About

Thank you for visiting the SightingSarah travel blog! Categories are organized by country so you can choose to read about specific places and search for relevant posts to help inspire and guide your next trip. Travel guides and tips, local history and lore, and stories about what I discovered and experienced while visiting these places can be found in each category. If you plan to visit Croatia, be sure to check out all the Croatian travel posts and read about the Croatian castles to help map your itinerary and get the most out of your travels.

About Me:

My older sister recalls a fond memory of my childhood in Belize when I was just two years old. My inquisitiveness, even then, motivated me to eat a bird pepper (one of the hottest peppers in the world). I ran around the house frantically seeking comfort for my burnt mouth. Finally, my mother gave me honey, which soothed the burn. The experience has never kept me from eating hot peppers, and we still eat our mangos with habaneros in Belize. This was the beginning of my lifelong curiosity about cultures, foods, and experiences.

Life in Belize in the 1980s and 90s was rustic for us. We didn’t have electricity, running water, or paved roads where we lived, but instead we had clean rivers, jungles, and tree houses. Every summer, my mother packed us up to take us to Pennsylvania to spend the season. We didn’t fly; we took a bus or drove the 4500-mile trip through Mexico all the way to Pennsylvania, where my mother’s family lives.

It took me thirteen years to make New York City my home. Along the way, there was my time at University in Pennsylvania studying history and fine art, a job as a cook in Key West, my first “real” job working business to business sales door-to-door in Orlando, my first business in Miami, and then two years taking care of one of my favorite people in the world, my grandmother. Finally, in 2012, I sold my first business and moved to NYC, where I started working for a large technology company. I attended all the events and the business networking opportunities where I made lifelong connections I will always cherish.  I loved it!

I’m a decisive person, for better or worse. When I get an idea in my mind, I charge toward it, bulldozing through any challenges. I carefully consider and weigh my options, and I do research the pros and cons. However, when I’m determined, there are few things that can change my mind. In August 2015, I decided I wanted to move to London, so I set the plans in motion to move from NYC to England. In January 2016, a woman with a town house in a hipster area of East London responded. She had two kitties who needed someone to care for them while she took care of her mother in the country. I landed in Heathrow on May 3rd 2016 with a place to live, two kitties, and a job to do.

I started my consulting company in the summer of 2016. I was having trouble acquiring a long-term visa for the UK, so I decided to go traveling. I started in Ireland, and then just kept moving around every two to three months. It took two years to build my business to match the income I was making when I left New York. At the end of 2018, I lost everything, and then built it all back by 2020.

I’ve learned there are no shortcuts in life. I’ve tried to take plenty, and ended up back at the starting line. A successful and fulfilling life takes dedication, direction, passion, and a dose of hard work. My life has been challenging and a lot of effort, but it has never felt hard. I believe this is because I was prepared, partly by my childhood and then by the adventures I embraced along my path. The most fun part for me has never been actually achieving the goal, it’s been the journey getting to it. I started this blog to share travel stories, so if you find yourself daydreaming about your next adventure, stay tuned for regular posts.

Will my next stop be a shopping and sightseeing trip, or a hiking and adventure filled trip? Come explore the world with me.