MY STORY

Hola, I’m Joie! I’m a San Francisco Bay Area native but have also lived in Los Angeles, New York and Mexico City. I’ve traveled to 39 countries and in May of 2019, I sold most of my stuff and became a digital nomad. Since then, I split most of my time between SF, Mexico and traveling to various countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia. With friends and family in various cities, I also frequent Hawai’i, LA and NY.   

SF Bay Area – Childhood & Upbringing

I’m a child of immigrant parents and was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. My parents were quite traditional Asian parents; so what mattered most to them for their kids was having security and stability. That means getting a good education, moving back home or close by, getting a good job, getting married, having a nice house, and having kids. Unfortunately for them, my life and heart did not lead me down this linear and traditional path of life. (I honestly do feel bad that I’m not the good traditional Asian kid any Asian parent would’ve wanted. But at the end of the day, I know they’re happy that I’m happy, and we all gotta live and be our authentic selves right? 😉)

I’ve always been a dreamer of experiencing new things and knowing places beyond my own world.  

Los Angeles – The City of Angeles

After graduating college in 2008, I chased my dream of getting into fashion and moved to Los Angeles for 6 years. It was certainly a fun and exciting time – right out of college, young and full of dreams, grinding alongside my friends working for large corporations in the fashion industry who paid us practically nothing, late nights at the clubs dancing the night away, weekends at the beach, trying new restaurants, and exploring this vast city and other parts of SoCal (Southern California).

Fast forward to 2011 – I went through quite a few traumatic life experiences back to back all within 4 months. It was a ripple effect of traumatic and bad things happening until the worst of it in June 2011, when my boyfriend passed away. He was and still is one of the best people I have ever known. And he has been and will always be my angel. I didn’t know it then, but this became the biggest turning point in my life. I learned so much about hitting rock bottom, strength, resilience and perseverance. I’ve always been more of a free spirit and adventurous soul. And going through 2011 only amplified all of that in me.

Suddenly, I didn’t care for the things everyone else cared about or that I was taught to want in the future. I didn’t care for the designer bags or material things as much anymore. I began to question things like: “Do I really care to have a big house one day with multiple cars?” or “Do I really care to have these designer bags and accessories?” I eventually realized that the answer was no. I wanted to spend my money on what was truly valuable and fulfilling to me: life experiences, travel, adventures, and spending time with my family and friends. As much as I never would want those traumatic experiences to happen to anyone, I am grateful for the hardships in general. I learned early on how short life really is, to question what I was taught, to care much less about societal norms and pressures, and to really pave my own path.

Travel Beginnings

I would say my true life of travel began in 2013 when I was 27. Quite late, I know. I honestly felt I couldn’t afford it before since I was living paycheck to paycheck (my first corporate job in fashion paid $13.16 an hour after graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science, crazy, I know!). I was also working for corporate fashion companies where we got the bare minimum vacation days (like 10 days) which I would use at least a few days to visit home. But to be fair, the first few years in LA I probably spent whatever disposable income I had on partying with my friends on the weekends lol! So excuses or not, here we are – 27 and going on my first real international trip to Thailand (not counting high school).

I remember feeling culture shocked, meeting people from different countries, eating delicious food, going on the most fun adventures, riding on the back of the pick-up truck through the beautiful rural lands. This trip officially marked this new journey and adventure of travel that is my life! Since then I have traveled to 35+ countries.

To answer many people’s questions to me at the time and to this day:

YES, I work! (Well, normally. I’m currently unemployed as I got laid off in January and just have been reassessing, self-caring, traveling and… starting my travel blog!)

And..

NO, I wouldn’t say I make a lot of money especially considering the areas I live in (honestly, I’m pretty sure majority of my friends make more than I do). I just prioritize traveling, I don’t spend a lot on material things, I find and wait for flight deals, I’m pretty flexible around when I fly, I find cute but affordable (for me) accommodations, and I try to spend what I’m comfortable with during my trips.

New York – Where Dreams Are Made Of

Jumping to 2014, I finally made the move to New York City which had been a huge dream of mine for years. I knew that if I never did it I would regret it for the rest of my life.

I never want to live my life waking up one day and wondering “what if”.  

The first few months were so rough for me. I left a full life in LA where I had everything, to move to a new city where I practically had nothing. No job, no friends, and uncertain of what the future held. I didn’t know how much longer it would be difficult but I told myself I would give it at least a year. I would’ve rather come to NY and hate it than wonder for the rest of my life what it would’ve been like. And honestly, moving to NY was the best decision of my life. Eventually, everything started to fall into place. I got a good job that allowed me to enjoy life in NY and also travel, and I started to build a solid group of friends who are to this day some of my closest friends.  

New York is one of the greatest cities in the world. It’s a city that will tear you down and make you feel the lowest of lows, but also make you feel the highest of highs. This is one of the reasons why the bonds and friendships I made in NY are so strong – because we go through the ups and downs, joys and struggles of living in this great city together. NY is one of the most diverse cities in the world with people from different walks of life and backgrounds. The energy in NY is like nothing I’ve ever felt anywhere else and I feel so damn fortunate that I had the opportunity to experience living and building a life there.

Fast forward to July of 2015, I went to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico for my friends’ bachelorette party. I ended up meeting someone at the club (lol) there and we dated for the next year. Though I may not have realized it at the time, dating and visiting him in Mexico was the birth and awakening of my love for Latin culture (music, salsa, bachata, language and traveling to/living in Latin countries).

My last year in NY, I started to feel that itch again of “what’s next?” I almost thought to myself, ok, so now I’ve successfully moved to NY and built a solid and fulfilling life here. Have I achieved all my dreams in life? Then slowly and eventually I started thinking about living internationally. This is something I never thought of before living in NY. Living in NY you come across many people from different places and also people who either have or want to live in other countries. So that seed got planted in my mind and eventually, I began to dream of having that experience too.  

End of 2017, I went to Mexico City for just a weekend. Even though it was a short trip I thought to myself, “I could really see myself living here”. A year later I was ready for a change. So in March 2019, I went back to Mexico City for a week to really get a feel for it and see if I really wanted to leave New York and move here. It was a big decision for me because New York meant SO much to me. It was my dream for so long that I finally made happen, it was such a difficult and lonely few months in the beginning, it was the place I built a solid foundation and group of friends who were like family to me. It was a lot to leave to say the least. But.. by day 2 in Mexico City, I had already decided I was going to leave NY and move to Mexico City for at least a few months. 😅 

Two months later May 2019, I moved out of New York. It was a very bittersweet feeling moving out of my apartment and heading to the airport. I remember being on the flight looking out the window as we flew further and further away from the city and thinking to myself: “Why can’t I ever be content staying in one place? Why do I constantly yearn for different places and experiences?” I guess I really do have the heart of a wanderer and nomad. As sad as I was to leave New York, at the same time I was soo excited for what was to come.

Mexico City – My Home Away From Home

I moved to Mexico City in June of 2019 for 4 months. (Currently, I’ve spent a little over a year in Mexico City.) At the time, many people still didn’t want to travel to Mexico City thinking it was a dangerous city. It was a glorious time before the rest of the foreigners started coming a couple years later lol.

Mexico City will always be such a special place to me. It was the first place I moved to outside of my own country. It was also the first time I moved to a new city and didn’t feel nervous at all. I think it’s because by this point, I had already experienced moving to LA and NY. So all I felt was excitement. 🙂

I can’t explain it, but Mexico feels like home to me.

I don’t even know where to begin to explain all my experiences living in Mexico City. It was definitely a different experience than living in LA and NY. I met and became friends with so many different types of people. They were from different places than me, had different types of jobs than me and most of my friends, and had different outlooks and experiences in life than most people I knew back home. This is one of the many things that I love about traveling and living in different countries.

Digital Nomad – A Life of Travel

I’ve been a digital nomad since I left New York in May of 2019. Since then, I return to Mexico City/Mexico for about 4 months every year. Aside from Mexico and the US, I’ve worked remotely from Colombia, Argentina, Italy, and Spain and continue traveling throughout Latin America, Asia and Europe.  

I’m a big advocate of experiencing living in other places than where you’re from. If for whatever reason you can’t, then I hope you can travel and explore as much as you can of this big beautiful world. Everyone has their own path, and it is up to us to create the life we want. I may not have had the easiest life, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. All of my experiences, good or bad, have shaped me into the person I am today and have allowed me to create this life that I am so in love with.  

You are worthy of living a life that makes you thrive and feel alive!