I can't visualize or recall images. I make a living traveling the world and take photos to preserve my memories.

03.03.2024 - 13:19 / insider.com

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kate Boardman, a 36-year-old former teacher and current content creator from Massachusetts who has lived abroad for the past 12 years in countries including Vietnam, Australia, Guatemala, and Bahrain. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm from a tiny town of 1,300 people in middle-of-nowhere Massachusetts. There's not even a store in my town.

Going back as far as eighth grade, my goal has always been to travel the world.

In the last 12 years, I've traveled to 53 different countries and have lived in 10, including Germany, France, Thailand, Australia, Guatemala, Bahrain, and Indonesia.

I've always enjoyed sharing my adventures and experiences, and capturing my life through photos and videos to show the world. It's also a way for me to preserve my memories.

I have this thing called aphantasia, which is the inability to visualize in your mind. It only affects a small amount of the population, about 2% to 3% of all people. I found out I had it a year ago.

I didn't realize that other people could actually see images in their minds, like when they're lying in bed and visualize counting sheep. Aphantasia doesn't really affect my life, but now that I know that I have it, it makes sense why I'm always taking photos and videos.

Creating content is a way for me to preserve my memories and be able to watch them back like a movie.

I was 14 during my first international trip. My grandparents took me to Mexico, and initially, I pitched a fit because I didn't want to go. I was being a bratty teenager when I found out we weren't going to stay at a beach resort somewhere like Cancun, but instead, experience the real Mexico.

I ended up going and had the most amazing time interacting with the locals and trying new foods. It changed everything in my life. After that, the travel bug hit me hard.

When I was 15, I did an exchange program in Germany where I lived with another family for a year. I loved learning about a new culture and language, and experiencing a different way of life.

After graduating from high school, I attended college at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, where I studied international business. During my junior year, I did another exchange program in France.

When I graduated college in 2009, the economy was in a slump, so I took a cubicle job. It sucked the life out of me. I was sitting in a little box, entering orders on a computer all day. I realized this was not what I had signed up for, so I quit my job.

I decided to move to Thailand, where I could teach English. But what was initially meant to be a year of teaching turned into 12 years of traveling abroad.

During those 12 years, I lived in Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, and