The art of leaving your heart everywhere

*Post from my email list

I spent a couple weeks last April getting to travel around Europe to Cambridge, London, Amsterdam, and Paris! Europe has stolen so much of my heart over the past three years and this trip was no exception. July before this trip, I started the processes of creating my travel company purely out of my love for experiencing different people, cultures, places, experiences, etc. It is something that brings me so much joy and I so desperately want others to experience!  What started as a hobby- helping friends plan their honeymoons, family vacations, and girls trips-evolved into more. Looking into cheap flights and getting people to see the world in a way they could afford was just my past time. Something I did after work for fun! It evolved into making full itineraries for places like Oahu, Spain, New York City, and Australia. The idea of becoming a travel advisor never crossed my mind until a coworker suggested it last year. After months of research and planning, here I am today. But at the core of it all, my mission remains unchanged: I want people to do more than just go on vacation; I want them to fall in love with the world. This past trip to Europe really reminded me that this is truly why I love travel.

So, how do you just leave your heart somewhere?

A man named Walker Moore taught me how to leave me heart everywhere I go, and I mean everywhere. The summers of 2012-2015 I was able to spend several months in Peru and Panama working with a missions organization. Walker was the founder of the organization I worked with and was a great mentor for me and many others. Walker had an incredible life. He carried a cross up the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, he drove a cab in Mexico, became a chief of the Embera tribe in Panama, was a professional skydiver, and so much more. If there was an adventure, Walker was in for it and wanted to take as many people with him as possible. I was very lucky to be one of those people. Because of Walker, I was able to stay with the Alahoon tribe in Peru, live on an island in the middle of nowhere with the Kuna natives of Panama, meet communities and those deported in the drug cartel cities of Nuevo Loredo Mexico, and so so much more. One day on a bus ride in Panama, someone asked Walker what his favorite place to travel to is. Walker replied that while there are places he leaves a little more of his heart than others, his favorite place is always the last place he visited. That he leaves a bit of his heart everywhere he goes. At the time I thought while that was sweet, but I couldn’t imagine loving any place like I loved Panama. The more I saw the country, met the people, learned the culture, the more I fell in love. But then I went to Oahu, and left some of my heart there, and then New York City, and Spain, and so much more.

My travel no longer gets to look like staying in huts in Panama, and I book more resorts and cruises for others than anything, but it taught me something so important. It taught me both how small in the span of the world our own cultures is and how amazing our world is for all the cultures in it. I've come to appreciate the beauty in diversity and the uniqueness of every corner of the globe. Whether it's the homeless man on the streets of New York City or the wine expert in Paris, each person I've met has enriched my understanding of humanity. It showed me how to fall in love with everywhere, even the not so pretty parts of things. It showed me how cool people are, how creative and talented they are around the world. It showed me there is so much more to this world than just the my own personal world. I am unbelievably thankful for the opportunities I have had to see beautiful places and people, and I hope to continue to leave my heart everywhere I go.

I hope someday I can send you off to do the same, because it’s the best feeling to leave your heart everywhere.