Amanda Williams

Travel Expert

About This Expert

Amanda Williams grew up on a Christmas tree farm in a small Ohio town with a good football team and even better marching band (go Raiders!). Nothing incredibly exciting happened there, except for the time in the early 90s when her neighbor (who was a mob boss) got shot and killed in his driveway.

It was in high school thatAmanda decided she wanted to travel. She was obsessed with the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and vowed that she would save my money so that she could go to New Zealand after she graduated. It was all over after that. Amanda ended up going to New Zealand with her mom for two weeks in 2005, and she’s been swatting at that pesky travel bug ever since.

Since that first big adventure abroad in 2005, Amanda has been to more than 35 countries on 4 continents, and is always on the lookout for her next big adventure.

BUT, she is not a full-time traveler or “digital nomad.” In fact, ever since sje started this blog in 2010, she has either been working full-time, in school full-time, or working/freelancing from home. As much as Amanda loves traveling and having adventures, she also enjoys coming home to sleep in her own bed, drive her own car, and cuddle with her kitty.

When it comes to travel, there’s no “best” or “right” way to do it. You could fly 10,000 miles to have an adventure, or you could simply walk down the street and discover something new. Unlike some travel bloggers, she has never given up her “normal” life to travel long-term.

And guess what? You don’t have to, either. You don’t have to quit your job or leave your loved ones behind indefinitely in order to be a traveler. And hopefully her stories will convince you of that.