Born in Kansas City, I’m a Kansas girl at heart, captivated by the vast and endless prairie sky. I am proud to be a southpaw. I am also a middle child, which is believed to account for restlessness, rebellion, flexibility, openness, aversion to conflict, resourcefulness, and a willingness to try new things. I’ve always been a visual person with a vivid imagination, content with my own company. I am a graphic designer and, while no longer a practicing professional, art and design are inherent and necessary to my well-being. I married later in life and, while we don’t have children, we have always shared the unwavering companionship of a dog.

Distant and unknown places have always held a fascination for me and, as a child, one of my most magical memories of travel was a summer family vacation westward in the dark green Oldsmobile station wagon. Cresting the hill in Genoa, Colorado, which boasts a view of six states from the rickety Wonder Tower, I saw for the very first time, the vague silhouette of the Rocky Mountains on the distant horizon. It was a spiritual moment that continues to inspire me.

In our early married life, Dean and I did our fair share of traveling, mainly for business. But for many years, our travel time was spent at our vacation home in the mountains. This was enjoyed out of love for the place, our friends there, the breathtaking natural beauty, and it’s diversion from our life in Kansas City. But, ultimately, it demanded a financial, emotional, and physical commitment that left us less time and money to explore other things we were wanting to see and do. Getting older has a way of creating a sense of urgency to life, so we finally put our second home on the real estate block, and began to really think about untethered travel to different places.

On sort of a whim, we planned a great cruise vacation with friends, which was, of course, followed up by the predictable deluge of marketing designed to sell us still more travel adventure. This was all largely ignored, until one glossy cruise brochure caught our attention. Around the World in 180 Days. Our second home had just sold, we now had the time, we weren’t getting any younger, and could condense a lifetime of travel into six months while unpacking our bags just once. Why not? We signed up for it, and never looked back. And, while that voyage didn’t happen exactly as planned, it was an altering experience that opened us up to explore how beautiful, unique, and even similar the world is, under the same vast and endless sky.

Kristine