When I was a little girl, we had this towering bookcase of old National Geographic magazines. I would run my fingers along their tell-tale gold spines, trying to choose an edition to pull & read: Uganda Up-Close, Whale Poaching in the North Sea, Balinese Temples. These geographic snippets gave me butterflies, as visions of gilded Buddhas danced in my head.

Even then, wanderlust ran in my veins.

As an only-child, I was imaginative beyond comprehension. When I was eight, I wrote short stories featuring myself as the worldly protagonist, gallavanting from one European metropolis to the next — always responsible for some time-sensitive international affair. You know, the usual. I’d use words with far too many syllables for a 3rd grader. But I’d spell them correctly (and that’s what counts, right?).

When I think about travel, some seldom-used part of my brain awakens. I can actually feel the happy travel pheremones firing up, and then that’s it — I’ll be reading Rough Guides & Lonely Planet books ’til the yaks come home.

Seeing the world inspires the heck out of me.

When I met my now-husband back in 2008, we quickly discovered a shared passion for travel. Almost immediately, we began planning an epic post-graduation odyssey to Nepal & Southeast Asia.

In Fall 2010, we embarked on that crazy adventure, which proved a few things:

 

1.) Any man who makes you Pedialyte & holds your hair back during not one, not two, but THREE rounds of food poisoning (and still adores you) is a keeper.

2.) Altitude is the ultimate equalizer. Your blood oxygen level doesn’t care if you’re an elite mountain athlete, or a girl from the Midwest. When you get to 17,000 feet, the human body starts to do fascinating things (Hint: That’s a good time to listen to what your body is saying).

3.) Your material life can indeed be contained in a 25-pound Granite Gear pack.

 

(You can read more about our adventure on our old travel blog, Asian Fun Time.)

 

So although I cherish home & planting roots, I equally love exploring a far-flung city or jungle. Our world is vast, and I intend to see as much of it as possible while I’m here.

 

Whether it’s a sultry temple in Cambodia, or a heart-stopping vista in Nepal…drinking in new cultures has always sparked a fire in my veins.

Travel is holistic. It’s real. It pushes your comfort zone. All the best things in life!

Just living day-to-day in another culture — nothing transforms my heart like truly experiencing another part of the world. Culture shock is an awesome, transformative experience.

With that, I am thrilled to announce our next big adventure…

Thailand!

 

That’s right: This April, we head to Thailand for a month of paradise: beaches, jungles, divine eats, and adventure. We can’t WAIT!

Sweet readers: Who has Thailand stamped in their passport? Go on & share your favorite places to eat, sleep, and play…I’d love to hear ’em! The more off the beaten track, the better!

Heads-up: My last available session date before departure will be March 8th. If you’d like to connect about wedding or boudoir work, be sure to touch base soon! I’ll be away from my business phone & email for the duration of April. When I return to Duluth in early May, the busy wedding season will officially kick off…woohoo!

 

Much Love & Sanuk,