Our Adventurers Abroad feature this month is a chapter from my new book “Adventurers Abroad: The New American Expat Generation.”

“I have two young girls that I am trying to raise into global citizens, that is my dream. I want them to speak multiple languages. I want them to understand the world and the history of the world. I do not want them living back in the States, in that environment. We are not going back there any time soon.”

At age 41 Cordelia Rojas is an independent, adventurous New York City woman who knows what she wants and is not afraid to do what it takes to get it. She learned from an early age to follow the road less traveled, which led her first to London and later to Singapore and Bangkok.

Cordelia’s love of travel and adventure grew from the many vacation trips her family took. Her father, a New York City travel agent, gave Cordelia her first taste of travel, taking the family to new and exciting places almost every year. Her French mother also took Cordelia and her two brothers on long, carefree summers in the Loire Valley to see her family.

Her restless mind and high spirit created problems for Cordelia when she reached high school. She was easily bored and changed private schools every year until she finally moved out of her home at seventeen to live on her own.

She realized, though, that success in life would require a college degree. She took and passed the GED test for a high school equivalency diploma and enrolled at Hunter College in New York. To support herself, she worked at a series of retail jobs that helped her pay the bills.

“The original plan for my education was to move to California, establish residency there and then attend one of the state universities because tuition and fees were so much cheaper. But instead, I ended up going to my uncle’s wedding in Europe and met a very charming Danish photographer. That was it. I moved to London for love when I was just twenty years old.”

Cordelia did not like London at first but as she got to know the city and developed friendships, her opinion changed completely. She passed through a number of jobs in London, from an accountant’s assistant to manager of a small Japanese print gallery, until an adventure in Turkey beckoned in 1999.

“I had always been interested in sailing and decided to learn how to sail when I lived in London. That led to a wonderful opportunity to teach sailing in Turkey. I really loved that job. I lived most of the time on the Datça Peninsula, which is located between the cities of Marmaris and Bodrum on Turkey’s southwest coast. The travel brochures call it the turquoise coast because the water has that beautiful blue-green look. I felt like I could have lived there forever.”