I am a PhD candidate in Literary Studies and Translation, Yoga Teacher and Certified Travel Coach. I have spent the last decade living as a self-described “nomadic academic,” having traveled to over 30 countries by the age of 30-- all on the time and budget of a college student. 

Coming from a rural Californian town, I grew up monolingual and mostly traveling within the United States. It was not until my senior year of high school when I met an Italian foreign exchange student (spoiler alert: he is now my husband) that the trajectory of my life completely changed. Being an Italian-American myself, I was embarrassed at how little I knew about my family’s history. My first trip to Italy awakened not only a desire to see the world, but a desire to connect to my Italian roots. Within two years, I became fluent in Italian. My junior year of college I left to study abroad in Florence for an entire year, which brought about my second life transformation. In that year, I became an expert at all things budget travel as I explored Europe on a dime. My travels that year connected me to so many incredible humans and places that awakened a desire to pursue the study of languages and cultures-- I went on to learn Spanish and French, get a Master’s in Italian Studies, where I also began to teach Italian to university students.

During this period, travel became the ultimate outlet for me to escape from the constant anxiety and imposter syndrome that comes along with being a graduate student. I would put my money away so that I could jet off during the winter and summer breaks and backpack around Europe and Asia. These years were the greatest journey of self discovery for me--from trekking the Vietnamese mountains alone to becoming a certified yoga teacher in India, I continued to uncover new aspects of my being that were leading me towards my life purpose. I realized that while I value my academic studies for giving me a wealth of knowledge, travel has been my greatest teacher. It has taught me how to be a more compassionate, environmentally conscious, socially involved and inquisitive human. It has shown me who I am at my core. 

Like it did for many others, Covid brought me to really envision what I wanted out of my life long term. When I was reunited with travel on a trip to Turkey, flying a kilometer over Cappadocia in a hot air balloon on my thirtieth birthday, it hit me: I want to help others to feel this deep, ecstatic connection to self through travel. The idea of Wanderfully You was born.

Travel coaching presented the perfect fusion of my greatest passions: travel, teaching, language and culture. It has led me to curate a meaningful methodology to help my clients cultivate and achieve their travel goals by drawing on my experience and expertise. I cannot wait to be a part of your journey!