I’m Austin, a writer, artist, historian, and the creator of The Dalley Way, a blog that will document and examine my travels across the Mediterranean and beyond. Here, the rules aren’t strict. I write whatever comes to my mind, be it travel stories, journalistic style pieces, opinion pieces, or historical articles, and nestled among them my photography from along the way.

How I got to living this life really isn’t a surprise if you look into my past. I remember being a kid in the warm afternoons of southern California, always pretending to be somewhere else. To be on a ship sailing sapphire waters, moving through the branches of thick forests, climbing into caves and ruined temples. I’d spend hours flipping through the pages of my National Geographic atlas, running my fingers over the hundreds of maps as if touching them would somehow bring me closer.

But unlike with many people, age never extinguished my fires; as a teenager I spent hours on the internet reading about everywhere, everything, about language, cuisine, culture, and art. Amongst all the AP classes I had in my high school, Art History was where I shined and excelled, as in it I got to do what I love the most; talk about art, culture, and history. From this point I would go on to receive my bachelors degree in the History of Art and History from the University of California Santa Barbara, specializing in Ancient Greece (an area of history that has long been my most persistent passion).

Yet while in university I was trained to work in museums and galleries, somewhere deep down I knew I wanted to live that life, that real, visceral experience, of travel. And not for it to be temporary, but for it to be my whole life, my existence, to live and explore in the places that called for my heart. So now, as an adult, thats what I’m doing. Chasing the dream, the life, I’ve always wanted since I was a child. One of adventure, one of culture, one of some kind of enlightenment. And I’m doing it on my own, and writing it all down here, for you to experience with me. All I can hope now, is that you enjoy the ride as much as I do.