About The Fearless Foreigner

“I've always been a rolling stone. With a reckless streak. Yeah, the grass never gets too grown underneath my feet. The city lights, southern stars. No such thing as gone too far. I'm running wide open. I was born with my feet in motion. But since I met you, I swear I could be happy anywhere.” 

When I heard those lyrics from Blake Shelton’s ‘Happy Anywhere’ song the first time, they hit home to me. While he refers to meeting Gwen Stefani, for me the song symbolizes when I began traveling and exploring the world. I can't help but exclaim “that’s me” whenever I hear the song!

My Story

Treinen Farm
Brooklyn Bridge
Bolshoi Theater
Austria
Chile Rafting
Jackson Street Bridge Atlanta
Bryce Canyon National Park

Think of a small Midwestern town. You know the kind, with one stoplight and everyone knows your name and your business. My Wisconsin town, or should I say village, was a wonderful place to grow up in, but “I was born with my feet in motion.”

I left my small-town behind and was on to the big city of Minneapolis, Minnesota for college. Going from a ~2000 person town to a ~380,995 person city was a big leap. It would be the first of many that didn’t daunt me at all. 

 

After college it was time to head to the city I had my heart set on for years, the one and only New York City. Driving to the airport with my Dad I can vividly remember my nerves about my upcoming trip to NYC and interview at an inner city school in Brooklyn. I knew I could go to NYC, skip the interview, tell everyone I didn’t get the job and find a teaching position close to home. If you know any of my story, you know that was the first time I really felt fearless! I came home with a teaching position and less than two months later I was living the dream in the Big Apple. 

Those four years in NYC were some of the hardest years of my life, but also some of the most amazing and rewarding. Everyone needs to live in NYC once in their life. It’s the city that everyone loves to hate or is it hates to love? Anyway I was ready for a change, so I set my sights on teaching abroad in Europe.

A couple weeks before interviewing for a teaching position in Russia I would have never imagined living there. Unlike NYC I never set out to move to Moscow! Honestly I knew very little about the city. But I knew I wanted to be able to travel around Europe, so Russia it was! 

It was tough going from NYC, the greatest city on earth, to Moscow. I mean nothing can compare and there will always be a part of me that says “well in NYC….”. Living abroad in a city I didn’t love had some tough moments, but it was an opportunity I wouldn’t change for anything. It was another fearless decision I made that I am so grateful for. 

 

All my travels around Europe that year led me to my solo travel lifestyle and what you are reading now! One year in Moscow was enough. Instead of finding another teaching position, I may have taken the biggest leap of faith of all… I put my teaching career on hold to do what I love: go traveling, write about my travel and plan travel for you! 

 

 

 

That brought me to one of my favorite regions of the world, Latin America! Maybe I realized I was never going to learn Russian so I better keep up my Spanish. Or maybe the warm Latin culture and temperature was what I needed after the opposite in Russia. The lower cost of living, amazing food and limitless adventures in jaw-dropping scenery may have influenced my desire to spend a lot of time further south. Argentina and Chile both feel like home to me. 

 

 

 

After a bit of traveling in the southeast USA in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee in early 2020 I had big plans to continue my Latin adventures. We all know what happened in 2020. I used the two years at the height of Covid to make lemonade out of lemons. I should really say I made peach juice out of peaches as I spent two years in Atlanta, Georgia! I never thought I could love a city as much as New York City, but I quickly fell in love with this southern metropolis. It’s the perfect balance of “the city lights, southern stars”

 

 

 

Asthe grass never gets too grown underneath my feet” I knew after a couple years in Atlanta it was time to get back to full-time travel again! I have enjoyed a mix of nature while hiking at US National Parks and big, city lights out west in California, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

What’s next? Your guess is as good as mine! Stay up to date with my current adventures with my monthly newsletter.

The Site

Everyone claims a travel blog should focus on a specific niche. But remember my intro song? I’m never in the same spot, I’m never doing the same thing! So on the Fearless Foreigner you won’t find only one destination or one type of activity. 

What you can expect: 

  • Food: Food plays a huge part of my travels and daily life. I have a lot of where to eat posts and restaurant suggestions included in my guides. 
  • Culture: Itineraries and reviews involving walking tours, museums, palaces, castles and theater.
  • Adventure: I am all about getting outdoors. It’s a great way to stay active and see the most beautiful scenery in the world. 
  • Hiking: One of my favorite outdoor activities is to go for a hike. I love visiting US national parks.
  • Public Transportation: Whenever possible to save money and have more of a local experience I take public transportation. I try to always provide you with detailed transportation options in my guides so you can do the same! 
  • Where to Stay: I typically don’t stay in 12 person dorm rooms (been there done that!) or 5 star hotels (maybe someday!). My recommendations within destination guides typically suggest where I personally stayed. My specific accommodation guides offer a range of options to suit different preferences. 
  • Tips: Finally I pride myself on giving you the extra details and honest information to make your travel a success. 99% of my recommendations are based on my own experience and what I have personally done. 

Whether you are looking for information on a specific destination or you enjoy a particular activity you can search for posts by destination or activity. If you are thinking about living abroad, check out my life abroad section. If you don’t know where to start, read through my most recent blog posts. If you have found my blog helpful please consider one of the many ways to support me

Where Have I Been?

While I hope to visit as many countries as possible I don’t believe in “checking off” countries for the sake of checking them off. Some people rush into a country, see the top five sights and call it good. I try to see those must see sights, along with the small towns and off the beaten track sights. 

I have been to all of the purple colored countries on the map and listed below.  I have written about the countries in dark purple (and underlined below). Click directly on the country or the underlined country name to read posts. 

Norway

United Kingdom   

     

Denmark             

Italy

Canada

Germany           

Mexico                 

Netherlands     

Sweden

     

Come join me on my travels!