Hey Reader!

I’m back home in California after two weeks in Virginia, and it was an even better trip than I’d hoped for! It was my very first travel conference — so my first experience getting to meet with tourism boards and travel brands, which definitely put me wayyy out of my comfort zone.

You may not know this, but I’ve gone through quite a few career shifts over the years. Up until the age of 19, I desperately wanted to be an actor, but after dropping out of college after just a semester (for unrelated reasons), I realized that acting just wasn’t aligned with where I wanted to go with my life.

After starting to travel, and discovering how much joy photography brought me, I decided to pursue that.

A few years later, after getting my associate’s degree in photography, life circumstances led me from New Jersey to California, where I unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on my perspective, I guess) learned that all my college credits wouldn’t transfer, and it made more sense to just start over in school … again.

I had always enjoyed writing, and the idea of being a travel journalist felt like a culmination of all the things I loved, so I went back to school for journalism. I still got to use my photography skills, but this really felt like the missing piece. Things seemed to just click for me finally, and I loved getting to meet all types of people, and share their stories.

By this point, I’d been working in restaurants as a waitress for years, and when I got a job at a newspaper right out of college, I was in disbelief. In fact, I basically spent my entire time working there convinced that the ball would drop any second.

Maybe it was manifestation, or just the reality of newspapers these days, but when I ended up getting laid off due to finances, I knew it was time to give travel blogging a try.

Over the past couple of years since then, it’s been a huge learning curve getting my site set up, learning all the technical backend stuff and SEO, and having patience/staying consistent despite non-stop updates to Google and how people access travel information. And getting past the same mental blocks and imposter syndrome I’ve dealt with for years is a whole challenge on its own.

It’s definitely not the easiest career pursuit (but looking at back, none of the things I’ve tried have been easy lol), and it can often feel solitary, which was also why going to a conference to learn from successful writers and creators, and meet other people doing the same thing as me, was so empowering.

So I just wanted to say thank you for being here as a newsletter subscriber! Having you here means a lot — and if there’s anything you want to see more of — here, on Tess the Traveler, or on social media, etc. my inbox is always open for you.

Travel has played a huge role in transforming my life, both professionally and personally, and I’m so happy to play a tiny role in helping you travel too.

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📰 what’s new this week

I’m adjusting into a new work flow this week — getting some editorial work done (I also work as a freelance journalist, in addition to running my blog), catching up on emails, and planning out some new blog and social media content for the coming weeks.

I also can’t wait to share more with you about Virginia! I have family there, so I’ve spent some time in the Williamsburg area. (Check out my blog post with 14 fun things to do here!).

But during this last trip, I got to explore way more, especially around Richmond.

Maybe I’m the only one, but I had no idea how cool Richmond was. It seriously has everything that I love in a place — cool street art, a ton of history, an exciting food scene, and some gorgeous nature spaces. Stay tuned!

🌺 this week I’m loving …

​“Lies and Weddings” by Kevin Kwan​

There’s truly no travel inspo like one of Kevin Kwan’s books. Like his “Crazy Rich Asians” series, “Lies and Weddings” transports you around the world, with so many vivid details about gorgeous resorts and food, that you’ll be ready to book a trip asap.

The plot veers toward campy — it’s about a financially floundering aristocratic family, centering the son, Rufus. Rufus is much more down-to-earth than the rest of his family, and he’s in love with Eden, the girl next door. Despite being a doctor, she isn’t elite enough to win over Rufus’ mother, who is always concocting crazy plans to save the family’s wealth, including arranging a marriage for Rufus.

Basically, it’s perfect if you’re looking for some escapism — it’s gossipy, fun, and circles the globe from Hawaii to Beverly Hills, Venice, London, and Hong Kong.

📚Pick it up on Amazon here​

Happy travels,

Tess