Arriving well after sunset, Jane’s first adventure on the island of Aruba was a haphazard lesson on how to drive a stick shift in the Queen Beatrix airport parking lot. She never planned to move to Aruba, as in it wasn’t some lifelong dream she had to live on a tiny island in the Caribbean sea. She simply clicked every region on a world map while applying online to teach overseas. She was willing to go anywhere, yet destiny carried her to a small rock in the middle of nowhere, some 2,196 miles away from a very large expanse of land in Texas. Brave and foolish enough to accept the offer, she sold everything she owned and packed what she deemed would be essential to survive her new shipwrecked existence into six oversized suitcases. She would quickly acquire a living-with-less, minimalist mantra and learn to love it.

Jane now resides in the small neighborhood of Tanki Flip where chickens and goats cross dirt roads and her neighbor, Poor John, brings his catch of the day. Weekdays are spent teaching multiple grade levels of students from all over the world. They are all teenagers, so everyday at work is an adventure aside from island living. During the weekends, you can find her trekking island terrain in flip flops with a camera bag slung over her shoulder, striving to capture all of the magic inside frame after frame. She also attempts to record experiences with words so as to never forget her time in paradise, but also to keep friends and family updated. She has quickly discovered that Aruba is a multicultural precious jewel of an island on planet Earth and wants everyone to know that as well.