About
Those who have known me from birth might wonder why I attempt to adventure peacefully … why I attempt to travel and live with intention and sustainability—however imperfectly.
It allows for the cycle of healing.
As a young child, my most life-changing experiences involved brief moments of peace, summers off-grid in the Canadian wilderness, and my first year of frugal full-time travel.
That first year of frugal full-time travel (my seventh year on planet Earth) was the best year of my childhood. We were experiencing healthy excitement. All were on their best behavior.
Even though I knew finances were limited. Even though difficulty remained.
Upon returning home, I thought all children should travel full-time (or at least all summer long). Clearly, there were endless lessons that were only teachable if witnessing the unknown firsthand.
Then, by age ten, I knew I’d need to support myself as soon as legally possible. I remember that moment, as I began saving my pennies while looking for ways to earn, to ensure I could survive.
Much later, after my own lived experience, I became a crisis counselor and health professional.
Along the way, I’ve been attempting to travel and live with intention and sustainability … a slow, minimalist, GF vegan, and mindful journey … with gratitude.
I share these experiences because I receive a lot of questions about why and how I do this. And I share these experiences to help support a peaceful climate.
Because so many of us have had to survive domestic abuse, social injustice, chronic and pandemic disease, climate crises, political corruption … and all the related violence.
Yet every individual deserves to exist in peace.
So I share the best I can while my socially challenged self still tries to hide in the corner. I am not a professional writer, photographer, or editor. This sharing is imperfect.
To feel less vulnerable, I think of this as where I’m journaling about life. So I can remember what I’ve done if another asks. So I can learn how to do better next time.
Since I love learning about others as they courageously share stories of their lives, I hope this in some way connects us. I want to keep learning from more than just my life.
I find human interest stories critical for knowing we are not alone in our life experiences. Especially since we all deserve positive inspiration, which inspires acts of kindness toward all.
I’m also trying my best not to tell others what to do, so I say “I” a lot, to describe what’s worked for me—just another person trying to move toward what feels decent.
We all need to survive, heal, and grow. We all need to process and share our life experiences with those we trust to hold a safe space.
This growth equips us to make healthier choices in our own lives. This growth helps us create a more peaceful climate. It would be so meaningful to hold your friendship along the way.
Former Crisis Counselor
I trained to become a certified advocacy-based crisis counselor, certified trauma specialist, and certified peer counselor, including certificates in mind-body medicine trauma training and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) teacher training. I’ve cared about supporting those who have experienced abuse and trauma, as I know what it’s like to witness or experience…
long-term abuse
adults who do not protect or save victims
cruelty directed at victims when they try to protect themselves
rejection by one’s community (family, extended family, village, online) because one’s community doesn’t believe in ending ongoing harm
rejection by one’s community (family, extended family, village, online) because one’s community chooses to believe/bond with abusers
long-term health consequences caused by abusers
long-term health consequences caused by community rejection (family, extended family, village, online)
the horror of discovering ongoing abuse within an organization that exists to help
the retaliation that occurs when one must be the whistle-blower
the fear that doesn’t quickly leave one
the defiance toward abusers that one can naturally feel
how imperative it is to heal
I also trained for this work because I wanted to better understand…
the thinking of those who repeatedly harm
the strategies abusers use to harm (too often undetected, yet before our very eyes)
the hidden ways abuse affects our minds and bodies
how abuse harms all
Abuse and abuse of power can be found anywhere throughout our entire lives. Who would have guessed?
And it’s shocking when NDAs silence good while allowing harm to exist, especially when it happens within organizations established to prevent such things.
Thus, it can be healing to share our stories as a force for good, to oppose injustice, even if the trauma might have taken years of our lives before we found the words to speak up.
This means people are welcome to share anonymously on this site, to protect their privacy. I also moderate all comments before they are published to prevent harm from posting here.
The more we learn, the more we see the depth of abuse in our society and its role in a population’s inability to function healthfully.
We can see how abuse affects our emotional, physical, financial, social, and environmental health. Yet we all deserve peace.
Former Health Professional
With additional training and certificates in plant-based nutrition, wellness facilitation, and coaching, I’ve also worked for a major healthcare organization.
My responsibilities involved helping clients who were struggling to make critical lifestyle and dietary changes their doctors had prescribed, even when little hope was given.
To this day, I’m touched by how rare it is to find anyone who doesn't need support like this at some point in our lives. We are all works in progress.
Only one of two associates who were educated in plant-based nutrition, our VPs asked that I help initiate a plant-based nutrition program for critically ill clients.
What happened afterward is quite the story.
Celiac Disease
I share that I have celiac disease because this is a vital component that celiacs must consider with everything they consume and use.
For instance, many people think it’s not possible to eat gluten-free and plant-based/vegan. I hope my experiences help others feel hope—at home and on the road.
Celiac disease is also a medical condition that makes it harder for me to be as sustainable as I would like to be. Packaging is a reality when it comes to buying certified gluten-free products.
Thus, celiac disease plays a role in why I try to shop as earthy as possible. If I can buy fresh food from a garden, I don’t need to buy that same food wrapped in plastic.
What I haven’t shared in detail are all the additional autoimmune challenges I also deal with. I might mention a few here or there, but I haven’t detailed them in full.
I hope I share “just enough” to convey reality (and possibilities) without overwhelming anyone. Because I know life is sometimes easier when we temporarily pause every single detail.
That said, I’m completely comfortable talking about any of these realities with anyone who has questions. If you’re okay with hearing the details, I’m okay with sharing them.
A Little About My Travel Partner
I’ve known my partner for ten years. We met while we were both living on a somewhat remote island. After I sold my eco-cabin, he hoped I might stick around on his sailboat.
He has sailed us through islands, straits, ferry lanes, shipping lanes, Hawaii—even up a river without wind, engine, or light of our own … easing us into slips … day and night.
When he’s not helping loved ones, or on his boat, he travels with me on land.
We try to support one another in growing our skills, which feels so healing. Yet we are completely imperfect at all of this. And that’s okay. This is an adventure.