From the rim of the Grand Canyon to the Scottish Highlands — real places, deep history, and the people who make every destination unforgettable.
Before going international, America delivered. Wide open skies, ancient rock, and history carved into stone — all captured in my own photos.
The candid shots, the unexpected wildlife, the signs you stop to read — these are the ones that make the trip real.
The Freedom Trail, Fenway Park, Old Ironsides, Plymouth Rock, the Boston Public Library — this is where the American story actually began. Walking these streets, history is not behind glass. It is under your feet.
It doesn't live in textbooks. It's in the canyon walls, the ancient ruins, the cobblestones, and the people who still honor where they came from.
The canyon walls are a visual record of 2 billion years of Earth's geology. The Ancestral Puebloans lived here for over 1,000 years — their granaries still cling to the cliffs. I photographed one of those ruins up close and it stopped me in my tracks.
The Navajo have called this sacred land home for centuries. The Thumb, The Three Sisters, The Mittens — these aren't just formations. They are holy. Understanding that context changes everything about standing there.
A nickel-iron meteorite about 150 feet wide struck at 26,000 mph, releasing energy equivalent to 10 megatons of TNT. The crater is 550 feet deep and nearly a mile across. NASA trained Apollo astronauts here because nowhere else on Earth looks more like the moon.
Tombstone was a silver boomtown that became the most famous frontier town in America. The OK Corral gunfight happened here in 1881. Walking those wooden boardwalks, the history feels only a few heartbeats away.
Durham Cathedral was begun in 1093. Alnwick Castle has stood since the 11th century. This northeast borderland between English and Scottish kingdoms is the soil where my family's story began — and I'm going to walk it.
After packing for desert heat, high elevation, and now prepping for a Scottish Highland in who-knows-what weather — here's what I've actually learned. Add your own tips below!
Half the adventure is eating. From Navajo fry bread in Monument Valley to whatever awaits in a Scottish pub — food tells you more about a place than any museum ever will.
Simple, golden, and absolutely delicious. Found near Monument Valley from Navajo vendors — this is the real thing, not a tourist version. Get it with honey or as a taco.
My Tip: Go early — they sell outTucson is a UNESCO City of Gastronomy — the only one in the US. The Sonoran-style hot dogs and carne asada here are a completely different level from anywhere else in the country.
My Tip: Eat where the locals eat, not where the hotels suggestThere is something specifically perfect about eating a hot dog in the Arizona sunshine watching spring training baseball. Tempe Diablo Stadium with Camelback Mountain in the background — bucket list moment.
My Tip: Get there early for the best seats and food linesScotland is whisky country and I intend to take that seriously. The Highlands produce some of the world's finest single malts — smoky, peaty, and unlike anything you've had before.
My Tip: Try a distillery tour — the story makes the whisky taste betterFish and chips. A proper Sunday roast. A pint of real ale in a pub that's been there for 400 years. Durham and Northumberland have some of the finest traditional pub food in the country.
My Tip: Sit at the bar and talk to the locals — that's where the real stories are
There's something entirely different about traveling to a place that's in your DNA. Durham, England is where my family comes from — and for the very first time, I'm going to stand in the streets they walked, see the cathedral their ancestors were baptized beneath, and visit Alnwick Castle just miles from where my roots run deepest.
This isn't just tourism. This is coming home to a home I've never seen.
"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page."
Landscapes are breathtaking. But the local who showed me the unmarked trail, the Navajo guide who explained why the land is sacred, the fellow traveler who pointed me somewhere I'd never have found — those are what I carry home.
The best experiences come from people who actually live there — who point you to the overlook not on Google Maps, the diner locals actually eat at, the trail nobody talks about.
Visiting Monument Valley means understanding the Diné people whose sacred land it is. Their history, their relationship with the land, their present — that context changes everything about being there.
Traveling to Durham isn't just about seeing a beautiful cathedral city. It's about understanding the people I come from — their history, their place, the identity that became mine across an ocean and generations.
An American girl in a Scottish pub, asking real questions and genuinely listening. The world opens wide when you arrive with curiosity instead of a pre-written narrative about what a place will be like.
I'm documenting every moment of my first international adventure — Edinburgh, Isle of Skye, Loch Ness, Glenfinnan, Durham and Alnwick Castle. Sign up and come with me.
