living proof of God's grace & living free to share hope, encouragement & adventures
After seven solo international trips, I decided to spill my guts on what it’s like to travel solo. As an introvert, I rarely mind being alone. I’m also fiercely independent, good with navigation, and a cross between MacGyver and Nancy Drew when it comes to figuring stuff out on the go. Basically, I was born …
A while back, I wrote a blog post on pre-travel anticipation. (Go read that first, if you haven’t already.) And now, I want to add to it. The other day while reading this John Piper devotional, it hit me that the even greater key to living for today and not living for future travels is …
If you’ve ever thought: Gee, I’d like to visit several countries in a week! ...this post is for you. One thing I’ve learned from my solo travels is how much I can see in just one day. All it takes is an eagerness to explore and the stamina to stay in GO mode. Multiply that …
Continue reading One Week in Europe? How to Create an Itinerary for Four Countries
It may not be Christmas when you're reading this, but it's never a bad time to talk European Christmas markets. When a $434 roundtrip flight to Brussels popped up in my inbox (thanks to Scott’s Cheap Flights) I could not pass it up. Initially, (to save up more moolah) I wanted to book the latest …
Continue reading Best Things About European Christmas Markets
If you’ve ever looked at my travel photos (or anyone’s travel photos) and thought, "Wow. Traveling is easy, exciting, glamorous, living your best life…" well, that’s not wrong. It’s also not the whole truth. Travel can absolutely be easy when you’ve put the work into planning the trip. Travel can obviously be exciting when you’re …
A lot of people ask me why I travel solo. And, I’ve probably partially answered this question in past blog posts. But here’s the complete answer. All in one post. First, the obvious. I'm single. I decided not to wait till there’s a guy in my life to see the world. Would I love to …
2018 exceeded my expectations. After three solo trips to Europe in 2017, I hoped to at least match that level of travel in 2018. And God gave me MORE. He went beyond my dreams. I’m learning, more and more, He tends to do that when we surrender to Him. Now, God knows I love travel …
Continue reading When God Gives You Abundantly More: A 2018 Recap
It started with a field trip in elementary school. Don’t remember which grade. Can’t say for certain what we visited. (Most likely that big ol’ Museum of Science and Industry.) What I do know? We took a bus to downtown Chicago and little girl me was IN AWE. Now, I’d been to Chicago as a …
I spent an entire week in Switzerland back in May 2018, and put a whole lotta effort into creating the perfect itinerary. But, the perfect itinerary also includes time for spontaneity—which is why I’m not surprised that my list of favorite Swiss experiences includes both planned and unplanned things. These are the highlights of my …
Continue reading Best Places to Visit in Switzerland: Lucerne, Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, & Zurich
Are we Instagramming because we travel, or do we travel so we can Instagram? I was struck by this question in the opening of a recent Robb Report article, titled: Instagram is Changing the Way We Travel (and Not Necessarily for the Better). While I won’t give you a full summary of the article (read …
adventure and the girl 