Hey, y'all! I'm Rachael.
I'm stoked that you are here.
Here is my (little) story.
Like all of us, I am still figuring life out.
But one thing I am pretty damn sure of:
acquiring experiences > acquiring things.
That mindset has led me to build a life optimized for travel, taking every ounce of PTO, fiddling with my travel budget, and constantly prowling the internet for cheap flight deals. Though I was a bit of a late bloomer (my first flight wasn't until my teens), once I got a taste, I was hooked.
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Cut to 2022: I am 28 years old and several years into a career in investment management. I love my job and am passionate about financial planning (nerd alert), which also allows me to travel to new places I may never see otherwise. For all the flack business travel gets, I truly don't mind all the time spent in airports, hotels, and rental cars.
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But in May of 2022, arguably at the top of my game, I quit. Why?
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To live out my wildest dream of traveling the world.
To do so while I am still young(ish), healthy, and child-free.
And to do this alongside my best friend and husband, Alex, who is thankfully just as crazy about travel as I am.
This pursuit of an "adult gap year" or "mini retirement" (or whatever you want to call it) wasn't a spontaneous decision, and it required many months of careful planning to do it right. BUT WE DID IT. We ripped the bandaid, packed our lives into suitcases, and took a one-way flight.
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We are finally home after our yearlong journey, and it has been the ultimate, life-altering experience. We visited 33 countries across two continents and created a few lifetimes of memories.
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I created this page to share authentic recommendations, insights, and tips from my travels in an effort to help more people feel confident about traveling, no matter the duration. I also hope to inspire and offer support to anyone considering embarking on your own gap year, because it's not really as radical as you might think.
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Remember: Life is short and nothing is promised.
Go out there and get those experiences.​
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A little more abut me:
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Half Louisianan/Half Texan
University of Texas Longhorn
Home is Austin, Texas (when not traveling!)
Married 5 years to the world's best travel partner
Lover of food, architecture, and scenic hikes
Sipper of iced coffee, wine, and gin
Dog mom to a psychotic 7 year old Aussie ​
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...and a bit about TRIPPING MILLENNIAL
(we aren't talking psychedelics. sorry.)
We all have limited time and money, and we all want to make the most of both.
This feels especially true when we travel, and it can be an awful feeling to realize you have squandered them by visiting overpriced, inauthentic, or overhyped places on a trip.
For that reason, I prioritize travel recommendations from likeminded peers rather than from catch-all sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp. That's where this little page comes in.
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My travel style sits somewhere in between "insanely detailed spreadsheet master" and "spontaneous open-minded adventurer." I believe having a dose of both serves travelers well. I am always eager to share my tips, insights, and recs with friends after trips to help guide them to some truly special places and avoid the ones that may rob them of their precious time and money. This page is a way to organize all this information and share it back with a community that may find value in it.
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If any of this resonates with you, or if you are simply a millennial-ish aged person looking for travel ideas that may better cater to your tastes, I think you have come to the right place. TM is all about sharing authentic, no BS tips and recs from my own experience as well as crowdsourced guides from likeminded friends. I hope it serves you well.
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LET'S TRAVEL BETTER, TOGETHER.