For this episode of Wantdo Stories, we are having Angelica Talan (@angelicatalan), who is a travel writer and social influencer from Washington, D.C. In addition to that, she is also a mom of two kids and a travel enthusiast. She shared with us some tips for working moms and her passion for the outdoors. Please read on to learn more about Angelica.

We found Angelica on Instagram when she tagged us in her post. She was wearing our Lightweight Packable Down Jacket and catching the first fish of her day. Angelica tells us that she loves being outdoors. Nature, for her, is the most conducive environment to wellness, adventure, and fun. Fly fishing is her favorite outdoor activity, and it has helped keep her happy during the pandemic.

Angelica wearing Wantdo Lightweight Packable Down Jacket

Angelica started fly fishing because of her daughter. After taking her daughter to her first time fishing, Angelica began to research how to fish without live bait. She stumbled across a fly fishing video on Youtube and became curious about this sport. Soon after, Angelica took her family on a fly fishing trip and got “hooked” ever since. They have been fly fishing regularly for three years now. The Grande Ronde is Angelica’s favorite destination for fly fishing because that is the place she felt the most connected with herself through fly fishing, and it is also the place where she met and officially join the Admin team for United Women on the Fly.

United Women on the Fly (@unitedwomenonthefly) is an inclusive community that educates, provides resources, encourages, and connects anglers around the globe into the sports of fly fishing. It is an organization that delivers positive energy and advocates for equitable outdoor opportunities and representation for ALL women. Angelica is the Diversity Chair and Liaison for United Women on the Fly. She said that when she and her daughter began fly fishing, they both noticed there weren’t that many women of color in the sport. She is working with them to amplify underrepresented voices within fly fishing and to demonstrate that all things are possible for everyone, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, and body size

Besides fly fishing, Angelica also loves traveling. She loves how traveling enables her to explore different cultures, different foods, different types of beauty. Through learning about new things, she gets to find out more about herself by connecting with different aspects of herself as a human being. With each place she travels, she finds a way to escape from her normal hustle and grind and to experience relaxation and rejuvenation. “Celebrating the time we have here on earth through travel is very important to me,” she says.

Angelica has traveled to 38 of the states in the United States and she has been to six foreign countries. We gave her a tough task to pick one favorite place out of the ones she has visited, and Paris is her choice. Angelica says that Paris has a very special place in her heart because France is the first country that she and her husband visited with their kids when they were little, and they have been to France more times than to any other country.

It comes as no surprise that Angelica’s favorite topic to write about on her blog is travel. Angelica is the creator of the blog Angelica In The City. She started this blog in 2016. Before that, she published another successful blog, Clarendon Moms, which just celebrated for its ten years anniversary. Clarendon Moms is a blog about parenting, and where to go and what to do with your family. Angelica's friends and followers suggested starting another blog and talking more about travel and lifestyles for those who do not have kids. That was how Angelica in The City started. Right now, she has 37.2k followers on Instagram and 35k subscribers on her blog.

Angelica tells us that her biggest inspiration comes from her audience. She tries her best to share her knowledge with her audience, who truly likes to learn more ways of exploring. She produces content that can be helpful for her audience. Although she has been very successful on social media, Angelica says that the best words to describe herself are “down to earth.” “A lot of people see the life I live on social media. They see that I get to travel to cool places, I get to partner with brands like WantDo, and I get to experience many great amenities that our Nation’s capital has to offer, like restaurants, red carpet events, etc. However, they might not realize that I am still a small-town girl from the Midwest who is down to earth and grounded. I never take any of this for granted”, Angelica says.

Not only is Angelica a blogger, but she is also a mom. Angelica admits that it is a challenge to balance work and family, especially during the pandemic. However, she learned something from another working mom. She also believes it is the best tip she would like to share, and that is to get organized as the best you can. Keep your work schedule and space organized, and everything else will be much easier.

Angelica’s schedule for a typical day is quite hectic. She wakes up, cooks breakfast for her family, carpools her kids to school, goes to the gym, gets in a workout, goes to her co-working space--works on her writings or photo edits for a few hours. Then, she picks up her kids, helps them with homework, cooks dinner, and she usually has a restaurant opening or a photoshoot for an upcoming campaign soon after that--all of this in one day . Finally, she gets home in time to tuck her kids in bed, and then she answers emails or does her accounting and administrative work until she can’t keep her eyes open and goes to sleep.

From her schedule, we can see that Angelica keeps herself busy from the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed. She tells us that there are hardly any breaks for “me time/mommy time” unless she schedules it in or goes on a vacation, but she is a busy body even then. As her schedule has already been busy as now, she has no intention to slow it down.

Angelica is very excited to tell us that she has a few major brand collaborations on the horizon. Although she has kept promising herself to have a short vacation off-camera to travel and chill out, she is also planning on trying something new, like opening a Youtube channel or starting a podcast.

 Angelica's Pick: Wantdo Lightweight Packable Down Jacket

We are delighted to have Angelica as a guest for Wantdo Stories. It is very important to share positive energies with other people, especially during this pandemic. Therefore, we believe what Angelica is doing on her blog and on behalf of United Women on the Fly is very meaningful, and we are looking forward to what Angelica will do next. Please let us know what you think about this episode of Wantdo Stories in the comment section below. As always, we will select one winner from the comment section to receive the jacket Angelica was wearing.