In the fall of 2017 I attended and spoke at the Travel Bloggers Summit on Study Abroad & Global Citizenship. Hosted by Hostelling International USA and Partners of the Americas (founded by JFK) this summit was first started by the Obama administration in December 2014. The 2017 Summit reconvened 100 of the top celebrities, journalists, bloggers and digital media influencers in travel and is designed to stay true to the community's original mandate: Go forth and engage young people about the transformative power of travel and study abroad.
TStudying abroad in Milan, Italy in the Fall of 2006 was such a transformative time for me, and probably changed the trajectory of my life. I shared this story at the Travel Blogger Summit's Story Jam. Being abroad, studying or living reminds me of, connects me to my best self.