In September 2021, I quit my job to travel abroad, alone.

Sound like a cliché? A little. Sound a bit crazy? Depends on who you ask. Sound like this is something you’ve dreamt of doing your whole life? Then you’ve come to the right place.

Right after college, I went straight into an internship turned full-time job and I spent the next 3.5 years fully focused on my corporate career. Then it happened, I was at a turning point in my life - maybe it was that my apartment lease was ending and maybe, really, it was that I was ready for a change.

I had always dreamed of taking a year to travel around the world. I followed endless travel blogs, and I researched other people who had done it, but I never actually thought it could be me.

Then something clicked.

I spent my whole life up to this point living for what I was told was the ‘path to success,’ when in reality, I felt like I was living an out-of-body experience – doing what I thought I should be doing, instead of what I wanted to be doing.

And then I had that moment of clarity - this is MY life and I can live it however I want.

I started searching for apartments in Italy, “just for fun”, when I found the perfect villa in the countryside of Tuscany. For a few weeks, I kept going back to the listing. I felt so drawn to this place and it was consuming my thoughts. And for the first time in my life, I put aside the doubt creeping in of whether I could make this happen.

…and I booked the villa for an entire month.

Thoughts turned into action.

I didn’t tell anyone, I had no plan. I had never even left the U.S. before, but it didn’t matter. I knew I’d figure out the rest later because this is what I truly wanted and I had a strong gut feeling that I’d make this work.

And that’s how it all began.

Within three months of my decision, I sold almost all of my things, quit my job, and fit everything I owned into a 65-liter backpack. (I know what you’re thinking - yes, this all happened that quickly). Then on September 14, 2021, I was on a plane to Italy to start this new chapter of my life. solo.

I had no idea what was in store for me. Everything I thought I knew or wanted from my travels was thrown entirely out the window and it was the best damn thing to ever happen to me.

One year and nine countries later, my journey reached an end (or really more of a beginning) and now I’m sitting here, writing to you all about my experience.

I’ve learned to be more present in my life. I’ve built confidence in who I am and the decisions I make. I was able to be selfish in the best way possible. And living out of one bag has fulfilled my life more than I ever thought it would.

I feel more alive, more in my own skin, more like myself, than I ever have before.

I fueled my soul.