When Sandra was growing up, only rich people could travel. When she finally became a teacher, things had changed, and now we all can travel if we save our pennies. Sandra has learned so many things about life, people, and cultures that she highly recommends that people experience life in other places.
She developed her love of travel when she traveled and performed with 120 people from 15 countries and 35 states in the international musical group Up with People where she visited 8 countries, lived with host families, and spread the message of appreciating and respecting people and their cultures. Her cast was the first to visit Moscow in 1988, which was the goal of founder Blanton Belk when he started the organization in 1965.

Sandra had always wanted to go to China because it was the homeland of her ancestors. When she finally visited in 2010, she finally understood many things about her culture that she could only learn in her ancestral country.

She jumped at the chance to visit Madagascar while partnering with Eden Reforestation, and now she is partnering with Accelerated Reforestation Collaborative which planted over 500,000 trees in 2024 in three countries! In Madagascar, she got to plant a couple of trees, learned about reforestation firsthand, and petted lemurs!