Let’s go back to 2015. . .

I was freshly dropped out of college and had a tumblr full of cheesy wanderlust quotes. I was looking up ways to travel long term and eventually found my way to a working holiday visa. A whole year to travel and work at the same time? Seemed too good to be true. But the more I read, the more determined I was to make it my reality. So I started working and paying off my student loans with one goal in mind – Australia.

Life happened, as it does, and quite a bit of time passed. But my goal never changed and on March 3, 2020 I was granted my Australian working holiday visa. 2 weeks later they closed their borders for the foreseeable future due to Covid. I was heartbroken.

After a year and a half of getting my hopes up with new potential reopening dates, I decided I would rather wait it out in Playa del Carmen, Mexico for 3 months. That was my first international trip! I was 26 at the time and every single thing that could go wrong, did. It was a beautiful disaster I choose to view as a learning experience, and it required a few months back home to recover (mentally and financially).