Saying Hello to Blogging

As I sit here, unsure how to start my first post, I am feeling lots of nerves. I guess I should start by describing my own story of travel. From a young age I have had a love for stories. Picture books with beautiful world building and bright colors were always my choice at bedtime, they fueled my imagination and propelled me into a wonderful world of dreams as I drifted to sleep. I never turned down an experience to dress up in costume, doing anything to pretend I was a princess walking in my own lush garden in a land far far away. Although I didn’t really grasp the concept of actual travel at this time, stories were my version of exploration. I can vividly remember this one movie that was constantly playing one summer in the 2000s on Disney Channel. Judy Moody and the not Bummer Summer was decidedly a sub par movie, but what it did feature was Judy’s crazy aunt, who was back in the states between her world travels. This was fascinating to me. Imagine a girl so enthralled with fantasy and stories, seeing a grown woman with adventures all over the world. It was then I knew that I wanted to be a woman whos house was filled to the top with trinkets from my own travels, each and every one telling a story I had lived myself.

At 13, I travelled out of the country for the very first time. At this point I had become a self proclaimed anglophile, obsessed with all things British. My parents knowing this, allowed us to go on a family trip to London for Spring Break. Sometimes when you wish for something so much, when it actually happens it is a let down. London was nothing like this. My few days there left me wanting more. I couldn’t get enough of being surrounded by completly new people, different accents and history surrounding me.

I travelled abroad again in High School, going on a school trip to Belgium for three weeks. While there I started my own travel journal, every night collecting my ticket stubs, postcards and receipts to glue into the pages and reflect on my day. I went to art museums and the theatre, ate buttered clams and frites. One night me and my friends sat at the edge of a canal while the sun set, the murmur of the groups around us like a beautiful song. This moment was pure joy for me. To see how others interact with one another, coming together on a summer night to enjoy wine and a cigarette with their friends. The walk back to the hostel was surreal. Feeling happy and rebellious after sipping a beer (which I hated by the way) my steps echoed on cobblestone, dusk framing the beautiful buildings around me. To be in a place that has existed for hundreds of years, where people have fallen in love and fought wars and just gone about their lives gave me so much joy. I wanted to feel like this forever.

I got the chance to travel again when I studied abroad in London during fall of 2022. This gave me the chance to meet new people and discover a place I had always dreamed about living. I was once again struck by the history that surrounded me on every street, something I feel is lacking in my home state of California. This closeness to history has an ability to both ground me and fill me a sense of fantasy. I can imagine what the world has been, and how simple my life really is in the grand scheme of it all.

I got to turn 20 in London, a day I will always remember. I walked through the Green Park tube station in my birthday dress, stepping onto the jubilee line to make my way to a friends house near the Shard. I was finally in a place I had been dreaming of since 13, ushering in what is supposed to be one of the most unknown and exciting decades of life. I know my journey in London is not over yet in life, and I look forward to the day I get to live there again.

My semester abroad gave me a real travel bug, and so in summer of 2023 I packed my bags for a solo trip to Sicily, Italy. Fueled by gorgeous scenes from HBO’s hit show White Lotus and a love of cappuccinos, I traveled from Palermo through Taormina, experiencing solo travel for the first time ever. Not having to schedule with anyone else, shop as long as I want, and choose my perfect day? I was hooked.

Since then, I have done one more solo trip, and plan on doing many more. Soon I will find myself in southern Spain, teaching English on the weekdays and traveling the continent on weekends. I plan on filling this blog with all those stories, tips, and ideas, so stay tuned and enjoy!

<3 Grace