I’m not sure I’ve ever dared to follow a dream quite like this before.

I thought I was making a big leap when I left my office job two years ago to pursue my master’s degree full-time. It was something I’d secretly always wanted to do, but it felt pretty scary to ditch my career and spend a lot of money on something that had no guaranteed payoff. 

But now I’m dreaming a little bit bigger, perhaps a little bit crazier. I’m moving away from the city that’s been my home for the last five years — and I have nearly no plan. Actually, scratch that. Absolutely no plan. 

I’ve never been so excited. 

I’ve always loved to travel. When I had to come home from my study abroad semester in Belfast, Northern Ireland, I sobbed the entire plane ride. That’s right. The ENTIRE plan ride. The person in the seat next to me probably thought someone in my family had died. 

Yet, after I returned home, travel got regulated to a few weeks a year as I followed the “traditional” path. You know the drill… Graduate from college. Get an office job. Work on climbing the corporate ladder. Start saving up for retirement. 

By the beginning of spring 2022, I’d already had the realization that I didn’t want to return to a traditional office job after graduation. Instead, I started planning to attend a Ph.D. program after I graduated, hoping a long-term career in academia might be a better fit. I began arranging a summer road trip to visit my top Ph.D. program contenders. 

When summer rolled around, I ended up getting invited to join a friend on his road trip about two weeks before I left on mine, so my time away from home got extended to a total of five weeks – I spent two weeks trekking across Texas and New Mexico with my friend, and then I spent the following three weeks traversing alone through Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.  

During those five weeks, I fell in love with travel all over again. More importantly, I fell in love with who I WAS when I was traveling. I felt like I was rediscovering all the best parts of myself. I felt capable and outgoing and adventurous. I made new friends and saw old ones. I dealt with every random upset with ease. Most of all, I lived IN the moment. I was experiencing life again instead of just muddling my way through it. 

By the time I returned home, I knew I wasn’t going to a Ph.D. program next fall. Maybe sometime in the future, but definitely not right after graduation. I wanted to travel again. A lot. 

So I started dreaming BIG, like cashing out my 401K and trying to start a freelancing business and selling my car and moving all my belongings to my parents BIG. 

And now here I am – about to leave for Europe in a month. I know I’m going to try to launch freelance writing and tutoring businesses while I’m there. I know I’m going to share everything I learn along the way with you all. And that’s about the extent of my knowing. 

This might be a six-month endeavor. This may be a years-long endeavor. But either way, it’s going to be fun and exhilarating and fulfilling (I think! I hope!). Make sure you follow my blog so you get all the travel tips and tricks I have to share – both from this trip and from others I’ve taken in the past. So excited to share this part of my life with you all!