I’m 46 years old and after two years of thinking, dreaming, and researching I made the decision in July 2009 to follow my dream of world travel.  I’ve wanted to travel for as long as I can remember – at least as far back as Junior High School (yeah yeah I’m surprised I can remember back that far too). I used to dream about all the places I would go as soon as I was old enough to get away.

But then….

….life happened

In the first 25 years of my adult life I’ve raised two kids. Brittany will be 25 this month and Luke turned 21 last September.

When the kids were 18 months & 4 we moved from Southern California to Knoxville, Tennessee. On March 17, 2010, Saint Patrick’s Day, we celebrated being in Tennessee 20 years. Throughout the kids’ lives, the three of us have traveled a lot. We’ve been all over the USA literally by plane, train & automobile. (Amtrak is an amazing way to travel the country). We have camped up and down the East Coast, cruised the Caribbean and played in Mexico.

I earned a B.A. in Speech Communication from the University of Tennessee. In 1994 I took several classes at the Universita de Urbino in Urbino, Italy. I decided to go several weeks early to Italy by way of London so I could travel some of Western Europe. I have visited the following countries:

• England
• France
• Switzerland
• Italy
• Belgium
• Luxembourg
• Germany
• Mexico
• Puerto Rico
• USA
• Dutch Caribbean
• Barbados
• Martinique
• French Virgin Islands

Ten years ago today I married my best friend and had planned to spend the rest of my life with him. I loved him deeply and have had a difficult time dealing with the end of our relationship. I was truly broken for a while.

Although I will always love him, we went in very different directions with our lives. He will forever share some of my heart, but my spirit has invariably called me to travel.

In the years since my divorce I have become a stronger, happier, and a more peaceful woman. Both of my children are now adults, I have a gorgeous granddaughter –  Marley – and dealt with the death of my beloved dog.  I’ve learned to create beautiful yoga mat carriers out of repurposed clothes, to trust my feelings and how to let go.

At 39 I became a grandmother to Marley. She calls me Lovey. Which inspired the name of my company and this blog. She is my heart and my soul. I can not express into word how deeply in love with her I am. The laughter she brings out in me is unparalleled with anything I have ever known. I want her to be proud of me always. She is a motivation for me following my heart at this phase of my life.