Hi, I’m Jessica. I love to travel and especially love to travel  around the beautiful United States! When I’m not traveling, I love  photography, cooking, checking out creative restaurants and snuggling up  on the sofa with a book and my big spoiled rescue dog Nelson.

Fun  fact (about me this time) - by the time I turned 28, I had traveled to  all 50 states. People always ask me how that happened. Lucky for me, I  got a huge head start by having the big ones done early; I grew up in  New England, but traveled to Alaska with my family when I was in high  school and to Hawaii with a friend while living in San Francisco. The  big inspiration occurred when I decided to move back to the Boston area  and took a road trip across the country. I fell in love with all the  great cities and small towns across the US. Who wouldn’t, right? I did a  slow meandering route so I could experience it all! I met so many  wonderful people and brought home great local products for family,  friends and for me as a reminder of my adventures.

I am lucky  (random people on airplanes tell me so!) in that my love for traveling  is paired with the ability to sleep through entire flights (even when  there are 3-hour runway delays). That certainly makes it easier to check  out a new city for the weekend!

Having a creative streak and  entrepreneurial spirit myself, I have always been interested in and  appreciated artisan products and supporting local businesses. Who  doesn’t like popping into a local farmers market and seeing the same  friendly faces who might ask how you like the fresh jam you bought last  week? I want to support those small local businesses wherever they are,  so I seek them out in my travels. And that is the inspiration for Explore Local Box.  I am so happy to bring these local products to you! It’s a fun way to  explore the great cities of the United States and support all of these  wonderful creative small businesses out there. I have been to all the  featured cities and personally selected the items; they’re ones that I  have tried or use myself or would give to a friend or family member.

So…come explore with me and meet these wonderful artisans from around the country, too!

We love to hear from you.  Whether you are a vendor who would like us to feature your product or a customer who has an amazing city that we should explore next time - let us know.  Please email us at sales@explorelocalbox.com .   We look forward to hearing your ideas!