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Hi! I'm Tess Schumacher, founder of Candid Voyage, and this is my story. 

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I'm from a small town in the midwest, where I grew up planting gardens, running barefoot in the woods, and learning the importance of community and nature. A daughter of artists, I also have a deeply ingrained appreciation for creativity as a means for inspiring positive change in the world. 

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I studied at the University of California, Davis for 10 years (yup, a decade of my life spent in a classroom), and in that time I earned a BA in Psychology, an MS in Comparative Pathology, and a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. After graduation, I began working as a small animal emergency veterinarian, and I continue to work across the United States as a traveling veterinarian today. 

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I developed a love for travel and story-telling in my thirties, when I finally left academics and got a "real" job that could support my new interests. As I began to explore more of the world, I realized a common theme in all my wanderings - a passion for immersive experiences, local culture, and sustainable and eco-friendly travel practices. And the more I traveled the more I realized that I wanted to turn this into a lifestyle, not just an escape from my everyday life. 

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I created Candid Voyage as a platform to inspire a new form of travel and living that brings us back to our roots and fosters a healthy relationship with the planet, our non-human friends, and one another.

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My passion lies in the following: 

• Sustainable and eco-friendly travel and lifestyle practices

• Female empowerment through solo travel and support of local women 

• Cultural immersion, particularly in places that have been stigmatized or misrepresented by mainstream media

 

I'm always in search of like-minded travelers to join along on my candid voyage. So please, get in touch!