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About Donna: Meet Your Travel Guide
I’m here to help you get the most out of every trip!
Meet Donna, your travel guide and the writer behind Living Learned. Her mission is to inspire readers to travel with purpose and intention. Embark on the journey to travel, learn, and grow.
Living Learned is the go-to website for experiential travel. Whether you’re traveling as a family, in a small group, or with a partner, you can find what you need here to travel with intention and grow through experiences. Transform any trip into a memorable learning adventure.
Where My Journey Began
I am thrilled that…
everyone who visits Living Learned knows that, by taking me along, you are learning how to adventure with a purpose. You can learn from each journey and realize life-changing experiences through travel which would inspire even The High Flier, Isabella Lucy Bird.
Before I started Living Learned…
I was forced to give up my teaching career due to the progression of my autoimmune disease, Scleroderma.
Shortly after my early retirement, I eagerly volunteered to drive across the country with my son. My brother hooked him up with a summer internship at the marine services company he works for on Long Island, New York. We live in Las Vegas, Nevada so the trek would be 2,595 miles or 39 hours by car. I wanted to see everything along the way, make as many stops as I could, and read every informational placard we encountered. My plan was to snap every awe-inspiring image and relish in the wonder that stretched out before us on the open road.
More About Donna
Even without my condition…
(which fogs up my mind on a regular day), I was concerned I would forget. The fun facts would become fast, distant memories. Each destination would blur together like the windshield on the highway in a torrential downpour of rain. The pictures taken would merely be vague reminders of the knowledge-rich experiences we enjoyed.
Then I realized…
there were so many ways to make this journey memorable. My inner teacher knew that for me to retain the information, I would have to learn it, link it, and live it. I could keep a travel journal to document each adventure. Writing, not only essential facts (learn it) but the feelings I had during the experience (link it).
Even More About Donna
While driving,
we could play trivia games to test our knowledge about the last exploration or even to prepare us for the next. With Google, everything you want to know is right at your fingertips. The best idea, my favorite idea was to engage with each destination. To do this, we would participate in some excursion or activity every time we stopped (live it).
It turns out,
being on the road was more difficult than I imagined. Jotting down every single detail in my journal took away from my experience. My condition had me feeling tired much faster than I thought it would. So, I scaled back. instead of trying to capture every single detail, I decided to record a few specific, important details. Before turning in each night, I spent 10 minutes writing in my journal.
Now You Know About Donna
We chose excursions
that were less physically grueling and scheduled more time to rest. We had a blast. Roadside America welcomed us with open arms. We were ready for it, and I’m confident that the memories made and lessons learned will stay with me forever.
After our trip,
I knew I needed to make it my life’s work to inspire you to travel this way. Purposefully. Intentionally. Learning and growing with each mile of your pilgrimage. I set out to create simple, fun, intuitive resources for the most novice to the most experienced adventurer ready to embark on their next journey.
My Favorite Excursions:
- Destination Scavenger Hunts
- Adventure or Sporting Tours
- Animal Encounters
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