Hi, I’m Dana. Nice to meet you. Thanks so much for stopping by.
First things first: I’m not a real cowgirl. Not even close. I hail from Ontario, Canada which, of course, is nowhere near the Wild West. Don’t be fooled by this photo either. It was taken in Tombstone which turned out to be a great stop while visiting Arizona. I got to be a cowgirl briefly…well, for a day anyway 😀
Why I started this blog
The name for this blog comes from my love for the desert, and my love for road trips. Whether your goal is to travel more often, get inspired to check out new places during your travels, or even travel as a career, I hope I’m able to help!
I started this site almost 15 years ago (in 2012) to share my enthralling adventures from the road with friends, family, and fellow travel-lovers. When I first started in the “working world” fresh outta college, I quickly realized that a 50+ hour office job that I wasn’t passionate just wasn’t for me. So, I went back to working in restaurants which I enjoyed (and still do), and I also started a baking business–both of which also allowed me more time to travel. Hopefully I can encourage you to follow your passions, help turn your love for travel into a career, or even just inspire you to hit the road more often.
How my love for Road Trips began!
It all started in the late 90’s when I took my first big road trip across the country–by Greyhound Bus even! (nope, not even kidding) from Ottawa all the way to Whitehorse, Yukon with my good friend Al, who hails from the area. Let’s just say it was an exhausting trip (sleeping on a bus for 5 days does take its toll) but also exhilarating trip! I was completely hooked! The next summer, I did it again–this time by car (once by bus was enough lol) and I’ve been traveling the ole black tops ever since. You’ll see some of my very early stories (like the bus one–coming soon) here on my blog as well. Since it was quite a while ago (late 90s, early 00’s, before blogs or even websites, were a thing), I fortunately have my travel journals to help me with the details I might have forgotten.
Since then, and over the last 2 decades, I’ve crisscrossed North America a bunch of times. I’ve been as far south as the Florida Keys & New Orleans, (love the Deep South!) and to Far North (Alaska and the Yukon). There’s nothing like planning a road trip route, packing the car, and hitting the road with only a vague itinerary in mind.
Whether your goal is to travel more often, get inspired to check out new places during your travels, or even travel as a career, I am here to help!
I’ve been to several other countries as well, so you’ll also see a few of my European adventures on here too.
Over the years this space gradually morphed into a travel/food blog for a bit, especially when I started my bakery businesses (dog bakery and human pies) but I finally decided to create two blogs instead. That way if you landed on my blog inspired to go to Vermont from my stories, you aren’t having to wade through my geeky Star Wars Blueberry pie or carrot cake recipes in the process. For those interested in baking or recipes, please check out my other site at Pies and Prejudice.
Update:** August 2023
My blog posts here (and my Pies and Prejudice site) have been intermittent the past few years due partly to COVID, of course, (the dog walking biz I have with my friend got much busier!), and I got back into restaurant work and until recently, I was working way too much (12-hour shifts).
Also, in just a couple years’ (right before COVID), I had a few losses in my life which took its toll (my parents’ passing, my favorite Aunt (who was like a 2nd mom to me) passed away, my sweet Dog Mittan (who you’ve seen in many of my road trips) passed in 2021, and I ended a long-time relationship (we’re still friends, so you’ll see Billy aka Cowboy in some of my posts still). After all that and COVID was upon us and I got involved in a new relationship so things were looking up in my life at that time…however, my new guy got extremely sick and he was in a coma for over a month, and after he woke up there were a series of other unfortunate circumstances (Sepsis, Pneumonia, COVID) that kept him in ICU for almost a year.
Anyway, he’s doing much better–thankfully–and the last year or so has been quieter and I’m working less hours at the restaurant, so I finally have time to write, bake, and travel again! Yay. Plus now that the pandemic is dwindling down so I, like everyone else, can start traveling a little more again. Also I’m not spending all my time either at the hospital visiting my guy or at work for long hours, so that has given me more time to stuff I love again, finally!