The first time I ever left the country I was 8 years old, and I already knew I wanted to spend my life exploring, adventuring, and seeing all that the world has to offer. As a musician for the last 20 years, I have luckily been able to marry my passion for music with my love of travel - and it has led me to really incredible places, spaces, and people. In 2021 I lost both of my parents a month apart, the COVID-19 pandemic was still raging on, and I had a hard time finding my way back to my music. In the height of my grief, I started questioning everything about my life and what I wanted to do with it. I realized how, like many people, I was conditioned into believing that I needed to follow certain societal steps to find “success” in my career and life. I had always been waiting and planning for the future, but my life was STILL happening within that “waiting.” With my foundation and everything I knew completely shattered, I took a hiatus from my 9-5 job, and spent 6 months traveling solo for the first time in my life. For my 30th birthday, I planned a trip to Santa Fe for all of my friends and realized I wanted to do this full time. I’ve found an absolute love for planning trips, creating itineraries, meeting local people and trying new foods and experiences. And more than that, I’ve figured out things about myself, and how to get back to my happiness, that I don’t think I ever could have without challenging myself outside of my comfort zone. As a songwriter, I have always believed in the absolute power of storytelling, and I hope you use this blog as a resource to help you plan and pack for all your travels, while also getting inspired by the personal anecdotes of local businesses / entrepreneurs and their stories.