Namaste. Sawaddee. Marhaba. Hello.
My name is Beth Brancato. I'm the owner of My Journey of a Lifetime. I love to travel. In fact, I'm passionate about it!
Greece is where it all started at the tender age of 16. I was an exchange student and was having a dickens of a time with culture shock (although at the time I had no idea what culture shock was). I was ready to call it quits and go home. I called my dad, who told me to "be an American when in America and a Greek when in Greece" and then hung up the phone. After two days of crying, I emerged from my self pity and wandered out to the dinner table where my Greek father was devouring beans soaked in olive oil and a fish head. He handed me a piece of thick brown bread and gestured to a plate.
I never looked back.
Since then my travels have taken me to Canada, England, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, France, Monaco, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Austria, Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Ghana, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia (Sumatra, Siberut, Bali, Java), Bangladesh (a completely spontaneous side trip that turned out to be amazing), Panama, Japan, Costa Rica, Mexico, Jamaica, Antigua, and Aruba.
When I came back from Greece, something had shifted in me. There was an eagerness to experience life, a need to stimulate each sense as often as possible. It is in the marrow of my soul. It is who I am.
I spent my 20's working so that I could travel. My first journey being a one way ticket to the Netherlands with my 10 speed bike and my boyfriend. This journey shaped my relentless quest for the unknown. We biked until the hills became mountains and settled into a chalet for the summer, walking the ridges for supplies. Our refrigerator was the water trough.
More than 20 years have passed since the summer I bought a ticket from Switzerland to Spain — intent on getting to Morocco. I thought it was my last fling. With barely $100 in my pocket and all my life belongings in a hand-sewn wool blanket (aka back pack), I crossed the border into Morocco. Oh my! The stories between then and now....
Come join me on one of our journeys and create some stories of your own.
- be present
- be spontaneous
- be fully engaged
- find your passion
- get involved
- have fun
"Beth, the most amazing thing about this trip was watching you in action. Setting the stage for the magic we would experience. And magic it was, around every corner. Words and photos and stories won’t convey to the folks back home what we have seen and done. And it was all due to your efforts and love. Blessings upon your future journeys and the fortunate people who will be traveling with you."
~Bob Ferry, Oct. 2009