If you follow me on social media you know that over the past couple of weeks I have been on a whirlwind adventure with my family. It started with a flight from San Francisco, CA to Washington, D.C. (to get my passport from the embassy) to Frankfurt, Germany to Abuja, Nigeria to my FINAL destination in Yola, Nigeria.

Why Yola, Nigeria?

My Aunt Margee lives in Yola and is currently serving as the President of the American University of Nigeria. She has been there for over six years and has been doing some amazing work (check out this piece on her here), so I figured that it was time for me to pack my bags and venture out to visit her.

Now, I have traveled to Africa before when I was younger, but never to Nigeria and I knew that my typical San Francisco #streetstyle wasn’t going to cut it in this very conservative Nigeria. So, I opted to pack a ton of loose maxi dresses/skirts and lightweight layering pieces.

Even though it was well over 100 degrees pretty much every day it worked…kind of!?!

Not pictured are these two dresses from Old Navy that literally became my uniform for the trip. Check them out here + here. They were easy to dress up and helped me to not reach ‘maximum sweat levels’ like the yellow skirt above.

Here is a look at some of my Beauty Travel Essentials:

Shore Projects Watch, Glossier: Priming Moisturizer, Viktor & Rolf: Flowerbomb Precious Oil,

Lancomé: Juicy Shaker and Ziesche (everything).

This blousy maxi dress from Carolina K made several appearances on me (and my sister) during the trip.

Created in 2002 by Argentinian musician and designer Carolina Kleinman, the eclectic Carolina K label takes a broad approach to clothing design. By merging vintage and modern elements and casting intricate embellishments on daring shapes, the label produces forward collections with a flowing, artistic feel. Carolina K clothing is crafted by artisans who work under global fair trade agreements, creating each piece in a new tradition of ethical fashion – making her pieces ideal for this trip!

Check out some of my new favorites from Carolina K here + here.

More Travel Essentials:

1. A Watch. This was a crucial accessory for me…especially when I fell asleep after nearly 24 hours of travel and had no idea where I was and what time it was because my iPhone was dead.

2. Coffee. All the coffee all the time. Lucky for me there was fresh french pressed coffee at the house for me every morning and a fabulous little coffee shop at the University that even offered iced coffee (a MUST with the Yola heat).

From the plane (there and back) to almost every adventure throughout the trip, these Backyard Footwear sneakers did a great job of keeping me comfortable and stylish on my trip.

Made by hand in the same European factory since 1972 with 100% natural and European sourced materials.  All leather is from Italy. These Backyard sneakers were made with an eco-friendly process and without chemicals, making them an easy choice on this trip.

Interested in checking these out?

Use the code: KATWALK to save 25%

And last, but not least I kicked off my trip with the AUN Run for Peace.

The run benefits the American University of Nigeria’s Feed to Read Program, that provides displaced, orphaned and Almajiri children a daily meal and teaches them basic literacy and numeracy.

It costs $1 per day to feed one child their only meal of the day.
It costs $50 to teach that child to read.

During my trip, I was able to participate in the Feed to Read Program and observe first hand all of the amazing things that the team at AUN are working on!

You can still support this cause and donate here.