When You Wander

I’m a 31-year-old Florida native and travel enthusiast, on a mission to experience as much of the world as I possibly can. Join me? 🙂

MY STORY… Summer 2011: I went on my first backpacking trip with one of my best friends. What started as a basic plan to visit London expanded into a 3-week adventure across some of Europe’s most famous cities. I was a changed woman after that. The travel bug had bit me hard and, to this day, no regrets.

Summer 2015: I decided I wanted to do more than just take vacations abroad. Why not live abroad? Some of my friends have done it, why not me, too? My fiancé (then boyfriend) was even living abroad for school, so what better chance than now to take the leap myself? But…how?  After Googling for weeks on end, I educated myself on Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).  I realized teaching was the road I was meant to travel to experience this world. So I moved to Japan for a year and three months and did just that. Not only did I find the entire teaching thing incredibly rewarding, but I made lifelong friends in the process. I even had the opportunity to explore two new continents.

Summer 2017: I completed another 3-week backpacking trip through Europe. It’s six years after my initial, eye-opening trip, and this time I had the pleasure of traveling with my mom. It was her first time in Europe. 🙂

Since Then^: After a year and a half of living and traveling abroad, I briefly made my way back to Florida before getting hitched in Charleston, South Carolina in June 2018 (staying true to ourselves with a destination wedding), and most recently making the move to Denver, Colorado in January 2019! While I’ve been blessed to have had some irreplaceable international experiences, I’m looking forward to living on the western half of the U.S. and simply exploring more of my homeland. #MountainReady

To anyone who is interested in traveling but doesn’t know where to start, please reach out to me. Over the years, I’ve learned that I’m not just passionate about travel, but about helping others travel! My wealth of knowledge within the travel world is growing and I’m bursting to share it with anyone who will listen. There’s so much out there in the world to see, to do, people to meet, cultures to experience, beautiful landscapes to soak in. So many people seem to think they can’t do it – that travel is not in the cards for them. Not enough money, or time, or maybe no one to go with. There is always a way! You just have to find your courage…and go.

Just a few of the things I’ve come to love:

• Obsessing over Game of Thrones
• Landscape photography with my Samsung NX300
• Hiking!
• The color Teal. It’s the best.
• Netflixing
• Coffee – in all forms
• Reading & writing
• All things Harry Potter
• Adventures
• Optimism – because life is good & I enjoy hanging out with people who smile 🙂
• Fall weather – boots & scarves are my fave.