Ashley Althouse | Admissions Advisor

I grew up like a typical midwesterner, surrounded by cornfields, and hardly ever left my hometown. During my senior year at WSU, I participated in a study abroad program for conservation biology in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest that triggered my travel bug! I lived with an indigenous family in the Amazon for three weeks then, after finishing my biology degree, moved to Cusco.

I spent the following 5 years exploring every corner of Peru; experiencing parts of the country that even locals had never heard of. I completed my graduate studies remotely and worked for a virtual travel agency where I made lifelong friends and met my husband.

In 2019 we moved back to Ohio to be closer to my family and work on some personal goals. We have since welcomed our first child and can’t wait to introduce him to Peru and continue traveling with him!

I’m from Springfield, Ohio and studied at Wright State University in Dayton. My graduate studies were done virtually through Arizona State University online while living abroad.

My first time traveling abroad was to the Peruvian Amazon rainforest to study conservation biology as an undergraduate. There was so much newness to absorb, my senses went wild! I loved it so much that I went back a few months later alone, and ultimately moved there once I graduated. I figured out how to stay for the maximum time allowed on a tourist visa, and eventually got my work visa so I could earn money and continue traveling.

Peru and Canada.

I lived in Peru for 5 years!

My husband and I worked together at a travel agency in Cusco with just three other coworkers. It was nearing the end of the year and none of us had taken our vacation time for the year yet, so we were granted two weeks off together. We decided to backpack across the country! We took a bus from Cusco to an oasis in the Nazca desert called the Huacachina where we went sandboarding and riding in dune buggies and stayed in an eco-camp. We then caught another bus to Lima where we stayed in a super fun hostel and played pool and ping pong every night. The last stretch was another long bus ride up the coast to the northern tip of Peru, Mancora, where we stayed on the beach and ate the most delicious seafood. The whole trip was almost two weeks and over five 15+ hour bus rides! We lived day by day with only backpacks. So much fun!

Peruvian, obviously! Ceviche! Pollo a la Brasa! Arroz con Mariscos! Adobo! All of it.

I am so excited to be able to make this lifestyle possible for every person I talk to. I love to tell my travel stories and help others see that it’s possible and will be the best decision of their life, one step at a time. If I can do it, anyone can… and definitely should!