Meet Noor

Meet Noor

[00:00:00] My name is Marisol Gutierrez. I grew up in orange county, in the hood, not in the best of areas. And, you know, once we got closer to the high school years, my parents branched out to the Inland Empire cause they wanted to give us a better quality of life that, you know, than what we had pretty much grown. Um, I lived with so many people growing up.

I didn't never had my own place until I bought my first house because we had like 16, 15, 20 people living with those growing up at all times. Then when I joined the navy, now I'm sharing a room with 80 some girls at all moments. I bought a place and I said, I will never have a roommate. I will never have anybody living here.

It was too big of a place that I wanted that space to myself because it was the first time that I lived on my own without anybody. So that's pretty much where I came from. And right after high school, I joined the Navy. I was in for three years, I was stationed on the aircraft carrier. The Abraham Lincoln got out, went to school, got my, bachelor's got my masters, [00:01:00] worked out in the corporate world for a while.

Then I decided I wanted to do something different. So I jumped ship and I moved to Tulum. While I was living in Tulum. When she actually came to tell him for a week and I happened to meet her, I think on day two, as she was visiting. And we've been friends ever since we were, I mean, we vide the moment, the moment that we, we hit the moment that I hit her with my bike, like we clicked.

And we've been friends since that moment. That instant moment. When we became friends, we hung out the next day. Then two days later I saw her again. And then the night before she left, I saw her again. How Marty, how would you describe Noorulain?

Strong. Critical. Willpower. Um, very, very analytical about everything that she does. Everything that she does. If I tell her a story, she's like, wait, wait, wait, I'm confused. Explain this to me again, because it has to [00:02:00] make sense to her. It has to follow the format and that's the journalist in her. So if I tell her a story and I skipped something and she's like, wait, how did this happen?

I'm like, oh yeah. I forgot to tell you something. Cause she able to pick those things up when the story doesn't flow correctly. But I feel like every time that we catch up, there's always so much to discuss. That I don't get into every little detail. I just go from like A to H to M so on but for her, it has to flow in order for it to make senses.

But one thing that she does is she wants to tell me a story. I tell a story, I send a long text, the whole story. She doesn't do that. She will send me like 10 text messages. So Crazy! My mom says the same thing. She'll say that. She'll get, if her phone is somewhere else and she'll hear it beeping one after the other.

She's like that's, that's, that's that daughter, that's Noorulain. That's her texting. Yeah. Yeah. I know that. I know when it's hurt, just because the text messages come in and they come in so early and she goes to bed early and she's up early. So when the [00:03:00] messages come in so early mind, you we're three hours apart.

So when those messages are coming in super early, I know its her, I send one long one. She sends me 10.

I don't have the best texting etiquette. I will admit

just writing off the same. Good vibes. Noorulain. Can you, can you describe Mari? Yeah, well, first I'll introduce myself if I may. Um, so I'm Noorulain, I'm a TV journalist, filmmaker, producer reporter. And, um, so I live right now in Raleigh, North Carolina, and I moved from New York city. I'm originally from Washington DC.

And so I've always lived in big cities, but you know, sometimes it's good to get out of the bubble, get out of the big cosmopolitan city. And see what else is out there and what else? Um, you know, I was motivated [00:04:00] to move down here because I felt like they needed more, um, thoughtful journalists that could see things from a wider lens in a place like Raleigh, which is, you know, down south.

And it's a, it's a purple state in the sense that it's. Really Republican or it's not really democratic, it's a battleground state. So I just felt like at this point in my career, it was the right time to come down here with that said, I very much remember that day of running intoMari, but before I get to that, I'll tell you why I was in Tulum.

I was in the middle of, um, my marriage ending and, um, a divorce, uh, was happening and I had a really good friend actually in Kenya. She recommended to go to Tulum.She said Tulum is undiscovered it's, um, it's an absolute, hidden gem in Mexico. And I was hell bent on [00:05:00] going to Thailand. I said, I want to go to Thailand.

I want a backpack. She goes, no, this is when you need so healing. And, and, and you need that energy of Taloon. So she convinced me. Um, to go to Taloon. So I was, uh, staying at the Amansala and doing kind of this eat, pray, love moment. And so the day that I met Mari, I just saw this, you know, like w w lady hot lady with dark black hair, like mine.

So I was like, all right, that's. And she had on this pink lipstick and she was riding this pink bike. So at the moment when we kind of collided, I was just like, damn. I want to be friends with her. I'm pretty sure. I said, Hey, I love your lipstick color and how it matches your bike. Yeah! Yeah! Cause I hit you and I turned and I [00:06:00] said, oh.

Uh, and then you said, is that English that I hear? And I said, yeah. And then you turn out, looked at me and you said, girl, you are hot, hot pink lipstick, like hot pink bike, look at you. And we laughed, we exchanged a few words and you walked away, but then you turned back, you said, Hey, let me get your number.

And I was like, okay, there was so left field. And then we started talking and then, boom, that was it. We talked for a minute, I think the most. And then you left and then. And then I texted you after like, Hey, when you're done with your retreat call me, I'm hanging out at the beach today. I'll be, I'll be, I'll be shopping out here.

And then she texts me like four hours later.Hey, are you still here? I'm like, yeah, I'm actually having dinner. Come join me still on the beach. Like hours later that day, she just made me, I feel so [00:07:00] welcome. And like I said, I'm used to traveling overseas since I was a kid. And even in my teenage years alone, solo travels to Europe, but she just made me feel welcomed.

And I loved her energy and positivity and her smile. Right. She was very friendly and very open and yeah, we started communicating and I, and, um, I'll never forget it because it was my birthday and it was my 30th birthday. And she was so incredibly thoughtful that she got me because I'm not, I don't drink.

So she bought me a bottle of cold brew. As in coffee. I love coffee, you know, nice, expensive coffee. Um, and she bought me that. And for my birthday, when we met up, when I left that trip, I knew that [00:08:00] that was going to be a lifelong friendship and sisterhood. And while she didn't do the retreat that I did, because she was living there as a local, it just, uh, you know, our interactions and hanging out and our chats and just really like learning from each other in a way.

Right. And that's so important that even in a short span of, let's say a week, we were growing and exchanging stories and life experiences and it was, um, yeah, it was incredible. So this was before Tulum became Instagram or Tik Tok famous. And I, um, you know, I wasn't sure what to expect of Tulum, but incredibly beautiful.

Um, You know, waters and beach. And at the time that I went, it seemed quiet and it seemed almost, um, I suppose, exclusive in a way and [00:09:00] untouched. Um, and again, I wasn't even much later than that friend that initially recommended it. She must've gone, I think, eight years before me. Um, and what I loved about Tulum.

The Mayan culture. So you don't have to be from the same religious belief, but just to embrace the culture of the people that are the true inhabitants. And, um, so it has this aura and it sounds so strange, right. But I really felt that, um, that energy and that healing touch over me at every step of the way.

I also thought it was incredible being in Tulum because you know, I've been to beautiful beaches, right? Like the Seychelles, for example. But in Tulum it was, I felt like it was a literal divide between the beautiful waters and the forrest. So I got such beauty around me, [00:10:00] almost like a 360 degree view that if you went on a rooftop, you could see out into the forest and you were on the edge of the water.

It was, it was incredible. Well, when I, I visited to Tulum in 2011 for the very first time, and I was there maybe like two hours and I knew within those two hours that I want it to move back, but not, not move back. I'm sorry that I wanted to visit that, that I also knew that at some point I would live there.

I didn't know when I didn't expect it to happen, you know, four years, six years later, whenever it did, I, I thought it'd be 10 years, 15 years. Let me retire. I did not. I did not know when, but I envisioned myself living there. So when the opportunity came, I moved there without knowing anybody. I didn't know anybody except for, you know, one guy that I had met during my previous visit.

Um, but he ended up moving back to Spain right after, but I didn't know anyone. So for me, it was also a culture shock and like [00:11:00] Noorulain said you have three, Tulum is like three cities in one; you have the pueblo, the town, the typical Mexican town. Then you have the beachy side, which is very Bohemian and cheeky.

And then you have the jungle side where you have where the Mayans live the local. So it's three things in one. and What

 I, what I loved personally loved is that I was able to diverse into all three so far today. If I wanted to be cheeky, I were riding my bike to the beach. If I wanted to be a Mexican, I would just go into the Pueblo and have a really nice cheap meal and enjoy it.

Or if I wanted to stay away from everybody and just hang out with my hammock and my jungle and listen to. All the jungle life then I could. And I would, so it was, it was all with them, you know, in the same perimeter, but they were also different. So for me coming in, it just wasn't to Tulum in itself . It was a change of culture, a change of atmosphere.

It really brought down everything that I knew before from [00:12:00] becoming a city girl to simplicity. My life became very, very simple and total everything from the food that I ate to. The attire, the clothes, what I did, what I didn't do. I didn't watch TV, not once, not once in two years did I would watch TV. I still watch a lot of TV now anyways, but I didn't watch TV at all.

And I had a TV in the place that I rented, but not once did I turn it on. Okay. I would watch Netflix, you know, if I ever wanted to, but for the most part, everything was just completely different. You know, I was, um, I was so spoiled here in the U.S., or I would be able to go anywhere and get my coffee the way I wanted it within minutes.

That's not Mexico and that's not Tulum. There's no sense of energy, uh, urgency, I should say no sense of urgency for anything. And another thing too, that I learned is when your water goes out, your electricity goes out and the water and electricity are always going [00:13:00] out because they run on generators because its the jungle

 So there were moments where we had no water, no electricity, and that was just the way of life my internet would go away. Um, but I had to use my hotspot on my phone. It was just like, I had to adapt where here, if I try to log on and it doesn't go, I just, you know, you get frustrated. It's I literally, I had to take a chill pill.

It took me back to a whole new level. So I became a whole different person and, um, I grew up. I really did. I, I met a lot of great people. Um, my Spanish was already good, but it perfected itself even while I, while I was living there. Um, I learned a lot about healthy stuff and, uh, coffee, like the coffee that I got in Noorulain it was my in rain water

coffee and, uh, you know, so I got, I also dove into coffee. I loved coffee before, but then I became obsessed with coffee even after that. And now it's like every morning, where's my coffee, everything, everything about [00:14:00] the vibe, the people, the culture, the tourists, the food, the ambiance, um, you know, I got around on a bike.

That was my mode of transportation. You know, I peddled and peddled and peddled and from a girl who doesn't exercise and never did anything. And I don't even know how I survived bootcamp and, you know, corrections is all this stuff, you know, riding my bike was, it was, that was also a culture shock. That that was pretty cool.

It's going to say that that if Mari can ride a bike in Tulum, anybody can ride a bike because she's not into athletics. So yes, it's all possible. Yes. Very true. Very true. So when you were riding the bike, where was it? It was in the Pueblo, the beach of the jungle? I rode it everywhere. I rode, I rode my bike everywhere through paved , unpaved roads that morning.

I decided that I was going to support myself and I was going to spend the whole day at the beach. So I got up in the morning. I had a really nice breakfast in. [00:15:00] And then I rode my bike down to the, uh, the beach side and I was just going to write it and wherever it took me, I didn't have a, I didn't have a plan that day, hold in to this.

This is store it's also tied to the retreat where Noorulain was staying at. And I have to pull into the bike rack just to go shopping in their very expensive store. But I wanted to see what I could buy and I was looking for specific honey. There is some sort of honey that my mom had asked me for and I figured, oh, maybe, maybe this store will have it 

cause it looked kind of like a retreat and very Bohemian. So I thought, let me pull into this, um, resort. So I say pulled in, but it was me and my bike. I go in and I put it on the bike rack and I go inside and I walk around, I didn't see any honey. And there were a couple of cute dresses that, you know, too expensive for my taste and I was never going to wear them.

So I thought why, so as [00:16:00] I'm going back to my rack to get on the road, to leave the beach retreat, to go ride my bike to wherever I was going to go to next. I've pulled the bike rack. She's happy to walk by I hit her and that's where we met right outside store and the retreat. She goes to her retreat. I jump on my bike and then I'm making stops along the way.

And I ended up staying in the beach that night. I don't know, maybe seven or eight o'clock at night, and then it gets really dark because there's no streetlights. So my bike had a big, big light, and it was huge blind, you know how to turn it on, but all this, all the bikes had that. And yeah, I ended up hanging out on the beach that whole day.

Are you two still in contact with each other? Like on a weekly? Monthly? Daily basis? Yeah, I would say like every two, three days. Every couple of days. Yeah. There were moments that we know we wouldn't talk for about a week or something because I was busy and she also did a, [00:17:00] um, what was the program? It was in grad school. Remember?

It was really difficult. High Speed or high track program or something, when she was in grad school. It was a, exactly, it was a fast track program where it was. Uh, getting my master's just condensed into literally one month, one year, excuse me. And I couldn't even speak to family or any loved ones because I was just, you know, in the hole and just working on my thesis.

So, um, at that time it was really difficult. So maybe it was like once every few weeks, but it was still very meaningful to kind of catch up. And share what we've been up to and stories and kind of learn from each other. Um, and you know, she's great at giving advice. That's another thing I love about her.

Um, because she's had certain life experiences and I'm, I'm great at listening, but like she said, I'm also very, I need to process things [00:18:00] very analytically and, um, I'm, you know, I'm happy to offer my input, um, to the best of my ability. So that was harder for us when I was in grad school, but that was hard for me with anybody in my life, including parents and siblings and, you know, cousins.

Um, and then, yeah, since then it's been, you know, every couple of days just checking in and just sharing stories or what we're up to. 

 I obviously know this answer, but just be like, if nobody knows, like watching the video, you two are considered as friends, right? Yes. Yeah, we actually, we actually say that were Mayan soul sisters, that's what we call ourselves, Mayan soul sisters.

Yeah. So I will send each other gifts, you know, birthday or Christmas or whatever. It'll just be to my Mayan soul sister. So, yeah, that's another thing too. Um, [00:19:00] I I'm very, uh, how should I say. Like if I go somewhere and I see something that I like, and I think of you I'll buy it. Like I'm always buying guests repeat, but the majority of my expense, honestly, and please don't put this, but I will share a fun fact with you.

The majority of my expense goes to buying gifts. I have this compulsive disorder where I buy gifts for people. I, and baby gifts this. I'm thinking of you, blah, blah, blah, all the time. I could have lunch with you today. I'll buy you a gift. I'll see you next month. I'll buy you a gift. So I do that all the time.

Now, now you can go back to Noorulain and I, if see something that I like, I just buy it for her and I send it to her and then she does the same thing and we send each other gifts for Christmas and birthdays. And just the other day, she messaged me to ask me a question about a straightener. She says, Hey, I'm thinking of buying a straightener.

Do you, do you recommend one? And I said, no, don't buy when I was gifted with one a while back and I haven't used it and I have two other ones, I'll send it to you. So I packed it up. [00:20:00] I took it to the post office and I sent her a brand new straightener that I had in my drawer, you know, that I had only used once to check it out.

So right away, I'm like, I don't need it. My bestie does

, let me put it in a thing and let me send it to her. So we're constantly doing little things like that. It's your love language. It's like, that's why you have all your kiddos and everything. Like you can tell it from the get go it's like, how can I give, how can I give to you?

Yeah. Yeah. All the time I share, I share pictures of things that I do. I share pictures with her, my babies all the time, but this is what we did. This is where we're at. This is what we're doing or we're some pictures of food. She's so good at cooking and her meals and all this stuff that she does when I'm there.

She treats me like royalty and she makes all these amazing meals. And she's always sending me pictures. So when I go to there, I get spoiled or I'm like, I want that. I want to go there. I want you to make me this, I want this. And she comes through, she will literally go shopping for all the things that I want.

And that's what she does for me. She spoils me with [00:21:00] food. Yeah. I mean, I'm very, you know, hospitable in my, my friends, you know, girlfriends loved the come over or stay because yes, NYC has a lot to offer, but so does, you know, La Casa de Khawaja. So, you know, I always like spoil my people when they come over.

And have them feel very much, you know, at home. Have you two

, uh, both traveled since, since that day, like, or even just like ever together? Yeah. Well, I've gone to New York three times. Um, two times I visited one time. I went to visit her to strictly her. We were there for, I was there for four days. We hung out the whole time.

We ended up at the Puerto Rican festival. That was comedy. We had so much fun at this Puerto Rican festival. I don't even know why we went there . Check it off her Bucket list. It's done. That was wild. We went to the Puerto Rican festival. Um, then a year later I went to New York with my cousin for her 40th birthday. I saw her

[00:22:00] then. Then a year later I went to go with another friend who moved to New York, but I also saw her. And then she came to LA just this summer. And, you know, even though it was a business trip, in LA, but I was like, I have to see my bestie. So it's like alotting the extra time and making sure that I got it in and because she loves and cares about me so much, she made sure she carved out time from her busy schedule.

And if that meant a little girl sleepover at my hotel, that's what we were going to do. And then do. Coffee,breakfast in the morning. So it's, it's all about, you know, taking the time for, you know, the people that you care about. I kind of just wanted to get like your perspective of like Mari and taking on this like huge project of releasing Chica on a Trip.

Um, we were having brunch outside and she was asking my opinion and [00:23:00] that's when she revealed that she was thinking about doing this. And I was really excited and I, um, was absolutely supportive of this move because I couldn't think of a better person to, um, speak to others and, um, share her deep wealth of knowledge, which is something.

You know that I think so many people would benefit from not just her friends or besties like myself or others in her circle, but beyond. So she, um, she knows she's had these life experiences, whether it's, you know, traveling within mainland us or overseas. And I'm really happy that she's sharing all of her stories and, um, essentially educating, right?

So as, as entertaining as she is, I'm really glad that she's using Chica on a Trip as an informational tool for others. And [00:24:00] also as a way to inspire and motivate them that, Hey, maybe you don't have to make an X amount of dollars a year that it's completely possible and, and sharing about why she benefits from it and how much, uh, richer her life is as a result of traveling, um, to different countries.

So I was, you know, a hundred percent on board. I think that it launched even quicker than I would've thought. So I'm glad that she was so committed. And so I'm motivated to get it on its feet. And I also love how compared to maybe other travel bloggers that she's so honest with everything. Right. So if it's a, she, she's not gonna fluff around the topic, she's, she's going to give you the tips that.

They're literally what she's learned and what she's, um, you know, willing to share. And, um, you know, the sense of, um, that [00:25:00] she, you know, is also honest about, Hey, if there's ever a scary situation, this is what I've been through, or, Hey, this is a great way to save money. I just feel like. And she's authentic, right?

And it comes across in her videos or her blog posts or the website itself where you feel and you, and you can sense her authenticity and that's really vital. When there are so many options or maybe there are so many travel bloggers out there that you find somebody who's one, keeping it real with you.

Two, who's giving you the necessary information that you need and three. You know, doing it from a place of love. She doesn't have to share all of her tips that she's learned, you know, but she's willing to share and, and indulge, and that's really powerful and meaningful. I think that she has, done the research and she, has the [00:26:00] data within herself to kind of back up whatever she's putting out there.

She's, she's done it. She knows it firsthand. Um, and that's critical because it's not coming from a third party. It's coming directly from the source. Right. And as a journalist, that's so important because my sources are everything to my stories and she's credible, right? She's not doing sponsored content of, Hey, buy this fluffy hat and you know, I will give you this or I will share this information or whatever it is.

So she's, she's doing it because one, she wants to help others. There's that motivation aspect to share and to, she's an incredible source that I view from a journalistic standpoint, who is extremely thoughtful and credible and, um, and willing to kind of be open unlike other, uh, travel bloggers. You know, I would say that keep being yourself because

[00:27:00] thats what made me realize that this was going to be a long lasting friendship that just happened as a result of a chance encounter and, um, you know, continue doing great work because. You've already done it. Right. And you have that knowledge, but now is the time that you can share it and help others and inspire them to kind of do what they maybe never thought was possible when it comes to traveling, um, global.

She can't be biased. She has to listen to what the other person say, whether she agrees with them or not. So the way that she's going to respond, it's going to be that she's in that journalistic mode. So a lot of these things that she said today, she's pretty much said it to me, but not in this terms. And I wanted to say, when you were talking, I didn't want to interrupt.

You're like, oh, I love you. Because there's other things that you've said, but not like that, where you're like chica, you [00:28:00] need blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, very straight forward. And here you're like, she's still this and she's done that and I'm like, oh my God, I feel so mushy, because you never say that to me.

Not in those words, but you do, you do so hearing them in that sense. Oh, it makes me happy and it makes me smile. Yeah. It touching. The tone is more official, darling. Yeah. It's sweeter too. And you know, and, and another thing too, that, and I say this because people sometimes don't believe my stories are real and everything that I say, and even a thing that she says to me in a lot of people's like, everything happens to you.

Like what, tell me that story again. I'm always full of stories. And that's one thing that Noorulain always says to me, you're always full of stories. Like you're always full of everything. Like good, bad drama. Funny. Mindblowing. Like, you're [00:29:00] always full of stories of something going on in your life. And it's very real.

And I get that from her. And even when I, and every time we get off the phone, you know, it's usually like, oh, I love you. Take care. And one thing that she does always say to me, and I don't even know if you've noticed this here was, I love talking to you. Cause every time I talked to her, I learned something from you.

I learned something about you, like about what you've done. And she always says that to me like, oh, I love like, I didn't know that. hey Chica today. I felt like I learned this about you, or now I understand why you do this or things like, and that's one thing that she always says to me, every time that we get off the phone, even now four years later, when we do talk and we catch up, she always points out something new that she learned from me because that's her mentality.

You know, she, she runs on a whole different spectrum than. Either way. I took this for my work. They had us take a Clifton strengths test and meaning it's, it's a way to kind of figure out what's your personality like in a professional environment and [00:30:00] my top five, my first one was input. My second one, I think was learner.

And I also had intellect in there too, because like she said, I'm always taking whatever somebody say and I'm processing it in my head. And if I have a followup question, I'm going to ask that. I'm very analytical, so that was spot on what she said about just needing to process and thinking in my brain.

And then Im willing to kind of express a viewpoint if you will. Right. So, but that's, that's absolutely spot on about just taking the time to take it in, to input the information, to want to learn. Right. Because in any friendship or relationship you want to feel like you're constantly evolving and learning.

And I feel like just having known Mari for four years, I've even [00:31:00] felt myself growing and evolving. I consider myself as a storyteller, but more on a professional level. Right. As a journalist, as a TV reporter. And she has her way of storytelling. And boy is she full of stories. So, you know, it's, I relate to that.

It resonates. Maybe the stories are more so in her personal life, whereas mine are in my professional life, but storytelling. Is the, you know, is the, is the backbone of, of our relationship. But also I think that's what elevates her blog because she is great at storytelling. Chica, I don't even know if you know this.

Um, I know you are going to remember. I did an audio recording with Woody. I don't know if you recall, when I mentioned to you that I was going to do an audio recording at the library. And I recall my opening statement starts with I'm a storyteller. Yeah. I literally struggled saying that I'm a [00:32:00] storyteller and I really am.

Yeah. Yeah. So funny you say that because that is my opening statement. Um, the story. She's got the knowledge. Okay. I do have to go, but thank you so much for the call. I'll show you my place. Yeah. I'm going to call you right now. Thanks. Bye guys.