Since leaving home for Europe alone at age seventeen, Karen Gershowitz has traveled to more than ninety countries.

In pursuit of her passion for travel, she lost and gained friends and lovers and made a radical career change. She learned courage and risk taking and succeeded at things she didn’t think she could do: She climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. She visited remote areas of Indonesia on her own and became a translator, though only fluent in English.

Karen is the author of Travel Mania: Stories of Wanderlust. Her example will inspire armchair travelers to become explorers and embolden everyone to be more courageous.

Karen lives in New York City.