Hi! I’m Steph, a middle-aged cat lady living in beautiful Athens, Georgia.
Many people have told me how lucky I am to be able to travel, and how they wish they could travel too. Travel is unquestionably a privilege. BUT. I believe the average person has the means to get out there and explore fascinating/fun/beautiful/weird/meaningful places. My hope is that this blog inspires you to see a ton of cool shit that’s creative and inexpensive. (Selfishly, I also really enjoy documenting my trips. 🤓)
As someone who struggles with depression, it helps me to have firm routines (ex. regular sleep) and lots of things to look forward to (ex. exploring new places). There’s something intangibly valuable about travel. The excitement of trying new things, for sure, but when you reach an epic mountain summit, or view some wild DIY art, or a manatee bumps into you?? Those experiences can be grounding in a world that often feels chaotic, or lend a sense of connectivity when it’s easy to feel disconnected and hopeless. It makes me laugh cuz life is so weird and surprising!
So far, I have been to 18 countries, 37 states, 7 national parks, and 15 of Georgia’s State Parks. Here are a few of my favorite places in my adopted state of Georgia:
- Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden – one man’s lovingly maintained art environment
- Cumberland Island National Seashore 🐚🐴 – a beach paradise with live oaks and wild horses
- Tallulah Gorge – the most stunning state park and one of Georgia’s 7 Natural Wonders
How to support this blog:
Reading this blog at all or subscribing to the newsletter is the best way to support me and I really appreciate you being here. If you’d like to send a little $$ my way, feel free to use one of my affiliate links. I get a small commission at no cost to you. These are all companies I personally use.
- Booking.com: book hotels
- Agoda: book hotels (this had the best prices for hotels in Thailand)
- Expedia: book flights, hotels, cruises, and car rentals
- Tripadvisor: book hotels
- 12Go: book ground and water transport services in Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Mint Mobile: my phone. Way cheaper than the phone plan I used to be on.
- Sofi: my bank. We have to live in this economic system. Might as well have a bank with a high yield savings account and no minimums.
Outside of work and travel:
- I love movies, and co-host a horror movie podcast called My Bloody Horrorcast with my friend, Carey. We’re in our 8th year/season! Here’s our IG. My favorite horror movies are House (1977), Black Christmas (1974), and Night of the Creeps (1986). I also love Italian sleaze, but it’s hard to pick the “best.” A few 5-star movies from this year (2024) are Oddity, Longlegs, and Lisa Frankenstein. Find me on Letterboxd if you’re a movie nerd too!
- I love drawing and handcrafts. My arts ‘n’ crafts blog needs some major TLC but here it is.
- You can also find me on my personal IG.
Thanks for visiting! You can always email me about anything to do with travel… or movies!
