Tag: Glampingcolombia

Posted in Achievements, child death, Colombia, glamping, Grief, nature, survivor, Uncategorized

Can it Really be 2024? Let Me Rewind to 2023 as it Went by So Fast!

Posted on by hummingsfromparadise

I have been trying to sit down and write a blog since December about the highlights of the year 2023. I haven’t had the time, as my business has never been so busy as in the past year. It is a blessing and a curse. I have no time to relax and do what I love the most: writing. My business is officially big here in Colombia. I am featured on Google as number one in the Valle del Cauca when you google Glamping or hotels; I never advertise except by my own reels featured on my Instagram, TikTok*, and Facebook* stories. Yet I keep climbing the Google algorithms. I say this with the utmost awe. I never saw this happening when I expanded my business in 2022 and opened my two Glamping cabins.

Many guests return to my place more than once and I have made some close friends. A young couple, Kevin and Katherine, have become my Colombian family. We spent Christmas together. My son had to be in the United States during Christmastime, and spending the holiday with Kath and Kevin was comforting as I missed my son CJ so much. We played games, cooked, relaxed, and relished this special time of year. My friend Vince, a pilot for Copa, returned with his family for a second time. He brought me an Argentinian wine that was super! Another friend, Omer, returned after the New Year and brought his parents from Amsterdam. We started a tournament with the game Rumicube. I do love to play games. Memories of times in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee return to me when I play board games. Colombians are big on playing games, and I have many to choose from at my Glamping place. My best friend in Colombia, Alvaro, came over with his American family and a beautiful gift of hanging solar lights hummingbirds! I have solar twinkling lights all over my property that light up at night. This gift is unique, and I can remember my dear friends every night when I enjoy it. Another lovely guest made a catalog of ten pages about my business. It has all the information necessary for anyone who makes a reservation at my place. I send the link when someone has questions; it saves me so much time! Other guests often share ideas I should have thought of myself and didn’t. I now have little mini bars and snacks in the two cabanas. People can use the beers, soft drinks, and snacks and pay when they check out. You would think I would have known to do this as I spent so much time in hotels as a flight attendant!

Last year, we had a definite change in the climate at my Glamping business here in Colombia. It rained so much in 2022 that we thought we would never see the sun again. The new year brought the sun to us here in the Andes Mountains, so much sun that we forgot we did not have it the year before. We were grateful when it rained! My Avacodo tree made fruit, and flowers bloomed that I didn’t know I had. The distinct temperature change continues into this new year of 2024 and is quite shocking. I even see mangoes grow on my mango trees. The temperature consistently averaged around 74 degrees during the day, and now it averages 80 degrees here. In direct sunlight, it can actually feel hot. Because of this shift in temperature, I made changes around my property. More areas give shade, including a new roof over my big patio area with games, lounge chairs, and a hammock. I am constantly updating my place with improvements. I just finished a new walkway and revised some of my gardens. I organized my laundry area, updated my outdoor kitchen, and added a beautiful firepit that my guests love to grill and cook San Cocho, a favorite Colombian meal. The climate makes no difference to the bookings at my retreat. People love nature, and they love the beautiful sounds of the birds sharing the rustling breeze and the cool temperatures at night. Not to mention the incredible views of the mountains and the Valle del Cauca seen from every angle here.

Now, for the most fantastic news: I am featured in a docuseries by international Award-Winning Author, Filmmaker, and Empowerment Specialist Toneal M. Jackson* called “I Survived it ALL.” I am one of the women who share their story in the Death segment. The premiere date for my part of the docuseries is March 1st. This docuseries will include stories from myself and other women about Death, Discrimination, Depression., Domestic Violence, and Devastation. The premiere date for my part of the docuseries is March 1st. When Toneal contacted me last year and asked me to participate in her documentary, I said yes. I recorded my part in April. I look forward to the premiere and trust Toneal in her artistic ability to tell my story of grief and gratitude. I will say this, it has been a long journey of healing for me. Some days I wake up and embrace my surroundings, other days I wake up and miss what could have been if Misha had not died. It is a forever part of my personality. I hope that by sharing my thoughts in this docuseries I will help others who have lost a child, grandchild, family member, friend suddenly and without warning. It is something I have accepted and live with day to day. I do the best I can to live my best life while honoring the memory of Misha. I know she would love that I have shared my journey on film and a rememberance of her. The title is so apt because anyone who has lost a loved one knows to keep living is to be a survivor. Feel free to share your own experiences with grief in the comments below. I would love to hear how you have overcome the obstacles that you faced.

If you would like to buy a ticket for any of the series the schedule is on the photo below. I can get a ticket for you, and you don’t have to go to Chicago. I will have a private link on YouTube for anyone who wants to see my survival story, or any of the others that are offered. Please contact me here or on any of my social media sites below.

Facebook: @Michele Huffman Carson or Glamping at Villa Migelita Ecolodge, Colombia

TikTok: @villamigelitacristalcasa

Instagram: @villamigelita-cristalhouse

LinkedIn: @Michele Carson

You can follow Toneal on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

@MyNameIsToneal

Booking.com awards

Kath and Kevin
Alvaro and family
The docuseries schedule
Posted in Achievements, Colombia, Entreprenuer, Glampingcolombia, Live your best life, Uncategorized, Villa Migelita Ecolodge

Glamping, A New Start

Posted on by hummingsfromparadise

It has been too long since I wrote my previous blog. I wrote about how I wanted to reset my business after the last years of the pandemic. Two years of Covid restrictions wiped out all I had accomplished and worked hard to achieve. During my time away from writing, a tiny house made of glass for glamping was constructed here in Colombia at Villa Migelita Ecolodge. Glamping is an accurate word now, and it is a popular way for many people to spend time away in the country and take a break from the cities they reside in. The idea that I wrote about changing my business’s direction has turned into something bigger than I had imagined, and I am grateful for every second of this new phase in my life. 

In my last blog, I wrote that I planned to build this tiny house. It became a goal that I was determined to keep. I focused on building, and I pushed any doubts out of my mind. I knew that I needed to get back into the business of hosting, to have people here enjoying nature, watching the hummingbirds, and looking out to incredible views. I choose to trust the voice inside me that guided me on this new journey. 

Losing my business during the Covid 19 years gave me a different perspective on everything I had done before when I had a thriving business. I realized that I enjoyed staying in my Villa during the beginning days of quarantine; I was always in a hurry to get back home when I went out to do errands. Before Covid, I planned adventures for my guests, and I always looked for new tourist activities to share. After the country opened up, I knew my Villa was beautiful with magnificent views, but I hadn’t used that as my focal point as a tourism business. I started to see the value in what I had right in front of me when I received guests again at Villa Migelita Ecolodge. I took these observations and created a plan.

First: I took a small loan. A significant decision, as I didn’t want any debt, and I hadn’t had any obligation for many years. My decision to expand when I was unsure if I could make money again was to learn a lesson. Use other people’s money if you can. Second: believe in your judgment, even if it is something you wouldn’t have usually considered after two years of lost time and money. Third: accept what you have done, whether the outcome will be good or bad. It’s our thinking that holds us back more than anything else. There’s no reason to imprison yourself. Don’t think outside the box. Think like there is no box. Sometimes, we need to listen to that inner voice that guides us.

I opened up Cristal House Glamping on January 1st, 2022. Every weekend since has sold out. I am now getting many week-day bookings also. My new Glamping business has brought more bookings to my Ecolodge, and I am meeting many young professionals from Cali, Colombia. Young people are the life-blood of our world. I never imagined that my idea of entering the Glamping business would be successful right away. I thought it would be the same as when I opened my Ecolodge many years ago—steady growth with slow word-of-mouth recommendations. Instagram and social media expansion has changed the way new business evolves. I am so indebted to the younger generation that visits me. They send me videos I never would know how to produce. They are all video filmmakers these days. They have shown me that using the stories on my Instagram and Facebook reach so many more people than I ever thought possible. Their clever use of photo opportunities brings different ways of presenting a view or an activity to further light. This old dog is learning new tricks! I am also making so many new friends. By writing about this in my blog, I hope to reach and help others who want to bring back their business after the past years they lost. Just look at the young people around you. They can guide you to success!

Now I am building another Glamping house here at Villa Migelita Ecolodge. That money I had from my loan brought me more money through my bookings. I am not keeping it in the bank but spending it growing my small business. Again, I am following my inner voice. It is still dawning on me that I am doing more in my 60s as an entrepreneur than I have ever done before. Hopefully, nature will always be a widespread love to many, with amazing views and incredible birds that people love to photograph.

After years of being restricted by the pandemic, people want to be outdoors. I have used it to my advantage. I am grateful and humbled. I am learning to be at peace with my decisions after such a long time of subtle criticism by others that I choose to ignore. I am my support system. It is empowering. I have chosen myself, and it has worked out. You can do it too! Just believe in yourself, filter out unwanted noise from others around you, and listen to the most authentic voice you have—your own.