Travel When I Was Young:
Well, here we go! My name is Rachel, and I grew up with a loving mother and my younger sister, who although annoyed me some at the time, has grown into my best friend. Our mom was simply amazing, but she was a single mom, and we did not have a lot of extra. She did everything she could to make sure we had everything we needed plus some…and we did! We were in an 800 square foot. You may be wondering what this has to do with my travel blog. Well, although we had an amazing childhood that I am extremely grateful for, we did not get to travel much. I grew up and still live in western North Carolina, so our yearly vacation usually consisted of going to a KOA campground, Pigeon Forge in Tennessee, Mrytle Beach in South Carolina, or the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
By the time I graduated high school, I had at least visited Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. I honestly did not think much about it even though a lot of my friends had been to many cool places. I guess I always dreamed of seeing things from books and movies in real life, but it was so far removed from my scope of reality, that I didn’t put much thought into it.
Fast forward almost a couple of decades, and the places I had visited hadn’t changed that much. My mother did send my sister and I to Akumal, Mexico once we both graduated college partly because we had both paid for our own education, and she was proud of us. Then, for my honeymoon, I went to Jamaica. Both places were beautiful and unique to what I had previously experienced. However, at the time, my focus was saving money for a house and getting a job as a teacher, so although I loved the two destinations outside of the United States, it didn’t create an itch for travel…yet.
Establishing Myself:
I put off having kids until I earned my master’s degree and became Nationally Board Certified. Both of these took some time but would earn me more than the meager salary teachers start at…or finish at! Then, it took a few years to get pregnant, so I was 33 by the time I had my daughter. Unfortunately, my marriage also started to crumble almost simultaneously to me getting pregnant. Fortunately, I also started making more money by creating and selling products on Teachers Pay Teachers under my pseudonym “Teacher Addict”. The extra money helped me more easily build a new life with my daughter.
The Start of Real Traveling:
Once my daughter was about 2, I of course wanted to take her on vacation. She was little, so we stayed fairly close like I did throughout my childhood. We went to the beach a few times over the next several years, Pigeon Forge, Atlanta, and even Disney World and Universal Studios. A lot of the trips were with my sister and her family including two kids which made it even more fun!
Then in 2021, when she was 7, I wanted to do something different. I planned a trip for all of us, including my sister’s family, to take a vacation to San Diego, California on the opposite side of the country. I actually LOVED researching everything there was to do around the area and creating an itinerary for what we’d do. My sister and I were absolutely floored by the beauty and serenity of the California Coast. We all had the best time, and THIS is when I knew I wanted to travel as much as possible.
Affording Travel:
Now, as a teacher, even with a little supplemental income, I don’t make a lot of money. I began looking for places where budget airlines flew out of my regional airport, and we visited Texas and NYC the following summer. From there, it was on! I started tutoring students on the side when my daughter was with her father just for travel funds. I also researched and figured out a credit card game to help fund my new addiction. In 2023, I got my daughter a scratch-off map of the United States, and she is just as excited as I am to scratch off each state as we visit. We are getting close to having them all. This has led me to want a place to document all of these amazing memories we’re making.
Even if no one else finds this site, it’ll be nice to have everything in one place! This will include everywhere I have been and dream places I want to go. I have researched so many places for future travel, and I can’t wait to have them here with pictures instead of holed up in a book with everything scrunched onto tiny lines.
Myself as a Traveler:
As a traveler, I am, of course, aware of budget, but I also don’t like to skimp when on vacation. If that means a little extra money for a better location or a nicer hotel, that’s what I do…within reason for my personal finances. I do 3-star hotels with free breakfast a lot, but I will spring for a 4-star hotel and no breakfast if I think it’s worth it. I also rent houses if I am going to be in the same place for more than a couple nights, and the price is right. I’ll also try to usually hit up a grocery store for some food – especially if we have a kitchen. I will spend extra money on cool, unique adventures because I believe that’s really worth the memories they create.
I’m excited to get started on this blog! The only daunting thing is getting all of my memories and ideas here. I have so many things I want to share, and hopefully, with a little time and patience, this blog will really start to form into something…eventually! I hope you’ll decide to come along with me on this adventure!
