A travel adventure, 41 years in the making.
How one girl’s love of travel and food has guided her to share her experiences with the world.
By Natalie Korda
As a child, I was forever on the go. My father would come home from work, I would grab my coat and yell, “Coat! Coat! Go! Go!” Little did I realize how exhausted my dad was and that my desire to “go” would have to wait for another time. Travel was never at a shortage in my family.
Our trips to see relatives in New York City or the Catskills a few times a year or camp at the beach in our Volkswagen Vanagon were staples of our family tradition. My mom and sister would travel to Romania and Hungary to experience our heritage. My mom and I would venture to Spain to see the family who sent us an amazing exchange student when I was younger. I would travel throughout Europe solo 2 times, venturing to Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden and Denmark shortly before and after college graduation.
“I want to take that love [for travel] and translate it into an experience that I can share with others.”
My parents instilled in me that travel was important to learn more about yourself and appreciate other cultures. They also helped me see the importance of being able to communicate with others, through our love of conversation and foreign languages. My mother ran her business from home, so I was always in the waiting room with her patients, entertaining them for hours on end.
I chose Spanish in high school as part of what I wanted to study and embrace in college and beyond. My mother even learned Spanish with me, borrowing a book from the school and teaching herself. This would be one of 7 languages that she speaks. I would take on her love of languages, learning a little Italian, French and Arabic. Fast forward to my life as I got older…and here is where my desire to travel and meet new people has shaped the person I have become.
Travel has always been a part of my life. I have taken every opportunity to experience the world, whether to relax in the Caribbean, explore throughout Europe, further my education in China, or meet with family and friends in the United States. My passion for being in the moment and taking in everything my environment has to offer has made me excited to pick up and go wherever the road takes me. I taught for almost 20 years and never felt the way I do when I am traveling. Now, I want to take that love and translate it into an experience that I can share with others. My new journey begins today.