“I should like to spend the whole of my life traveling abroad, if I could
anywhere borrow another life to spend afterwards at home.” — William Hazlitt
<< about me >>
I’m just a small town girl who discovered the rest of the world.
Perfectly content in Smallville, USA (a tiny Northern California gold rush town), I left at eighteen for one of the world’s biggest cities and the world’s biggest universities. After four years (and a short stint living in Barcelona) and I moved to the next stage of life, if you will, with an insatiable thirst to see the world.
Despite vowing to be nomadic all over the globe and remain a permanent explorer for life…I became drawn to building a life that included a career, a significant other, a community, a home. Yet I found myself spending hundreds of hours of spare time talking, reading, dreaming about travel. Still, I learned I wasn’t quite ready to give those pursuits up to carry a backpack for months at a time.
As time passed and I found myself in a life that didn’t quite fit — I found myself through spurts of travel. I visited friends in London, Shanghai, Rome, Sydney. I applied for (and got) the company-sponsored volunteer opportunity abroad.
I taught third grade in India. I traveled solo through Nepal, climbed the Great Wall of China. I road-tripped New Zealand, attempted to conquer my fear of heights (and failed!), and fell in love…with foods and cultures I never even knew to dream about. I did all of this…while holding a full-time job.
When the time came for that job and I to go our separate ways, I took the opportunity and ran with it (flew with it? train-ed with it? rode with it?) and found myself halfway across the world. The longest I’ve traveled continuously was five months of full-time travel through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. (Read more about my longest journey here and here.) I passionately believe you don’t have to change the life you’re living to see the world. But if you want to…you can, and it most certainly will change your life.
I returned home thinking (but maybe not believing…) that I could pick up where I left off. As, piece-by-piece, the rest of my life as I knew it fell apart — I found myself free to create my life (this time) exactly as I want it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from travel, it’s that it’s really never too late to change the road we’re on. And we’re truly lucky if we are in the position to do so.
After spending this year in the world, I insisted on building a life at home I loved as much as I love travel. The result was a move to San Francisco, which I affectionately call my“soul city.” Though I my work is 100% remote and I can choose to be anywhere, I am committed to keeping a home base. I strive for and believe in the connection between and balance of travel and home.
With this newfound freedom comes much musing on a life well-lived, a few personal stories on my efforts to do so, but most of all…my commitment to helping you get out into the world and traveling. It has made all the difference in my journey, and I’m confident it will in yours, too.
You don’t have to give up the life you’re already living to see the world.
Whether you’re lost as to where to go next in your life, or you simply want to find a new place to energize your life for a few weeks…I want to help you get there.
As for me? There’s still a lot I don’t know. One thing I know I still want to be…a part-time traveler. I look forward to sharing the journey with you.
Eat well, travel well, live well, be well.
Still curious? Here are 65 Things About Me.
My aim is to help you prioritize seeing the world and feel empowered to travel internationally, even (especially) if you feel limited by 2-4 weeks of vacation time per year. How can I help you?
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P.S. I take photos in the phone booths of every country I visit.
All of the following photos are proud moments of travel achieved by goals I set for seeing the world within only 2-4 weeks of vacation per year. (You can, too!)
…and there are more not displayed here. …and there are many more to come!
