I was very young when I developed an interest in traveling, writing and photography. Long before smart phones I could often be found with a disposal camera or my sticker camera and eventually more professional film cameras and digital cameras. I documented weekend trips with my dad and family vacations, which also gave me a leg up on Christmas gifts for families…rare family photographs capturing our memories.

I grew up on a horse farm in Kentucky where my family raised and trained thoroughbred race horses. In my high school years I started a popular monthly newsletter for my family and all the horse owners featuring statistics, photos, anecdotes and a horse of the month! As often happens, I lost myself during my college years as I struggled with choosing a major that would seemingly dictate the rest of my life. I was always an exceptional student, but the pressure of college and looming adulthood was beyond my life experience at that time.

So I made a unique choice and I joined Walt Disney World in Florida as a cast member in lieu of two semesters of college in 2008 and 2010. It was the most magical time of my life! Surrounded by mantras focused on dreaming and believing as well as new friends from all over the world my mind felt inspired. Disney made me crave adventure and fantasy and happiness! After two programs with WDW, I decided to continue pursuing the path less taken and joined the Air Force.

While the AF was quite admittedly not the most fun experience of my life, it was beneficial and gave me incredibly exclusive experiences. I picked up some Spanish and Portuguese and **drumroll** I became a reporter. Just like that I was finally connecting back to my childhood strength and hobby. I completed my term with the AF in 2017 and that’s when my fur baby Xena inspired me to travel and write, with her by my side.

For a few months we embarked on a U.S. road trip and hit 16 states! We stopped overnight in each state and did something memorable. Xena and I were both immensely satisfied with this new freedom. Words cannot properly describe how gratifying the trip was and my gratitude has only grown since I lost Xena tragically in April 2019. I will never forget the time I was able to spend exclusively with Xena bonding and making memories.

If you have seen GoT, I have a strong kinship to Daenerys Targaryen in very subtle ways (don’t worry I’m not burning any cities, that isn’t the kinship I am referencing). My fur babies are my children and if dragons existed, that would be my preferred mode of transportation to explore the world. For this reason, my travel logo (coming soon!) will feature a dragon and with time, you will note that fantasy and fiction plays a role in my travels. The logo’s artist will be one of my best friends, Chelsea, who I met during the 2008 training program at Disney! So, you see, it all ties in like magic, voila!

Today my love of traveling, writing, and photography burns and is doused with a love of fantasy and dreaming. I am still a reporter, but blogging is a much more “me” outlet for writing. Welcome to this adventure!

Away with Rae