Full Passport, Fuller Heart: Life on the Road

Travel has had a hold on me since I was small. I was the kid who pleaded to come along on my parents' work trips, and I was perfectly happy coloring in a hotel lobby as long as I woke up somewhere new. My first big trip was to Italy when I was ten. I'm Italian and Scandinavian, and standing in the places from my grandmother's stories rewired my brain.

At fifteen I traveled through Southeast Asia on my own. I wandered night markets in Bangkok, watched the sun rise over Angkor Wat, visited pagodas in Myanmar, and couldn't understand a word anyone said. I came home hooked, and I haven't gone a year without traveling since. I funded it by waiting tables in high school, and later through work trades, service trips, and anything else that got me onto a plane. College brought semesters in Florence and Barcelona, building classrooms in Cambodia, planting trees in Costa Rica, and internships that took me to places most tourists never see.

After that came a gap year and twelve new countries. I went on safari in Kenya and Tanzania, met lemurs in Madagascar, island hopped in the Seychelles, floated in a hot-air balloon over Cappadocia, and saw the Bolivian salt flats and the Amazon Rainforest, along with so much more. When I became a yoga teacher, Southeast Asia pulled me back. I spent a significant stretch of time in Bali, teaching yoga and deepening my own studies. I practiced in open-air shalas surrounded by rice terraces and learned from local teachers. Slowing down there reshaped how I teach and how I live. Indonesia still feels like a second home.

What I love most about travel is that it fills every part of me. I love immersing myself in new cultures, lending a hand where it's needed, and chasing adventure, whether that means scuba diving, hiking volcanoes, surfing, or ziplining through the jungle. Above all, I love exploring our beautiful planet and being reminded of how big, diverse, and generous it is. Italy will always have a special place in my heart because of my roots, but I'm just as in love with Indonesia and Southeast Asia, and with the color, music, and warmth of South and Central America. Honestly, there's no place I don't enjoy exploring. And I'm nowhere near done.

Where I've Been (So Far)

Europe: Italy (including Sardinia, Sicily, Ischia, and more), Vatican City, France, Monaco, Switzerland, Spain (including Mallorca and Ibiza), Gibraltar, Malta, Greece, Germany, Ukraine, Norway, Finland, Portugal, Hungary, Austria, Croatia Africa & the Indian Ocean: Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles Asia: Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore, Turkey, Laos The Americas & Caribbean: USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba, Belize, Guatemala, Grand Cayman, Aruba, Brazil, Bolivia