Hi! My name is Reannon and I’m a travel addict.
During a ten year time period in my 20s, I lived in five countries and backpacked through over 40. I also interned at Disney World, worked on cruise ships in the Caribbean, au paired in Austria, studied abroad in Germany, taught English in Nepal, Japan and Guatemala and worked for an airline in San Francisco. Once, I even traded in my car for a plane ticket to India.
Taken by the Wind chronicles my life and love for all things travel.
Why is your site called Taken by the Wind?
“All your life,
You’ve never seen a woman,
Taken by the wind…”
~ lyrics from the song “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac.
My name is Reannon and I was named after a Fleetwood Mac song by the same name (although spelled differently – Rhiannon – ). Although I’m not the biggest Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks fan (sorry mom and dad) the lyrics seemed fitting for a site about a travel addict.
Some of the sample lyrics are “She rules her life like a fine skylark” and “She rules her life like a bird in flight.” Fitting, no?
The History of Taken by the Wind:
I started this site back in May 2008 when I moved to Tokyo. It began as an online journal chronicling my struggle to adjust to life in Japan, but has since morphed into a site about travel and life abroad (and at home).
After Japan, I moved back to the US to live in San Francisco. For nine months I worked as a customer service agent at an airport, before leaving to study Spanish in Guatemala and bum around Central America for four months. Now I’m back in the US again and am living in Las Vegas, Nevada. I currently work as a freelance writer and have just finished writing my first book—a travel memoir.
What is this blog about?
I love to explore the theme of culture and how it plays a part in our day-to-day lives. I also enjoy writing about quirky travel destinations and frequently post humorous stories, photos and updates about my adventures in the US and abroad.
Some of my most popular posts:
Scientists Discover the Existence of a ‘Wanderlust Gene’
Study Finds Time Spent Abroad Will Make You Nicer, Less Neurotic
Which Country Best Matches Your Personality?
What do you do when you’re not traveling?
I’m a full-time writer, graphic designer and social media marketer. This takes up a surprisingly large amount of time, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world! I love it.
When not working, you can find me reading and playing with my two dogs, Frankie and Bowser.
First, it’s always great to see a Fleetwood Mac reference. I’m trying to take 12 trips this year and reaching out to other bloggers for inspiration, tips and tricks. I look forward to reading about your adventures!
~Ashley
@ Ashley – That’s pretty sweet! I’m jealous…I really like your blog’s layout by the way. Simple yet sleek and professional-looking.
I love you! Seriously, I love you! I found your blog one hour ago and till then I can’t stop reading! Now I really need to focus on my work, but these days I’ll come back, read more and probably write comment under every single post (and sorry for that:D). You are amazing! :)))
Hey Neli,
Thanks! Feel free to comment away. I can never have too many of those! ; ) I checked out your blog. It was in Bulgarian…is that way you’re from?
Hey, you are very good with languages… and geography! Usually people are guessing Russian, because they don’t even know that Bulgaria exists 😀 Yeap, that’s my home country.:) And now I’m thinking of starting my blog in English, even though I’m not very good at it…
Hello Reannon. I just wanted to say that you are awesome, and an inspiration! I could only hope to do even a fraction of the traveling you do… but maybe one day that’ll change! I stumbled quite accidentally onto an article you wrote a couple years ago about being single and the prospect of dating in Japan. It was a great read! Very interesting (And totally wasted on a lot fo the readers, if some of the comments are to be mentioned. Holy hell, you attracted some judgemental/bitter people with that one!)
Anyway, I just wanted to say hello, and thanks for being a great distraction from work! 🙂
-J
@ Jonathan – Haha…Yeah there sure are a lot of opinionated people out there on blogosphere! Yikes. Glad I was a welcomed distraction. I hope you keep reading! : )
haha
I use to do my make up in the train.
And I was not sure if it annoys people or if anyone cares ? 🙂
I do not care if anyone does lol.
But this sign in Tokyo demonstrates that it really bothers someone ? 🙂 Or why do you think they ask people to do it at home ? 🙂
hm
Hi Reannon,
I’m in the middle of planning my Christmas roadtrip to Death Valley and was trying to find out if I could afford the time to branch off to Bryce Canyon again this year to do some winter trail hiking. I wholly agree with you…Bryce Canyon is just out of this world beautiful. I was there between Christmas and New year last year and was there also in the summer last year…yep twice in 6 months. I really must love this place…when you consider that I’m doing roadtrips from Toronto, Canada each time.
If I couldn’t travel, I might as well just pack it in. My friends used to think I was bonkers when I say my plan for next year is to drive from Toronto to Ushuaia, Argentina. They stopped calling me crazy….at least to my face, when I did a roadtrip this past July/August to the Arctic Circle in Canada, Inuvik in the Northwest Territories of Canada and Alaska from Toronto.
Keep writing and I`ll keep reading. Say hi to Frankie!
Chinedu…….(everyone calls me Chi….so you can too)
I’m in the middle of planning my Christmas roadtrip to Death Valley and was trying to find out if I could afford the time to branch off to Bryce Canyon again this year to do some winter trail hiking. I wholly agree with you