I didn’t have some grand master plan — I just knew I didn’t want to spend the next four years stuck in classrooms, buried in debt, and waiting for real life to begin.

So at 17, I booked a one-way ticket to Ecuador.

I had a backpack, an online school login, and just enough money to keep me on the road — barely. But those first four weeks? Absolute magic. I hiked volcanoes, got lost in street markets, shared hostels with people from five different continents, and had more meaningful conversations in broken Spanish than I ever did in school.

From there, I was hooked.

I came back, worked a ski season, saved up, and bounced again — this time through Central America. Chicken buses, waterfall hikes, late-night hostel chats, $2 tacos, and sunrise surfs. I was learning more about people, cultures, and myself than I ever thought possible — all while still doing college online.

Next stop? Southeast Asia. Nine months of motorbikes, temples, rice fields, scooters in monsoons, night trains, and beach dinners with strangers-turned-friends. I studied from rooftops in Vietnam, jungle cafés in Thailand, and overnight ferries in Indonesia.

Travel became my classroom — and it was way more fun than any lecture hall.

I figured out how to budget smart, live cheap, stay healthy(ish), and squeeze the most out of every moment. It wasn’t luxury — it was better. It was freedom. Every day brought something new: a different language, a wild adventure, or just a really good noodle dish.

I built a life that mixed learning, travel, and adventure into one — and I realized it’s not just possible, it’s actually doable for way more people than they think.

Now I help others do the same.