In my 20’s I developed an unexpected passion for travel. It was both wanderlust and my privilege of standby airfare which made it possible for me to travel the way I have. The standby lifestyle conflicted with my career as a classical musician – you’ll rarely meet a backpacker in this field because of the time restraints it imposes. Occasionally my travels and career did mesh, best seen in my two contracts as a performer on the Holland America cruise line. During the pandemic and in my late 20’s I embraced my dreams of long and far-flung solo travels, while I let my career fall to the side. In the process my intentions and goals became evermore indecisive. But through it all one thing’s for sure – I will never regret my decision to travel the world. Now as I approach my 30th birthday I’ve been reflected on these memories by compiling a ranked list of the 20 trips that defined my 20’s. Enjoy!
#20 – The Attempted Working Holiday to New Zealand (2022/23) Duration: 2 Weeks
I visited New Zealand three times in my 20’s — first on holiday, second for work, and third as a move — but sadly the move didn’t work out. On New Year’s Eve 2022 I arrived in Wellington, New Zealand to start a second working holiday visa (following my first in Australia). I came hoping to find gig work as a musician, instead of working typical backpacker jobs. Unfortunately there seemed to be little freelance opportunity, so I chose to return to America to continue taking orchestra auditions.
#19 – Quintana Roo, Mexico (2020) Duration: 11 Days
My covid-era trips were among my best, but my second trip to Mexico and the state of Quintana Roo was not for me. At this point I craved authentic and less touristy places – so the heavily manufactured towns of Cozumel, Tulum, and Playa Del Carmen left something to be desired. Rainy weather and questionable social interactions with other travelers also left a poor impression. If I ever return to this area I would go further south to the town of Bacalar, or north to Holbox Island.
#18 – Salzburg, Vienna, and Venice (2018) Duration: Six Days
In 2018 I was finishing my master’s of music degree at the University of Miami. At that time I wanted to visit where the composer Brahms spent most of his life. After graduation I had a week’s time to spare – I flew on standby to Munich and then onward via bus to Salzburg. I fondly remember hiking in the hills up by the Salzburg Castle, visiting Brahms’ grave in Vienna, and then exploring the lesser known islands in Venice. Despite the beauty of this trip the itinerary was spread too thin with a lot of overnight buses, and I don’t remember a single social interaction …
#17 – The Airbnb stay in Denver, Colorado (2020) Duration: One Month
At the onset of the pandemic I moved back in with my parents. Four months later I left for a full month at an Airbnb in Denver with the intention of staying permanently. There was a lot of introspective beauty to this trip, but because of pandemic restrictions I ultimately decided not to stay beyond the month. My days were mostly spent exploring with a bicycle and hiking in the front range (to the tune of Taylor Swift’s recently released Folklore album on repeat). The sunsets were a mesmerizing sight, characterized by wildfire haze and creamsicle hues. A good friend visited late in the trip and we drove to Breckenridge and Aspen for a fun mountain getaway. The only real downside to this trip was that with the pandemic it was very difficult to meet people, and I experienced quite a bit of boredom.
#16 – The Study Abroad Trimester in London (2015) Duration: 2.5 Months
This was my very first international trip at 21 years old. I was recently out of my first relationship and I wasted far too much energy partying (my clubbing days pretty much ended on this trip). The weekdays were often spent wandering the city’s iconic museums and parks, while in the evenings I often attended performances of the London Symphony Orchestra. I filled four-day weekends with visits to Prague, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, and Edinburgh. I lived as if this was be the only time in my life that I’d be able to travel like this – however these jaunts opened me up to long-term travel as a pursuit worthy of considerable time away from work. I dreamed of someday taking the very trips that fill this list!
#15 – The Hurricane Escape to Amsterdam (2017) Duration: 2 weeks
The drama of this trip made it a go-to story for some time. A week into my final year at the University of Miami I was riding out Hurricane Irma in upstate Florida. Because of damage on campus classes were cancelled for two extra weeks, and so I flew to visit my friend who was studying in Amsterdam. We attended concerts at the Concertgebouw, cycled the canal-lined streets, and explored cafes. Near the end I had a crazy idea: a 3-day/3-city/3-country mini trip. We booked overnight buses and then set off for Hamburg, Zurich, and Luxembourg City. All was well until I left my passport on the bus that brought us to Luxembourg – this led to a frantic trip back to Amsterdam and over to Brussels, where the bus driver met us to deliver the passport. Long story short, the passport was stolen from the company prior to our arrival in Belgium, and an employee there accused me of being a “drunk tourist” for having left it on the bus to begin with (not true!) I spent the last days of the trip navigating the stressful process of getting a temporary passport.
#14 – Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico (2021) Duration: 2 Weeks
I spent most of 2021 between music gigs and short standby trips. That November I took my third trip to Mexico, this time to the lesser-known state of Oaxaca. Beginning in Puebla I hiked La Malinche, accidently tried anchovies on a pizza in the Zocalo, and explored pottery shops. A full-day bus ride took me next to Oaxaca City. I happened to be there for Thanksgiving, and as the culinary center of Mexico it was a perfect place to indulge in different foods … including Mole! Up next was the tiny seaside village of Mazunte. This magical stretch of beaches south to the village of Zipolite are practically unknown in the travel world, and it was like stepping back in time. My beach hotel may have been ant-infested, but it was a treat to watch the sunrise out over the ocean each morning. I ended the trip with a couple days in Puerto Escondido before flying home.
#13 – The New Years Trip to Colombia (2020/2021) Duration: 2 Weeks
My first cruise ship contract in late 2019 introduced me to South America, but we missed Colombia – so I planned to visit for New Years 2021. In Bogotá I wandered the streets of La Candelaria, and in Medellín I toured Comuna 51. A short bus ride then took me to to the resort town of Guatape, where I explored stunning man-made lakes before climbing the rock known as “El Peñol” (which bears a resemblance to Sugar Loaf mountain in Rio De Janeiro). The final part of the trip took me to the quaint village of Salento, the base of the Cocora Valley and home to the world’s tallest palm trees. Aside from minor covid restrictions this was a really successful solo trip in a very authentic backpacker destination. The worst that happened was I left my LUSH shampoo bar in Bogotá, but a friend later brought it to me in Salento!
#12 – University of Louisville Orchestra Trip to Costa Rica (2019) Duration: 2 Weeks
I don’t talk much about my one year at the University of Louisville, which followed my graduate degree in Miami. I didn’t love Louisville, and I didn’t need a second master’s degree. But as a teaching assistant I decided to wait out the year and then drop out. The highlight of my time at UofL was our end of the year orchestra trip to Costa Rica to perform with a local choir in the Teatro Nacional in San José. We arrived on my 26th birthday, and my host family had a cake prepared and they very memorably sang en Español. For over a week we rehearsed and took short tours to nearby volcanoes and coffee plantations. Once our performances concluded we traveled to the pacific coast for a couple days in the Parque Nacional de Manuel Antonio.
#11 – The New Zealand Spring Break Trip (2019) Duration: One Week
When my family first told me about our standby flight privileges in 2016 it became my goal to use them for an ultra-long flight, and New Zealand seemed like the coolest destination. School and summer jobs delayed the trip, but in 2019 I had an empty spring break. I traveled with a friend and we started in Auckland before flying to Christchurch, where we rented a car to explore the south island. Highlights include the boat tour of Milford Sound for sunrise, hiking outside of Queenstown, and literally the entire drive. Overall New Zealand was a bit expensive on a student budget, and we often slept in the car to save cash. Then on the last night of the trip our car was broken into and my laptop was stolen – leaving a sour taste to the end of this long-awaited trip. Regardless, I credit this trip for inspiring my 2022 working holiday visa to Australia.
#10 – Georgia (2021) Duration: 2 Weeks
Rounding out the top 10 on my list is the little-known country of Georgia. This trip was perplexing in that the sights were amongst the most beautiful of my travels, but I found myself somewhat lonely as there is little to no backpacker scene. In the capital city of Tbilisi I walked the tree-lined Rustaveli Avenue while admiring funky statuettes and beautiful orthodox churches. There I sampled the famous Khachapuri dish, one of my favorite foods anywhere in the world! I then moved into the Caucasus mountains and stayed in the towns of Mestia and Ushguli (the walk from Ushguli to the glacier at the base of Mt. Shkhara is one of my most vivid travel memories). Lastly I moved to the city of Batumi on the Black Sea. There I stood in awe of buildings such as the Alphabet Tower and the Batumi Tower Ferris Wheel (all while devouring more Khachapuri) …
#9 – Lisbon, Portugal (2019) Duration: Five Days
In the summer of 2019 I had a small window of time to spare, so I headed off to Europe to visit the increasingly popular city of Lisbon. On my departure flight I got the very last seat on standby (hence my blog name). This brief trip had everything I could have asked for: a new hostel each night, historic architecture, a pub crawl, great conversations, blooming Jacaranda trees, and all the pasteís de nata I could eat. On my day of departure I couldn’t get a seat on standby, so I headed back into the city and booked a fourth hostel. This then happened a second day, on which I ended up watching my friend’s college graduation ceremony over livestream from the roof of a fifth hostel. Luckily I made it out on the third try, getting back to America just in time for actual work obligations. Needless to say, Lisbon was an ideal place to get stranded as it’s both affordable and gorgeous.
#8 – The Sibling Trip to Frankfurt/Munich/Berlin/Paris (2016) Duration: 12 Days
In the summer of 2016 I got a job performing opera for two weeks in the French town of Périgueux. For the occasion my sister quit her job and joined me for nine days of backpacking in Germany and France (before the job). I was 23 and my sister was 21 – we hadn’t spent so much time together in years, and it brought out old sibling arguments. She met an Aussie in Munich, who I would humorously refer to as “third-wheeling around Munich man”. In Berlin there was a minor drunken injury involving the Television Tower and a broken wine bottle (…) and in Paris we explored the Catacombs. Afterwards our lives pulled in separate directions, and we haven’t traveled abroad together since. The trip has thus endured as a nostalgic finale to our youth.
#7 – The First Cruise Ship Contract (2019) Duration: Four Months
2019 was both the most chaotic and lucky year of my life so far. There was the New Zealand trip, Costa Rica, Lisbon, dropping out of Louisville, resume-making freelance work, and a prestigious music fellowship in the Berkshires. Then in September my viola/piano duo began a short-lived stint of work as cruise ship performers. We boarded the Ms Zaandam in Montreal and visited over 10 countries on our journey down through the America’s to Antarctica. During our contract we gave hundreds of performances, made new friends, and enjoyed incredible meals. The voyage was my first time experiencing the developing world, and it inspired many of my pandemic-era travels. The nightly performances wore on our bodies and spirits, but I was grateful to have a job with an amazing lifestyle right out of school.
#6 – New Years in Cape Town, South Africa (2021/2022) Duration: 10 Days
Cape Town had been on my radar for years, but it wasn’t until New Years 2022 that I finally made the trip. The Omicron covid variant nearly foiled my plans, but I arrived in the Mother City on December 30, 2021 – accomplishing a goal of mine to visit all seven continents within seven years. On my first day I met a German traveler named Madlene, and we spent the next nine days sightseeing together. The combination of sea, mountains, and city makes Cape Town one of the most spectacular places in the world. Of all my trips this was the one I befriended the most locals, and I was never lonely. I suppose my only regret is that I didn’t stay longer!
#5 – Mexico City/CDMX (2020) Duration: 11 Days
CDMX was my second covid-era international trip, and my very first visit to Mexico. There I found a great crowd of backpackers hiding out from pandemic restrictions elsewhere. I stayed at a fun hostel named Casa Pepe, which hosted a happy hour each night on the rooftop. I befriended a trio of Europeans plus a Brazilian flight attendant, the five of us stuck together for nearly a week. We visited the Teotihuacan pyramids and the Frida Kahlo house. We feasted on tacos, and we drank in our dorm rooms like college kids. It was all a blur set to the early days of Covid. In my alone time I wandered the city’s many parks, including Chapultepec and the quant Parque Mexico. A lot of what made this trip special was having the right people in the right place at the right time – and I highly recommend CDMX as a stand alone trip!
#4 – The Holland America Grand World Voyage (2020) Duration: 50 Days
Shortly after my first cruise contract I began a second one aboard the Ms Amsterdam for HAL’s premier itinerary: the Grand World Voyage. We were contracted to sail from Chile across the south pacific to Oceania before disembarking in Singapore. As covid began to creep around the world we spent the last normal days of 2020 with once-in-a-lifetime visits to Easter Island, Pitcairn, Tahiti, Rarotonga, and Tonga. We were then amongst the last cruise ships to stop in New Zealand and Australia before these countries shut down. Our cruise was eventually cancelled, and we docked in Perth to disembark. In one of my favorite travel memories I volunteered to escort a 97 year old passenger named Dolly Smith home to America. Dolly and I made our way to Oregon via six flights – never sure if the next one would be cancelled due to sudden border closures. The cruise company bought us both Business Class tickets, and Dolly spent plenty of time telling me about her incredible and inspiring life in travel with over 200 countries visited. She passed away in 2022.
#3 – The Working Holiday Visa in Sydney, Australia (2022) Duration: Three Months
2022 was my year of epic and far-flung solo travel. After Cape Town I decided to go to Oz for a working holiday visa just as the country reopened from its longtime pandemic closure. The Sydney portion of my five month stay in Oz meant so much to me, and it felt like a second study abroad at a more mature age. There I worked outside of the arts for the first time in my life – starting at a cafe/restaurant and then moving to a hospitality agency. Simultaneously I picked up random music gigs with my viola, including a wedding gig at the iconic opera house. I opted to spend the entire time in one hostel, where I had a revolving group of backpacker friends. My favorite memories include day trips to the city’s national parks, performing a concert with a community orchestra as a benefit for NSW flood victims, sunrise at Bondi Beach on my 29th birthday, and a buffet at the Westfield Tower observation deck overlooking the city.
#2 – Southeast Asia (2022) Duration: Three Months
My solo trip through Southeast Asia was the most adventurous and well-executed trip of my 20’s. I spent two weeks beforehand building an itinerary, researching specific sights and regions that I would most likely enjoy. The journey through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, and Indonesia was a great balance between social and introspective. The cultural immersion, affordability, and number of stops within three months was also unbelievable (and it didn’t feel rushed). Highlights include the fantastical landscapes of northern Vietnam, the well preserved temples of Angkor Wat, the city of Luang Prabang, the skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, chilling on the Gili Islands, a Komodo Island sailing tour, and the lookout point of Mt. Bromo on the Indonesian island of Java.
#1 – Turkey (September/October 2020) Duration: 36 Days
My first pandemic-era trip was a whirlwind adventure through Turkey. It stands out amongst the rest for its vivid and challenging itinerary at a time when very few people were traveling. When covid first sent me back to my parents’ home I didn’t know if or when I would resume traveling – so when I set out on this trip I treated it like I had never traveled before. Turkey was also my introduction to West Asian culture, and Istanbul became one of my favorite cities in the world. Early on I banded together with an American travel nurse, and we embarked on her pre-set itinerary into the lesser-known parts of eastern Turkey (including 12 days with a rental car). Our stops were glorious and diverse, with highlights including the ruins of Ephesus, the pools of Pamukkale, the famous paragliding in Fethiye, the beaches of Antalya, the balloon ride in Cappadocia, a Haram (Turkish bath) in Gaziantep, the Aladdin-esque town of Mardin, an accidental Google Maps drive to the Iranian border, the supposed resting spot of the fabled Noah’s Ark, a monastery in the forest hills outside of Trabzon, the pink salt flats outside of Ankara, and all the bazaars one could ever hope to visit!
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