Meet Hillary - the face behind the GWA Travel blog

Hi, I am Hillary.

The feral traveler behind the Gina Wander’s Around Travel Collective blog.

I have been traveling full time for almost three years and have been so fortunate to have met some of the most incredible people around the world.

One of these incredible people I was fortunate to meet was Gina.

Prior to our meeting in real life, we fostered an online friendship based on our love of travel and similar life events… like both quitting our jobs to pursue our passions.

Gina’s passion was to start her own travel agency specializing in luxury travel, mine was to transition from non-profit program director to unemployed budget backpacker, at 40.

When I quit my job to dive all the way into full time backpacking, I had been working remote and traveling quite comfortably for almost two years so this new, and quite limited budget, was a serious transition.

This transition took me to 13 countries in 2024. I backpacked through the Balkans, summered in Turkey, visited all of the UK, and maxed out my Schengen visa time traveling through several European countries.

As the world would have it, though we were pursuing very different passions, Gina and I ended up in the same place at the same time. We were finally able to take our social media relationship off the web and into real life when we formally met on a rooftop in Lisbon, Portugal where I spend about half the year.

We immediately hit it off and were fast friends, sharing life experiences, our passion for travel, and goals moving forward. In these discussions, Gina proposed me being a travel advisor and discussed the opportunity to help others plan their travel.

I believe travel advisors are integral in planning dream trips and helping travelers have the best experience possible, which is exactly why I shouldn’t be one. I am a self-professed “chaotic traveler”, one who plans little and hopes things just work out.

My destinations are often random, and a bit sporadic as are my accommodations and experiences. It is fair to say planning is not my strong suite.

It seems though, that writing is. Gathering thoughts, experiences, and suggestions and putting them on metaphorical paper is far more natural than putting together detailed itineraries, arranging flawless travel and magical stays. The latter is where Gina and her team thrive.

After our conversation and getting to know each other, and where our strengths lie, Gina reached out and asked if I would be interested in being the voice of the GWATC blog.

To say I was honored, would be an understatement. I jumped at the opportunity and Gina and I immediately got to work brainstorming topics and ideas to share with her clients and anyone interested in travel, because that is really what we are here for: to share the joy that is travel.