24 Things I Didn’t Hate in 2024
January 13, 2025
the latest
HI, I’M TERRA.
I’m a lifelong storyteller, nearing the final chapter of a 20+ year full-time career in the Army National Guard. These days, I’m building something new — one board, bolt and backroad at a time — slowly transforming a Ford Transit into a home.
This site is where I share that journey. You’ll find van build progress, road trip tales, quiet moments in wild places, and thoughts from the in-between.
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Poking anemones at Cabrillo National Monument
I always google the National Park units I visit before I actually visit them. I don’t need a ton of information, usually, just some basic history and a rough idea of what it is that makes the park special. When I did this for Cabrillo National Monument, in San Diego, the
July 31, 2017
Road Trip Pit Stops: Chattanooga National Military Park
When you’re on a multi-day drive in a big stupid truck hauling home some furniture that belonged to your dead grandmother, it’s best to include some adventures along the way. In fact, it’s probably mandatory. I’d never done the drive from Texas to Virginia, although it’s one my grandmother managed
July 19, 2017
A Handful of Hours in Verona, City of Love
Few things make me feel more legit as a world wanderer than showing up in a new city and taking public transit. Buses or metros or ferries or what the shit else, when I travel to new cities or countries, I want in on the public modes of transportation. And
July 12, 2017
Befriending Seals in La Jolla
I’ve come by the nickname “Snow White” honestly. It’s fitting for me, a girl who won’t turn down the opportunity to befriend or help an animal, who has two husky mutts who own my heart and also a terrible cat I found in my backyard when she was just a
June 28, 2017
Avoiding the Crowds & Chaos of Venice
I almost didn’t go to Venice. Everyone I asked seemed to have a very strong feeling about it. Someone would tell me how filthy and smelly and crowded it is and I’d decide in a huff that it wasn’t worth the effort because I hate crowds and also smells. And then someone
June 26, 2017
How to Spend a Layover in Amsterdam
Upon learning I had a nine-hour layover in Amsterdam, I immediately hit the google. Was that enough time for an adventure? How close is the airport to the city center? How hard is it to get out of the airport and back in a handful of hours? I had all the questions
June 19, 2017