“‘Little Backpack Big Dreams’ is travel memoir about the three months I spent budget backpacking through Europe in 2014,” Trandell said. “The book is meant to inspire and encourage fellow adventurers to pursue their travel dreams while doing so on a budget.”

She added that she hopes those who read her book will come away feeling inspired to pursue their own adventures.

“Anyone can achieve their goals and dreams with drive and determination,” Trandell said.

Trandell was born and raised in Alpena, and lives downstate in Clarkston now.

Courtesy Photo A very excited Cally Trandell holds up a copy of her travel memoir, “Little Backpack Big Dreams” after unboxing a shipment of her freshly printed books.

“I journaled the whole time, and turned it into a book,” Trandell said about her trip to Europe.

At first, she thought she would just type up her journal entries to keep for herself, but as she got going and sharing her stories with friends and family, they encouraged her to get it published to share with others.

“They planted that seed, and since 2015, when I put it into a Word document, I’ve been editing it and revising it and adding more content, and making it a book that people would want to read, rather than just my journal,” Trandell said. “Over the years, it’s just, kind of, evolved from my journal thoughts to, now, a published book.”

She got it published through Sarge Publications in Alpena. Her dad, Ed Klimczak, owns Allegra Marketing in Alpena, which houses Sarge Publications. The book is available online at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other retailers. She worked with Book Baby to get it distributed to those companies.

“As a new author, you have no idea where to start,” she said. “I’m very lucky and privileged to be able to have that connection” she said of her dad owning a printing and publishing company.

She talked about the three months she spent exploring Europe.

“I moved through 16 different countries,” Trandell said.

She was not alone on her journey, as her then-boyfriend and current husband, Ron Trandell, accompanied her for the entire trip. Her college roommate, Brittany Heckman, came on the trip for the first half as well.

“She was traveling with us the first month-and-a-half, and then she went on to travel solo, and then, my boyfriend and I finished the trip together,” Trandell said.

She explained why she wanted to backpack around Europe.

“Ever since I was young, I’d read books and seen things online, and I’ve always wanted to travel,” Trandell said.

She lived in Alpena until middle school, when she moved to St. Ignace. She then attended Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant.

“I started doing volunteer trips,” Trandell said, while she was in college. “So, every spring break or winter break, I went on a trip.”

She went to New York and worked with formerly incarcerated individuals, went to Indiana and worked in a homeless shelter, went to Belize and helped build a road that was leading up to an orphanage.

“I loved the service part, but I loved getting to explore new areas, too,” Trandell said. “Especially Belize. Seeing a different culture, how people live.”

She said she had always wanted to backpack through Europe.

“I met my husband, and within the first two weeks of meeting each other, we found out we both wanted to travel,” Trandell said. “We both wanted to backpack through Europe, so I said, ‘Let’s do it! Let’s start saving, and actually make this a reality.’ So, we moved in together fairly quickly, lived together for a year, just to make sure we could stand one another, and worked on saving. And, after our lease was up, we picked up and went to Europe.”

She was 24 when they started their adventure.

“I feel like I learned more traveling than any textbook could ever teach me,” Trandell said. She learned a lot about patience, resiliancy, time management, budgeting, flexibility, and more.

“All of those were great lessons I don’t think I would have had if I didn’t have real-world experience with that,” she said.