About Melissa

Registered Nutritionist · Wellness Expert · Serial Traveller

img 7585

Hi, I’m Melissa

I’m a Registered Nutritionist, women’s health specialist and the founder of both Roots to Ryse and this site – Ryse Wanderlust.

I am also a digital creator and remote work mentor offering digital products and courses to help others work remotely and travel at any age. www.rysetemplatesclub and www.remoteworkmentors.com are also created and run by Melissa

For the past decade I’ve worked with midlife women navigating hormones, health, and that growing feeling that they want more from their lives than what they currently have. Travel – real travel, intentional travel – is often part of that bigger picture.

I built Ryse Wanderlust because I couldn’t find a travel resource that spoke to women like the ones in my community: intelligent, approaching 40 or 50, thinking about retreats and possibly relocation and absolutely done with content designed for someone twenty years younger.

What I bring to this that most travel writers can’t

Clinical Nutrition Expertise

I understand what midlife bodies actually need — in terms of food, environment, sleep, and stress. My wellness travel recommendations aren’t just about “nice spas.” They’re about what genuinely moves the needle on how you feel.

Real Relocation Intelligence

Healthcare systems abroad, finding functional medicine practitioners in Lisbon or Seville, managing hormone health protocols when you move countries — this is the depth of intel that only comes from someone who takes health seriously.

The Midlife Perspective

I’m not writing for gap year students. I write for women who want to travel with their families without the chaos, who want to actually rest on a retreat, and who are seriously considering what life abroad could look like.

What you’ll find here

  • Destination guides — Portugal, Spain, Mexico, France, Italy, and beyond. Not “top 10 things to do” lists — proper, research-backed guides covering travel, wellness, and what it’s like to actually live there.
  • Relocation guides — step-by-step intelligence on moving to Europe and beyond. Visa routes, real costs, healthcare, schools, neighbourhoods — the stuff you actually need to know.
  • Wellness travel — curated retreats, spa experiences, and restorative escapes for women who want more than a beach lounger.
  • Family travel — luxury-adjacent family holidays that work in the real world, tested itineraries, and the hotels that actually deliver on their promise.

The Roots to Ryse connection

Ryse Wanderlust is a sister site to Roots to Ryse — my women’s health and nutrition platform. The two sites are different in focus but entirely complementary: the same women who are working on their hormones, gut health, and midlife wellbeing through Roots to Ryse are often the same women dreaming about a slower pace of life somewhere sunnier.

If you’re new here and want the full picture of who I am and what I do, start over on Roots to Ryse.

Want to work with me directly?

I offer private relocation consultations for women and families considering a move abroad — covering destination selection, healthcare, lifestyle, and the honest realities of the transition. Get in touch here.