Travel + Our Imprint
A Gift
Until about a few months ago I had always lived in cities and big ones! Los Angeles, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Portland, San Diego, Denver to name a few and my work took me to global ones such as San Paolo, London, New York, Mexico City, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Barcelona, Vancouver, and beyond. So my dose of adventure ranges from urban local adventures to those in far off places. Besides the Explorer Grand Slam and mountaineering on 6 of 7 continents, I am an avid traveler, skier, hiker, yogi, meditator, and just generally love being outside in nature. I’ve come to a point in my life where I rather live in nature or as close to it as possible and travel to cities for projects and work rather than the other way around-as I had done most of my life.
I have traveled to 46 countries, Antarctica, and counting—most of those as solo travel trips. I’ve hiked the Rim2Rim2Rim of the Grand Canyon (50 miles +/-) in 19 hours, swam where piranhas and anacondas dwell in the Amazon, climbed my way across the Italian Dolomites and the Slovenian Mountain ranges, have my advanced diving certification, done my share of bungee jumping and sky diving and explored all 7 continents.
I grew up in a very humble household with a lot of financial struggle, needless to say travel and adventure was not a common thing for me or a priority in my family. Yet, as a kid my dream was always to visit the 7 continents and my favorite pastime as a child was to play with a globe and plan imaginary trips around the world; not knowing much about each destination, but letting my mind go wild with possibility. It's now a part of a life journey to see and experience as much of the world as my life allows me to. Every experience is such a gift and I am incredibly grateful each time I get to step out of my comfort zone and explore something or somewhere new. It’s not something I can ever take for granted.
Our Imprint
With all this travel one quickly realizes the imprint these experiences, places, and people leave on our hearts. So then do we in turn leave an imprint wherever we go-on those people and places. Feeling the imprint and knowing I am leaving one behind has changed how I travel considerably.
Traveling on my own as much as I have has also opened my eyes to the narrative that still exists of a woman on her own-in the wild, in massive cities, in places few venture to go. I actively share my stories of travel and adventure to present a new growing narrative that empowers women, gives inspiration, promotes courage and curiosity and sharing of knowledge to travel, explore, and connect with the unknown.