I spent most of my childhood in Florida with my older sister, my mom, and our cat, Buster. My daily routine was school, sports, and spending time with friends.
Each summer, my sister and I would fly by ourselves to Pennsylvania to spend 6 weeks with our dad. Ultimately, we spent most of it with our grandparents. My Poppop Fred never let us sit around and do nothing. And certainly, never let us sit around in front of the TV. He always encouraged us to get outside, use our imaginations, to be brave, and to be independent. This is where my adventurous spirit started to form. (Pictured is Harper’s first visit to Poppop Fred’s house in 2021).
Before going to college, I didn’t realize just how big the world was and how much money was in it. As I made new friends in Gainesville, I would hear stories about spring break adventures in the Bahamas, South Africa, Costa Rica, Thailand, and more. WHAT?! I thought going to Pennsylvania while I waited for financial aid to drop was a huge deal…
Once I graduated and began my career, I made sure to prioritize travel savings so that I could see some of the amazing places that I had only heard about second-hand.
Being a natural A-type planner has helped to budget and maximize my PTO and weekends. My travels have continued to get better and better!
We met at the University of Florida in 2010. When we were first dating, I asked him what some of his bucketlist places were. While sitting on the tiny love seat in my one-bedroom apartment, he said Costa Rica. I checked tickets, saw they were most affordale during rainy season, and booked without asking him! He couldn’t believe I did that on a whim. But we went, and he loved every second! It’s been that way ever since and he’s happy to be along for the ride no matter where my ideas take us.
Joined the crew in 2018. She took her first flight at 6 months old and never looked back. Harper is the best, most easy going, adventurous traveler. At age 5, she’s been on 25+ airplanes and visited 8 states. My hope is that she’ll grow up appreciating experiences versus things and having an open-mind about the world.
I travel to feel connected. Connected to my family, my friends, myself, the world. Traveling forces me to think differently than I do when I’m comfortable at home, in my everyday life.
We’re not here on Earth for a long time. And my ability to travel could be cut short at any time for any number of reasons. So I refuse to wait until retirement. My pace of travel isn’t always easy, but I’m determined to make the most of the time I have in each new destination that I have the privilege of exploring.
I hope that sharing my experiences will help you to get out there and see the world. As well as see that you can pack a lot into a short period of time! We don’t all have the luxury of slow-travel and that is OK.
