Hello there, I’m Karmen: blogger, foodie, passport junkie, and more. Between family road trips, study abroad, and other escapades, I was hooked on seeing the world by the time I graduated from college.

From 2011-2013 I lived in Taiwan, teaching English, and exploring Asia. It was one of the best experiences I’ve had and I still consider Taiwan to be a second home.

2013-early 2014 was spent in Australia on a working holiday visa. There I spent 2 months traveling Western Australia and the Northern Territory via camper van. After which I settled in Melbourne for 7 months to work and soak up one of Australia’s most unique cities.

After a month backpacking Asia, I went back in my native Wisconsin for about a year (because sometimes it’s good to come back and re-explore home.) During that time I taught ESL part-time and applied for graduate school.

In 2015 I moved to Monterey, California and started my MA in International Education Management and worked on my Mandarin Chinese during their summer intensive program.

In 2016 I finished my MA and returned to Taiwan for the summer studying Mandarin Chinese more in at National Taiwan University in Taipei. After I moved to Friday Harbor, Washington where I’ve been working with the International Student Programming at Spring Street International School.

If you like what you see here feel free to follow me on Instagram check out my Professional Portfolio.

Simple Things

A peaceful artwork at the National Gallery of Victoria