Travel became part of my life before it ever became “content.”
My first trip to Europe was at 20, when I studied abroad in Ireland for six weeks. I loved getting to experience a different culture, figure out how to live somewhere new, and settle into a place instead of just passing through it.
Growing up, travel looked a little different. My family loved beach vacations — the Bahamas, Mexico, the Dominican Republic — anywhere with a pool, an ocean, and a beautiful resort. I still love that kind of trip, but Ireland showed me how much I loved being immersed somewhere new.
Years later, work sent me to London for a three-month secondment, and that feeling came rushing back. I had the same job and the same responsibilities, just in a completely different place. I built a routine, made friends I still talk to, and realized how much I loved having a sense of normalcy while getting to experience another part of the world.
I’m a planner, but I never want an itinerary so rigid that there’s no room for the things you only discover once you’re actually there. In Chamonix, I had absolutely no plan to paraglide. Then I saw how many people were doing it and thought, “If I’m ever going to do this, this is the place.” It became one of those experiences I never could have planned from home.
I also believe travel is not always effortless. Sometimes you really do need a vacation from the vacation. I’ve gotten sick abroad, figured out doctors and pharmacies in unfamiliar places, navigated countries on my own, and learned that confidence comes from doing it — not from knowing every answer before you leave.