When I was a Brownie back in Grade 4, I saw a slideshow (the old-fashioned kind, with a projector) of Machu Picchu in Peru. I never forgot those images, and when I was old enough to travel on my own, I decided to skip the Contiki tour to Europe and head to Peru instead to hike the Inca Trail. Waking up at 3:30 a.m. to trek in the dark to the Sun Gate to watch the sun rise over the Lost City of the Incas was one of those pivotal moments when I knew I was hooked on travel.
Years later, I gathered up the nerve to quit my editing job and spent three years traveling solo through Asia and the South Pacific, including a one-year stint editing English-language textbooks for Chinese students in Shijiazhuang, China, and contributing to a Chinese guidebook published in Beijing (and teaching hundreds of Chinese teachers how to do the hokey pokey, but that’s another story…)
Since then, my travels have taken me from the cobblestone streets of old Tbilisi in Georgia to the Guge Kingdom in western Tibet to the ancient Mayan city of El Mirador in the jungles of northern Guatemala.
I work as a journalist, travel writer and amateur photographer, and specialize in solo travel, budget travel and places that are off the beaten path. I’ve written travel pieces for the CBC, Flare, Sweet Travel and PlanetEye Traveler, and am the co-founder of a travel website for women called Chic Savvy Travels, along with journalist Tanya Enberg.
My hope is to share tips and information relevant to the independent female traveler that I’ve learned through all the mistakes and mishaps and adventures I’ve had along the way.
