My Story
I have always been fascinated by travel. While my family was not big on travel, I always dreamed of far off places and exploring the world. Every time my mom and I would go to our local AAA to pick up a road map (remember when we didn’t have GPS on our phones?), I would browse the various brochures and pamphlets for local Florida attractions. My mom always allowed me to pick up a few to bring home with us. At home, I would use the brochures and maps to plan “dream vacations” that I would present to my parents in hopes we would be able to travel to these places on our next vacation. Many of my childhood trips consisted of exploring different sites in my home state of Florida but we also went to places like Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and Maryland.
My first “big trip” was the summer after fifth grade when I went on a school trip to Washington, DC. While I had visited family in Maryland before, I had never been to DC and Alexandria, Virginia and immediately fell in love with the area. I vowed that I would move to Alexandria after college, which I did, and lived in the area for five and a half years.
My trip to DC lit a small spark in me in wanting to explore more places. Throughout middle school and the beginning of high school, I continued to travel with my parents when we could. After my sophomore year of high school, I took my first international trip to England and France on a small school trip. For two weeks, I took in the sights of London, Bath, and Paris. I was amazed by how different Europe was compared to the United States and wanted to explore more.
My next international trip did not happen until my junior year of college when I went on a class trip to Costa Rica for spring break. The entire week was dedicated to volunteering at a before/after school center for children during the day, exploring the local sights in San Jose in the afternoon, and taking in the nightlife in the evenings. (Work hard, play hard!) While my time in Costa Rica was short, it was during this trip that the travel bug really “bit” me hard. This trip allowed me to take in the culture of country and learn more about life in Costa Rica from my host family.
While I had an incredible drive to travel internationally after college, life got in the way. I moved to the DC area, worked a variety of jobs to build a career, and made amazing friends. I eventually took a job that required a lot of regional travel with occasional travel to California, New York, and Massachusetts. While I loved traveling almost every week, I realized the distinct difference between traveling for myself versus traveling for work.
At the beginning of summer 2018, I stumbled on a YouTube video about a woman who quit her job to travel. At the time, I was struggling in my job because I was not progressing forward. While I loved the company, I did not want to work 50+ hours a week for the next 40 years. For a couple of months, I continued to obsessively watch various travel vloggers and read hundreds of blog posts about solo travel, backpacking, and more. The seed had been planted and in November, I quit my job and set out on a two month solo backpacking trip across Europe. I traveled to 11 countries (plus Vatican City) and my perspective on life changed drastically.
After returning to the states, I had difficulties adjusting back to “normal life.” I found myself constantly day dreaming about my next adventure and mapping out my next trip. I eventually saved up enough money to go back to Europe again in the summer of 2019 on another solo trip where I spent another month exploring new countries and revisiting old favorites. In December 2019, I finally visited Canada for the first time.
In 2020 and 2021, I stuck to road trips within the USA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While I missed international travel, it was important to me to travel responsibly and stay safe. In spring 2022, I made my return to international travel with a three-month solo trip to Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
After spending the rest of 2022 and beginning of 2023 healing from a severe foot injury, I finally made a 2 month trip to a country I’ve been wanting to visit since I was a child, Australia. To say Australia changed my perspective of travel would be an understatement. It was the best 2 months of my life and I am eager to return. I also recently completed my 6th solo backpacking trip covering Belgium. Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and returning to England and my favorite city of London.
I am excited to share soon what is to come in 2024. I have a feeling it’s going to be the best travel year yet.
Welcome to Katy Does Travel. It’s time to wander far and wander often.
xo, katy