About me

Hi! I’m Christine

I like going places… probably obvious if you’re here. I like really good food, local markets, the random things you only find once you’re there, and figuring out how things work somewhere that isn’t home. I’m curious about almost everything, I plan a lot, I change my mind often, and somehow there is always, always, somewhere else I want to go.

A Little More About Me

Because I do occasionally exist somewhere other than an airport. I want Beyond the Window Seat to feel less like you’re watching someone else travel and more like you’ve come along for the trip: the plans, the changes to the plans, the great decisions, and the occasional questionable one. That probably works better if you know a little about the person making all these spreadsheets.

I took my first international trip at 15, and that was all it took. Since then, I’ve made my way through all seven continents, from places I’d been thinking about for years to places that weren’t originally on the list at all.

I’m not a full-time traveler, and this isn’t my job. I have a home, a career, dogs, and a fairly normal life in Florida. Travel is just the thing I keep coming back to. I like the anticipation, the logistics, the unfamiliarity, and that moment when somewhere I’ve spent months looking at on a screen becomes an actual place I’m standing in.

I still get excited about a ridiculously good meal, a new passport stamp, and, naturally, the view from a window seat at 38,000 feet.

For me, planning isn’t what happens before the trip. It’s part of the trip.

I genuinely enjoy the research: comparing flights and hotels, figuring out which points are actually worth using, finding the restaurant I don’t want to miss, choosing the right seat, working out what needs to be booked six months ahead, and deciding where spending more will actually make the trip better.

That’s also a big part of why this site exists. I’m already doing the research, making the spreadsheets, comparing the options, and keeping track of what everything costs. Beyond the Window Seat is where I turn all of that into something useful for someone other than me.

My brain likes a plan. I like knowing how things work, what my options are, and what I’m getting myself into. Give me enough tabs, reviews, maps, and spreadsheets, and I’m perfectly happy.

But I’ve also never taken a trip that unfolded exactly as planned. Flights get delayed. Tours get canceled. Weather changes things. Restaurants close. You get stuck for a couple days in a few shipping containers with 100 strangers in Antarctica (true story).

That’s why I plan so much beforehand. Knowing my options makes it easier to change course without feeling like the trip is falling apart. I want a framework, not an hourly schedule.

The plan gives me options. It doesn’t give me rules.

When I’m not traveling, or planning the next trip, I’m home in Florida, where I grew up. I work remotely in the tech field and have four degrees, none of which are particularly relevant to working in tech…so I guess that worked out well. I also read enough books every year to make packing a Kindle one of the easiest travel decisions I make.

I’m a football person, a sometimes-runner, a yoga practitioner, a baker, and a sci-fi fan. I have strong feelings about Disney, museums, theater, good food, and more things than anyone asked me to have strong feelings about.

And then there are Bingley and Picard, my Cotons, who have spent years being considerably less impressed by my travel schedule than I am.

Basically, there is a whole life happening between the trips. This is just the part of it with the most boarding passes.

Continents Visited
Countries/Territories Visited
US States Visited
Global Disney Resorts Visited

So, where have I actually been?

31 countries · 7 continents
Hover over the map to explore.
27 of 50 states
Hover over the map to explore.

Where to Next?

I’ve been lucky enough to stand on all seven continents, and somehow my travel list is longer now than when I started. Turns out seeing more of the world mostly teaches you how much of it you still haven’t seen.


I’ve also learned that I’m probably never going to be a go-with-the-flow traveler. I like the research. I like figuring out the flights, finding the places I really don’t want to miss, and knowing enough about where I’m going to change the plan when something better comes along. Half the fun happens before I ever leave home, and the other half usually gives me ideas for three more trips.

The best trips have also made me care a lot less about doing travel the “right” way. I’ll happily spend more for something I’m genuinely excited about and skip the thing everyone says I’m supposed to do. I don’t need every trip to be luxurious, perfectly optimized, or packed from morning to night. I just want it to feel worth the time, money, and stupid number of browser tabs it took to get there.


So consider this less of a record of everywhere I’ve been and more of a very incomplete file. There are plenty of blank spaces left, and I fully intend to keep filling them in.