I don’t remember my first travel adventure.

I was an infant and my parents never hesitated to take me – and my sisters when they came into being – wherever they were going on a trip. Except for when they went to Hawaii when I was nine months old. After that, we traveled as a family.

My first solo plane ride was from Los Angeles to San Jose to visit my cousins when I was 9 or 10 years old.

I was 13 when we traveled in Europe for three months in a VW camper van.

I was 19 when I hitchhiked across the country with another gal I had met working for the summer on Cape Cod.

I was still 19 when I went on a 2-week tour of China with a group from my university. Then, I continued traveling for six months, sometimes on my own and sometimes meeting up with friends along the way.

Since then I’ve lived in two countries (Germany and Canada) other than the United States and have traveled to 30+ countries.  [Read more…]