When I Roam is a local’s guide to Mexico and dog travel blog to share what I have learned through my experience and help you plan your travels better. The title came from my recent move to Rome. ‘When in Rome’ became When I Roam. And it went well with my nickname, Loren. Now my instagram is Loren I Roam!
Rome is my base with my husband and our two dogs. Meet Mishka and Lilo here and follow their travels. From here we will travel wherever our little car can take us or where our dogs can go. Sometimes, like on the honeymoon we are planning to Uganda, they might have to be left behind. What can never be left behind is my disability. So I shifted my focus to help others that have dysautonomia travel the world.
I have been incredibly lucky to have traveled since I was just a couple of months old and have that wanderlust instilled in me by my parents. My bucket list is ever growing. Even when I finally do one of the things on my list, two others have been added. There is just so much to see and experience.
I’ve relied on travel blogs to find ideas for my travels, restaurants, hotels, unusual activities to do, etc. I am the restaurant chooser for my family. So I hope this travel blog helps you as well.
A little more about me
I am an entrepreneur. Setting up my company took about 3 years of constant mental and physical struggle. Entrepreneurs are always saying how they are always busy, but for me there was a lot of dead time and waiting. Especially in the beginning, I would hustle for a month, then have to wait. Travel has always been a way to relax and reset, something to look forward to break the monotony of life.
I’ve lived in 4 countries: Mexico, England, USA, and Italy. I speak three languages, Spanish, English and Italian. I hope to learn Arabic soon or maybe German! We will see where life takes me. A scuba diving trip to Egypt is a dream I have.
I think travel is the best investment we can give to ourselves as it opens our minds to other cultures, opinions and ways of seeing the world.
I won’t leave my job or my home to travel the world any time soon. Maybe someday I will get a sailboat and scuba dive around the world. For now, my disabilities keep me inside with a/c a lot, but I am to travel as much as I can. I want to explore the world with my two dogs and husband where possible, and not let my disability become an obstacle. I have a long list of places and activities in my bucket list so come along as I plan my travels around my disability and my two dogs.
I am an entrepreneur, a wife, a dog mama, a citizen of the world, a dreamer, a traveller and these are my stories.
Travels
On this travel blog you will find information on past travels I don’t want to forget, like my best five trips of a lifetime, both with suggestions of what to do or not to do (i.e. book a cruise around New Zealand for the wrong year) and future travels. I will mostly help you travel with your dog! This will also include some travel tips, like traveling solo as a woman, or living abroad.
Local’s Guides to Mexico City including:
Mexican slang so you can understand us!
Foods to try
Where to stay
Best museums
Must do activities
Best neighborhoods— including Roma, Condesa and Polanco
Safety tips
Day-trips from Mexico City
Where to get Mexican souvenirs
Off-the beaten path in Mexico City
Hot air balloon over
Beach escapes— Cozumel
Some of the places/countries I have visited:
Antarctica
Argentina
Australia — read why in my Funny Travel Stories post
Bahamas
Banff National Park
Bhutan
Croatia with dogs– roadtrip, Pula, beaches, activities, Plitvice, Split, 8 best cities
Ecuador
Hawaii— the walk on lava and wear a jacket every day kind
Japan
Mo’orea for the whales!
New Zealand
Peru— Amazon Rainforest
Some of the places on my bucket list:
Raja Ampat
Galapagos
Uganda
Kenya
Myanmar
Svalbard
Azores, Portugal
How I travel
A lot of my trips have been with my family. We are a bunch that love traveling and adventure. Others have been with my husband, my sister or solo. I’ve done a lot of solo traveling for work. People say I am very lucky I get to travel for work, and I am, but it can get lonely, tiresome and sometimes it’s hard to visit a place when you are there for 48 hours and half of that is spent in a conference room. One year I traveled 127 flight segments. Which means I got on 127 flights, in one year, sometimes spending less than 24 hours in one place.
I love slow travel and discovering places organically. I normally do a ton of research before going somewhere, especially now as a disabled person and traveling with dogs. But that research helps me map out the 2 or 3 non-negotiable things on a trip and then be adventurous and spontaneous discovering the rest.
For example, on our recent roadtrip around Croatia, I had Plitvice and Diocletian’s Palace as my must do and the cities we were going to use as base. I had pre-chosen multiple restaurants in every destination and along the way. The rest was up to what we felt in the moment.
I love adventure. Outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing, scuba diving, snorkeling, and camping are my favorite, though they require more planning now due to my chronic conditions. So come along and find out how I manage to still fit this part of myself in my life.
If adventure travel is not your jam, don’t worry. I also love history and culture, so I love walking around old cities and seeing museums and archeological sites. I think you really discover a place through its food and people. My dad makes fun of me for rating places by their food. But, hey, food is life!
