Travel

Traveling is one of my favorite things to do.  I think it is the perfect way to not only learn about the world and different people, but it is also a way to learn about yourself.  Ever since I was born, I spent summers traveling around the United States with my family.  My dad's art career took us to states like Ohio, Michigan, Chicago, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, and more.  Yet, the great part about my dad's work was the fact that on the way to an art show, we had to drive through many states just to get to our destination.  This put us in a different city every night where we had a chance to see something new.  

As I grew older, I was determined to see more of the world.  When I decided to study at University of Florida, my goal before graduating was to have a chance to study abroad.  My junior year of college was the year that I made this dream happen.  I was able to study in Madrid, Spain for five months! Not only was I able to travel all over Spain, but I also made it to Italy, France, England, Portugal, and Malta.  The time I spent in Europe further convinced me that I need to see the world. 

As a present for graduation from UF, my parents said they would buy me a plane ticket to anywhere I wanted.  I talked to a couple people about trips they planned on taking in the following months and debated where I wanted to go.  In the end, I decided against going anywhere with my friends, and instead took a trip to Hawaii on my own.  I spent five weeks traveling from island to island.  I met some great people and saw unbelievable places. By taking myself out of my comfort zone, I allowed myself to be more open-minded and was able to learn from everything and everyone around me.  Once again, the trip gave me the desire to continue to see the world.  

After returning home, I decided to work in my field for awhile. I got a marketing job in South Florida and loved it. I learned a lot. Before long though, I was ready for more adventures. While still working I took a two week trip to Macedonia, Prague, and Vienna. I was visiting one of my closest friends who was doing research in Macedonia. Once I quit that marketing job, I decided to take a backpacking trip through Central and South America. I went backpacking for four months traveling from Nicaragua to Peru. I was able to see six countries extensively. It was not easy to just pick up and leave for four months, but it was definitely worth it.

After arriving home and taking another Marketing job for a year and a half, I decided to travel once again. I moved to Australia for a year to live and work. I lived in Sydney and spent the year bartending and traveling. Besides traveling much of Australia, I also traveled to New Zealand. Once my year visa in Australia ended, I decided to spend 2 months backpacking Bali, Vietnam and Thailand. 

There are still so many places I want to go.  The world is huge and I have only seen a tiny portion of it.  I know I will take many more trips and I am excited to share these future experiences. To read more about my travel experiences, check out my "Blog" page and click on some of the Pink Pangea links :)