I was recently posed this question:

What would you do with your life if you were independently wealthy?

My initial reaction was that I’d travel. But I also wanted to write about my travels. So the answer became clear: I’d be a travel blogger.

Then, as I thought more about it, I thought, Why wait? I’m probably never going to be independently wealthy, but I can be a travel blogger.

My travel is a little sporadic. I’m not a twentysomething who has chucked it all to roam the world with a backpack over my shoulder (though that idea appeals to me greatly). I’m a middle-aged woman with a husband, a son in the Air Force, and a daughter in junior high school. I have a full-time job and a mortgage to pay. But whenever the opportunity arises, I am ready to pack a bag and jump in the car, or onto a plane and set out to see whatever part of the world I can. It may be no further than across the state line, or it may be halfway around the world. Any destination will do.

Come with me as I browse the atlas…