Welcome…to you and to me!!

Hi there! I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself to my blog followers/readers. Of course, I only have three that I know of and they already know me, but I’m going to be positive and hope that by the end of the year I perhaps have about 10 followers so I want to make sure they get a sense of who this blogger is.
In my late twenties, I discovered my true passion: travel. Now, I’m not just talking about any kind of travel…like lounging on the beach, soaking up the sun, sipping a fruity beverage (with an umbrella). I discovered adventure. For years, I had a crazy idea that I wanted to go to Africa to see animals, but also to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. I grew up wanting to visit Africa so that was no big surprise; the Kilimanjaro part was. Okay…here is the backstory on this. I’ve never told anyone the actual reason I thought about climbing the mountain. At college #4 (Hillsborough Community College) I took a class on geology. I didn’t find it a particularly fascinating class-my appreciation for science hadn’t peaked…okay, it hadn’t even been discovered at this point-but I had to pass a science class and this one fit into my schedule. Our professor (I don’t remember his name) always talked about his travels and how he liked to climb mountains. He shared photos of when he climbed Mt. Fuji one day and one of the other loudmouth students asked about climbing Kilimanjaro. The student went on about how anyone who tried to climb a mountain that said “kill a man” in its name was crazy. Need I go on? From then on, I kept it in the back of my mind.
So, yeah. Now you know why I started thinking about the mountain. I eventually kicked my physical activity into high gear and went for it. People thought I was crazy…insane…missing a few marbles. Others were very supportive (thank you!!!). In June 2009, I was off to Tanzania for a couple of safaris, a holiday in Zanzibar, and (drum roll please) to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.
This was the start of my love affair with travel.
“What about writing? You mentioned writing was a love too.” Yes, you are perfectly correct. I have always been a writer. I never had a problem whipping out an essay in a second’s notice. In fact, after a myriad of majors during my college years (all five colleges), I finally graduated with a degree in English Literature. I hoped to eventually work at National Geographic or other adventure/outdoor magazine as an editor. You give me someone’s writing and then a pen (I’d take any color pen, even the cliche of a red pen) and I could be happy for hours. But alas, my grad school hopes were squashed by my horrible GPA (thanks to college #2, LSU) and I was afforded a teaching job while I figured out my future (that was five years ago and I’m still trying to figure my future out). My parents keep telling me to write while I teach, but I just didn’t know or felt confident enough. Recently, my cousin (shout out: Carrie) has told me my aunt thought I should write a blog about my travels. Well, lucky you because after much thought, I’ve decided to try it.
So here is what’s going to happen. I’m going to start with my first trip (Tanzania) and go from there. Now, in my tag line, I did mention a little autoimmune disease. That will come after Tanzania. I like chronological order to some degree. I will add tales here and there during my “off” times that don’t fit into the order but I think that’ll be okay.
I hope you enjoy my tales and stories. I know I’ll enjoy reliving it all and sharing my passion.
As always, safe journeys.