Dreams...how this all came about!

Mayor of East Lansing | Nonprofit Advocate | My Future Employer | Resume

It was on the Greek island of Ios a week before the Olympics in 2004 when I started a conversation that would change my life. I was having breakfast with my friend, Patrick Krips and discussing my love for travel. I remember mentioning that I never had enough time to go to the places I had on my “Worldlist”.  We discussed how jealous we were of the young backpackers or the retired senior citizens who had the opportunity to travel months at a time. They could explore a city- a country- at their own pace.  They weren’t rushing to see all of the sites and checking back with the office to make sure things were still under control.  The only time we would be able to take a trip like that would be when we retired.

I told him that it was a dream of mine to do an extended journey and see things that were on my “Worldlist”.  I always regretted that I didn’t take that opportunity after high school or after college to see the world.  I was very focused on my career and with politics so it was never an opportunity.  So instead I would take a trip or two every year to other countries to satisfy my wanderlust yearnings. 

During that breakfast so many thoughts raced through my mind.  I am alive when I travel.  Being in a new country, learning about another culture and being out of my comfort zone is an incredible challenge and an amazing thrill. Combining the art of travel with my passion for nonprofits could be a transforming learning experience.

So we continued planning and dreaming and by the end of the breakfast we had both agreed that we needed to make this dream a reality. If somehow we were both single and in a place financially and professionally we would take the plunge- the biggest adventure of our lives…the biggest challenge of our lives.