I’m Natalie, your hostess. I figure that I’ll mention a few “about me” sort of things, and then tell you what you can expect in reading this blog.

I’m 26, and currently slaving away in America’s Corporate World. Well, I don’t exactly slave away – I suppose I AM making this blog post during normal work hours (and making a mental note to self not to give any coworkers my blog address). But nevertheless, I’m at work 40 hours each week and only get 2 weeks of vacation each year – which, to me, means that I’m overworked regardless of what I actually do when I’m at work.

Anyways, I LOVE traveling and anything that comes with it. The travel bug bit me back in 2003 when I stepped foot off of North American soil for the first time to visit a friend in Paris for 12 days – where I had the time of my life. I was, however, able to suppress my wanderlust for a bit after that. I graduated from college in 2004 and went to work for a few years at a small, local software company. When I realized how unhappy I was with my job, I started looking at other options. At some point during my search for a new job, my wanderlust fired back up, I applied to work as an English assistant in France, got the job, and in September of 2006 took off for 8 months to live and work in Europe (more specifically, Epernay France).

During that time, I had the good fortune to teach at a school with great kids, make a decent salary, and live for virtually nothing. I had a 7-month contract with 6 weeks of paid vacation, and bosses that worked with me and scheduled my classes around my desired travel schedule. So after exactly 8 months of living in Europe, I came home (May 2007) after having been able to visit 14 different countries and countless cities within them. It was the experience of a lifetime and I’m so grateful to have had it. (If you’re interested in reading about this trip, I did keep a blog during those travels, and it can be found here: http://frenchwannabe34.livejournal.com).

So now I’m back to the grind and the urge to travel is nearly killing me. Luckily, I work at an international company, and I’m making slow moves (I can’t be too eager, as I haven’t even been in my current position for one year yet) to try and get transferred to our Lisbon, Portugal office. So that’s what I’m looking forward to and trying to occupy my mind with right now.

In the meantime, I figured I’d start this blog, write about travel, and hope that it gets me somewhere. I’ll be writing about travel experiences, I’ll put some stories up, I’ll add some tips, probably do some travel website and guidebook reviews, and who knows what else. Feel free to make comments and ask questions, and I’ll do the best I can in helping out or pointing you in the right direction.

It’s gonna be fun. Thanks in advance for tuning in. Enjoy…

~Natalie