I’ve always loved to travel ever since I can remember. Though I come from a military family, I never did move growing up. However, as a kid, I traveled all over the US visiting my extended family. I’m from Texas, but went to college out of state, and worked out west for a bit, always eager to go new places.
My first international trip as an adult was to Honduras. I had been a couple of times in high school, serving as a translator on a medical mission trip. When I was in college, I was a certified pharmacy tech (thought I was going to med school; that didn’t happen lol) so I helped run the pharmacy and translated for doctors. After the trip, I went to the island of Roatán.
For my first college spring break, I went backpacking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We froze our butts off, but had a great time. The next year, that led me to spend two weeks solo-backpacking through Patagonia, starting in Cerro Castillo, Chile and ending in El Chaltén, Argentina, before starting a semester abroad in Viña del Mar, Chile. I’m a huge proponent of independent travel and think everyone should at least try one solo trip!
He offered to stop to take my picture with Mt. Fitz Roy 🙂
Fun fact: my husband and I met in Villa O’Higgins, Chile. I’ve been back to Chile and Patagonia five times, having spent about a year in the country in total. Most of these trips were before I was into birding, so I’m not sure how much they’ll feature on this site (but peep the bird bandana!). Let me know if you want Patagonia tips and info!
My first true birding trip was to Puerto Rico. It was a quick 5-day trip, but packed with action! I’ll write an in-depth post about it soon. This trip was a mini version of what this site is all about: birds, outdoor adventure, and a dash of city time.