A virtual trip through the explorations of a Gringa with travel, food, photography, and the delicious underbelly of life in Brazil, the rest of the Americas, and borders beyond!...At 11, I took a long vacation with my grandparents that went through 28 states, Canada, & Mexico. It awakened the travel bug & my gypsy spirit I have since added 13 more states; a 2-week backpacking trip to France; a semester in Costa Rica where I traveled all over the country, to Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras & Guatemala, & later as a volunteer in the mountains near an active volcano; TEFL training in Buenos Aires, Argentina where I then lived & traveled around the north of that country; visits to Uruguay & Bolivia; a month-long backpacking adventure along the entire Brazilian Atlantic coast until I landed in the beach-side, colonial town of Paraty (or Parati) in Southwestern Brazil. I have seen time & again how food unites people even when only a game of charades & a smile are the singular methods of communication between them. I want to explore these ideas & how continue to shape my future. Although I am now back in the USA, I still am excited by food, its preparation, & how it creates culture. What started in Brazil will migrate throughout Latin America, into the USA, & beyond, crossing over further international borders.