A bit about me.

Writing and exploring new cultures are the two passions that have shaped my life and given me a deeper understanding of the world.  I live in Portland, Oregon with my husband (whom I fittingly met on an airplane!), but who knows where I’ll be on my next adventure.

As a young woman in my twenties, I spent a year in a village outside Lahore, Pakistan. Frustrated by how invisible young women and girls were in society, a friend and I opened up a women’s center and were soon teaching English conversation, American baking, and aerobics classes to nearly one hundred students a week. That experience sparked a deep desire to get to know people and places beyond sometimes thin and stereotypical media portrayals.

More recently, I worked as a fundraiser for an international humanitarian organization. The job took me to far-flung places: refugee camps in Jordan, the border between Syria and Lebanon, mountain villages in Guatemala and Nepal, and the plains of Ethiopia. I learned what it means to travel not as a tourist, but as a colleague and partner of the people living in these locales. Their insight and way of moving through the world taught me much and formed the basis for many friendships.

I’m currently writing a book, Unpacked, chronicling my husband and my experience of quitting our jobs to backpack around South America for eight months. I’ve published one book,Buddies for Life, a middle-grade book for struggling readers. My writing has also appeared in The Christian Science Monitor and Parents magazine.

I love to connect with my readers and share my experiences. Please feel free to reach out to me and learn more about my journey.