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Travel and Life Experiences of a Corporate American Runaway

I’m Sherry. I’ve been traveling around the world and writing about it on Ottsworld since 2006. Yes, that makes me one of the first travel bloggers! I started out as a novice middle-aged traveler and have transformed into a world explorer and travel industry expert! I share my adventures, tips, and advice on how to conquer your fear of traveling or traveling alone so that you, too, can have epic adventures to intriguing places!

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Where I’ve traveled…

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10 Travel moments I’m most proud of

1

Traveling with each of my six nieces as part of the Niece Project

2

Living in Vietnam for a year solo

3

Finishing the 9,000-mile Mongol Rally

4

Having no home and being nomadic for 11 years

5

Taking my Dad to Antarctica

6

Completing the Camino de Santiago solo

7

Driving a rickshaw 2,000 miles across India and raising money for charity:water

8

Taking over my Father’s Capitol Quest and cycling from Capitol to Capitol in the US

9

Launching my first small group tours

10

Getting my first passport when I was 30

The one thing they all have in common is overcoming fear and trusting in the world to take care of you.

Travel Series

I’ve done a number of long-term travel ‘projects’ (I might call them Epic Trips) that I’ve written about. These are best read like a book with chapters. Some of these have taken place over weeks (like the Mongol Rally or Camino de Santiago), some over months (the Motorbike Diaries), and some over years (like the Niece Project).

  • Niece Project Travels

    The Niece Project

    2012 begins a project for me that has been in the making for a long time. But first, let me back up a few years…
  • camino de santiago questions

    Camino de Santiago: 23 of the Most Frequently Asked Questions

    You have made the decision to hike the Camino de Santiago, Camino Frances – what next? I bet you have a bunch of questions you need…
  • Nepal Annapurna Circuit

    The Beginnings of a Nepal Trekking Plan – Annapurna Circuit

    Tiger Balm Tales Volume 1 Why? Such a simple question, yet it resonated in my head many, many times on my most recent trip to…
  • Mongol Rally

    It’s Real Now – Starting the Mongol Rally

    Have you ever worked so long and hard on something that you forgot what you were doing or why you were doing it? The idea…

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Natural vs. Man-Made

  I close my eyes and shut off my brain’s internal GPS system; when I re-open them, I see a foreign land. Surrounding me is…

Red Mountain Resort and Spa

The sun had long since gone down and our attitudes seemed to go down with it. At 9PM we hit road construction requiring us to…

Death Valley

In today’s society the idea of undying loyalty to an employer is quickly changing. I think I notice this most in the generation behind me,…

A Month in Belgium

Why did I go to Brussels this summer? Was it the beer, chocolate, frites or waffles? No. Was it the history? No. The architecture? No.It…

Couchsurfing Regrets

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Beer Heaven – Belgium

The night before I left for Europe, I went out with my friend Miles to have a beer. We went to a little dive bar…

Finding the Real Brugge

“You must go to Brugge.” “Have you been to Brugge?” “You can’t miss seeing Brugge!” These were the reactions I received after telling people I…

What has Travel Taught Me?

I often get asked what my favorite country is or what my least favorite country is. I get asked where the best food is in…

Chocolate for Breakfast – Brussels

I looked through the freshly cleaned glass devoid of fingerprints and surveyed my choices. Dark, milk, nuts, liquor, and fruit; this was my lineup of…

Have you heard the Midi Market?

I adore markets; they are my single favorite place in any country or city to photograph, visit, interact, and write about. By going to the…

Best Frites in Brussels

I was on a mission. A mission for potatoes. Not just any potatoes, but the specially fried potato known as frites. You might think that…