Over the next four years of college, I visited Björn and his family twice a year, and it was with him that I got my first tastes of Europe – Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Luxembourg, and of course, lots of”Dutchieland.” After I graduated with honors in Journalism from California State University, Northridge in 2011, I moved to the Netherlands to live with him! I had big plans to backpack all over Europe — I had pored over maps and guidebooks for months, planning train routes and circuits.

Alas, budget proved to by my biggest obstacle. Luckily, I freelanced for a U.S.-based travel startup in Amsterdam and took day/weekend trips on my limited budget. My first European venture without Björn was to Vienna with his sister, and from there, I boarded a bus to Prague BY MYSELF.

We fell hard for each other, and my 12-month plan turned into a 6-month plan, and then a 6-week plan. We officially got together on December 7th, 2012, and I left on January 18th, 2013 for six weeks alone in New Zealand and Australia. (I was convinced Trevor wouldn’t wait for me…but he did.)

And while I missed him terribly, those six weeks absolutely changed my life forever. It was Prague times 1,000 — I learned SO MUCH about myself, found closure with Björn, found my direction, and knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life exploring as many corners of this world I possibly can.

I’m not upset that meeting Trevor “derailed” my own personal gap year. I firmly believe in fate, and anyone who knows us can attest to the fact that he and I were absolutely fated to be together. He is the yin to my yang, my other half, my everything. And I mean, 6 years later we were married – so there’s that!

Worth noting is that Trevor supports my love of travel 100%. He has encouraged me to “stay true to who I am,” because if we aren’t true to ourselves we can never be true to each other. We have taken several trips together: renting a camper van in Iceland, backpacking through Ireland, road tripping up the California coast, weekend road trips to Baja and cruises to Ensenada, exploring Oahu, and living a life of luxury on our honeymoon in Barbados.  But when he can’t go, he has wholeheartedly supported my trips with my friend Steph to Portland, Utah, and Italy and Switzerland. And he sat me down this past January, after our world was shattered after losing our unborn baby at 22 weeks in October, and told me to go to Hawaii by myself for a week to heal.

Life has dealt us some hard hands in recent years, and between those and the COVID-19 pandemic, traveling has taken a backseat. I’ve poured my energy into knowing my own hometown of San Diego better, and you’ll find guides for my favorite places to eat, stay, and play here as well.

I now work as the Marketing Manager for a library software technology company, and I’m getting excited to get back into traveling as it becomes safer to do so. When I’m not working, exploring San Diego, or writing new blog posts, I’m wandering around in a childish euphoria at Disneyland with Trevor, spending time with my girlfriends, and explaining the Harry Potter saga to those unfortunate souls who choose to watch the movies without picking up the books.

If any of what I’ve just written sound appealing, you can relate to me in any way, or you just want to follow along and get to know me better, please find me on social media and introduce yourself! I’d love to meet you. xo