About Me

Hey there! Thanks for hopping in and supporting my blog & She Still Travels. For those who don’t know me, I wanted to introduce myself and tell you a bit about me! Growing up I was the girl who dreamt of packing a backpack, hopping on a plane to anywhere and leaving my hometown (Sandwich, Massachusetts)

I was preoccupied with dreams of exploring ancient temples in Thailand, riding the famous Sri Lankan train that goes to Ella and scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef 

I was told a lifestyle filled with constant travel wasn’t realistic and that I should focus on a life working in a normal career until retirement, marriage and kids

So with this in mind, I applied to 12 colleges with no idea of what I wanted to do and decided on a college that led to a seagoing career in the US Merchant Marines. It would require 6 months out at sea on a ship with the remainder of the year to do as I wished

This made the most sense to me – a career that would allow me to travel for half of the year and follow in my grandfather’s footsteps. My grandpa was a huge reason behind my final decision on going to this specific college. He was a Navy man who retired with the title of Chief Machinist after serving for 25 years out at sea. 

My grandpa was many things to me – my fishing buddy, my Nascar watching and trash talking companion (when it came to Jeff Gordon) and my partner in crime whose birthday was the day before mine. Each year we’d hit up a local ice cream shop to celebrate

My fishing buddy passed away right after my freshmen orientation. I knew him and my parents were proud of me, so I stayed in college and went through the motions until I graduated. I got a job working as a deck officer/tanker mate mainly in the Gulf of Mexico

At first it was new and exciting, but after the first year, I hit one of the lowest points in my life. I spent half of my time wondering if this was all there was to life and the other half wondering how many people I would upset if I changed things up. This internal battle went on for a couple of years, until one day it hit me that if I didn’t make a change, nothing was going to change

The truth is, I had always dreamed of creating a travel blog, but I never believed I was good enough. After I realized that nothing would change if nothing changed, I dove headfirst into the digital world with absolutely no backup plan. To many people’s amazement, fast forward 3 years, I’m still alive and breathing with my very own travel blog! 

If you’re waiting for the approval of others or a magical green light, you might be waiting forever. Stop waiting to make that move and just go all in. Maybe have a strategic plan in place (haha) but don’t be shy about following the path that lights you the fuh up

How was ‘& She Still Travels’ born?

I believe we all have a story that shapes us into the person we become. Each story unique to the individual, whether it be a life changing incident or a traumatic upbringing. We’re all molded into something else based on these events in our life

Like many people, I’ve had a few of these moments in my life. The type of moments that alter your life so drastically that there’s no going back to before that moment occurred

I’ve gone through the kind of heart breaks that make you physically ill and I’ve passively shut the world out when I’ve lost loved ones. I’ve gone through phases where I hated every ounce of my being and when I truly believed I wasn’t good enough for this world

However, these are the moments where you ultimately have a choice to make. A choice to stay small and let life tackle you or a choice to evolve and chase after life

Now to get a little deeper on why I chose the name ‘& She Still Travels’. An ampersand (&) is an indication that you can expect more. This could represent a difficult life stage with the expectation that a brighter day is ahead. The symbol can be used for both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ periods in life, but with the reminder that life will continue on

No matter what hands I’m dealt, I choose to evolve and chase after my dreams and desires. Instead of giving up or giving in, I can still be found doing what I love – traveling, spending time with my dog, lifting weights at the gym, sipping on an iced coffee in a cute coffee shop

My blog name may state that I still travel, but it’s just a metaphor to remind you that life goes on, no matter how ‘bad’ it may seem right now. So whatever it is you love to do, replace ‘travel’ with your word to remind yourself that life will continue on

My intention is that this blog finds others who feel like they’re lost or are at a breaking point. I hope to inspire even one person in some way, and to motivate them to keep pushing towards what they’re passionate about 

The world is craving people like you!