Hi friends,
So happy you are here!
Feels like a funny time to be launching a travel blog.. doesn’t it? but here we are! And I am PUMPED to finally be getting around to doing the dang thing.
Before getting into the fun things and “must-do’s” in every city/place, I feel more appropriate first explaining why I am so passionate about traveling. My husband, Gil, and I often have conversations about how traveling has been such a pivotal part of our lives. For instance, I had literally never tried a tomato until being in Argentina and realized “ohhh wait no wonder people like these.” But on a much more serious note, I find myself expressing to Gil how desperately I want people to go experience new things and travel new places to see how it changes their life like it did mine.
So here is my story!
In case you didn’t already know from my (VERY strong) accent, I’m from small town Mississippi. Like graduated with 54 people, could get out of any speeding ticket because we knew the sheriff type of small. Columbus, Mississippi may not look like much, but I wouldn’t trade growing up there for anything! Small town life really is awesome. Atlanta traffic reminds me of that every day. However, there is no doubt it is sheltering. Not our parents fault at all (shoutout mom I love you and thanks for being possibly my only reader). You can read/watch movies about different cities, countries, and cultures all day long but actually going somewhere and experiencing it has an entirely different impact emotionally. That is what I want to tell you about.
My junior year of college, my best friend and I got internships in New York City for the following summer. I interned in the accounting office for Alice + Olivia and she interned at Kleinfield’s bridal shop. I’ll save all of the funny stories (I could go on forever) for another post, but we 100% made the most of that summer and lived it up in the big apple. Upon returning back to Starkville, MS for my final year of college, I kept noticing I didn’t feel as “at peace” as I once did. If you’ve ever had an experience really out of your comfort zone and then returned home to your normal life, you know what I’m saying. Things you once loved or “had to have” now seem a little trivial. After spending that summer in NYC traveling around to different cities in the Northeast also, I realized God was calling me to move after college.
My summer living in NYC was eye opening on so many different levels. I suddenly felt like the world was at my fingertips and that I didn’t have to do what most people around me were doing with their lives. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, but I knew God was stirring up new desires in me. Being engulfed in a big city made me realize how many opportunities are out there if we just open our eyes to them. On one hand I felt smaller than ever thrown into the concrete jungle; but on the other hand I had this epiphany that there is SO much out there in the world and I could do or be anything I wanted to. I was opened up to so many different types of people with different backgrounds and I found myself shocked with how different life could be outside of my small town and my private school. Spend .2 seconds in the Newark, NJ train station and you’ll know EXACTLY what I mean.
Taking this internship opportunity, completely changed the trajectory of my life. To put it short: I got home, applied to grad school at the University of Texas in Austin, finished college at Mississippi State, moved to ATX, fell in love with a guy from Georgia, lived with girls I had never met, studied abroad knowing not a soul, came home, decided I hated accounting (also a story for another day), moved to Atlanta, opened a boutique, and here we are.
We have all heard the quote “Travel is the only thing you spend money on that makes you richer.” Yes, it’s a little cringey, but whoever came up with that has a great point. The value traveling adds to your life far exceeds the money spent. That designer bag might look cool in your Instagram post, but trust me. Laughing with your best friends over memories made traveling is so much better. We only have ONE tiny life on this earth! Might as well go see and enjoy all the things God created 🙂
I can’t wait to share all my recommendations, stories, and how I have traveled many places with a very small budget! Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter so you will know when a new travel guide or blog post goes out. I want to be a resource for YOU! So if you have a city you’d love to see a guide on, please comment below and I’ll try to get to it ASAP. If you made it this far reading, you truly have no idea how much this means to me. I’m forever grateful for you being here and I can’t wait to further get to know you all!
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