ABOUT.

Despite the name Kellie Autumn Ell, Kellie was actually born in the summer. Her mother, a Florida native, met a cute boy from Connecticut many moons ago. As the story goes, the duo fell for each other, and the young lady packed her bags and followed him to New England. When she arrived in the small Connecticut town for the first time she fell in love with the explosion of colors. “We don’t have these where I’m from,” she said, and named her daughter, who would be born there a few years later, after her favorite time of her.

Perhaps it’s in her blood — Kellie’s desire to see new places and experience new cultures. After all, her parents were constantly in motion, and so too has she been throughout her life. The multimedia journalist has traveled the globe, to Asia, South America and Europe, as well as throughout the United States for work and pleasure, and in the process developed new perspectives on the world.

After high school, Kellie traded in the East Coast to study journalism and American Sign Language in San Francisco. In the City by the Bay, she found a place that celebrated diversity like no other. After college Kellie worked in the nation’s capital and spent time in Peru sharpening her Spanish-language skills. Upon her return to the West Coast, she wrote for various publications, including the Nob Hill Gazette magazine, San Francisco Chronicle and the Oakland Tribune.

In 2011, a combination of wanderlust and curiosity once again propelled her to try something new — this time to another continent. Kellie spent more than three years in South Korea, working as the sole American in a large-scale Korean company and as a freelance journalist.

Earlier this year Kellie returned to the United States and currently works throughout the country, covering businesses trends for a variety of publications.

When not working, Kellie can be found pursuing her other passions, riding her bicycle and traveling — staying constantly in motion.
 

SOUTH KOREA

When my college roommate told me she was going to South Korea for a year I immediately bought a ticket to go visit her. I had no idea what I would find on the other side of the ocean. I had no idea that I would fall in love with the lifestyle and in the process begin to see the world in a completely different way. After my initial visit I came home, pack up my apartment in San Francisco and move to a continent where I knew no one.

“Why would you go to Korea of all places?!,” people would ask. “Why not go to Japan? More fashionable. Or China! Better to learn Chinese.”

But, there are many things Koreans do well: public transportation, technology, healthcare, karaoke, skincare, healthy foods, fashion, working hard, hiking, enjoying life, coffee shops, music. I could go on. I had discovered a way of life that was unlike anything I had ever experienced in the United States, and, despite what I had been taught in my American education, was in many ways superior.

Yet most people know very little about this small country. When media stories come out of South Korea they are largely overshadowed by North Korea. What no one ever talks about are the stories of the people who make up one of the most densely populated countries in the world. No one ever talks about how South Koreans fall in love, when and why they marry—and how this is often in the absence of love, how they have fun or the steadfast friendships that form among classmates and colleagues, or their obsession with learning English and being perfect. People rarely talk about “same-same” culture and the desire — and benefits — of remaining homogeneous, or the very real fear many Koreans have of foreigners. No one ever mentions the nation’s desperation to be recognized apart from their neighbors to the north, or that most South Koreans below a certain age do not want to reunify with North Korea. These were the stories I found.

It was here, in a city that never sleeps, in the tiny nation that has for centuries been attacked, invaded and colonized by outsiders that I found one of the most peaceful places on earth, a second home, forever securing its place in my Seoul. 
 

SAN FRANCISCO

Growing up in Connecticut outside of New York I always assumed New York City was the best place ever. But there was still a small part of me that wondered about the other major metropolis — California. The only point of reference I had was from a family trip to Los Angeles when I was five, the waves on the beach crashing over my head — almost twice as big as the ones on Long Island — and the big orange sun setting on the beach three hours behind schedule, bed time in Connecticut! It all seemed so far away. So when I had to chance to study in San Francisco I took it, surprised and delighted about how much I loved this small city tucked away on the other coast. Here was a place that was proud of its diversity — and celebrated it with gusto. During my time in the Bay Area I worked for the Castro Courier newspaper, covering the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender community, including the first-ever LGBT historical museum in the United States opening in San Francisco. I learned American Sign Language and made many deaf friends, which enabled me to learn about deaf culture. And, I was able to practice my Spanish daily.

People often talk about the astronomical rent prices in San Francisco. That’s no lie. But what people who don’t live there don’t know is that when you live in San Francisco you’re paying for the culture; you’re paying for the freedom to be yourself and live how you want.
 

PERU

As a kid, before I was old enough to take the Spanish classes offered in middle school, my babysitter from Peru would teach me my first words in Spanish.  

“Un día vas a ir a Perú,” she would say. “Y le va a encantar.” One day you will go to Peru. And you will love it.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t the hustle and bustle of the capital Lima that was most intriguing. It was the quiet calm of the Amazon jungle in Iquitos, Peru that created an unparalleled experience. Unlike the capital or Machu Picchu which see thousands of tourists a day, the jungle villages were filled with people who were happy to be quietly living in paradise, many of whom had never left or saw any reason to leave. Despite the absence of amenities that we have in the United States, these were some of the happiest people I’ve ever seen.

WASHINGTON D.C.

TRAVELS