After graduating summa cum laude with a journalism degree from the University of Florida, I worked for two years as a staff features writer at a daily New York Times Co. newspaper in Gainesville, Florida. Adventure led me to the Rocky Mountains, where I lived in a ski town, wrote and edited for a local paper, learned to snowboard, and eventually turned to full-time freelancing. I called Boulder, Colorado, home for five years, then moved into a 17-foot travel trailer with my husband and our two cats. We spent 15 months and 38,000 miles on the road from Colorado to Alaska to Florida (and a bunch of places in between) before settling back where it all began: Gainesville, home of the Gators, good people, and the best fried chicken in the South.
Work experience
- Adjunct Lecturer, University of Florida College of Journalism & Communications, 2016.
- Freelance Writer, various magazines, 2008-present.
- Special Projects Editor, Backpacker, 2014.
- Staff Writer/Copy Editor, Vail (Colorado) Trail, 2007-2008.
- Staff Features Writer, The Gainesville (Florida) Sun, 2005-2007.
- Stringer, The Sebastian (Florida) Sun, 2000-2005.
Education/Honors
- B.S. Journalism, Spanish minor. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; 2001-2005. Summa Cum Laude; 3.98 GPA; Honors Program
- National Merit Scholar
- President’s Honor Roll (4.0 GPA) for eight of nine semesters at UF
- Mortar Board senior honor society