Why I Travel

I’ve always believed healing can happen in movement — in getting away, getting quiet, or getting lost on purpose. For me, travel has never been about escape. It’s been about remembering who I am, reconnecting with joy, and discovering something new, both around me and within me.

Somewhere between departure and arrival — where perspective begins to shift.

🌍 Childhood Roots

My love for travel started young. I was raised between New York and South Carolina, and some of my earliest memories involve long car rides to visit family, early-morning airport runs, and the excitement my sisters and I shared, wondering what each trip would bring.

That love only deepened during college when I competed as a Division I track and field athlete and studied abroad in Spain during the summer of 2016. Track took me across the Southeast and even to Oregon — giving me a chance to travel, compete, and experience new places through the lens of sport. Those trips taught me discipline, adaptability, and how to find joy and connection in unfamiliar environments. Then that summer in Spain — my first time truly immersing myself in another culture — pushed me even further. I navigated language, food, customs, and independence, and came away with both confidence and perspective. It confirmed that travel wasn’t just something I liked — it was part of who I was becoming.

Those early adventures — with family, classmates, or by myself — taught me that travel connects us: to culture, to memory, and to each other.

🌺 Why I Travel Now

These days, travel is more than vacation. It’s reflection. It’s recharging. It’s renewal.

As a mental health professional and researcher, I spend a lot of time thinking about wellness, identity, and justice — and I’ve found that travel opens up space for all of those things.

Whether it’s catching my breath in a Santorini breeze, dancing with my friends in Punta Cana, or sitting with stillness after a long conference day, travel reminds me that joy is sacred, rest is essential, and growth doesn’t only happen in therapy rooms or academic journals — it happens everywhere.

Crete, Greece — joy in the winding roads and still moments.

🌿 What is Gracefully Wandering?

The name? It comes from my middle name, Grace, and the way I move through the world — not perfectly, not always planned, but with openness, curiosity, and compassion. I’ve learned that I don’t need to have it all figured out. I can wander and still be grounded. I can move and still be whole.

Gracefully Wandering is where I’ll share that journey — glimpses of where I’ve been, what I’ve seen, and how those experiences have shaped me.

Thanks for being here. Whether you're dreaming about future travels, reminiscing on your own journeys, or just wandering through mine — I’m so glad you’ve found this space.

Let’s explore, reflect, and discover — one glimpse at a time.

Warmly,
Julisa

Italy — joy is sacred. So is stillness. So is choosing moments like this.

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Thanks for reading! You can find more moments, memories, and adventure over on Instagram: @_GracefullyWandering