Hello world!

This is officially my first Dear Destination blog post, and so I’ll spend a little bit of time telling you about my journey from the corporate doldrums to travel guru, explain why you should bother digging deeper into my blog for travel inspiration and advice, and share my mission to help people discover themselves through travel.

The Corporate Life

I think a lot of people can relate to the feeling of being trapped in a life designed by societal norms. You grow up, graduate, go to college, find a steady and reliable career, find a partner, start a family, and continue climbing the ladder of success. These are all of the things we are told we want and so we strive each and every day to achieve this idea of success. It works for some. Some find what they are looking for in the normal, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. For many others, including myself, following these expectations left me feeling unhappy and unfulfilled.

In 2012 I was working for one of the largest digital advertising agencies in NYC. I was a project manager working on exciting, big budget campaigns for companies like Samsung and American Express. After climbing the corporate ladder for going on 7 years I was finally making enough to actually afford my own shoebox-sized studio in the city, and I had gotten my regular 16-hour workday down to reasonable 9 or 10 hours. My situation was looking pretty good for the first time in my career. So, why did I still feel…blah.

I started dating a guy around this time who had just gotten back from backpacking around the world. I was enamored by his stories, his confidence, and especially by his surety with his place in life. It was as if he actually knew exactly what he wanted – what an alien concept.

I could have listened to him talk all night. But that isn’t how dating works. The conversation has to go both ways; each individual bringing something to the table. This is where I failed, hard. I seemed to have nothing to contribute to the conversation except to lament on how miserable I was with my job and how jealous I was of his life. I know, attractive. So, as you can imagine, the relationship was pretty short lived.

This got me thinking about what I bring to the table. I was in my late 20’s. I had thus far taken all of the expected steps in life, but nothing about my life excited me in any way. An executive at my company once told me that, “if you don’t go to sleep and wake up in the morning thinking of new ways to make the campaign better, I don’t even want to know you.” At the time I was put out. Was this guy seriously telling me if I didn’t eat, sleep and breathe this job I was worthless? But as I was contemplating life, I started looking at what he said in a different way. I decided I wanted to find what excited me so much that I would gladly eat, sleep and breathe it. He was obviously in the right place if he dreamed about how he could do his job better. That’s what I wanted.

There are 3 C’s in Life: Choice Chance and Change. You must make the Choice to take the Chance, if you want anything in life to Change.

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With all of these revelations in my head about living a more exciting life, seeing the world, and reimagining my career, I decided the first step should be to plan a trip that would take me out of my comfort zone. To this point I had traveled a little but only to resorts in Mexico or English-speaking countries. I started looking through my latest Travelzoo Top 20 newsletter to see if anything looked interesting and landed on a 9-day trek through the Annapurna region of the Himalayas. Can’t get further out of my comfort zone than that, I thought. Booked.

Next came the flight. Once the flight was booked there was no looking back. And that is when it hit me. I never thought about anything less in my life if I’m being honest. Just one click and my search terms were updated, another click and the deed was done. My one-way flight to Kathmandu, Nepal was booked, leaving me about 10 months to quit my job, sublet my apartment and plan as well as a totally green traveler can to backpack the globe for a year. A year seemed reasonable. I could still pick my life back up after a year of exploration. At least that is what I told myself.

… One Year Later

I did not pick my life back up.

One month in Nepal, four months in Southeast Asia, one month in Australia, two months in Italy, and another two months traveling across Europe. Ten months, 3 continents, 16 countries and an empty bank account later I found myself back at home, living with my parents and looking for job…in marketing.

If you are wondering where the travel tales are, stay tuned to the blog because I will give all of the juicy details, from the countless incredible experience to the pitfalls and everything in between.

As I read job description after job description all I could think is how the past 10 months had changed me in so many ways and how it felt like a disservice to myself to step backwards into the life I ran from to begin with. Living outside my comfort zone for so long gave me the confidence to take on the world. I knew everything about myself, what my guts were made of, what I could handle, and more importantly what I was willing to handle. Traveling had truly broadened my horizons, opened my eyes to different cultures, and gave me a deeper appreciation for what I have. It also taught me that I wanted more than the normal and mundane.

A New Life…Under the Sea

During my travels through Thailand, with much trepidation and encouragement from friends, I tried scuba diving. I spent two weeks on the island of Koh Tao getting my open water and then my advanced open water certifications, and from there continued to incorporate diving into just about every place I landed until I had acquired roughly 40 dives. I was in love. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I had always been terrified of the ocean, afraid of what I couldn’t see, but when I descended below the surface it felt like the most natural thing in the world. I became part of the environment; I felt at complete peace for maybe the first time ever.

I knew I wanted to make diving a part of my life. I decided that a corporate job was not going to cut it. Working behind a computer screen made me feel dead inside, and I was ready to feel alive. I was ready to trade security for lifestyle. Living in gorgeous tropical locales and exploring the most alien reaches of our planet is what excited me to my bones and that is the path I was going to follow. The plan was to get back to Thailand to finish my training and become a diving professional.

Unfortunately, like all things in life, this plan required money, and I had spent all of my money, savings and then some, on my year of exploration. This is how I discovered that changing your life is all about tenacity, setting priorities and keeping your eyes on the prize. I sucked up my pride and lived with my parents at the age of 30, while I got a job running the register at a co-op shop in a small beach town in New Jersey. At the same time I started a 120-hour TESOL course that guaranteed placement at a school in Thailand.

It did not take long. Within a year I was on my way back to Thailand with a Visa to teach English at a school North of Bangkok. The school even procured me a cute apartment. The job didn’t pay well by American standards, but the living in Thailand is very reasonable, and so it took me a short 6-month contract to save enough money to make my way back to Koh Tao to continue my dive training.

My life as a professional diver was everything I hoped for. I spent over a year living in Thailand working as a dive master, guiding certified divers and assisting on courses. Mexico was my next stop where I did a 4-month scientific diving internship at a base camp in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, followed by earning my instructor certification and teaching and guiding in a small town called Xcalak. From there I landed on the island of St. Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. I earned my Master Scuba Diver Trainer certification and in 2017 was named one of four PADI inspirational woman divers of the year. After St. Croix was hit by two CAT-5 hurricanes that same year, I decided to go back state side, landing in Florida in 2018.

Since arriving in Florida my dive career took a bit of a turn. It is difficult to live the “lifestyle” in America. Divers do not make much money generally, but the easy living, island lifestyle usually makes up for any hardship. I found that doesn’t really exist in the states. I started working for aquariums because they offered benefits and security, turning my easy, breezy lifestyle into a mundane job once more. I went back to school to earn a degree in environmental science with the idea I would turn towards a more scientific diving role, but found in a post pandemic society the job market was a hard one to crack. Little by little everything that made diving so relaxing a fun began fading away.

Don’t get me wrong. Nothing would or will ever extinguish the flame diving lights inside of me. Diving will always be a very important part of my life. But in the end, I decided it was time for another change. One that would hopefully afford me the opportunity to travel again, explore again, and dive the way I wanted to.

Finding Balance

What are the things that excite you?

This is what I asked myself. Now, in my early 40’s, after all of the experiences I’ve had, the lives I’ve led, I should know myself well enough to answer confidently, and this is what I have come up with:

1. Travel and Experiences
2. Diving
3. Mentoring/Teaching/Consulting

Of course, I also have to look at what I’m good at. I was always good at project management, organization, leading, planning, resource management and communication. Just because I used these skills in an industry that didn’t fit, doesn’t mean I can’t utilize these same skills to launch a new career in the areas that bring me joy and excitement.

At this point in my life, I am searching for balance. I want freedom, stability, and peace, and so Dear Destination was born. Dear Destination, is my love letter to the world. It is my way to share my experiences and help others find themselves through travel. Read more about the origins of Dear Destination here.

In the pages of this blog, I will write about all of my travel experiences in detail, and use my knowledge, planning skills, and industry connections to bring you the latest and greatest itineraries around the globe. There will be a special section of the blog dedicated to diving destinations, of course. And, because my own travel style has evolved since my backpacking days, I will also be adding a page on luxury travel experiences. I hope that doesn’t scare anyone off, because I think these types of experiences can be accessible to just about anyone, and can at the very least inspire.

In 2024 I completed training on luxury travel planning and joined the FORA agency of advisors. For anyone interested in my consulting services I invite you to contact me or view my FORA profile here.

Welcome to Dear Destination! I hope you find what you are searching for.