About Part-Time Travel, Balancing Travel and Home

Hello, you beautiful human, you!

I’m a freelance travel writer, book editor, and content designer living in San Francisco, California (my soul city.)

I’ve been to more than 60 countries — many of them while holding a full-time job — by prioritizing travel. What makes my heart go aflutter is helping you remove self-imposed limitations if you seek the same.

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“there are times to work and times to play – but most importantly, find the time to enjoy today.”

So, are you a part-time traveler? An everyday explorer? Or do you aspire to be?

a part-time traveler
:: prioritizes travel, makes it a no-excuses part of their life. understands that travel is just that – one part of a full and fulfilling life.
:: takes what they learned and how they lived while traveling and applies it at home.

I started writing Part-Time Traveler when I realized, although inspiring, the travel blogs I was reading were more about constant life on the road than wanting to pursue travel and still keep a home base.

With Part-Time Traveler I seek to share the where, the how, and always…the why.

After more than a decade of sharing my travels, I’ve distilled a few principles for writing here. I won’t ever describe why you should go somewhere without sharing what I learned by going there. I love a hot tip and destination recommendations as much as anyone, but there’s so much more depth to travel than you often witness online. We travel to learn and to be moved by what we experience, and I want that process to be reflected here.

I hope I can inspire you to live a little better at home through the experiences I have had — to leave your home and seek your own lessons, and then to return and choose to still see the world with wonder at home.

Me? I’ve been all over the map. I studied English Literature and Global Studies at UCLA. Before rooting in San Francisco, I lived in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Barcelona, and Delhi. I left my corporate job with a Fortune 500 company in 2013, and spent the next year traveling through eighteen countries before beginning a new chapter on my own terms in SF. (More about my story.)

Now I’m a writer, editor, content designer, and self-proclaimed quote junkie. Two of my published long-form travel stories were awarded gold and silver Solas Awards for Best Travel Writing. I am also the co-founder of Gather + Getaway retreats for creative women and am working on my first book.

I can live and work anywhere and I actively choose to nest here in San Francisco. No matter your ties to work and home, I’ve been there and I know…you can travel. You may have to make some hard choices and rearrange your priorities, but —

A life of travel can be had — and it’s not as difficult to integrate as we’re made to think.

Watch a clip of one of my favorite conversations, ever, on what it means to be a part-time traveler:

More, you ask?

I believe India (most especially Rajasthan and Kerala,) New Zealand, Iceland, France (particularly Paris, Bordeaux, and Provence,) the Cyclades of Greece, Mexico (specifically Oaxaca and Riviera Maya,) Italian lakes and islands (see Lake Como and Sicily to start,) and Kyoto (well, all of Japan really) were at some point sprinkled with fairy dust because they’re all magical. See more favorite destinations.

This is probably my favorite post I’ve written here.

My photography has been featured throughout the web, including being named a top travel Instagram account to follow on Buzzfeed. I share a mix of travel and San Francisco photos there. Follow along.

My unconventional career path has included full-time freelance writing and blogging for 6+ years (and yes, I paid rent in San Francisco the whole time.) Snippets of my online writing work are available to view in my Contently Portfolio. I then fulfilled a lifelong dream of working in publishing and worked as a book editor for three years. Recently, I joined Meta to work as a content designer for Instagram and Facebook.

Chateau Balleroy, Normandy, France

I love to speak about part-time travel elsewhere on the web. Here are a few to check out, along with some of the FAQs I get most often:

Why do you publish both about travel and your home? Celebrating The Road While Savoring Home on Yahoo! Travel
What’s the longest trip you’ve ever taken? Vagabonding Case Study
How did you first get into travel? 8 Women Changing the World of Travel on Bon Traveler
How do I live a travel lifestyle when I’m back at home? Holding On To Your Travel Self At Home on The Travelers podcast.
How did you become a travel writer? The Realities of Ditching the 9-5 for Location Independence on USA Today, Member Spotlight on Travel Massive.
How can I make travel a bigger priority? I go in-depth on this in my discussion on the Keep Your Daydream podcast.
What is your favorite country/city that you’ve ever been to? My favorites couldn’t be more different: India is my favorite country to travel in and Paris is my favorite city.
Where else can I find your work? Since I write professionally, mostly for the web, I’m all over the Internet. I’m particularly proud of being published on the Wanderlust: Literary Journeys for the Discerning Traveler site. This story was formed with the wise tutelage of Don George and won the distinguished writing award at the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference during my first year of attendance.