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For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a nomadic spirit, a craving to explore the world. Traveling started at an early age for me. I was just a few weeks old, when my parents moved from London to Caracas in Venezuela. While growing up, I always dreamed with traveling to far away places and experiencing different cultures.
When I turned 20, I moved to Montreal to go to university. While studying abroad I enjoyed exploring my new home, discovering other ways of life and hanging out with people of many nationalities. It was then that I realized how moving from one place to another gives you the opportunity to reinvent yourself. And after 7 years of dealing with the harsh Canadian winter, I decided it was time to move on. So I set my eyes on Europe and decided to try my luck in Barcelona.
It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with Europe. I was in awe of its multiculturalism, the high standard of living, and the endless possibilities it seemed to offer. Just a few months after moving to Barcelona, I met a German guy and soon after we moved in together. For the next few years, my life developed in a pretty conventional way and I was happy enough: I had the perfect boyfriend and we had a good relationship; we lived in a cute flat with a big terrace in the heart of trendy Barcelona; I had a group of good friends coming from diverse backgrounds; and even if I was not satisfied with my office job(s), I was never without work in a crumbling economy, and could afford the occasional trip here and there.
However, as time went by, my work life became increasingly frustrating. I realised that even if I was working for a good company, with a nice enough boss and great co-workers, where the working conditions were quite good and I had customers who appreciated my work; I still dreaded the feeling of apprehension that grew inside me every Sunday evening when the start of another week was looming ahead. It was clear that I needed to change something.
As it sometimes happens when we’re not moving in the right direction, my life took an abrupt turn when my boyfriend decided to end our relationship after 7 years together. I was blindsided by the whole thing. What hurt most about the break-up were not the circumstances around it, but how poorly he handled our split. It was tough to wake up and see that he was not the person who I thought he was.
At that time, that relationship was the centerpiece in my life, so I felt quite lost when it ended. I had no back-up plan, no savings, and no idea of what to do next. But even then, I knew that this was an opportunity disguised as misfortune and that I’d find the way to overcome it.
After much thinking, I decided to take some time off and travel. I wanted to figure out a way to make a living doing something I love and thought that travel could give me a fresh perspective. It took me about a year to sell/give/store away all my possessions and to save up enough money to travel for a while.
After leaving Barcelona, I managed to travel for almost four years. Along the way, I started earning a living doing something I really like. Also, I was able to spend more time with my family, I learned a lot about myself, and I had some amazing experiences. Some of my best memories are:
- Traveling around Colombia on a motorbike
- Learning to rock climb
- Going mountain biking in awesome locations
- Doing a road trip across Canada
- Sky diving in Costa Brava, Spain
- Dancing in Barranquilla’s Carnival in Colombia
- Doing the trek to the Lost City in Colombia
- Traveling solo around Europe & South America
- Going hiking in Patagonia
- Climbing an active volcano in Chile
- Watching the sunrise at Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
In 2013, I was offered the opportunity to travel all over South America for a year as Viventura‘s in-house blogger. It was a year full of adventures and great experiences. The greatest of which was meeting Edwin while I was in Peru, in the little town of Huaraz. Right from the start, we liked each other a lot so we started traveling together. During our trip, we got pregnant and decided to relocate to the Netherlands, at least for a while.
Now we are parents to a bouncy toddler and we are eager to show her the wonders of this beautiful world. So we are not done traveling yet!
If you’d like to see more of my photography, you can see my portfolio; or follow me on Instagram for the very latest images of my travels.
Thanks for following,
Bianca
Excellent blog, love the things you’ve done ad what you’re planning to do before you hit the bucket!
Just thought I’d let you know I’m doing the El Camino de Santiago starting Sept. 14. I know you’re planning to be in Bolivia etc but just in case…. There’ll be about 6 of us doing t for Cystic Fibrosis and we’ll rake about 6 weeks.
In the mean time enjoy Chile, the old forts and hot springs, valley of the moon,… and say gidday to St Pedro de l’Atac. for me (I was there in the late 1990s!).
Walter—-
Taswegia