Why a blog? I am your average twenty-four year old girl from the suburbs of Washington DC. My eyes were opened to travel and to alternative lifestyles after studying abroad and spending a summer working in the Nantahala Gorge. What I call an “alternative lifestyle” would not be considered so by many people, but certainly so in comparison to the lifestyle I lived and witnessed growing up. Living in a tent, for now, is my greatest example of this (made even more remarkable given that growing up I was the Girl Scout who refused to go camping). Needless to say, I have undergone some changes in my recent years!

Living in a tent for five months, hitchhiking in South America, trekking to Everest Base Camp, picking up and moving to Hawaii, and all of the little moments in between have continued to inspire me to dream big and to chase happiness. Now and again I will hear from old friends asking about travel advice or inquiring about what exactly it is that I have done to be where I am today. Occasionally after sharing a story about the near-miss of a tornado as I drove across Kansas one night, or about a flight departing from the “world’s most dangerous airport” when an airplane window was sucked out, or about the summer my house was 50 yards away from being destroyed in a forest fire, a question from friends or family arises; “Hayley, have you ever considered writing a book”?!

For now, I have created a blog to share advice, travel stories, motivation, and inspiration. I hope to inspire people. Not to inspire people to live the way that I am living, but to inspire people to pursue their own happy, to dream big, and to leave comfort-zones behind.