March 19, 2023
~ Storyteller ~ Perpetual Wanderer ~ Sustainable Tourism ~ Educator ~ Global Citizen ~
(Standing atop the Piran, Slovenia city wall lookouts, 2021)
Hi, my name is Amber. I've found my heart called to elsewhere for a long time. This could mean a variety of things, depending on the proclaimer of such declarations. For me, it means that I've had a yearning to experience more of the world, including its places, people, ideas, cultures, and lifestyles. Since I was a kid, I found myself curious about what else was out there, how other folks lived, how limited my experiences of this blue and green planet were. Fortunately, in 2016, I took the plunge, leaving my home country of the U.S. for the first time. I took a one ticket flight from Omaha, Nebraska to Ljubljana, Slovenia. I had no idea how that decision would alter the path of my life tremendously.
I'd always wanted to travel, but I never imagined it truly possible in the way that felt right to me. I hadn't even fully wrapped my head around attending university in my hometown on a full-ride scholarship, something that afforded me a valuable education. Too many barriers kept living abroad feel impossible--financial, academic, culture shock, mental hoops, family, etc. But after a serious family loss, I felt driven to cultivate meaning and purpose in my life. I felt the necessity of discovering, centering in on, and chasing my passions. Travel, but more than that, living abroad, lit up in lights across my soul. So, I did everything I could to make it happen. After two years, a great deal of preparation, a new scholarship for study abroad under my belt, and a number of trip-ups along the way, I had a plan. I would study through my direct exchange program for six months in this Balkan nation I'd hardly heard of previous to visiting, bring credits home for my International Studies bachelor's degree coursework which I had recently declared, and finally, follow my then eleven-year-plan toward a career in foreign service. Not so surprisingly, the exchange turned out to be anything but--although it proved a solid catalyst for the continuing global lifestyle I'd pursue until this day.
(At Ljubljanski Grad (Ljubljana Castle) overlooking my dear Lj in 2016)
What I didn't know then, was that I'd find myself back in Lj five years later as an Erasmus Mundus EMTM student, pursuing a master's degree in sustainable Tourism Management while living in Europe for two years. I would be following a fixed mobility scheme, having arrived from Kolding, Denmark and with the next destination of Girona, Catalunya, Spain. In between, I would have established for myself a lifestyle I could have only previously dreamed of. A tenacity and passion for seeing the world had taken me many places by then, some just for visiting, but others which I called temporary homes. I had lived in Slovenia, Taiwan, Estonia, China, and halfway across the U.S. in Philadelphia, PA. Ultimately, by the end of the EMTM journey I would add Denmark, Slovenia (a second time), Girona in Catalunya, and Sevilla in Spain to that list. In total, I'd lived in Europe for a total of 3 years and in Asia for 1.5 years, with small trips home in between adventures and a one year stint on the East Coast in Philly.
(Back in my old spot five years later, 2021)
Writing today, following my graduation in autumn 2022 in Girona, I have found myself temporarily back in Nebraska for another stay while I seek out next opportunities. The personal and professional passions, interests, work, and lessons developed over the past 5 to 7 years have been forged under the umbrella terms of educator and sustainable tourism. As I work as a Teacher Assistant for first grade in my hometown, I find myself called to embrace storytelling as I often have done in a more personal manner through my socials over the years. I've always been a reader and a writer, that is nothing new. But lately, I've decided I'd like to start sharing those stories on my own platform and website.
This is what you'll find here. I will share stories and tips about specific destinations, personally reflect on mobility lifestyle as I've experienced it through anecdotes, create philosophic tourism practitioner notes, and share about potential opportunities and ways for you to plan and fund your own travel dreams!
Welcome to Ambrosia Elsewhere, let's start exploring the world together!
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