Well hello there!
I suppose you are here because you want to know a little bit about me – Diggin’ Mandi! How far down the rabbit hole do you want to go? How about I start with the basics for now.
For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to travel. I always wanted to visit the Great Pyramids of Giza and the ruins of Greece. Ireland was always on the top of my list followed by the rest of the planet! I was quite the dreamer. For a decade I would joke about backpacking Europe in hopes that somebody would say they wanted to join me. I did this because I was afraid to go alone. I heard of men going solo across Europe and such, but never a female alone. Unless I was going to find somebody to join me I had no intentions of ever leaving the States alone.
Fast forward a decade later when I was 28 and staring at a computer writing code…I hated my job. It was that moment that I decided it was time to start living my dreams because I was not getting any younger. I also applied to graduate school to get my masters degree in cultural resources management archaeology and I got accepted! It was April of 2009 when I got the acceptance letter and classes did not start until the end of August, so I had time to kill.
Being tired of waiting for somebody to join me on my dream adventure, combined with the fueled anger at myself for feeling I could not travel alone because I was female, while ignoring my concern for my “unconventional” backpacking age, I pushed myself to buy my flight to Ireland. I was going to backpack Europe ALONE!!!
I have not stopped moving since. Every window I get to travel I go…with or without a traveling buddy!
BEING A FEMALE SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A HANDICAP WHEN TRAVELING ALONE!
Stepping of the plane in Ireland I immediately realized that all my preconceived notions of traveling alone were extremely exaggerated. And so I am hoping that this blog will help inspire other female dreamers, such as myself, to take the steps towards traveling the world. Additionally, I hope to provide to all travelers insights about locations they would like to visit someday. Also, as an archaeology junkie I plan to share information and locations of some of the worlds most recognized (and some not so recognized) archaeological sites as well as the importance of archaeology internationally and nationally. Lastly, I am sharing my experiences for my friends and family and to anybody who would like to follow.
Best wishes and awesome adventures,
Mandi
