Meet Nikki Alaee | Writer, Traveler, Wife

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nikki Alaee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nikki, what makes you happy? Why?
An interesting dichotomy about me is that I love boundaries and systems, but I recognize that my greatest rewards and ultimate happiness have come from the times when I ignored the expectations of friends, family, and society and truly listened to my own heart.

I grew up in Montana. I loved that Big Sky, the people, and small town sports.

There was only one problem.

I am not a huge fan of the cold weather.

Between my junior and senior years of college, I went to a rodeo on the 4th of July. It snowed.

In July.

At that moment, I had an epiphany. Head South! The very next year, I packed up a few suitcases and moved to Florida. I was so scared. The town I lived in right before moving had a population of 600. I lived in the Tampa Bay area for many years and embraced the big city and beach life.

While living in Florida, I became the token single girl. After years of unsuccessful dates, my horizons widened. Quite a bit. No longer was there a “too old” or “too short” or “doesn’t have all of his teeth.” I was pretty much down to “not a felon” and “not married.” Other than that, I had gotten to the point where I’d basically let anyone buy me dinner, with the hopes of finding that miracle person who actually “got” me. My standards never waivered; I never settled. I just kept expanding that dating pool with the hopes of finding my one true love. You can blame this on being a hopeless romantic; too many novels and rom coms heightened my expectations.

A blind date at an art museum with a much younger man was filled with intelligent, thoughtful conversation. The museum turned into dinner, which then led to coffee and a bookstore, and my life with the perfect person for me finally began. I remember one of my friends saying at the time, “Just go on a second date with him. It’s not like you’re going to marry him.” I’m glad I took a chance on love. It is not exactly what I pictured, but my marriage is better than I ever dreamed.

After my husband completed his medical residency in Atlanta, we took a job at a hospital in South Georgia. After the intense grind of those three residency years, this new job offered a schedule of one week on, one week off. Wait, what? I retired from teaching and became a full-time writer, trip planner, and housewife. While I find tremendous joy in the trips themselves or the actual writing, I am most happy researching, brainstorming, and planning trips, books, projects, and ways to make our home a soft place to land for my husband. Being a doctor is never easy; these last few years have made it exponentially more challenging.

My latest installment of chasing happy? After being unable to travel from South Georgia during the quarantine, my husband and I made a vision board. And that board is how we ended up in Arizona, living in a city I had never previously visited.

So, what is my recipe for happiness? Following the calling of my true heart. Life is so short, you might as well enjoy being exactly you and embracing the activities that make you tick while you are here.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
After being an elementary school teacher for many years and living as a grammar snob for life, I have self-published two books for children. One features the difference between your and you’re and the other highlights the concept of never using an apostrophe when you are writing a plural noun. The latter was inspired by the Christmas card season.

I have been a reader and writer since first grade. Some time around 2005, my youngest brother suggested I start a blog. That first effort was a scattered mess, but I learned so much from that experience. That nugget morphed into a semi-successful blog in the Tampa Bay area. I blogged about books and did restaurant reviews. My goal was free books and food: that goal was happily met. Between an exorbitant amount of unsuccessful first dates and being invited to many restaurants for my blog, I have eaten an inordinate amount of free food in central Florida.

I lost my small blog following when we moved to Atlanta for my husband’s medical residency program. As any medical spouse will report, being married to a doctor means that you will spend a crazy amount of time alone. During residency, my husband had one day off per week for three years. Four days a month … for three years. It was at this time I started thinking about what it means to be a doctor’s wife, and how that had never even been on my list of things to do.

With the endless grind of those three years, we started dreaming about what we wanted our life to look like. We both love to travel, and that spark definitely buoyed us on the tough days. Dreaming about and planning a trip to Paris got us through the final six months of residency.

My blog has become a place to record our many travel adventures. My current site focuses on travel, book reviews, and lifestyle.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
A fun day in and near the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego, dear pretend friend. Grab a cute hat, your partner in adventure, and comfortable shoes.

Head out to breakfast at Richard Walker’s Pancake House in the Gaslamp Quarter. Make sure you have enjoyable company as there is always a line. Feast on the Apple Pancake (it must be seen to be believed) and settle in with a coffee, as this particular order takes ~20 minutes to make.

Walk to the Museum of Contemporary Art. It is free and focuses on local modern art.

Next stop is Sinfulicious Bodycare in Seaport Village. Here you will smell all of the smells and create your very own body care product. No chemicals, preservatives, and never tested on animals, you can feel good physically and mentally about shopping here.

Time for a cocktail! Dip into Puesto for a Watermelon Margarita (Del Maguey Vida mezcal, watermelon, fresh lime) and rest those feet for a few.

Continue your journey along the water and enjoy the many local products and food items. I can highly recommend the Turkish style donuts at Sweet Lokmas. If you are with your sweetheart, grab that person and dip like a movie star next to the Kissing Statue.

End your day with a light bite at the posh Lionfish. Order the Animal Style Beef Tartar (crispy potato, shredded iceberg, caramelized onion, aged gouda, secret sauce), a dozen oysters, and a crisp glass of white wine and this will be a perfect end to your epic day.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I owe a great deal of my happiness to my husband. We have been together since 2010 and I still pinch myself every morning. I can’t believe that the man of my dreams finally showed up! He is my biggest fan and supports all of my goals, big and small. He is crazy smart, thoughtful, kind, and ready for any adventure that I plan. When I was a little girl, I loved Nancy Drew. My favorite was The Secret in the Old Lace. Nancy becomes part of a mystery that ends up being solved in Belgium. I was eight years old and my Montana self started making big plans. A few years ago, my sweet husband bought me a copy of that book and took me to Brussels. I turned to him and said, “You made all of my dreams come true. What am I going to do now!?” His response? “Well. You need new dreams.”

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