My Travel Story: A World Beyond the Familiar

My love for travel began in 2011, when I studied abroad in Barcelona. Exploring Spain and traveling across Europe with friends opened my eyes to different cultures, ways of living, and possibilities beyond the world I knew. After that semester, I made myself a promise: I would see as much of the world as I could in this lifetime.

But life had other plans. As a recent graduate struggling to find a well-paying job, I had to put that dream on hold. It wasn't until 2015, after leaving my first full-time job and navigating the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, that I began finding my own way back to exploration.

In 2016, I embarked on a solo road trip through five national parks in Utah in just six days—driving 1,200 miles and hiking more than 20 trails on my own. That experience reignited my love for travel, adventure, and the natural world. It also inspired me to explore gamified travel as a way to make exploration more meaningful.

Since then, I've visited more than 40 countries and 46 U.S. states, with over half of my travels taken solo. Between 2018 and 2023, I also traveled internationally for work in education, visiting schools and attending conferences across Europe and Asia. Travel was never something I waited to do until I had more time. I learned to weave it into my life, alongside full-time jobs and running businesses.

Some of my favorite memories have come from adventures with my husband: watching Olympic volleyball and table tennis in Paris in 2024, then exploring the cultures, food, and music of Germany, Austria, Czechia, and Belgium; celebrating Día de Muertos in Mexico City and taking our first hot air balloon ride; and driving across the United States, including our Route 66 road trip when we moved from Madison to San Diego in 2023.

And I'm just getting started. In late 2025, I spent three weeks traveling solo through Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador, snorkeling—including at the Great Blue Hole—climbing Acatenango Volcano, and taking surfing lessons before reuniting with my parents in Panama. In 2026, my husband and I embarked on our first cruise, spending a week at sea aboard Star of the Seas and exploring Caribbean islands.

My dream is to visit every country in the world—or as many as I can in this lifetime. But for me, travel has never been just about ticking destinations off a list.

Travel reminds me that the world is bigger than the boundaries of our everyday lives. It invites me to see things through different lenses, connect with people whose lives are different from mine, and discover kindness in the most unexpected places.

Most of all, travel reminds me how alive I feel when I'm free to explore beyond the familiar—without being confined to one identity, one routine, or one way of living.

Because we only get one life. And I want to experience as much of this extraordinary world as I can.