Welcome
Hey there! I’m Leigh Ann, but friends call me Lili (leelee). Hometown girl gone wanderlust. If you’re a travel addict looking for how-to’s, restaurant lists and life saving travel tips, a busy-body trying to live vicariously through others experiences, an individual in an intercultural relationship wondering how the hell you’re supposed to navigate these uncharted waters or a small town girl/guy looking for that life altering inspiration to finally push you out the door for the very first time, then you’ve come to the right place.
While there is so much I could cram into this introduction, I’ll keep it brief and if you still find yourself curious by the end of it you can find more in-depth stories about my journey linked below.
Let me start by saying that I was always the stay-at-home girl. I preferred reading a book on the couch by the fire to a night out with friends, a casual day in a coffee shop to a huge pop concert, family gatherings at home to far away travels. Why would I dream of going anywhere else when I already loved my life so much?
The turning point for me was during my junior year of college when I spontaneously (a word no one would have EVER used to describe me 4 years ago) decided to head off to Madrid, Spain for the entire summer and live with a local family as an AuPair. I have countless stories from this experience which, again, you can read all about in other posts. In a nut shell, that summer changed me in more ways than I would have thought possible. And that shy, quiet, unadventurous girl suddenly began writing a completely different story for her life.
After graduation I returned to Madrid for 8 months to play a season of professional soccer and continue my study of the Spanish language. Now, I am back in the states, almost fluent in Spanish, engaged to the most wonderful Persian man on the face of this planet, beginning to learn Farsi and reminiscing on my time spent abroad.
My experiences have sprouted an intense love for learning not just languages, but culture as well. I’m dying to share my passion for countries, cultures and languages and hopefully light the same spark in someone else that will lead them down a road full of inspiration, adventure, spontaneity and discovery. Here is my story….
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed living and learning it