Meet Mac – the Story so Far

I am constantly chasing the thrill of seeing the world.

Do you follow any Instagram accounts of people that live abroad and travel to crazy destinations every few months? Same – and I envy them. The fact of the matter is that it is not realistic for me, among many others, to live that way. Though I hope I can incorporate travel more frequently in my life in the future.

I am fortunate enough that, though I lived in a small town, my mom insisted we travel and supported my hobbies that required us to travel.

A bit of a background

Just to paint a picture of how small my hometown really is, I graduated with 46 people in my high school class. We knew each other from kindergarten until graduation, and rarely anyone moved away or moved into our school. It’s been 10 years since graduating from there, and I have had the time to reflect on how fun it was and how grateful I am for that experience. From very early on in high school, I knew I wanted to go away to school. Far, far away.

Most of my childhood memories are filled with my many activities and hobbies. My earliest activity was competitive dance and cheer, which then transitioned to competitive power tumbling and trampoline, which then transitioned to volleyball. I also did track and field (emphasis on the field part) for many, many years. I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship to play volleyball at a D2 school in North Carolina at the University of Mount Olive. It’s at UMO that I would get my degree in Recreational Therapy, play volleyball year round, and make countless memories with my college roommate with whom I share a love for Disney with (more on that later).

Most of my travels as a kid were roadtrips to nearby states for volleyball, tumbling, or dance competitions – I have seen much of the Midwest, and once is enough for me. Aside from the more business-instead-of-leisure trips, a lot of our trips were to Disney World and cruises to the Caribbean and Mexico. I wasn’t well-traveled in the sense that I saw many different places, I just saw the same places many times. Again, I am grateful for these experiences but when I started making my own money, I knew I wanted to see so much more.

Traveling Now

One of my first jobs after college was in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington D.C. I loved living here because it was a big city, there was so much to do any day of the week, and the nightlife was crazy fun! I lived there for 1.5 years before joining the military. Living near D.C. was convenient for travel because the airport was literally down the street from my job. Some weekends, I would take a $150 roundtrip flight to NYC after work Friday night, and make it home late Sunday night without having to use any PTO – it felt like such a cheat code. I learned how to enjoy my own company during this time. If I couldn’t find someone to explore with, I would explore by myself. There is definitely something to say about enjoying your own company – everyone needs to try it!

I didn’t have a lot of money back then, but I worked my full-time job and picked up waitressing on the side to use that money as my “fun money” and meet friends my age. This was a transformative part of my life and I had the most fun back then. Once I joined the military, I had no idea what to expect as far as travel goes. The saying typically goes “I joined the military to travel the world”. This is the case for some people, but some people are not so lucky. I was incredibly fortunate enough to have Alaska as my first duty station for 3 years. I moved there during the beginning of COVID and most of my time there was peak COVID times.

Alaska is vast enough that I didn’t have to leave the state to travel and experience a variety of different things. I got to explore a lot of Alaska over those 3 years. Some out of state travels during that time included Hawaii, Seattle, Guam, New Jersey, and Florida. My husband and I really value travel, so we make sure to save for future trips or explore any long weekend we can.

Since transitioning to civilian life after the military, I’ve learned the PTO system is such a joke. I am fortunate enough to accrue more PTO than most jobs, but it’s still not enough to feel fulfilled for all my travel plans. I have to get creative and hope my husband’s schedule lines up with mine. It has been a learning experience, but it is not impossible. So if you are feeling defeated by the lack of PTO you have, let this blog be an inspiration to you and still following your dreams of traveling- whether it’s just an extended weekend or saving up PTO for a longer trip.

To travel is to collect pieces of the world and stitch them into your soul