My name is Stephanie and I am a kindergarten teacher based in Long Island, New York!

My desire to travel the world began when I was in high school. I was taking AP World History in tenth grade and my teacher loved to travel. Everytime we learned about a place or a person, she found a way to link it back to her travels. She would attach her own personal photographs of places such as Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna or the Palace of Versailles in France and I subconsciously added these places to my bucket list, which I didn’t even know I had.

Fast forward two years, this same teacher took a group of seniors on a trip to England and France. We saw St. Paul’s Cathedral, Abbey Road, Stonehenge, the Loire Valley, beaches of Normandy, and climbed the Eiffel Tower. I never wanted it to end. I held onto that trip like nothing I had held onto before.

So, I made it my goal to study abroad in college. However, another passion of mine was education. I knew I wanted to be a teacher ever since I was in kindergarten. Unfortunately, the schedule and requirements of an education major made it impossible for me to do a semester abroad. But I found the loophole (or two!). I did a winter session in London, England and a summer session in Florence, Italy. Being a double major, I convinced my parents to help lighten my course loads during the semesters. I studied British Fantasy Literature in London (any fellow Potterheads here?) and Travel Writing in Florence.

I combined these two passions together in 2019 when I volunteered to teach first grade in South Africa, which was one of the most rewarding and life changing experiences. This was the last trip I took before the pandemic in 2020. The first big trip I took after that was back to London - where it all started. I have since decided to dedicate my time to both of these passions - teaching full time and traveling any chance I get. Life is short, but the world is wide!

I now am combining my third passion - creative writing - in hopes to help and inspire other busy teachers to make the most of their time and see the places that might be living in their “subconcious” bucket list. Let me help you take the leap!