My Story

For as long as I can remember, there lived a deep sense of wanderlust within me. Something that longed to see what was in this great big world. As a child, I poured through the pages of magazines and took in the colors of the world through film. From quiet beaches to bustling cities, I wanted to drink it all in. I wanted to see it all.

As life often does, my responsibilities felt as though they piled up and for a period of time, I felt as though I was too busy, or didn't have the resources to travel. I was in school, had student loans, and a small child. There didn’t seem to be any time for travel. Looking back, I realize that this wasn’t fully accurate. What I know now is that I did have choice, I simply didn’t recognize the depth of meaning travel would hold for me, so I didn't make it a priority. I had no idea how my life would be transformed by the experience of exploring, so I chose no.

I finally began to realize my dreams of exploring after completing school. My career as a nurse anesthetist and travel merged as I participated in medical mission work. Over the course of the years, this work would take me on 17 mission trips to the Carribean, Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia, some of which we organized through our own foundation. Through this work, I found a connection to people and the community that cannot be made as a tourist passing through. I saw a world so different from my own, and these were lessons in profound gratitude.

In life, there are moments that can be silently pivotal, changing the course of everything to come. This moment came for me on a flight in Africa. We had completed a medical mission trip and were flying over Mt. Kilimanjaro. Looking out the window of the airplane in awe, I said, “I am going to climb that.” For anyone who knew me then, this was perhaps both comical and also not surprising. I was very much a high heels and makeup kind of woman, yet known to gravitate towards adventure and slightly unafraid to give something unknown a try. I and the great outdoors were perhaps not two things that people would have immediately associated. But there was something so incredibly beautiful about that mountain, its draw was so strong. One year later, I went back and did it, and from that moment on, my life was forever changed. My love of nature and the mountains infuses all I do.

Throughout the years, I had been immersing myself in yoga as a way to heal my physical body, and as it does, the practice slowly began further to open my eyes to the world around me and within me. I began to teach yoga and realized that the two experiences I love so deeply, yoga and travel, have the capacity to create profoundly beautiful experiences when merged. By this time, I had lots of travel experience and confidence in arranging group travel, so the creation of yoga retreats came naturally.

Travel has shown me not only the world that surrounds me but so much about the world within me. From the mundane tasks that require patience, like waiting in the security line, to the stressful moments of late arrivals and missed flights, travel tests me and how I choose to react. When I am in the mountains, I sometimes feel incredibly strong, and at other times I look up the vast land and I wonder if I have the strength make it. When I am on a women’s retreat, I am in awe of the wide-open vulnerability and acceptance, knowing we are all feeling the same things and the same insecurities. Yet, when we sink into the human experience of vulnerable spaces and allow ourselves to be seen, we rise strong together. For me, travel is so much more than simply checking off an “I’ve been there” box, it’s about deep feeling and experiencing. For me, it’s about living, growing, and being one with this sacred land and connecting with humanity.

It is my passion to share the experience and empowerment of retreats, particularly with my fellow adventure seekers. There is magick that occurs when you feel empowered. Life shifts. You know who you are. You genuinely love yourself. You live with purpose and passion. There is an unmistakable power that comes from within, which all standing on the outside can see. I am so grateful that I finally said yes to my desire to walk this path of wholehearted wild wisdom.

Say yes to yourself. You deserve it.