California born,
Barcelona grown.
I’m Dani, a California native who made a home in Barcelona, Spain.
When I was just 20 years old, I packed up my bags and headed to Barcelona for what I thought would be a one-year study abroad experience. And while I did eventually go back to California (my parents may or may not have had to come to Spain to make sure I actually got on my flight), I knew my time in Barcelona was far from over.
Fast forward nine months later, and with a completed college degree in hand, I returned to Barcelona on a one-way ticket. As cliché as it sounds, I told all my friends and family I just needed one or two more years to get the travel bug out of my system.
Spoiler alert: I never bought a one-way ticket home.
More than nine years later, I’m still here.
The long version
Barcelona became the backdrop to some of the most formative, adventurous, and story-worthy years of my life. I had to grow up quickly, learning how to adapt to a new culture, build a community of friends, and figure out all the little day-to-day parts of life in a language that wasn’t my own. Somewhere along the way, I started breaking out of my shell and becoming a more confident, curious, and independent version of myself.
And when I wasn’t building my life in Barcelona, I was, of course, taking full advantage of cheap plane tickets and having an international airport at my doorstep. Throughout my 20s, I spent almost every other weekend traveling somewhere new.
I started Following My Compass back in 2017 as a place to document my travels and share the places I was discovering along the way. Little did I know how much I would come to love writing, exploring, and documenting my adventures on this little slice of the internet.
What I also didn’t expect was that this travel blog would help shape my career. It sparked my love for writing, and now I work as a freelance content marketer for brands around the world.
Over the years, Following My Compass has become a place to share my travel tips, personal experiences, favorite hotels, and my favorite eats in every city. But it’s also become something a little more personal: a time capsule of a chapter of my life I never want to forget.
While I may not be hopping on a plane every other weekend like I used to, I still love planning a weekend getaway whenever I can find a cheap flight and a beautiful hotel. Some things never change.
I hope Following My Compass inspires you to travel far, travel often, and never be afraid to move somewhere new, even if you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing yet.
