At the youthful age of 30, Ms. Dennard explored a total of 12 countries. “I’ve traveled to Japan, Morocco, France, Netherlands, South Korea, Africa, Belgium, England, Germany, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Senegal,” she said. 

Ms. Dennard’s devotion to expeditions traces back to her childhood TV show. “When I was a kid, we would watch The Amazing Race. It’s a competition show where you travel to different countries and then do little challenges. So that was probably what sort of started it. But when I was in college, I studied abroad in Europe and it really confirmed that I love to travel,” she said. 

Many memorable family trips nurtured her passion for travel. “When I was a kid, we went to the Bahamas once. We had one big family trip where we went to Spain, France, and England in 2018 for a few weeks. And then last year, we went to Costa Rica together,” she said. Ms. Dennard sends immense gratitude to her family for the continuous support of her numerous excursions. 

Out of the many, Morocco holds a special place in her heart. She describes the Northwest African country as fascinating. “It has a lot of interesting mix of cultures. There’s like a heavy Arabic influence and there’s a lot of French and Spanish influence. Also, people speak Arabic and French. There’s also the Berber, like Northern African, native influence. So it’s a really interesting mix of cultures,” she said.

Along with countless hours shopping in the vibrant streets of Morocco with her friend, she spent time scavenging through the barren deserts of Marrakech. “Me and my friend were traveling for a day trip to spend an overnight in the desert. So we were traveling from Marrakech in Morocco by car. We were dropped off on the side of the road, and then we were told we were going to be riding camels into where we were camping for the night,” she said. 

There, she clumsily mounted a camel for the first time in her life. “Camels look like they are similar in size to horses, but they are not. They are way bigger. It wasn’t too bad getting on the camel, but once the camel stands up, you realize how much bigger it is than a horse. So there was just a lot of almost falling off with my backpack. It was still fun though,” Ms. Dennard said. 

Although each destination has its own flair, some countries didn’t leave a striking impression. “My least favorite [is Germany] mostly because of the food. It was just kind of bland for me. It’s a lot of meat and potatoes with not a lot of spices,” she said. 

Among her highs and lows, Ms. Dennard’s secret to a ten-out-of-ten voyage lies in her philosophy. “You have to be okay with understanding that not everything is going to be the same as where you came from. It’s okay that not everybody does things the way that you did them. It’s okay that food is done differently. Or that public transportation is not the same. Or that people who walk on a sidewalk might not look at or treat you the same when you’re walking by. You have to be willing to go with the flow,” she said. 

Currently, Ms. Dennard settled in South Korea after an overwhelmingly positive tour combined with her desire to teach abroad. “When I was just visiting for fun last summer with my sister, we loved the food, it felt like people were very welcoming, and there was always something to do,” she said. 

Her process from job-hunting to DIS took place relatively quickly. “I wanted to teach abroad for a while, and so I just started looking at some jobs that were posted on a job site. And Korea was one of the only places posting anything so far. And I was like, ‘Ok,’ that’s one of the places I was thinking about anyways. So I just applied and then everything moved really fast from there,” she said. 

Although her journeys lend a refreshing perspective, she inevitably longs for her family. “Bring something with you that reminds you of home. I like to have pictures of my parents and my sister. Or if you’re from the beach, bring a little jar of sand. Just something that reminds you of home. And if it is possible for you to call them or call home when you’re away, just contact them,” she said.

With 12 countries down and counting, her collection of souvenirs continues to expand. “I might see if I can go to Japan or I might see if I can visit my cousin who lives close to Hong Kong. I might travel to Indonesia. I’d like to get to Australia and New Zealand at some point,” Ms. Dennard said. 

Whether it’s riding camels in Morocco or munching street food in Seoul, her passport never gets a break. It comes as no surprise that Ms. Dennard already filled her calendar with plans for her thirteenth country. “I definitely would like to keep traveling for as long as possible,” she said.