So, Where Have I Been?

Here’s a Brief History of my Travels:

I just thought for those super duper interested it might be nice to have a little overview of where I’ve been. Feel free to skim over this!

Pre-undergrad:

I am fortunate enough to have very adventurous parents and grandparents. Growing up I traveled a majority of the time within the United States. There were a few stragglers though. As a 3 year old we went to Mexico (can’t say I remember much from that), then in high school I started to express more interest in seeing other countries. So, around my freshman year my parents brought me to Costa Rica. Then my brother went abroad for college, so we made a trip to visit him in Iceland. And later on that year we made the trip of a lifetime to Japan. These all solidified my love of travel and created a monster inside of me that just wouldn’t let me stop there.

Undergrad Years:

My freshman year of college was typical. It was a blast. I may say this all the time, but one of the best years of my life. I stayed in Minnesota, met some of my best friends, and took a trip to Florida for Spring Break.

Sophomore year is when I like to think something in my brain really changed. I was no longer solely interested in completing my degree and finding a typical job post grad. I decided to do a semester “abroad” with NSE (National Student Exchange) in Oahu, Hawaii. As I lived, studied, and worked here I met so many inspiring people that really gave me the push to keep traveling. After 7.5 months in Hawaii I figured I was halfway to Asia so I booked my first ever solo trip to Thailand. Thailand took my breath away in the means of natural beauty, cultural beauty, and the ease of managing it all alone.

While being in Thailand, alone for a month, I was able to absorb so much knowledge from my surroundings and about myself. This was a huge step for me. I also stayed with my first worldpackers hosts which was the best decision!

Junior year was a crazy year long story short, but after spending my favorite semester back in Minnesota. I was off again for the spring semester. I was accepted to studying in Graz, Austria along with 3 other students from the University of Minnesota. BUTTT before this the SSC (Ski and Snowboard Club) was heading to Banff, Canada for a week. So, squeezed that in before packing up my bags for 7 months. While I was in Austria I packed in many many trips throughout and across Europe. All in all I believe I saw 16 countries (I don’t believe it). While I was there I learned so much from other international students at my university, people staying in hostels, and friendly locals. This was an amazing part of my life because I was responsible for everything on my own, I learned how to find the best deals, how to advocate for myself, and staying optimistic when things didn’t go to plan.

For senior year I took a leap to the world downunder. I found an opportunity to study, for my last semester ever in undergrad, and intern in the beautiful Sydney, Australia. This was such an amazing experience even though it was only 4 months long. I got to work with the kindest people in one of the most beautiful cities and met some more of my bestest friends. Though my schedule was pretty busy I was able to steal away some vacations within Australia during this time. As well as a trip to Bali, Indonesia with lots of Uni friends.

Post-Grad:

After my time ended in Australia I went back to Indonesia with a friend, I met up with people in Vietnam, hiked around New Zealand with my parents, and lastly stopped back in Hawaii to reunite with friends there. Then I went home for some time with my family.

What comes next you might wonder?

Well that’s what I’m trying to figure out. I will be moving to Guatemala for at least four months starting this September. After that I am hoping to backpack around some bucket list countries in South America. And then… I am not sure yet what the future holds!

But, you are more than welcome to follow along!!