Hi, I’m Amanda! Thanks for visiting my blog <3
I am a recent college graduate initially from the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve spent the past four years thinking and reading a lot about history, education, and American culture, and my goal is to eventually pursue a Ph.D. in hopes of becoming a professor. As I figure out my next steps, I’ve decided to repurpose this space and use it for all my musings and reflections – mostly on social justice, travel, mental health, academia, and the postgrad experience.
Here are some of my other favorite things:
- History museums and public history
- Beaches and paddle-boarding
- National parks
- Hiking
- Yoga
- Farmers’ markets
- Grilled peaches
- Romance novels
- Hozier, Laufey, Noah Kahan, Taylor Swift, and Ed Sheeran
- Vegan baking and cooking
- Watching Gossip Girl and cooking competition shows
Young & Wanderlust started as a travel blog, but I like to think it has become my visual diary.
In eighth grade, my English teacher asked us to create blogs about a topic we were passionate about. When the school year ended, I decided to transfer my first blog to a Weebly site so that it wouldn’t get deleted. With the extra time I had at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to start working more seriously on my Instagram and blog. On a bit of a whim, I purchased a domain and web-hosting service, started learning how to use WordPress, and ended up here!
I am definitely not a professional blogger or world traveler, but traveling has been one of my favorite things to do for as long as I can remember, and I was fortunate to begin traveling at a young age because my parents are from opposite sides of the world. As someone with severe food allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, most tree nuts, fish, and shellfish, traveling also challenges me and pushes me outside my comfort zone. I’m a planner (and foodie!) at heart, and I love researching new places and thinking about how I can safely navigate them with my dietary restrictions. As a Spokin Ambassador and member of the Food Allergy Teen Advisory Group, I aim to raise awareness of food allergies and empower others who share this experience. In addition to my food allergies, I’ve been vegan since June 2020.
As my life changes, I’m sure this website will, too! Thanks for letting me share this with you 😊
