Welcome to Traveltrash blog!

I must admit that I created leannafugate.com in 2011 with no intention of ever using this blog feature. I was teaching and playing music full time and built this website to reach out to the world as an independent artist. In the early 2000’s, WordPress was used for blogs by people who knew little to nothing about web development. I had heard I could also build and manage a website through WordPress with little knowledge about how websites work. And though sometimes I did find the process frustrating (this sort of thing is definitely not my forté), I was able to create a website I was more or less happy with. It did what I needed it to do and I could manage it all myself. For an independent artist that’s pretty sweet.

But, if I recall, WordPress kept trying to get me to use the blog function. I was not interested. It just wasn’t my thing.

As a matter of fact, I never really thought about starting this blog until about 2 weeks ago. So what happened to make me change my mind? Well, let me back up a bit.

In 2018, my partner Jay and I left our jobs behind and began a quest to open a rural hotel somewhere in this wide world. In 2025, we bought what is now 3 Cabras Perdidas in northern Spain on the border of Portugal near the Miño river. In so many ways, it was an incredible dream come true. But I will not lie, the first year has been a challenge. We have come against more unforeseen obstacles than we could have imagined. But, we are fighters and really want to make this dream a reality.

Luckily, we have help. We have met some incredible people since we moved here, a few of them who work in hospitality. And a couple of weeks ago we had drinks and dinner with a couple who work remotely as consultants for 4 and 5 star international hotels. And they told us something really quite surprising. Because of AI, the blog back. AI is not looking at Instagram or any other social media; it can’t search it. But, it can search your website and your blog. So, yesterday 3 Cabras Perdida’s blog went live and today, Traveltrash blog is born.

And surprisingly, I am excited about the idea. I have been wanting to write about travel for many years now. I love writing and I love traveling, so this makes sense. I have traveled as a solo female, with my partner, family, and friends and have many observations about all of those dynamics and how they can shape your trip. I have had so many amazing experiences and I think this will be a great way to share a few of them with the world.

And so it begins. And though I will mostly post about travel, I will also be sharing way too many pictures of my cats, my chickens, and the countless amazing sunrises and sunsets we see here at 3 Cabras Perdidas. So welcome to Traveltrash, I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing this blog!