It is often heard to pinpoint the exact moment where everything changes and you find one of those things, that truly makes you happy. I am Brandy, the daughter half of Pure Life Travelin. Growing up I had always been determined to never step foot on a plane. I was a nervous, panicky child and planes were at the top of my no-go list. However, something changed in me around my 16th birthday, a little cliche I know but it did. I had wanderlust so strong that it was crushing somedays. And for my birthday I had the world opened to me!
My aunt giving me the chance to fly for the first time and to New York City changed my life forever. It was magical and I got to share it with my mom. From there we went on trips to California and the mountains in North Carolina but it wasn't until college until I left the country. It was love that took me to Sweden twice, once in the summer and once in the winter! And it was adventure that took me to Costa Rica! Traveling makes my heart happy and I am so excited to start traveling more with my mom!
I’m Melissa, the mom in these stories. My love of traveling started at age seven during my first “big” trip with my grandparents when we toured the Great Smoky Mountains’ cities of Cherokee, Asheville, and Gatlinburg. It’s a trip I remember to this day even 39 years later. My family would travel some around the Southeast, but we never traveled too far from home. My first flight was at the age of 22 when I traveled to Dallas, TX for work training.
Once I married and had my two amazing children, and as the demands of owning our own businesses and raising children took precedence over seeing new places, travel seemed to be a luxury we couldn’t afford. Brandy’s 16th birthday gift from my sister would prompt her first flight and our first “big” trip together to New York City. Two years later we would travel to Los Angeles, Anaheim, Palm Springs and Vegas as a family to celebrate her graduation. Since then, she’s been traveling to places I’ve only dreamed of! Last year she said, “mom, we need to start traveling, so I’m buying you a Passport”. And so we will! In a few days, we will embark on my biggest travel ever, a trip across the pond to explore both Ireland and the UK. And thus begins our travels together!!
It’s an Adventure!!