A Life of Exploration and Adventure

Some of my oldest memories of excitement and joy come from exploring anything I could. Now, being a young girl in Virginia, it was hard to find any great exploration accomplishments, but perhaps, my first memory of exploration comes from crawling through the tiny sewers from one side of the street to another at my cousin’s house. I should have known right then and there, when I was fully comfortable at just four or five crawling on my belly military style past cobwebs and gunk through those dark tunnels, that I was meant for a life of adventure.

I remember going into the offices of the tobacco company my uncle worked for a few years later with my cousin and getting to explore the empty halls, offices, and floors of the building with my cousin. We had the best time adventuring through the abandoned halls, which, at the time, seemed like an adventure of a lifetime. I remember those large, domineering statues placed around the office that terrified my cousin, and I would convince her to muster up her courage as we ran past them screaming and giggling. I remember spending the night at my friend’s house. Her father was a pastor, and we had to stop by his church late one evening, and we had the best time exploring the darkened halls of the church’s upstairs at night. All in all, I was exploring whatever I could and finding the upmost excitement at the simplest explorations, with my imagination and wanting to investigate anything that was unknown to me. I should have known then and there that I was meant for a life of adventure.

I found myself getting distracted from this calling as I entered my adult life, though I never stopped collecting experiences, writing about my adventures, and exploring new opportunities as they were presented to me. I feel that in many ways, we are all explorers in life. The more we say yes to opportunities and explore new avenues as they come our way, the more we open up and become explorers in our own right.

Then, a love of travel and adventure burst from inside of me seemingly out of nowhere in my late twenties. Despite not having the funds, I scrounged together for a minor adventure or two overseas. But it was somewhere around thirty when I decided to make travel my way of life, and everything changed. I began traveling almost monthly for work, writing about my adventures, and I began filming my travel show. Somehow, when I committed to making travel my way of life, it truly manifested itself all around me. I wrote about travel, I hosted and created content related to travel, I was paid to travel for work, and I traveled more for fun, too. Travel fully did become my way of life, my life focus, as I had intended it to. Yet, it wasn’t enough.

I found, quickly, that I wanted to give back, I wanted to learn, and I wanted to change the world. I know, simple, right? But something in me has always strived for greatness, and I found that enjoying (and sharing) the world, while wonderful, wasn’t making a difference. I wanted to give back in any small way that I could. This directed me to scientific travel and exploration. So, I began researching how I could get involved in a much greater way. This had me volunteering on expeditions, from small villages in Cambodia for archaeology to generally abandoned islands off the coats of South Africa working with penguins. I found a love of giving back, working with scientists on expeditions, and contributing in any way I could. And while I will always love volunteering on wildlife-related field projects (and will likely continue to for years to come), I found my true passion lay in the ‘why’ of anthropology, yet in the more strange and taboo topics of folklore, mythology, and occult studies. This, of course, leads me to now where I am looking to pursue my master’s degree in these topics.

And today, it is with great joy and excitement that I announce that I have officially been elected into the Explorers Club as a National Member. The Explorers Club is a centuries-old club dedicated to field research, scientific exploration, and the preservation of the instinct to explore, and to join the ranks of the world’s greatest explorers is nothing short of a dream come true for me. I can’t wait to update you on where this wonderful journey of exploration and adventure will lead me next, but for now, I can say that life is always an adventure. I’ve found that adventure comes with perspective, and I hope you all shift your perspective to explore your lives and opportunities in the way that suits you best, one small step at a time.