In 2007, I was invited to Paris, France; Geneva, Switzerland; and Siberia, Russia as part of International Polar Year projects. As a single Mom at the time, I was able to bring my daughter with me, while my son stayed at home with family. This was really both of our first experiences of other cultures, architecture, and landscapes. As invited guests, we not only got to see the “tourist highlights”, but we got to know and love the locals and experience parts of these countries that aren’t normally open to visitors. These experiences set the tone for what we look for when we travel and created in me an unwavering passion to experience the world with my paintbox.