“Hi I’m Elona. I took my first solo international flight when I was five years old! My parents handed me off to the flight attendants of Ukrainian Airways and I traveled alone from New York to Ukraine to visit my grandparents. The 10-hour long, entertainment-less flight must have planted the travel seed which flourished into my adult life. I started traveling on long weekends while I was working full-time as a financial analyst at a large NYC firm. I had the money to travel but didn’t have the time, so I made the best of 3-4 day trips all over the world. I quickly learned that many people have misconceptions about travel: traveling does not have to be expensive and it certainly doesn’t have to be over a long period of time. I began writing about my trips in hopes that my readers would follow in my footsteps. I wanted to show how easy and fulfilling it can be to fall in love with the world, one weekend at a time.

Little did I know, this small effort would become a full-time job.

I became somewhat obsessed. I was eager to learn, to grow, and to challenge myself. I wanted to know how people think in different pockets of the world. I wanted to know how they live, what drives them, and what makes them happy. Most importantly, I wanted to share all of this with my readers because I truly believe that traveling is vital to both self-awareness and selflessness.

Currently, I travel full-time, creating content for various brands in the travel & lifestyle spaces. This year I am shifting gears and focusing more on humanitarian efforts. I have a charity for underprivileged kids with Cancer and I lead various philanthropic initiatives to help children in underserved communities.

When I am not on the road, I live for any occasion that I can dress up for. I am a homebody – but I love a nice outing. I enjoy milky coffee and wine (often in the same sitting). Working out, biking, reading, and learning Arabic provide balance to my life.

If you take anything out of my work, I hope it is this: travel is a fantastic self-development tool, because it extricates you from the values of your culture and shows you that another society can live with entirely different values and still function and not hate themselves (Mark Manson).

- Elona