Dear Diary, 

First, I would like to address the fact that I was NOT named after the famous film “Bridget Jones’s Diary.” In fact, I was born October 31, 1997 and the first movie came out April 13, 2001 in the US. I know the book was technically published in 1996, but it wasn’t really a big thing in America until the movie came out. So just to clarify, I was not named after the “Bridget Jones’s Diary” franchise.

Another thing, when people say, “oh, I bet you get that a lot,” about my name and having a diary, the truth is the only thing I get a lot is people saying “oh, I bet you get that a lot.” Just thought I would inform you that you all say the exact same thing to me every single time I am introduced to you.

And one final thing about my name, I have seen the movie and I would choose Colin Firth. Now on to the point of this blog.

I thought I would take this opportunity to write about one of my biggest passions: travel. I want to open up the eyes of students at STA and let them know that travel doesn’t only mean your annual family vacation to Breckenridge, CO or spring break with your friends to Gulf Shores, AL. Instead, travel can mean anything. Guess what, you can literally go anywhere. You have this huge, beautiful world that you live on and you can go anywhere, while some places may be more difficult to get to, in theory you can travel anywhere and everywhere on the globe.

I wanted to use my first post to let you know a little bit more about me and my past travels. Here’s the fast facts:

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I have…

• visited 28 of the 50 states in the USA
• visited 3 international countries
  
• visited 10 national parks
• been to 2 Disney parks for a total of 8 times
• visited 33 out of 68 of the most famous tourist attractions according to this Buzzfeed quiz
• been to dozens of cities
• camped, rented houses, stayed in cabins, hotels and condos
• flown, driven, taken trains, buses and boats
• been to New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, London, Paris and Rome

Yet, there is still so much more I want to see and experience.

Not only does travel allow you to see so many wonderfully beautiful places, but you also get to meet so many wonderfully beautiful people. I have been on two international trips through STA and I have met some of my closest best friends on these trips. We go in as simple acquaintances, then come out the other side of the trip as lifelong friends, more on this later. 

So that’s it. What other proof do you need to know that I suffer from extreme wanderlust? I mean my favorite movie is “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (which I would 10/10 recommend to everyone).

I just want to use this platform to express to the STA community the importance of travel and how and why I am so passionate about it. I hope you all enjoy and stay tuned every other Tuesday for my next entry. Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Bridget