Countries I've Traveled
Asia- Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia
Central America-Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize
South America- Colombia, Ecuador, Galapagos, Peru
Europe- Sweden and Netherlands, Amsterdam. At a young age.
Australia
Asia- Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia
Central America-Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize
South America- Colombia, Ecuador, Galapagos, Peru
Europe- Sweden and Netherlands, Amsterdam. At a young age.
Australia
Burrp Burrp burrr....now where have I been, well a crap load of places. Not as many as others but I personally believe I've been to a decent amount of the world to share my experience.
Soo I'm getting a late start on this blog thing and that's ok. Let's do a quick recap on where I've been. Well actually better yet, how it all started.
I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for sobriety. Alcoholic at heart and addict by trade. Or however you want to put it. Either way, the moment I was sober the door opened and I jumped through. A good friend of mine was living on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands at the time. Sooo island life for Thanksgiving it is. This was close to 4 years ago. 2012, Thanksgiving I ventured to the tropics. And something amazing happened. I was happy, I remember the exact moment, when I realized happiness. I was on a boat laughing with friends, ripping through the waves, and I couldn't stop smiling. This was it, this was living. The world; I wanted the world. And so I took up scuba diving, completing my open water certificate, starting something that I didn't know at the time was going to take my life by storm.
The next year my friend proposed an idea. Let's backpack Central America, and of course I was like HELL YEA. I'm down for whatever. Clearly, going into this I had no idea what I was getting into. Just jumped and went with the opportunity. We spent an amazing month or so traveling from Costa Rica through Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and finishing in Belize. This was the summer of 2013. We had one hell of an adventure, learned a lot on the road and grew from our experience together. That year, well February, 2014 I headed back to Utila, my island home in Honduras. Spending about a week on the island for a friend's wedding. While living the island life I realized it would be a great idea to head out on a backpacking adventure SOLO. And so a week after I was back state side my ticket to Thailand was booked. Summer of 2014 Thailand and Cambodia, SOLO GIRRRLL!! Some people say I'm brave, that's cool but really it's the fact I have big balls, so big, and wanted the challenge of a solo adventure. It's funny when I say solo, because your actually never alone. Look around, there are people all around. So I made friends, a lot of dope friends. Traveling through Thailand and Cambodia awakened something. I was in love, I actually knew what love was. I LOVED traveling. The people, places, food, culture, learning and all the experiences. As I returned for the new school year I felt my heart breaking. Teaching means everything to me, but I needed to do what I wanted to do while I had the opportunity.It was decided, I was going to leave, the timeline.... LMAO well it's funny that there was ever even a timeline.
Now we are in March, April 2015 and of course I find myself back on my island home Utila. A quick week trip to be with friends, family and all the diving. Setting in motion my path for my dive master. Returning state side from Utila I set forth for a one way ticket....Southeast Asia. To my surprise, and a beautiful surprise it was, my lovely friend from home was joining me. We planned for 2 months abroad, never enough time.
August 2015 Rikki and I hit Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia(my favorite), and finishing in Australia. Diving throughout all of the countries. The ocean is a beautiful place, the sea creatures get me every time. Ending our crazy adventures in Australia with a little skydiving birthday celebration. And for me, over coming the fear of heights. We cried, and we fought, but in the end Miss Rikki is my favorite travel partner.
Traveling back to the states to take care of some personal duties that needed to be filled. My nephew's 1st birthday and my beautiful friend Lori was getting married. And damn her, for all the good reasons, I was going to stand next to her on the big day. While in the states I'm blessed with the opportunity to work at a local bar I've been at for the past few years. The Rockwell is my family, not just a bar of people but friends and loved ones. Backpacking means everything and this ridiculous group of humans supports my homeless habit. Much love. Splitting the month between Detroit, Michigan and Baltimore, Maryland. A heart of two homes. Making the most of my time home, helping out family and chilling with friends. I can't even begin to explain the love I feel from all my friends and family. And the support I receive from local city peeps that admire my individuality, life style and anything goes attitude.
December 2015...UTILA bound. Utila my island home, is part of the Bay Islands just north of Honduras. Not the easiest place to get to, several means of transportation are used and you need to be well aware of the timeline to get to the island. Only 2 ferries run a day, scheduling your flight, taxi or bus is key to make it to the island in one day. I usually suck it up and take the cheapest route. I was going to be spending the next 2 months living the island life, setting out to achieve my dive master. To save on cost of accommodation I went in on an apartment with 2 friends. The next 2 months was one hell of a ride, long crazy nights that disappeared into the days. Working on my dive master, while trying to make an extra buck or two on the side. I honestly really do love working, so I landed a job at the local bar Tranquila. OMG .....what a place to work, shifts running late into the morning hours of 4am, backpackers partying harder than you could ever image. When I picture Utila I think of Tranquila, the unbelievably awesome women I worked for, big thanks to these ladies. UnderWater Vision, the dive shop I completed my dive master with, and friends, fun, along with very long hot hot days. No shoes needed, EVER. Island life, everything is better barefoot.
February 2016, a new year and I set out to conquer Central America once again. First stop Guatemala. My goal was to cover the areas of each country I previously missed. Semuc Champey and Lake Atitlan were to be dominated. I spent some between time in Antigua as well. Crashing with friends that I had met back in 2013. It's amazing the generosity people show you and the connections you make while traveling. So, Semuc Champey, beautiful, colorful, mind blowing. Go there and the when your done, go chill out at Lake Atitlan. Dive the bottomless lake, wake up to a skyline full of volcanoes, hit up some hikes, and adventure around the lake to all the different unique towns nestled in the hills.
Direct bus, Guatemala to Nicaragua, 14 hours of hell crammed into a mini van. Setting foot in Leon, my heart was set on volcano boarding and making my way to the Corn Islands. Volcano boarding is a must, crazy wicked, when will you ever get the chance to slide down a volcano again. A day full of new friends, adrenaline, and exhaustion. The best way to recover... find peace in the Corn Islands. I decided to fly, save on time, and just relax. I found myself chilled out in a Caribbean paradise. My plan, nothing...well get some dives in but lay on the beach and work on that ass tan.
Flying back to Managua I needed to take care of some bullshit aka get a temporary passport. Unfortunately shit happens, my passport got water logged and I needed a temporary to get me through for sometime. The USA embassy was helpful and in a couple short days my passport was available for pick up. New passport in hand and I headed out for Granada. Spending a few days wandering the city, swimming in crater lakes, food with old friends and new, a little tattoo action and I was off to San Juan Del Sur. A place full of parties and surf. Due to getting a tattoo I had to stay out of the water for a few days, no surf for this girl.
Booking a bus to San Jose, I crashed with a girl I met while in Nicaragua. Her and her brother were attending the University at the time so one night would do the trick. I wanted to get to Panama as quickly as possible. Costa Rica is beautiful but to Americanized for this girl and pricey. 12+ hour journey later and BOCAS DEL TORO it was. So excited to be back at the beach and reuniting with a Utila friend Grace. I love Grace she is my boo and we really got to bonding before I left Utila. Her amazing mother lives in Bocas and currently building 2 beautiful beach homes. They graciously took me in for the next 3 weeks. We spent the days exploring the island, napping, working on that tan and getting my fitness on. The island is full of great food and at the right time of year, lots and lots of surf. The weeks seemed to fly by, and my anticipation grew....my mom and sister were coming to join me on my journey. If there's one thing you need to experience, it's backpacking with your family. Having them experience your daily lifestyle and see a new part of the world with you. My mom and sister spent about 10 days with me. We ventured over to Bastimento, where we stayed at a local hostel, El Jaguar. We went kayaking, snorkeling, hiking around the island, and scuba diving. I wanted to share my love of scuba diving with the girls so I took them out and they did a little discover scuba diving session. It was a great day, my sister is a natural and my mom caught on quick. Sharing this with them meant a lot to me. I highly enjoyed the time with them, was sad when our trip came to an end. It was at this time when I decided to move on. Flying back to Panama city with the family. My mom and sister parted ways and I landed a position volunteering through work away. Working for Leading Adventures tour company.
Beginning of April 2016 I joined the Rodriguez family. Four beautiful humans from Venezuela. I was going to spend the next month volunteering with Leading Adventures tour company. Volunteering and surfing... literally that's all that was on my mind. Lucky for me the Rodriguez's are a family of wicked surfers. I lived only a short minute bike ride away from the beach and the Pacific coast of Panama is littered with secret surf spots. The beach is so empty, the waves are perfect, and the heat....oh the heat is almost unbearable. For the next month or so I was able to have a some what normal schedule to my daily life. Waking up early to hit the gym, then working in the afternoon, usually followed up by an evening surf session. Weekends we hold surf camp for kids and spend all day Sunday at the beach with family and new friends. I can't thank the Rodriguez family enough for their generosity, love and support. We became close over the next month, booking my flight to Colombia couldn't have been more difficult. They introduced me to arepas, beach bonfires, pool days full of laughter, local hiking, and I slowly became part of the family. I truly love this family and hope to one day return.
While volunteering I continued to explore Panama on random weekends. Hitting up the San Blas Islands and diving Coiba, just off the coast of Santa Catalina. Both two beautiful places I highly recommend if your in Panama. Take a couple days to do nothing on the San Blas. Wake up with sand in your feet, the ocean at your door step, and the only activity you take part in is eating. Which each meal is announced through the blow of a conch shell, hell yea. When your well rested return to the mainland and head south west to Santa Catalina. A small surf town with ripping waves. The day is filled with diving and surf. Dive Coiba, it's epic. A national park filled with aquatic life. Depending on the time of year you can see whales jumping, dolphins, sharks for days and various schools of fish.
How is that for a recap, wooo more difficult for me to write than you to read, believe that. The next step...Colombia, what was I going to do? I had no idea at the time, didn't know what I was getting into, all I knew is there was a ticket with my name on it.
Bye-bye Panama and hello COLOMBIA!!
Colombia, Galapagos, Ecuador, Peru and the adventures continue. Refer to the country pages to continue following my journey. Time is a funny thing, the moments we have on this planet are priceless so I plan to gain as much of the world in my life as I can.
"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory." - Dr. Seuss
Soo I'm getting a late start on this blog thing and that's ok. Let's do a quick recap on where I've been. Well actually better yet, how it all started.
I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for sobriety. Alcoholic at heart and addict by trade. Or however you want to put it. Either way, the moment I was sober the door opened and I jumped through. A good friend of mine was living on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands at the time. Sooo island life for Thanksgiving it is. This was close to 4 years ago. 2012, Thanksgiving I ventured to the tropics. And something amazing happened. I was happy, I remember the exact moment, when I realized happiness. I was on a boat laughing with friends, ripping through the waves, and I couldn't stop smiling. This was it, this was living. The world; I wanted the world. And so I took up scuba diving, completing my open water certificate, starting something that I didn't know at the time was going to take my life by storm.
The next year my friend proposed an idea. Let's backpack Central America, and of course I was like HELL YEA. I'm down for whatever. Clearly, going into this I had no idea what I was getting into. Just jumped and went with the opportunity. We spent an amazing month or so traveling from Costa Rica through Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and finishing in Belize. This was the summer of 2013. We had one hell of an adventure, learned a lot on the road and grew from our experience together. That year, well February, 2014 I headed back to Utila, my island home in Honduras. Spending about a week on the island for a friend's wedding. While living the island life I realized it would be a great idea to head out on a backpacking adventure SOLO. And so a week after I was back state side my ticket to Thailand was booked. Summer of 2014 Thailand and Cambodia, SOLO GIRRRLL!! Some people say I'm brave, that's cool but really it's the fact I have big balls, so big, and wanted the challenge of a solo adventure. It's funny when I say solo, because your actually never alone. Look around, there are people all around. So I made friends, a lot of dope friends. Traveling through Thailand and Cambodia awakened something. I was in love, I actually knew what love was. I LOVED traveling. The people, places, food, culture, learning and all the experiences. As I returned for the new school year I felt my heart breaking. Teaching means everything to me, but I needed to do what I wanted to do while I had the opportunity.It was decided, I was going to leave, the timeline.... LMAO well it's funny that there was ever even a timeline.
Now we are in March, April 2015 and of course I find myself back on my island home Utila. A quick week trip to be with friends, family and all the diving. Setting in motion my path for my dive master. Returning state side from Utila I set forth for a one way ticket....Southeast Asia. To my surprise, and a beautiful surprise it was, my lovely friend from home was joining me. We planned for 2 months abroad, never enough time.
August 2015 Rikki and I hit Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia(my favorite), and finishing in Australia. Diving throughout all of the countries. The ocean is a beautiful place, the sea creatures get me every time. Ending our crazy adventures in Australia with a little skydiving birthday celebration. And for me, over coming the fear of heights. We cried, and we fought, but in the end Miss Rikki is my favorite travel partner.
Traveling back to the states to take care of some personal duties that needed to be filled. My nephew's 1st birthday and my beautiful friend Lori was getting married. And damn her, for all the good reasons, I was going to stand next to her on the big day. While in the states I'm blessed with the opportunity to work at a local bar I've been at for the past few years. The Rockwell is my family, not just a bar of people but friends and loved ones. Backpacking means everything and this ridiculous group of humans supports my homeless habit. Much love. Splitting the month between Detroit, Michigan and Baltimore, Maryland. A heart of two homes. Making the most of my time home, helping out family and chilling with friends. I can't even begin to explain the love I feel from all my friends and family. And the support I receive from local city peeps that admire my individuality, life style and anything goes attitude.
December 2015...UTILA bound. Utila my island home, is part of the Bay Islands just north of Honduras. Not the easiest place to get to, several means of transportation are used and you need to be well aware of the timeline to get to the island. Only 2 ferries run a day, scheduling your flight, taxi or bus is key to make it to the island in one day. I usually suck it up and take the cheapest route. I was going to be spending the next 2 months living the island life, setting out to achieve my dive master. To save on cost of accommodation I went in on an apartment with 2 friends. The next 2 months was one hell of a ride, long crazy nights that disappeared into the days. Working on my dive master, while trying to make an extra buck or two on the side. I honestly really do love working, so I landed a job at the local bar Tranquila. OMG .....what a place to work, shifts running late into the morning hours of 4am, backpackers partying harder than you could ever image. When I picture Utila I think of Tranquila, the unbelievably awesome women I worked for, big thanks to these ladies. UnderWater Vision, the dive shop I completed my dive master with, and friends, fun, along with very long hot hot days. No shoes needed, EVER. Island life, everything is better barefoot.
February 2016, a new year and I set out to conquer Central America once again. First stop Guatemala. My goal was to cover the areas of each country I previously missed. Semuc Champey and Lake Atitlan were to be dominated. I spent some between time in Antigua as well. Crashing with friends that I had met back in 2013. It's amazing the generosity people show you and the connections you make while traveling. So, Semuc Champey, beautiful, colorful, mind blowing. Go there and the when your done, go chill out at Lake Atitlan. Dive the bottomless lake, wake up to a skyline full of volcanoes, hit up some hikes, and adventure around the lake to all the different unique towns nestled in the hills.
Direct bus, Guatemala to Nicaragua, 14 hours of hell crammed into a mini van. Setting foot in Leon, my heart was set on volcano boarding and making my way to the Corn Islands. Volcano boarding is a must, crazy wicked, when will you ever get the chance to slide down a volcano again. A day full of new friends, adrenaline, and exhaustion. The best way to recover... find peace in the Corn Islands. I decided to fly, save on time, and just relax. I found myself chilled out in a Caribbean paradise. My plan, nothing...well get some dives in but lay on the beach and work on that ass tan.
Flying back to Managua I needed to take care of some bullshit aka get a temporary passport. Unfortunately shit happens, my passport got water logged and I needed a temporary to get me through for sometime. The USA embassy was helpful and in a couple short days my passport was available for pick up. New passport in hand and I headed out for Granada. Spending a few days wandering the city, swimming in crater lakes, food with old friends and new, a little tattoo action and I was off to San Juan Del Sur. A place full of parties and surf. Due to getting a tattoo I had to stay out of the water for a few days, no surf for this girl.
Booking a bus to San Jose, I crashed with a girl I met while in Nicaragua. Her and her brother were attending the University at the time so one night would do the trick. I wanted to get to Panama as quickly as possible. Costa Rica is beautiful but to Americanized for this girl and pricey. 12+ hour journey later and BOCAS DEL TORO it was. So excited to be back at the beach and reuniting with a Utila friend Grace. I love Grace she is my boo and we really got to bonding before I left Utila. Her amazing mother lives in Bocas and currently building 2 beautiful beach homes. They graciously took me in for the next 3 weeks. We spent the days exploring the island, napping, working on that tan and getting my fitness on. The island is full of great food and at the right time of year, lots and lots of surf. The weeks seemed to fly by, and my anticipation grew....my mom and sister were coming to join me on my journey. If there's one thing you need to experience, it's backpacking with your family. Having them experience your daily lifestyle and see a new part of the world with you. My mom and sister spent about 10 days with me. We ventured over to Bastimento, where we stayed at a local hostel, El Jaguar. We went kayaking, snorkeling, hiking around the island, and scuba diving. I wanted to share my love of scuba diving with the girls so I took them out and they did a little discover scuba diving session. It was a great day, my sister is a natural and my mom caught on quick. Sharing this with them meant a lot to me. I highly enjoyed the time with them, was sad when our trip came to an end. It was at this time when I decided to move on. Flying back to Panama city with the family. My mom and sister parted ways and I landed a position volunteering through work away. Working for Leading Adventures tour company.
Beginning of April 2016 I joined the Rodriguez family. Four beautiful humans from Venezuela. I was going to spend the next month volunteering with Leading Adventures tour company. Volunteering and surfing... literally that's all that was on my mind. Lucky for me the Rodriguez's are a family of wicked surfers. I lived only a short minute bike ride away from the beach and the Pacific coast of Panama is littered with secret surf spots. The beach is so empty, the waves are perfect, and the heat....oh the heat is almost unbearable. For the next month or so I was able to have a some what normal schedule to my daily life. Waking up early to hit the gym, then working in the afternoon, usually followed up by an evening surf session. Weekends we hold surf camp for kids and spend all day Sunday at the beach with family and new friends. I can't thank the Rodriguez family enough for their generosity, love and support. We became close over the next month, booking my flight to Colombia couldn't have been more difficult. They introduced me to arepas, beach bonfires, pool days full of laughter, local hiking, and I slowly became part of the family. I truly love this family and hope to one day return.
While volunteering I continued to explore Panama on random weekends. Hitting up the San Blas Islands and diving Coiba, just off the coast of Santa Catalina. Both two beautiful places I highly recommend if your in Panama. Take a couple days to do nothing on the San Blas. Wake up with sand in your feet, the ocean at your door step, and the only activity you take part in is eating. Which each meal is announced through the blow of a conch shell, hell yea. When your well rested return to the mainland and head south west to Santa Catalina. A small surf town with ripping waves. The day is filled with diving and surf. Dive Coiba, it's epic. A national park filled with aquatic life. Depending on the time of year you can see whales jumping, dolphins, sharks for days and various schools of fish.
How is that for a recap, wooo more difficult for me to write than you to read, believe that. The next step...Colombia, what was I going to do? I had no idea at the time, didn't know what I was getting into, all I knew is there was a ticket with my name on it.
Bye-bye Panama and hello COLOMBIA!!
Colombia, Galapagos, Ecuador, Peru and the adventures continue. Refer to the country pages to continue following my journey. Time is a funny thing, the moments we have on this planet are priceless so I plan to gain as much of the world in my life as I can.
"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory." - Dr. Seuss