I’m always traveling. For work, for fun… mostly for fun.
It’s so dreamy to be able to say that. I caught the travel bug after a 10-day solo trip to Europe in the sweltering summer of 2017. I was 24 when I booked my flight in the office of my rewarding but emotionally exhausting job where I was constantly called on for counseling, despite never graduating with a counseling degree. (If any of my former students or colleagues are reading this, I love you and I hope that I was able to serve you in ways I couldn’t serve myself.) I needed this trip. N E E D E D. And when it finally came, I was at my happiest. It was my therapy, my church. It’s often the answer when I’m asked, “Amy, where’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled?”
It’s not my favorite because of the beautiful architecture I could’ve studied for weeks, or the restaurants and gelato shops I frequented multiple times over multiple days, or the cold hostel showers after wandering the city for 15 miles in 105 degree weather. It’s my favorite because it’s where I learned to navigate airport terminals, trains, buses, metros, and busy streets marked in unfamiliar languages with a 60-liter backpack and a trusty pair of Birkenstocks by myself. It’s my favorite because I stepped out of my comfort zone (and got over a serious fear of bedbugs) to sleep in 18-bed dorms that cost $14 USD a night. It’s my favorite because, for the first time, I had the responsibility of introducing myself first and initiating conversations with people I admired at first sight. So I did. And it all came so much more naturally than I thought it would.
I came back from Europe and immediately booked a flight to San Francisco to meet some Australian friends, who I met during a layover in LA, in Yosemite. The next month, I traveled to Chicago. Then I booked for Bali. Then Belize. Then Colombia. Obviously, I was hooked.
I’m an impulsive traveler. A budget traveler. I hardly ever know where I’m going next. I’m always packing last minute. My trips are usually no more than 36 hours long. It’s a weekend warrior style of traveling that I’ve learned and grown from so much this last year and a half. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I encourage everyone (especially young folks with flexibility) to let go of fear and travel as much as they can. It’s a privilege and a financial stretch to travel, but traveling and the experience of being an outsider in another’s culture is the one thing that’ll truly make you richer.
These are my stories and itineraries and advices of my travel experiences. May they help you, guide you, inspire you.
Atlantic-Pacific Travelers 