Chelsey is an avid traveler and “sometimes adrenaline junkie” from San Diego, CA. She loves exploring the great outdoors as much as she can, wether that be hiking, backpacking, or just relaxing at the beach. When she is not traveling, she works as a registered nurse in the emergency room in San Francisco or spends time with her husband back in San Diego. Read on as we interview her about her travels and adventures.
What inspired you to incorporate adventure and travel in your life, and how has it changed your life for the better?
Adventuring and traveling started at a young age for me. My parents were the ones who instilled this passion in me, but it wasn’t until high school that I traveled internationally by myself. I felt the thrill and excitement of seeing the world and all that it has to offer! So, from that point on I’ve been adventuring all over.
Traveling has changed my life for the better in a few ways. Ive learned to be more flexible with my time, be more open to food, and it has taught me how to save money so I can do the activities I want to do. I have learned how to travel well with groups and how to be more extroverted!
How do you think travel and adventure can positively change people’s lives, and what do you recommend they do to start chasing their wild dreams?
Traveling and adventuring can really change your life if you let it. Traveling not only gives you the opportunity experience other cultures, but it allows you to meet other people you would have probably never met otherwise. Traveling can also teach you to get out of your comfort zone. Sometimes so many things can go wrong on a trip and you have to learn how to be flexible and roll with the punches.
To date, what destinations have been your favorite, and why?
Oh gosh, this is always such a hard question. I have been to so many amazing places that it is so hard to choose just one, but I think I am going to have to choose Australia for a few different reasons. First off, I went there for my honeymoon, so that alone makes it a good trip. Secondly, one of the main reasons I enjoyed Australia so much is because I got to experience both city life and outdoors life. The first part of my trip consisted of adventuring through the city of Sydney, whereas the second part of my trip was in Cairns. I personally enjoyed Cairns more though. It was more appealing to my style of travel and adventure: hiking, being outdoors and relaxing on the beach. Australia really seemed to have it all though and that is why I am choosing this as my favorite destination … for now!
What are some of your most memorable stories from your travels?
Definitely hitchhiking in Croatia. I was visiting Plitvice National Parks with some friends way back when and we were just enjoying the park so much that we lost track of time. We had planned to take a bus to our hostel for the night, but we missed it. So, we decided we could just attempt to walk there. It was like 8 miles away or something. Mind you though we had all of our backpacking gear and bags with us too, so that made it a wee bit harder of just an 8 mile walk! Anyways, after two miles or so we finally got someone driving a van to pick us up and take us to our hostel. One of the most fun experiences I have ever had. It kind of gave me an adrenaline rush because I had never done anything like that before.
As a Registered Emergency Room Nurse, you have a great schedule that lets you keep some balance in your life. What do you like to do on your days off?
Great question! That is one of the main reasons I love my job. As a nurse, I only have to work three 12 hour shifts per week, so it really creates a lot of time off. There are few things I religiously fill my days with when I am not working. I love to workout, so I will head to the gym and do about a one hour workout and then I will spend a few hours each day working on my personal blog. Whether that be creating more blog posts, studying the analytics of my blog, posting an Instagram… you name it, I am working on it. I also try to meet up with friends on my days, although this is a little bit hard considering most people work a 9-5. But when I can schedules align I try to get coffee with a friend or drinks or even do something active like rock climb with them.
What inspired you to begin your blog? What have been some of the challenges in maintaining the blog alongside a full-time job?
I have always loved to scrapbook, but we live in 2019 and everything is technology based now. I figured my travel blog could be my online scrapbook. After blogging for myself for awhile, I decided I want to try to make this a “thing.” I want to be able to help others who want to travel. It’s my passion and I want to share it with everyone!
Some of the challenges have been the time requirement of running a blog. It takes a lot of work and time to write a post and to link things in that post and then add pictures to the post, etc. I put a lot of effort into my blog posts -hoping that it will help others, but it takes a lot of time. One of my biggest challenges was in the very beginning though. I watched so many YouTube videos on how to create and run a website. That was a huge challenge for me because we do nothing similar to that in the nursing world lol
What are some of your goals with your blog?
I want to be able to create a place where others can come and read and learn about certain travel destinations, what to do while traveling to those destinations, tips for traveling, and also how to stay safe while traveling. I am working on incorporating my fitness journey into traveling and sharing with others how I do it.
You also feature topics such as health and wellness. In a society that has become a lot more complacent, what do you suggest people do to keep a healthy and happy lifestyle?
Yes! As stated in the question above I am working on making my blog both fitness and travel related. For me, I feel like the two can go hand in hand. My suggestions are if you take a vacation try to do some activities that will work up a sweat. That could mean do a hike, go to your hotel gym, swim laps in your hotel pool, go for a morning jog or even a walk. There are so many options to maintain a healthy lifestyle while traveling, but it does require you to put in the effort too. Whenever I go out to eat, I try to choose the healthier options or at least order a side of veggies so that I am maintaining some healthy habits!
It can be so hard to maintain a good diet and fitness regimen on the road. How do you incorporate fitness and healthy nutrition when you travel?
Another great question! Not going to lie – it is difficult. Maintaining a good diet and fitness regimen is something that you have to make as a mental priority prior to going on your trip. If you mentally prepare yourself for it then you are set up to succeed. At least that is how it works for me. For fitness, if I am traveling to a hotel I generally make sure to pick a hotel that has a gym in it, so that I can workout at least a few of the days. If I am staying in an airbnb then I will do an in home workout by just finding a video on youtube to follow, plus I always bring my booty bands to workout with. They are so light to pack and create for some great leg exercises.
I tend to pack a lot of my own foods and snacks in order to maintain a healthy diet while traveling. This ensures that at least part of my diet will be healthy lol.
Where is your next big adventure?
I currently don’t have any HUGE adventures planned at this time, but something is usually always in the works or at least a thought in my head. I just got back from Hawaii and Mexico not too long ago and have a few trips planned to the East Coast this summer and then Colorado for the winter. As far as big adventures go though, I am trying to plan an Iceland trip! I have never been and have always wanted to go, so trying to make that workout for maybe the end of this year or early next year.
Follow Chelsey on Social Media:
Website: https://myexplorewithme.com/
Instagram: @myexplorewithme
At This Adventure Life we celebrate the lives and stories of the people who live life fearlessly. #livefearlessly