently comes with travel. Using them helps keep my mind sharp and my spirit calm.”
Utilizing sound bowls can also help alleviate depression caused by focusing on trauma or mistakes of the past, or anxiety from fear of the future. As a scientist, Briana conducted a great deal of research to understand how sound healing works.
“I discovered that sound bowls are typically tuned to a frequency of 440 HZ (the sound of music and the radio) or 432 HZ (the natural frequency of nature). There are seven chakras in the body, corresponding to the seven notes of the musical scale (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). Sound healing has roots in Greek culture for treating mental illness and in Indian culture to foster emotional wellness and bring you into alignment.”
Briana had her first experience with sound healing in 2017. Carrying trauma from interpersonal relationships, she sought peace. She attended a moonlight meditation in which sound bowls were used and found the experience incredibly transformational.
Yoga is another practice Briana uses to keep her grounded and at peace. Throughout the pandemic, she found herself leaning deeper into both yoga and sound healing to overcome the uncertainty and anxiety of the pandemic. Now, whenever she is traveling, Briana brings both her yoga mat and sound bowls along.
“In addition to travel, I lead sound private healing and mediation on a one-on-one and group basis to bring people to a place of peace and empower them to embark on their own meditation journey to stay in a state of gratitude and manifest a life with more love and light.”
Briana is currently on a private LLM luxury excursion to Paris and the South of France. Those who wish to travel with LLM can look forward to Labor Day in Mexico and the CannaWine 3 elevated winery tour this fall in Temecula, CA with the Black Travel Club. Also, upcoming is New Year’s Eve in Dubai and the Yacht’Nik luxury yacht experience in Croatia next June.
“Travelers will be able to experience Love and Light Movement sound healing at these events. And it is my wish that each person who experiences a LLM trip will go back and do something positive within their local community to continue spreading love and light.”
For updates and more information, sign up at www.theloveandlightmovement.com. You can also follow @loveandlightmovement or @bri_from_the_ie.