A Bag and A Mission

In the fall of 2006 I studied abroad in Nicosia, Cyprus, the last divided capital in the world.  As a senior in college this proved to be a very pivotal 3 months for me and one conversation really stuck out when I returned home.  A fellow student had said that “the mark of a true lifetime traveler was to have visited a different country for every year of their life.”   Well I was 22 years old, and I had just visited 14 as a part of Global Learning Semesters Study Abroad Program which brought my total to 20.  Now I wasn’t far off but I wanted more.  I decided to double it!

From the moment I got back I was already planning a way to see the rest of Europe that I missed (namely Ireland, the UK, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe.)  Right then and there I decided to achieve the lofty goal of experiencing 50 countries by age 25.  To tell you the truth it scared me a bit…but it was also exciting.  All these questions raced through my head…

“Who will go with me?  Where should I start?  Will it be safe?  How long should I go for?

One question that most people ask me is how did you pay for all of it.  To this I reply that I was very fortunate to have been recruited for a highly competitive internship as a freshman at the U of Iowa.  For my first 3 summers in college, I had sold books door-to-door on straight commission in California & Texas.  Glamorous? Heck No.  Yet the top students with the Southwestern Company can make upwards of $20,000+ in one summer of hard, hard work.  It became MY BAG & A MISSION to sell enough in the summer to spend the fall backpacking whichever part of the world I was off to next…and still graduate debt free.   It was a tall order and it took many 80+ hour weeks in the “school of hard knocks” but I did it and as things often do, it became a habit.  I call it “Fall-ing Off” because for 2007, 2008, and 2009 I took off for nearly 3 months in search of adventures every fall.  It was literal and figurative as soon I had visited 15 more countries in Europe (solo), 9 in Asia (with my sister), and 6 in Latin America (with a videographer friend) to hit my goal of 50 countries by age 25!  Which one was #50? Nicaragua!

Ironically, after spending 2 weeks in Nicaragua, I had officially come full circle to Costa Rica, which was country #1 just 5 years before.  Sure it was an epic journey and often ridiculous but it became less about the number and more about experiencing the people, the language and way of life. It all just sort of worked out in a fitting, movie-esque kind of way which left it bittersweet.  One goal was over and it’s on to the next.  Wait, WHAT’S NEXT? 

Stay tuned to find out!