Hi! I’m Michele, and welcome to my corner of the internet! I am so glad you are here. A little about me: I grew up in a small town in South Carolina, and lived there until I went to university.
Growing up, travel for me was our family’s annual beach trip- which are still some of my favorite memories. However, going to new places wasn’t really on my radar, and travel was not a priority for me.
My Experience With Travel
My whole world changed during my last semester of college when I took my first plane ride ever to study abroad in Costa Rica.
It was my first time out of the country, and it turned my life in a completely different direction. I soaked in everything like a sponge, learning the language (Spanish and the Costa Rican slang), bonding with my host family and their extended family, getting to know our neighbors, the taxi and bus drivers, locals around town and at hostels when we traveled – anyone and anything I could learn from, I was open to it.
Ever since that trip, my eyes have been opening to the beauty that travel brings into the everyday. I was astounded to experience the simplest things, like a trip to the market, a new style of dance, even a meal; and returned home with fresh eyes for my home city. After that experience of traveling, I couldn’t get enough. Now I am trying to scratch everything I can off of my never-ending bucket list.
However, we can’t always be away from home, so I had to find a way to satiate the need to travel without leaving home so often. It was then I realized I could explore locally, and I started being a tourist in my own town like I had when I was abroad.
What You Will Find Here
Through Adventures Abound I aim to bring this idea to life for you as well – that adventures can be found in the everyday.
I love to enjoy a place by exploring nature, the culture and history, local foods, small businesses, and getting to know the people in that area.
Even places we may initially glance over can help us see new ways of living and challenge our perspective.
Whether it’s a vacation getaway, or a weekend staycation nearby, trying new things at a restaurant, going on free or paid city tours, even seeing museums on days when the fee is waived, all bring a fresh perspective to the same-old.
What I hope to do here is share a little of my perspective with you on my journey through stories, itineraries, guides, and my personal photography. Hopefully, I inspire you to find more adventures no matter your budget or means to get out and travel. In my eyes, no matter where you are, the adventures around you are abounding, you only need to go out and find them.
Adventure
To me, this can mean a few things: unplanned spontaneous experiences, trying new things, and also hiking, spending time outdoors, and adrenaline-inducing activities.
The first comes from the inevitable when traveling – you will always come across unexpected mishaps or opportunities to do things you never expected. This could be anywhere from taking the wrong bus to receiving an invitation to a local cookout. Some of my favorite memories of traveling have been from these spontaneous adventures – and with the right mindset, any setback can become part of the adventure. In fact, that’s one of my favorite things to say to remind myself: “It’s all part of the adventure.”
Of course, another extremely fun part of travel is the anticipation and planning that leads up to a trip. Researching things to do in an area has become second nature for me, with over 10 years of experience traveling at this point.
As a bit of an adrenaline junkie, I love trying new things, and being on a new adventure is often the perfect opportunity for me to try something new, but other times the new experience is the adventure in itself. I’m talking hiking, snowshoeing, skydiving, ziplining, boat tours, wildlife-guided tours, and the list goes on and on.
Sustainability
Speaking of recreating outside, another key component of my traveling style and the content you will find here is protecting the environment and therefore traveling sustainably.
As a part of my experience studying in Costa Rica, I learned a lot about sustainability and the environment. Later, I returned to intern for a program that focused on field work and sustainability again.
I have also seen some of the more devastating effects that the climate crisis and other environmental disasters have had on various locations around the globe. I learned so much through these experiences about our choices at home and traveling that affect the environment and will pass those on to you here.
Traveling sustainably can look a lot of different ways. The main thing is to try and remember it doesn’t always have to be perfect.
Budget Traveling
“How do you afford to travel all the time?” This is the most common question that we get, and while everyone is traveling with different budget goals, you will all find tips here to help you plan your next trip.
Travel doesn’t have to break the bank, and we are here to share all our tips on how you can prioritize travel in your budget and have it take you farther.