
Meet Melissa
the gal behind meliss meets world
Hey all! My name is Melissa, but everyone calls me Meliss. Originally from the States, my husband and I moved to London from Boston at the end of 2022. My husband and I actually grew up in the Midwest in Wisconsin. We both grew up in small towns and had big dreams to ‘move to the city’ after we were married. Shortly after getting engaged we actually went ‘city shopping’ traveling to New York City, Boston, and Washington DC. We absolutely fell in love with Boston and decided to move six months after we were married to start a new life together.
We made a vow when we were married to explore what the world has to offer by means of traveling. Even though my husband had traveled the world a bit while studying abroad, I had never left the country before getting married. Being the eldest of six girls I was fortunate to spend many trips to Disney World and around the country, but never across the world!
After moving from the Midwest to Boston, we really didn’t waste any time booking our first international trip together (I guess minus our honeymoon in St. Lucia). We headed to London and Paris six months after we moved to Boston, and once we started traveling we didn’t want to stop. We started to advance in our respective careers, myself as a nurse and my husband as an architect, and took full advantage of our yearly vacation allowances to travel the world.
Even though we had full-time careers, we still found time to pursue our true passion which was traveling. We explored the beauty of Boston and New England on weekends, especially the mountains of New England in the fall and winter and the incredible beaches in the summer. We planned two or three international trips a year using our paid vacation time. I didn’t even start documenting our travels through Instagram until I moved to Boston and have now been documenting everything and anything along the way to share with all of you here on MelissMeetsWorld!
Even though I grew up in the Midwest, I will always consider Boston and New England my home. It really is the perfect mix between American and European culture and one of the most beautiful places in America. We explored quite a bit of all the states including Boston and Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. After living in Boston for eight years exploring as much as we could, we were ready for our next challenge.
That next challenge would come in the form of a move abroad. We figured if we moved out of a small Midwestern town to Boston on our own, we could do the same in another country! The pandemic was a curse and a blessing, as it allowed us the time to research our move abroad. It also taught us how important the move abroad was for us; if we didn’t make the move then we might never will.
So there you have it, even though I share my love of Boston and New England here on MelissMeetsWorld.com, living in London has also allowed us to see more of the world which I also love to share as well. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to explore the beauty of the United Kingdom and the European continent, even when living abroad isn’t always easy! Planning a trip can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be! We still both work full time in London but always plan with a mix of budget friendly and splurge worthy ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ luxuries as well. I hope our experiences can help you plan your next trip or even inspire just a bit of wanderlust!
We turned our dreams into a reality, and you can too! Anyone can travel, so let me show you how! Please make sure to find me on Instagram to follow along on our journey as Americans living their big dreams in London! You can also reach out to me via email at MelissMeetsWorld@gmail.com or on Instagram if you need help planning your next trip!
a few of my favorite things
Favorite movie
Harry Potter obviously
Coffee order
Iced chai latte with oat milk
Couldn’t live without
My husband
Favorite destination
Who can choose, but the island of Nantucket is magical and like no place I’ve ever been
My guilty pleasure
Cheetos or those bite size powder sugar donuts yum
Favorite City
Boston
On repeat
2 Be Loved by Lizzo
Currently Binging
Any Romantasy book series