Author: Marisa Bennett

Hello there, my name is Marisa and I was born and raised in Missoula, Montana. I grew up in a log cabin in the forested hillside of the Bitterroot region of Western Montana. I spent my childhood summers exploring the wilderness, camping out in a tipi, and taking family trips down into the deserts of Utah. I attribute my current state of gypsy wanderlust and footloose traveling to these early days of free exploration. Thus far I have traveled parts of the U.S., Western Canada, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Greece, Turkey, Spain, and Italy. My true ‘awakening’ to my passion for travel happened when I studied abroad on the enchanting island of Paros, Greece. After this experience, I fell head over heals for foreign travel, and realized I needed to be traveling abroad again. This past year I backpacked the Southern Mediterranean region of Europe, volunteering on vineyards and farms, painting murals at nature reserves, and working at hostels, in exchange for housing, food and amazing cultural experiences. I have chosen a worldly education for myself with new cultures and languages, eventually to be balanced with that of academia, when I plan to return to university to pursue my degree in studio arts and art history. I realize, however, that it’s only a matter of time before the travel bug stings again, and I will have no other choice but to pack my bag fast and hit the road …