My grandmother traveled the world on cargo and steamer ships — to the Middle East to buy oriental rugs, to Hong Kong for tailored clothing, and through Mexico and South America; places most people only saw in atlases. She wasn’t doing it for Instagram or bucket lists; those didn’t exist yet. She just went. Hearing those stories as a kid planted something in me that I didn’t have a name for until I booked a last-minute flight to London in 2017 and didn’t come home the same person.
Since then I’ve been back to England twice more, wandered Portugal’s back roads, gotten completely turned around in Florence, stood in front of Gaudí’s unfinished cathedral in Barcelona and just stared, spent time in Christmas markets across Brussels, Strasbourg, and Nuremberg, and most recently worked my way through Vienna, Salzburg, Zermatt, Lucerne, and Zürich. Peru is next.
What I’m drawn to tends to be the same wherever I go: old things, quiet streets, the kind of place where you can tell time has actually passed. History over beaches. Walking over tours. One good museum over three rushed ones.
I travel carry-on only, which is its own philosophy. When you can only bring what fits in one bag, you get pretty honest about what actually matters.
This site is where I keep track of where I’ve been and what I’ve learned along the way; partly for other people, partly so I don’t forget. If you want to follow along, I’m also on YouTube. And if you want to support the site, you can buy me some chocolate.