Hi, I'm Tina!

About Me

I was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina and spent nearly a decade in New York City building my career in tech before trading coasts and moving to California in 2021.

A few life-changing inflection points have happened in the last 5 years:

• I came to the realization that I felt unhappy and unfulfilled, even though I had all the things I thought I was supposed to obtain – a good degree, a resume filled with important sounding titles, and a predictable, blissfully domesticated routine and life. But it still felt like something important was missing from my life. I felt stagnant and like I was sleepwalking through life.
• I uprooted my life as an east coaster and moved out west – specifically seeking a city where ocean and mountains converge. San Francisco felt like a natural fit due to my career, so I sold or gave away all my furniture over 2 weeks, packed up a few boxes, and got on a plane bound for California.
• I started enjoying the outdoors. As a New Yorker, my idea of being outdoorsy was brunching outside on a patio. I was horrified at the idea of sleeping in a tent. My family also wasn't really into the outdoors in an adventure sense (they are all fantastic gardeners, though), so hiking, camping, and backpacking were all new to me as an adult.
• I bought my first bike, a steel Trek touring frame, and it didn't take long for me to realize that traveling by bike is a far more efficient and exhilarating way to travel than by my two feet. (At this time, I was in the midst of training for my first marathon, which hastened the speed of this discovery.)
• I stopped drinking.
• I learned it was okay to get a little lost.

What the heck is a OneBagabond?

Just a fun mash-up between 'onebag,' the ethos of traveling light and, as the name suggests, with only a single bag, and 'vagabond,' someone who wanders and explores without a fixed home. Since I aspire to travel cheaply, simply, and slowly, the name felt appropriate. The very act of 'onebagging' – of prioritizing what you need, of deciding what qualifies as essential, of knowing everything you need is on your back – is also such a beautiful metaphor for living a simple life.

Why start a blog?

This is a place for me to document my journey, musings, lessons, and mistakes along the way. I'm constantly learning, reflecting, and figuring stuff out (and will no doubt continue to 'figure stuff out' for the rest of my life), so my plan is to write about some of my adventures and experiences in real-time.

My therapist once told me that the way to healing was through community, being in our bodies, and sharing our stories.

These are a few of mine.