About

“So who is this gal going through a 180 in her life” you ask?

I’m Danielle, also known as D by friends or Nellie by my family, but I go by Danielle by pretty much everyone. I graduated from UCLA in 2016 with a degree in Environmental Science and a minor in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences…quite the mouthful. But I love the ocean! In the real world I work as a field biologist and have a few species under my belt like tiger salamanders, steelhead trout, and my personal all-time favorite…sea turtles (Hawksbill and Green sea turtles so far but I’m going to add to that list)! And that’s how all of this started. I knew I wanted to work with sea turtles since graduating from UCLA and despite applying for position after position, I never got accepted. Until I did. In St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands! Driving to the airport to leave LA, I was a mess of emotions. I was so excited to be having this experience but I was also terrified. This was the furthest I had ever been from home, for the longest amount of time, and I was leaving my loved ones….but it was the best decision I’ve ever made. Leaving St. Croix to come back home was a whole other set of emotions. I wasn’t ready to come back to the same ol’, same ol’ that LA was for me. I wanted to be with the people that I had in LA, but at that moment in time the city lost its sparkle for me. I truly love Los Angeles, but for now I need something that LA can’t give me. And that’s a new perspective. New experiences in new places. New conversations with new people. So I stopped making excuses. I booked my tickets and will be traveling on my own for the majority of 2019.

Fun Facts about me!

I’m vegetarian and plan to maintain that for as much of my travels as possible. I chose to go vegetarian on New Year’s Day in 2015 because food choices are one of the largest impacts you can make to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Here’s a quick article by Scientific American touching on environmental impacts of meat production, I will make exceptions for dishes that will enrich to local economy (e.i. locally raised, locally caught, if I am with a host who made the effort to prepare me a local delicacy) but I will stick to my meat-free diet otherwise.
I am bringing a sketch pad and travel watercolor kit along with me. Art is something that I love but I’ve let it go by the wayside for too long so I’m making a commitment to change that.
I’m trying to learn Spanish! I’m Mexican-American who grew up with no Spanish at home and that is something I’ve struggled with as part of my identity. I feel a disconnect from my Mexican heritage – I’ve never been to Mexico even though I have family there, but thats about to change since it is the first stop on my international travels!
I don’t like coffee….sorry ’bout it. Just never got into the taste. I do LOVE tea though so I will still be able to lend some recommendations on coffee shops or cafes that I come across. Also dessert, that is definitely going to be a thing on my travels *queue heart eyes*
Chaco’s are my footwear of choice waaaayyyy more than they should be. Like I wore them to a fancy dinner my last weekend in St. Croix. I was wearing all black, they were also all black, totally acceptable….right? You’ll be seeing them on my feet in pictures so get ready.
I have a Canon Rebel T6i and a GoPro Hero 5 that I’m bringing along with me on travels. Check out my Instagram or my Gallery for more photos that I’ve taken.