About
Get to Know Me
Ciao, I'm Heather
I adore quaint villages, towering mountains, serene beach days and eating my way through cultures (preferably alongside locals!). I adore cooking and sharing delicious food with those I love, and I absolutely adore discovering new places with those I love.
My husband and I set off for a year of travel in January of 2026 with the dream of unlocking slow travel (something very difficult for Americans… paid time off is only so aplenty!) and immersing ourselves in cultures around the world. We slow travel to a destination as best we can and then we help you get to know it, too. We do this through blog posts, podcasts and sharing photos and videos of the culture and our time spent delighting in it.
I created Travel Brava for you. Travelers who have a deep love not only for travel, but a love of understanding a culture and stepping foot in new lands with curiosity and respect at the forefront. Through Travel Brava, I want to help you understand places beyond their picturesque exteriors. I want to help you plan a trip that will enrich your life. And above all, I want to help you plan a trip the Travel Brava way… leaving a place better than you found it.
Meet Ben!
Not only is he chief photographer here at Travel Brava (he bought me my first and only camera and taught me everything I know!) but he’s also Travel Brava Podcast co-host and, first and foremost… my better half.
The keys to Ben’s heart: A free afternoon with pumping waves. A journey on a sailboat with a fishing rod in tow. A long trek in the mountains. A land with a plethora of bird species awaiting him to photograph them. FOOD.
Ben is a serious jack of all trades. He has more hobbies than anyone I’ve ever met and spends 100% of his time busy. He will always prefer to be barefoot, outside, and working with his hands. When he’s not improving our home in New Jersey, he’s working on his business or enjoying time in the ocean (any way he can!). He’s seriously impressive in his ability to always be going… and we couldn’t be Travel Brava without him.
College sweethearts, we got married in 2024 and we’ve been together for just about a decade. Ben travels the world right alongside me, which is my absolute favorite way to travel.
Our Travels Thus Far...
The love of travel has always been there for us. Before Ben and I met, we both have always relished in travel. After we started a life together, travel became something that solidified into a goal. How could we travel more and experience places for longer than only a week or two? How can we give places enough time to really wrap our heads around them, and to start to understand the people of a country and their cultures, rather than skimming a bucket list?
The goal turned into saving up for a full year off of work to travel. To give ourselves the freedom to take our time, be a little unplanned, and give destinations the attention they deserve. But even with a year, time is ever so finite. We had to start prioritizing. Which areas of the world did we want to go? Amongst the goal of a year of travel, we also had the goal of minimizing flights. No jetting off on a plane every month! Instead, our ideal was to base ourselves as much as possible to maximize our year.
The planning can only go so far before the demands of life come into play. We weren’t willing to miss out on once-in-a-lifetime events at home (three of our very good friends’ weddings were in the spring of 2026, luckily all within a two month span!), so a year of travel turned into two separate legs, split up by a trip home to stand by our friends during their wedding days. We wouldn’t have had it any other way.
First up was Central America, decided by another good friends destination wedding (we are within the WEDDING season of life!), followed by South America before our jaunt back home. We then took off for Europe for leg two, which we are currently in the midst of. The year is flying, we are learning an incredible amount about ourselves, our relationship, and the world as we go. And honestly? I never want it to end…
