First Time Tourist is for people who hate feeling like a tourist. The ones who want to actually experience a new place, not just pass through it.

I built this site because I kept finding the same thing every time I searched for travel advice: guides that were clearly written by someone who had never actually followed their own itinerary. Vague recommendations, obvious tips, and zero real opinions. I studied journalism at San Diego State University, which taught me that people deserve the real version of things, not the polished one. That is all this is.

I live in San Diego with my husband, who is always the first to say yes to new trips, our daughter who is almost two and already has strong opinions about everything, and our two cats Stassi and Daisy, who could not care less where we go as long as someone feeds them. I am not a full time traveler and I do not have an endless budget. I just really love going somewhere new and figuring out how to do it right, then coming back and telling you everything I wish I had known before I went.

No fluff. No tips that sound useful until you actually try to follow them. Just honest first hand advice from someone who has actually been there and is not afraid to give you a real opinion about it.

Your first time somewhere should feel like you already know someone who has been there.

Now you do.