Hello! I’m Laura, the face behind Find The Pearls Travel. I am an avid traveler who has been to 60 countries and counting…on 6 different continents…a total of 109 times (yes, I am OCD and keep track on an Excel spreadsheet!).
I find inspiration in the famous quote “The world is your oyster; it’s up to you to find the pearls” by Chris Gardner, author of The Pursuit of Happyness. Pearls come in all different forms, shapes, and sizes; cultured and uncultured. I’m a contradiction of sorts because, even though I am almost guaranteed to be found wearing pearls and love a nice hotel or fancy restaurant, I’m also that girl who feels more comfortable wearing my pearls at a dive bar than going to a swanky lounge with bottle service. So for me, the allure of travel can be attributed in equal parts to discovering the most luxurious places to visit in the world, seeking out exciting adventures, experiencing different cultures, and uncovering hidden gems that might not be readily found in guidebook.
The start of my love of travel can probably be attributed to a trip I took to Colorado in high school to visit my friend who was on the Air Force Academy hockey team. It was my first real experience traveling without my parents and I cried on the plane ride home because I didn’t want to leave. So I promptly booked a trip to Canada to watch the team play and visit Niagara Falls! But, really, my first true taste of international travel and experiencing a different culture was when I did an exchange program my junior year in high school and lived with a family in Algorta, Spain. I loved having the chance to practice my Spanish, live like a local, explore a new country with my friends, and eat tortilla patata EVERY SINGLE DAY.
That experience led me to become an anthropology major, with a focus on cultural anthropology, during my undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. It was fascinating to me to learn about the different cultures, customs, and traditions all over the world. My travel addiction was probably cemented during college when I did a study abroad program called Semester at Sea, where we lived on a boat and took classes while circumnavigating the globe, visiting 10 countries in 100 days.
Our experience was unique because we were floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on September 11, 2001; after that point, our trip and our outlook on the world were understandably altered. But ironically (and probably inconceivably) in a good way. You see, I was so removed from and immune to the morose feeling my fellow Americans were experiencing back home in the USA and instead was amazed by the compassion and sympathy shown by various people we met during our trip around the world. Highlights from this trip included a home stay with a family in Japan, visiting the Great Wall of China, river kayaking in South Africa, sleeping on the Amazon River, and meeting Fidel Castro in Cuba (when Americans weren’t allowed to travel there!).
Dartmouth has a unique trimester schedule which allowed me to work on campus upon my return from Semester at Sea, and of course, I chose an internship at an international study abroad company! The trimester schedule also afforded me the flexibility to study abroad a second time in Auckland, New Zealand where I finished up my anthropology major at the University of Auckland by studying the native Maori people, while exploring the beautiful fjords of the South Island and bungee jumping in Queenstown.
I had thought those study abroad programs would be the apex of my travel experiences but I feel extremely lucky and fortunate that my prior long-term 9-5 job in academic research sent me all over the globe in the last 10 years or so, while simultaneously providing me the chance to obtain a Masters of Science in Management from Emmanuel College in Boston, MA. I certainly don’t take for granted the knowledge I’ve gained from these higher education opportunities, but for me, the best learning experiences will always be from the travels I have taken.
I also have a slight obsession with all things snow- and water-related. I’ve taken multiple ski trips out West in the United States – to several different places in Colorado and in Utah, as well as to Squaw Valley and Jackson Hole. I have a goal of skiing on every continent and so far I’ve accomplished 4 out of 7, with ex-US ski adventures in Canada (multiple times), France, Japan (twice!), Chile (twice!), and even the mall in Dubai! I also take advantage of any opportunity that comes my way to get out on the water and have had amazing sailing trips in the Whitsundays in Australia and all around the British Virgin Islands. I hope to go back to the latter soon and get certified to charter and captain my own boat!
With all these travels and adventures under my belt, it seems like almost every day someone somewhere is asking me for advice on places to go and things to see on an upcoming trip. I’m passionate about traveling and love to give friends and family travel tips and to help them plan their itineraries. So, I decided to start this blog as a point of reference for them, and also as a means to catalog and file away my travel memories so that I can go back and experience them again and again. I would love for you to follow along on my journey as I continue to “find the pearls” this wonderful world has to offer, whether that means living vicariously through my travels or gathering inspiration and information to plan your own trip and make the world YOUR oyster!
To get in touch with me, please email laura@findthepearlstravel.com.
For information on ways you can work with me, click here.
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