Hello,

Originally from small town, Port Hardy in British Columbia, Canada, I am a 30 something teacher who enjoys travelling. I have used both my loves together to teach at schools in international destinations around the world and use them as starting points while I travel during vacation.

I worked in Tokyo, Japan at Tathva International School for two years. I taught grade 3 and loved everything about Japan.

I worked in Kuwait for two years, where I taught grade 1.

I am currently back at home in Port Hardy, teaching Math and science to grade 8s and 9s. I love being close to my family. I am enjoying reconnecting with places in my hometown.

I think my love of travel came from growing up in a place where I could go from ocean waves to mountain snow in only a few hours drive. I grew up camping in tents and trucks or swimming the summer away at lakes and rivers. We skied in the winter and hiked through trails all year round. There was so much travel to do in my small corner of the world that I wanted to see what else was out there.

I remember watching nature shows with my dad, especially about the big 5 in Africa and thinking I wanted to go there and see that. I wanted to travel Africa and see a lion or go to India and eat curry or see the Great Wall of China.

I was speaking with a friend one day about travel, places we wished to travel to, money we wish we had for travel, ways to travel on a budget. He issued me a challenge, could I travel to 30 countries before my 30th birthday. At the time I was 27 and had travelled to about 20 countries. Challenge accepted.

I have had a wonderful time travelling around the Middle East to see sights I have wished to see since I was a girl. I loved Jordan and getting to see ancient Petra as well as many other destinations.

The summer before my 30th birthday I spent time travelling around the Balkans. While there I met and surpassed my goal. As I teach my students the end of one goal doesn’t mean the end. It means it is time to extend the challenge to something new.

The Challenge – Revamped

The new challenge follows the same theme as the old one. I’ve now challenged myself to try travelling to 100 countries before my 50th birthday.