Why write?

My favorite writer has to be Anthony Bourdain, because he did all the things I like to do: eat, travel, write, and finding the kindness and whimsical wherever he went.

Being a mother, of course I take my daughter along with me on adventures and exploring! Especially now that she’s a teenager and no diaper bag required.

I also have my rescue doggie who I found and made her part of our family. 🙂

What makes me want to explore?

Years of working the same job made me miss my traveling days of my childhood. Being Latina, it is great to get smiles when I’m out exploring a city or a trail alone with confidence!

Going back to school to get a bachelor’s degree also helped open my mind. Let me share this: you’re never too old to try again! I finally outgrew community college and made it to university level. So evenings are spent at the University of Texas at San Antonio working towards a degree in Fine Arts; it should be done soon. Birds Up!

What little spare time I have is spent drawing, painting, and other mixed media. I have recently learned to love gouache paint because it forces me to work quicker and meet deadlines.

I also starting learning about camping (and how it can save your money traveling) and minimalism in my home. Minimalism can be a daunting thing to try. I went through a phase where I wanted to purge EVERYTHING. Reading about minimalism helped (thanks Marie Kondo and IKEA) and so did new smaller furniture (less storage space, less things)!

What makes me qualified to write about exploring?

My military childhood!

We grew up around the world and I do mean around it. Starting in Mississippi, we went overseas at the age of 4 to Japan, where I mostly remember playing in snow and hating the taste of seaweed. Back to stateside where it was back to Mississippi, then Colorado, Wyoming, then to Germany, where I went to high school and had the chance to explore Europe. My senior year I saved up the money to take a school trip to Morocco for a week despite that there were no cell phones, internet, or email for contact!

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After high school, back stateside on the northeast coast and finally settled in Texas.

I also learned to only live with what I needed, thanks to the government not getting your things to your next living place on time. I can live out of a backpack for a LONG time.

Now, work doesn’t pay a whole lot, but it doesn’t mean that travel and exploring is out of reach! Check out my planning and budget sections to see exactly how I do it.

Where have we been? Disney World in Florida, a winter trip in New Mexico, and nearby places like the Texas coast and Austin and Dallas. With many more places to come!

Where do I want to go? Everywhere! Being a first generation American (my parents are from Honduras) and a military child, it’s easy to feel disconnected from others and feel like you don’t really belong anywhere. Plus I’d like to take my daughter to make memories for her to take to college instead of a car. 🙂

I hope you follow along! All things art and travel! I’ll also cover some local things here in San Antonio because out of all the places I’ve lived in, I will say this is the best one yet.

Warning: I will reference The Simpsons, Star Wars, Star Trek, and the occasional Frasier so if you enjoy these shows, you’ll appreciate the quotes.

Support local art here in SA!