#1: What We’re Doing Here

Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Finally Start a Travel Substack.

Hello, friends!

Welcome! This is the little corner of the internet I’m just beginning to carve out, and I’m so glad you’re here. It’s always so weird getting started on a fresh, new, completely blank space to fill with words (helloooo, cursor!), but I think this could be the start of something really cool, and I’m very happy to have you along for the ride.

If you don’t know me yet, I’m Kate—hi!—and I live in Lisbon with my husband Nate and our rescue pup, Andie. About three and a half years ago, we sold or gave away around 80% of our worldly possessions, basically burned down our entire lives, and moved from Boise, Idaho to Lisbon, Portugal. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made, and there are so many things we love about our life here, from the ability to go car-free to the amazing group of friends we’ve made from all over the world. Every single day is an adventure, and we are so grateful to live in this beautiful place where the lifestyle is such a great fit for us. We love it!

But of all the awesome things life in Portugal has brought us, one of my absolute favorites is how much easier it is to travel. And that’s because I’m completely travel-obsessed.

It’s going to sound like I’m hyperbolizing here, but it’s literally the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and I pretty much spend my free time being a massive travel dork. I tabulate miles, I do a daily scan for deals with my morning coffee, and I keep detailed, meticulously organized Pinterest boards full of amazing hole-in-the-wall dumpling places in Hong Kong, cooking equipment stores in France, and scenic train rides in Sri Lanka. When a friend messages me for recommendations or advice on how to book a trip, they always say, “So sorry to bug you!,” but secretly, I’m doing a little dance inside at the thought of getting to research, weigh in, and talk travel—even for someone else’s trip! I simply love it that much.

My dad worked in study abroad when I was growing up and was very passionate about helping people see the world. It took me awhile to figure this out, but I definitely inherited that passion (see: secret internal dance above). But while my dad had a clear and direct application for it—it was literally his job to make it possible for American students to study abroad, and for international students to come to our local university—my brain and my skills have always skewed creative, not practical, so I’ve been trying to figure out what following this passion looks like for me.

I first dipped a toe into the water while I was an author and artist back in Boise. I wrote and illustrated a book called Around the World and Back Again, a guided journal full of writing prompts, lists to fill out, and all kinds of other fun, meant to inspire the kind of travel that’s about more than collecting selfies and souvenirs. I’m really proud of it, and I still use it myself to record my own travels. It’s my favorite thing I made in that era of my career (maybe ever!), and it makes sense—it’s the first time I really allowed myself to bring that lifelong passion for travel, and helping others do it well, into my work.

But since moving to Portugal, my work life has become way less structured—and I really, really like it that way. I’m not sure if I’ll make another book, or begin another illustration business, and I’ve been waffling about these questions for so long that it feels like it’s time to just do something else in the meantime, without feeling like I need all the answers right now. (Because—ha!—I really don’t have them!)

But I desperately both love the life I’m living here in Portugal and all the traveling we’ve been able to do since we moved, and, because I am who I am, I’d really like to share it with you all. And I know my novel-length social media captions aren’t cute. It’s time for a fresh format.

So! That’s what we’re doing here. We’ll experiment as we go, but here’s a bit of what you can count on for sure:

1. Travel stories, told thoughtfully and written with care. I’m a hopeless travel addict and I love to write, and I think we’re going to find some really good stuff in the middle of that Venn Diagram.

2. Recommendations for where to go and what to do, presented in a richer and deeper quality than what’s out there in the travelspheres of Instagram and TikTok. If it was delicious and served up a real slice of life in that part of the world, I’ll share it with you, even if we’re in a potato-and-cabbage-forward place and the whole plate is beige. My worst nightmare is Instagrammable food that tastes like garbage (or nothing at all!).

3. Travel tips and tricks—how to plan trips, pack well, and save money when traveling. This is something I’m very passionate about. I want everyone to see as much of the world as possible, and I’m excited to share everything I’ve learned about how to travel better and more often. Honestly, that right there is the general prompt I’m thinking about in most of my free time. I can’t wait to share what I’ve discovered already, and what I’m continually figuring out in real time as I go. The travel nerd life doesn’t quit, and neither do I!

Basically, I see this being a place to share our travels plus a bit about our life here in Lisbon, and any other travelly things that feel fun and worth exploring. There will be some illustrated bits, and some writing bits, and whatever else seems right along the way. The answers are still playing hard to get, so we’ll make it up as we go. But if you, like me, are generally curious about the rest of the world and are interested in finding out more about it, you are most welcome here. And I hope you get some good things—inspiration, knowledge, ideas for where to go eat pastries across the world!—out of our time together.

I’ll be back soon with a trip recap post from our trip to London back in November, and then—onward! We recently went to Ireland, and up next is a massive train trip from Budapest to Italy (via Bratislava, Vienna, and Slovenia on the way—so excited!). Let me know what you’re most excited to hear about, as well as if there’s any travelly topic—from destination specifics to general travel know-how and tips—you’re particularly curious about. I’d love to hear more about what you’re interested in!

Cheers and happy travels,

Kate