Lil bit about me:
I am the type of person who is constantly day dreaming about getting on the go. It’s comforting to know that others also look at flights online for fun and crave movement/ new atmospheres constantly. It is rather exhausting but the desire to see new things is usually pretty overpowering. I am here because I still can’t believe the experiences I have been so lucky to have had given the circumstances of my upbringing.
Long story short, I grew up in an immigrant family aka I grew up poor lol. I am a Korean-American, 25 year old woman who has struggled financially up until now. I grew up in a small city in Northern California as what I commonly will refer to as “FarmsVille” (yes, like the video game). Family trips were something I had hardly gotten to experience and I never knew what a vacation was because during summer breaks- I was always studying! Not to mention that my dad is a pastor which translates to that we didn’t do anything on weekends in order to not miss a Sunday at church. I can’t say any of my childhood or early adult years were easy, it took a lot of growth to get to where I am now. After all of these years, I’d say that a positive that I have gained during this time period was to travel like a pro on a tiny budget.
I’m the second of four kids, I love my siblings dearly and I’d say that my dire need to travel kick-started when I was 14. My older sister is brilliant and wanted to learn Spanish, so what better way to learn than go somewhere and fully emerge?! Naturally, my parents wouldn’t let her go alone, so I got to tag along. We spent 5 weeks in Costa Rica studying Spanish, volunteering at a nursing home, swimming in the ocean and living with a homestay family. It was a tough trip being a pimpily teen who had no understanding of what anything other than the United States was like, but it truly introduced me to the brilliance of culture and environment. Ever since then, I’ve been addicted to day dreaming of the next location and watching documentaries about cultures from all over the world.
Fast forwarding to college, I attended UC Riverside as a studio arts major. The UC system as a whole has a wonderful study abroad program. I will not be blogging about my study abroad trip, but if you need any suggestions for places I’ve been, or want to listen to a fun story (I have plentyyy) feel free to ask! I lived in Florence, Italy for 3 months and Rome and Madrid, Spain for an additional 3 months. After school was done, I backpacked alone through Portugal, Greece, Croatia and Germany. After this amazing trip, I headed straight to South Korea to link up with my family and lived in a city called Daegu for 2.5 months to privately tutor English.
Living abroad was one of the best experiences in my life because it allowed me to experience so many different cultures and societies while living and growing as an individual. (If you are in college and anyone hasn’t told you already- you HAVE to study abroad.) I received scholarships and took quite a big chunk of loans out to make this trip happen, but holy Lord was it worth it.
I do want to touch base a little bit and make sure we are a good match, especially when it comes to deciding where we are headed! I appreciate “tourism” more than many do. I won’t condone you if you “hate” tourists, or if you have a negative stigma over famous monuments all over the world… but hear me out. Everyone, even you, have always associated famous landmarks to locations which ultimately partake in making a decision of where you want to travel to next. (Ex. The Christ Redeemer Statue in Brazil or The Eiffel Tower in Paris). It is good to be conscious that tourism does wonders for an economy but also sometimes distracts from the natural environment of a location. I also think that we can all agree to hate on tourists (usually entitled ass Americans) that have very little respect for a new country. Regardless, I see both sides to why tourism is liked or disliked.. but I hope that you’ll have an open mind while reading about where I decide to go and why.
Let’s also remember the privilege that comes with speaking English. You usually can’t travel solo if you don’t. Well I guess you could but it would be close to impossible if you don’t have any basic knowledge. Not everyone understands the privilege of speaking English and how it allows us to go wherever we want. Going back to appreciating tourism: tours allow millions of people that can’t speak English travel the world, so why create a negative aura over that? So, remember to respect the cultures you’re touring and check your privilege!
I’m determined to live a life where I am living to travel vs working to vacation. I want to share personal experiences: obviously the good, the bad, the REALLY bad, the unique and the eye-opening. I will also be sharing my fair share of “vacation like” trips as well as occasional quick trips taken while living out of my home base in San Diego! This is for those that can’t keep your feet still but also feel restrained due to the burden of financial independence. I’m here to walk ya though it.
Well this is it! Welcome to my rabbit hole, hope you all enjoy.
xx jan.
Cruisin with Jan 