I’m April Jay, the storyteller behind The Year of April.

What started as a place to share style inspiration and cultural discoveries has gradually grown into something bigger: a collection of travel stories shaped by curiosity, atmosphere, and the little details that make a place unforgettable.

When I travel, I’m less interested in checking landmarks off a list and more interested in the feeling of a place. The quiet café hidden down a side street. The eerie hallway of an old building that makes you pause for a moment. The bakery window that stops you mid-walk because something inside looks too good to pass by.

Over time, I realized the places that pull me in tend to fall into three themes.

Spooky places draw me toward history, folklore, and the shadows that linger in older cities. The mysterious corners that make you wonder what stories the walls could tell.

Cute places are the whimsical discoveries — pastel cafés, charming storefronts, dreamy spaces that feel like stepping into a little pocket of magic.

And then there’s delicious. Because some of the best ways to understand a place are through its bakeries, street food stalls, and the restaurants where locals gather.

Those three threads shape how I travel and how I tell stories here. Every destination becomes part of a growing collection of guides and moments meant to spark curiosity and help you discover places that feel a little unexpected.

While I still travel internationally, I’ve also begun focusing more on local exploration, rediscovering the charm and hidden gems in my own city of Overland Park, Kansas. Because sometimes the most surprising adventures happen close to home — you just have to look at familiar places with fresh curiosity.

MY JOURNEY SO FAR

My creative journey began with curiosity and a love for storytelling.

While earning my Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Marketing, I launched my first creative platform, Pink Fashion Ninja, where I shared fashion inspiration and explored my growing fascination with Korean culture. That curiosity eventually led me to move to South Korea, where I worked as an ESL instructor while studying the Korean language and immersing myself in everyday life abroad.

During that time, I traveled extensively throughout Korea and Japan, attended Seoul Fashion Week, and began documenting my experiences through fashion, culture, and travel writing. My work later expanded into SweetxAesthetic, where I explored clothing design and media coverage.

In 2023, I launched The Year of April as a way to bring all of those interests together — storytelling, travel, culture, and creativity. What began as a travel blog has slowly evolved into a space where I document the places that spark curiosity, whether they’re spooky, whimsical, or simply delicious.

When I’m not traveling, you’ll probably find me planning my next trip, exploring a new café, or spending time with my niece and nephew.