I always instinctively knew I wanted to travel the world.
My favorite pastimes as a child were getting lost in Barbie fantasy movies, imagining pretend worlds with my dolls, and immersing myself in fiction; unsurprisingly, I was drawn to the mystique and possibility of adventure in foreign places.
I was painfully shy growing up, and didn’t have many friends. Coupled with my introverted disposition, I always felt like I stood out from the crowd.
Though at the time, I desperately wanted to “fit in” and be like everyone else, little did I know this sense of always feeling “different” from my peers became one of my greatest teachers.
As my high school funneled students into college, I agonized over deciding my major.
I took countless personality and career tests to get any kind of insight or illumination of what I wanted to do with my life.
Yet none of the career paths the test results gave me fully resonated with my soul.
I changed my major several times throughout college, before settling with Communications and Media.
But at the time the rest of my peers were focused on building their professional careers, I decided I would not conform to what everyone expected of me, and chose the path of the wanderer instead.
Traveling has always been my guiding light: an ironic sort of anchor amidst the voices telling me I needed to “choose a career or else you’re a failure.”
During the height of questioning who I was and what I wanted to do, the only thing I knew for certain was that I wanted to see the world — and I would do whatever it took to do it.
In this way, being a traveler became not only a description of my actions, but a core pillar of who I am.
Now, the thing I am most proud of is the loyalty I’ve kept to my own heart above all else.
At the risk of continuing to be “different”, staying dedicated to my childhood dreams is my life’s greatest accomplishment.
“Got a case of wanderlust” is therefore a dedication to my younger self and all of the other souls with travel dreams who are a little unsure of how to start.
My resources and guides — about budget travel, solo female travel, and mindful+responsible tourism — are all things I wish I had known about before I started traveling.
It is my deepest hope that I can help illuminate any journeys that may be murky now, empower a world of better travelers, and create a community of like-hearted souls with a case of wanderlust.
“The journey is the destination.”
