Surely, if you’re on any social network, you’ve seen photos of a computer on the beach, stories of a last-minute flight, and the feeling that working while seeing the world is an extended vacation. Social media helps build this image.

What they show less of are the eight (or more) hours of work, the internet that needs to work, the time zones, and the worry about losing your job when the Airbnb is without power for 24 hours.

For Tiffany, the reality lies somewhere between these two extremes.

@vaitiffany#nomadedigital #sonho #traveltiktok #viagemsozinha #mochilao

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The decision to live traveling didn’t happen overnight either. Before working remotely, there were short trips, an exchange program in Canada, a season in Egypt, backpacking through Argentina and Uruguay, and later, a seven-month backpacking trip through South America. All in preparation for her ultimate goal: the digital nomad life.

“I think it was something built up,” she said about how she got into this lifestyle.

When she returned to Brazil after backpacking, she already knew her next goal.

“I came back focused on getting a remote job, yes or yes.”

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But achieving remote work didn’t make the fear disappear.

In fact, it created others. Unlike previous trips, now there was a responsibility. A salary. A routine. A team expecting everything to work.

“My fear wasn’t about something that was going to happen to me. It was a different kind of fear. The fear that I could lose my job because of something I couldn’t manage on the road.”

Tiffany laughs as she recounts suffering from overthinking.

“I overthink before making a decision.”

That’s why preparation became part of the process.

Before taking her first long backpacking trip, she researched. Before trying the digital nomad life, she researched again. For her, courage and planning go hand in hand.

“I think you have to do a lot of research and really understand if you want to do it. Preparation further neutralizes fear.”

This logic applies even to those who have never considered working while traveling. She believes that no one needs to start with a trip around the world. Courage can be built in small doses.

A movie alone, a restaurant, a short trip to a nearby city, a hostel.

“You gradually gain more and more space.”

When she finally decided to try the digital nomad life, she chose Guatemala.

The choice wasn’t random.

She spoke Spanish, already knew the dynamics of Latin America, and knew that this would reduce the number of unforeseen events. The work schedule also helped: mornings and early afternoons. The rest of the day was free to explore the country.

In practice, she discovered that the biggest secret wasn’t productivity. It was adaptability.

“You have to be adaptable. If you’re not an adaptable person, you can’t do this.”

Adapting in this case means accepting that there’s no fixed desk, a permanent office, or the comfortable routine of home. It means learning to choose quiet accommodations, plan trips, and solve problems without panicking.

And problems do happen.

In Guatemala, for example, she was without electricity for 24 hours at her Airbnb.

“You can’t just stand still,” she explained. “You have to solve the problem.”

Perhaps this is the least photographed aspect of geographical freedom, and the part where research and preparation make all the difference. It’s about learning to build a routine in motion.

She explains that it’s a lifestyle for those willing to do “slow travel.”

The term means traveling slowly. Traveling slowly because you won’t be able to constantly change locations. That’s unsustainable for someone who works while traveling, and she prepared for that.

“I particularly enjoy being able to experience cultures with my own eyes, as if I lived there.”

Traveling slowly. Living in a place instead of just visiting it.

All the fears she carried to Guatemala continued to exist. They just stopped controlling the story.

The freedom to travel isn’t the absence of problems.

It’s discovering that you can solve them.

If you enjoyed this, here’s more about how Tiffany cultivated the courage to travel alone:

In the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, a city welcomes tens of thousands of people for a festival that celebrates a cultural rivalry.

As a summary: for three nights, Caprichoso (blue ox) and Garantido (red ox) compete in the Parintins Festival, reinterpreting the legend of an ox that is resurrected in shows that mix music, dance, giant floats, indigenous traditions, Amazonian legends, and theater. It is one of the few places in the world where even Coca-Cola advertisements turn blue, in respect for the Caprichoso side in the arena. Parintins has about 100,000 inhabitants, but during the festival it receives approximately 120,000 visitors, practically doubling its population for a few days.

@renatadaouFestival de Parintins, 2026. Última noite. Boi Caprichoso 💙 #parintins #festivaldeparintins #caprichoso #boicaprichoso

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But the festival is only the culmination of a cultural movement that takes place throughout the year. The city is divided between the two oxen, families pass on their support from generation to generation, and the art schools associated with the oxen train children and teenagers in dance, music, and visual arts. In addition to preserving local traditions, these spaces also offer opportunities for young people in vulnerable situations and help keep them close to the culture of their own community.

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The most curious thing is that I spent seven years living outside of Brazil and almost no one knew Parintins. None of my American friends had any idea what it was. But even among Brazilians, few had ever heard of the festival.

I always found it strange that a spectacle of this magnitude was so unknown. Perhaps because it takes place far from the well-known major centers of Brazil like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Perhaps because, when we think of Brazilian culture, international knowledge stops at Rio’s Carnival and football.

And yet, every year, a small city in the middle of the Amazon builds a great spectacle.

I always wanted to visit Parintins. But at the school I attended, the exams always fell exactly during the festival. So I never went.

At the time, it seemed like a simple choice since skipping exams wasn’t an option. Some classmates went anyway. And I stayed.

Today, my parents joke, saying, “Look where you are and where they are.” As if the moral of the story was that it was worth it.

But I don’t think so.

Because nobody remembers the grade they got on a high school exam, and the vast majority of my classmates who missed exams are actually doing very well. I, on the other hand, spent years imagining what it would be like to finally visit a place that had always been so close to home. I think I would have preferred to take the memories with me.

I think I found a much better balance during college. I studied hard. I graduated with honors. I did research, several internships, and took advantage of every professional opportunity that came my way. But I also prioritized experiences. I traveled where I wanted to travel. I went to the parties I wanted to go to. I went out when I felt like it. Today, I feel that there is still a need in me to recover some of that time in adolescence when I missed out on some things.

I find it curious how we grow up hearing that there will always be another opportunity. That obligations come first, and then experiences.

But some experiences only happen once a year. And some take decades to finally happen. Others, if you wait too long, never happen.

That’s why this trip has so much meaning for me, even though I didn’t go that far from home.

It was beautiful to see so many children taking part in the spectacle. To see the crowd in the stands jumping, singing, and dancing non-stop for hours. To see an entire city living for this celebration.

From a distance, it might be easy to imagine that a festival in a city in the interior of Amazonas is something small. But Parintins proves exactly the opposite. The floats are as impressive as those of the Rio de Janeiro Carnival. The loyalty to their ox is almost impossible to explain to someone who has never experienced it. For three days, the entire city seems to be awake twenty-four hours a day, celebrating its culture.

Today there are relatively few indigenous peoples living in Brazil, but it is exciting to see how this cultural manifestation manages to preserve, reinterpret, and keep parts of this heritage alive. There is a very beautiful pride in celebrating Amazonian identity.

I loved every second.

And, above all, I felt an enormous pride in being from the Amazon.

@renatadaouFestival de Parintins. Boi Garantido. Segunda noite #parintins #festivaldeparintins #coldplay #boigarantido

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Those who follow me know that I write a lot about traveling, getting to know other cultures, living in different places, and exploring the world. But this time, the trip wasn’t to discover a distant culture. It was to get to know my own better. Traveling has always been my favorite way to get to know the world. This time, it was my favorite way to get to know a little better where I come from.

You might also like…

📍6th stop - Canary Islands

Amaya was surprised by the Canary Islands 🇮🇨, a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago. She was mostly surprised because of the very little understanding of English she encountered while traveling. She hasn’t traveled to many places where she couldn’t get around without English before.

“Nobody knew what I was saying so I was using my very broken Spanish,” she said. “But it was very beautiful to be in a place where you can’t get around with English because we don’t have that experience very often. It was cool to feel like an outsider and understand how to culturally engage with a language barrier.”

Amaya also shares her itineraries and travels for young women. She does it in both video format on her YouTube channel and in text in the Out of Office app. She travels to learn how much of the world she doesn’t understand yet.

@amaya.olu#canary #canaryislands #grancanaria #canaria #grandcanary #explorecanaria #canaryislands2023 #sas2023 #sas2024

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“You don’t realize how much media, and propaganda, portray a certain culture in a certain way,” she said. “It’s crazy things you don’t think about until you go there and your entire world is shaken up. And also seeing the way that different people see happiness. We view happiness in one way and we wouldn’t be happy in certain cultures, but other cultures love this. It is a great part of humanity.”

📍7th stop - Indonesia

Now, it’s time to turn to my favorite travel destinations. Indonesia 🇮🇩 is a country with over 17,000 islands!

I visited Indonesia in May 2023, right after graduating from college, accompanied by a friend I’ve known since my very first day of undergraduate. She had previously visited me in Brazil, so naturally, I had to reciprocate the gesture and visit her in Indonesia (not that she needed to ask me to haha).

I’m not entirely sure if it was because I traveled with a local (thanks to Tiara!), but it truly turned out to be the best experience of my life.

While Bali was undeniably beautiful and a well-known tourist destination, it was Labuan Bajo that truly stole my heart.

Tiara gave me the option to either stay solely in Bali or explore other places that she and her family deemed superior in terms of beaches and nature.

I’m incredibly grateful that we opted for the latter. The beaches were breathtaking, and I had the incredible opportunity to swim with turtles, stingrays, and colorful fish, making the entire experience unforgettable.

Video provided by tour group in Labuan Bajo. I’m in the video!

Plus, I got to know her friends and family, and it was really fun to get to know a little bit of her life outside our university. I also got to go to not-so-touristy places in Jakarta and Yogyakarta that I probably wouldn’t have gone without Tiara guiding me. Indonesia truly resembled a paradise.

A word of caution for those with sensitive stomachs: the food is SPICY. Seriously. But it’s incredibly delicious, and I can prove:

Pictures taken by Tiara throughout the trip

My tip: While Bali is amazing and definitely worth visiting, Indonesia as a whole is vast and diverse. I highly recommend exploring other islands as well; they are bound to exceed your expectations and offer equally amazing experiences.

📍8th stop - New Zealand

New Zealand, an island country, holds a special place in my travel memories, particularly from when I visited with my parents when I was 16. Even though I was still underage during my first visit, I noticed numerous people in their 20s exploring the country with their friends. Now, as an adult, I feel drawn to revisit and experience New Zealand’s adventures again.

This trip inspired one of my Hinge prompts: “What if I told you that I went bungee jumping three times in a week when I was 16?”

While exploring the entirety of the country with my parents, my favorite spot was Queenstown, because of the number of adventure sports. I rolled down a hill inside a giant inflatable ball filled with water, went jet boat rides, and jumped off a building in Auckland.

However, the highlight of my adventures was undoubtedly my first bungee jump. I jumped from the Kawarau Bridge Bungy, the world’s first bungee jumping spot, standing at 43 meters high.

The second jump made my mom very worried and made the workers at the bungee jumping place start joking to “tie her well otherwise a Brazilian mom will come after you.” It was the Canyon Swing is the world’s highest cliff jump, with 60 meters of freefall.

Thank you for reading!! You can find the code for the story here.

This post was written in April 2024 for a class called Data Studio at the Columbia Journalism School. For the full original post, click here. I’ve been thinking about doing more interview-style posts. What do you guys think? Leave a comment and let me know!

Perhaps the biggest lie we tell ourselves about brave people is that they are fearless. As if there comes a moment when insecurity simply disappears and, suddenly, it becomes easy to book a one-way ticket, cross an ocean, or arrive alone in a country where everything feels unfamiliar.

But Tiffany Sousa doesn’t believe that.

“It’s not like I have no fear at all and just go through life without thinking. The point is to let courage speak louder and not let fear consume you.”

At 24, Tiffany has already lived the kind of stories many people spend a lifetime postponing. A law school graduate, solo traveler, and lifelong lover of the unknown, she turned a childhood curiosity into a way of life.

Today, Tiffany works remotely and has backpacked across South America—alone! She has traveled through Guatemala and Belize—alone!! She spent two months in Egypt—alone!!!

But for her, travel was never just about seeing new places. It became a way of discovering who she was and what she was capable of handling on her own.

Curiously, when I ask where that courage comes from, she hesitates.

“I really do wonder where I get so much courage from, because I honestly don’t know. I think it’s something that comes from within.”

She credits part of it to being an only child.

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Traveling alone was never the biggest challenge. Being alone with herself was something she had known since childhood. What helped her overcome other obstacles was inspiration.

Watching other people build lives in constant motion made her realize that her dream might actually be possible.

But her story doesn’t have a single turning point.

She insists on that.

“I think it was a process. There wasn’t one specific moment. But what marked me the most was my trip to Egypt, where I experienced something completely new, something so different from my reality. There’s a huge culture shock when you travel to countries in the East; they have completely different ways of living.”

We tend to look for the exact moment a life changes direction—the day, the conversation, the decision.

But maybe real life works differently.

Maybe it’s made up of small transformations.

“I think every experience I live changes the way I see life. Maybe not profoundly, but in little pieces.”

In little pieces. Until one day, you realize you are no longer the same person.

@vaitiffanyo frio que estava em Santiago esse dia 😭 #mochilao #mochilaoamericadosul #viajarsozinha

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For Tiffany, that place was Egypt.

She arrived there shortly after leaving an abusive relationship that had shaped her teenage years. For the first time, she was alone. For the first time, she was discovering who she was without someone else’s voice telling her who she should be.

And that was where a small revolution took place.

Literally.

When problems arose during the trip, she spoke up, questioned what was happening, and fought for what was fair. Something she says she would never have done just a short time before.

Years later, she discovered through astrocartography that one of her lines runs through Egypt. According to that interpretation, it was a place where she would reconnect with herself.

By the end of our conversation, I asked what she would say to the 14-year-old girl she once was.

Her answer wasn’t just about traveling the world.

It was about refusing to give up on her dreams.

And, above all, never letting anyone diminish her personality.

“People might think you’re crazy,” she said to the girl she once was. “Only you know how much you want something, and you’ll achieve it no matter what anyone says.”

Because, in the end, maybe courage isn’t the absence of fear.

Maybe courage is choosing to keep walking while fear is still right there beside you.

I mean sure. But what if you need to have a destination to truly enjoy the journey?

Some people travel to find themselves. You see it everywhere online — the solo trips, the open itineraries, the whole philosophy of showing up somewhere new with nothing planned and seeing what happens. The idea that freedom is the absence of a destination.

Hannah Neves does not travel like that.

When she goes somewhere, she builds everything around a single anchor. Weaving, surfing, hiking — something that gives shape to the rest. Without it, she can't really be anywhere at all. Before the Camino, she went to Peru and spent part of the trip stuck in her head, quietly wondering what she was doing there. Not present in the moment, just adrift. The feeling only lifted once she reached the trek she had planned the trip around. Only then could she actually look up and be there.

“I don’t really like traveling without a purpose,” she told me. “Something that ties everything together.”

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So she did the Camino de Santiago. Not to wander endlessly. And not to see where the road took her. Because walking is the one form of exercise she has always genuinely liked, because she loves Spain, because she speaks enough Spanish to get by, and because she wanted the kind of small towns where locals are actually curious about you, not used to you.

She had reasons. She had a route. She went.

The first five days, she didn’t meet anyone.

That surprised her. Everyone had told her so much about the community, about all the people you meet along the way. But for nearly a week, Hannah walked mostly alone.

Then she hit what she describes as her lowest point on the route — exhausted, doubting whether she could finish — and that’s when she met Dana.

Dana was worse off than she was. Severe heat exhaustion, could barely walk, couldn’t really eat. Hannah helped her get to the next stop, made sure she ate something, and stayed close. They kept in touch after that and became friends.

“It became more than I expected,” she told me.

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The Camino Portugués covers most of Portugal, and it’s about 600 kilometers in total. It took Hannah almost two months, the loss of a toenail, countless bottles of wine, dozens of audiobooks, and a couple of bus rides (according to her). But she made it.

You can’t shortcut your way through 600 kilometers. You just have to keep showing up for it, one day at a time, until one day you’re done.

What carried her through wasn’t the thought of Santiago. It was smaller than that. Where would she sleep that night? Where would she stop for lunch? Knowing where she was going, even just for the next few hours, was what gave her permission to slow down and actually be where she was. To put one foot in front of the other without rushing.

The destination didn’t pull her out of the journey. It gave her enough direction to finally settle into it.

And over time, she said, you learn your limits. You learn what makes sense for you.

She’s doing another walk now, this time along the Spanish coast. Same logic as before: a reason to move, a route with a shape, somewhere specific to go.

The previous walk had left her feeling better about herself, she said. Clearer. A stronger sense of who she was and what she was doing.

“And I’m looking for that in my life right now,” she said.

So she’s going back to the thing that gave it to her.

Hannah Neves

Two years ago, I walked 400km across Portugal and Spain. This year, I’m doing it again.

I can’t remember exactly how I learned about the Camino de Santiago…

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3 months ago · 9 likes · 9 comments · Hannah Neves

I keep thinking about the fact that Hannah found Dana not by letting go, but by showing up with a reason. They were both doing the Camino. That’s what put them on the same road at the same time. The purpose didn’t get in the way of the connection — it made the connection possible. But sometimes, the destination is what makes the journey in the first place.

The destination is what freed her to actually be on the journey, to notice it, and to let things in.

And then she had to be patient enough to walk the whole thing.

A lot of people say, “focus on the journey, not the destination.” But sometimes you need the destination first, even if it’s small. So that you can finally look up and see where you are.

And then you just have to keep going, kilometer by kilometer, until you get there, no matter what happens.

And the rest showed up anyway.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. The relationship between purpose and what unexpectedly arrives. If that resonates, you might want to read my piece on chasing the Northern Lights, and what happens when you keep going after the first stop disappoints. It’s here.

📍3rd stop - South Africa

South Africa 🇿🇦is a diverse country in fauna, flora, and people.

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Amaya Adetiba, 22, has Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, as her favorite destination. Having visited 25 countries and participated in Semester at Sea, she was deeply impressed by her experiences in the city.

“The people there were incredible. They were amazing,” she said. “They were really kind, and it was the first time I’ve been around so many Black people, so many people who look like me. The food was incredible, and I heard music that I liked everywhere.”

While the stunning topography left a lasting impression, it was the warmth and diversity of the people that truly captivated Amaya. She formed bonds with fellow hostel guests, bartenders, and individuals from around the globe.

@amaya.olu#zar #southafrica #sas #sas2023 #semesteratsea #capetown #capeofgoodhope #explorecapetown #exploresouthafrica

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“Just talking to people, connecting with people who look like me, then also seeing a ton of people who don’t look like me, and a fusion of a bunch of different people,” she said. “The food is a fusion of everything.”

Amaya perceived Cape Town as distinct from the rest of South Africa, noting a rich tapestry of cultures that fascinated her. In terms of security, South Africa has had a bad reputation, especially for women travelers, but Amaya felt safe during her stay.

@amaya.oluTalk to locals!! #capetown #southafrica #talktolocals

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“Cape Town in itself is perfectly safe. I felt perfectly fine going to different places by myself,” she said. “That being said, the reason Cape Town gets such a bad rap is because right outside, as soon as you leave the city area, you are in more impoverished areas, so that leads to more violence. I feel like so much of what I read was about was that is dangerous, but when I got there, it was amazing.”

Her advice is to opt for Uber rides instead of walking, particularly in areas with nightlife, to minimize the risk of robbery and pickpocketing. Amaya cherished her experiences at the Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Beach for swimming with dolphins, and the Oranjezicht market.

@amaya.olu#bouldersbeach #capetown #explorecapetown #whattodoincapetown #southafrica #sas #sas2023

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“I ubered by myself all the time. The idea that women shouldn’t be by themselves, I don’t particularly subscribe to that unless I feel unsafe, then it’s different,” she said. “I didn’t feel unsafe at all and I left the city to do the Cape of Good Hope where you go to see where the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean meet. That is not in Cape Town, but you can just take an uber and it’s fine.”

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📍4th stop - England

England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 was chosen by Yasmin, who has traveled to 21 countries, as the most surprising country she has visited.

During her time in England, she felt a strong sense of belonging. Much of her traveling occurred between high school and college, and she found England to be exceptionally comfortable and safe.

“It felt like it was not the first time that I was there,” she said. “Like I grew up there or something. I knew I would like London, Manchester, and Liverpool as soon as I arrived. It really surprised me how much I was relating to a place.”

Overall, Yasmin remains eager to continue traveling to discover new people and cultures.

“I want to try new foods, experience different traditions, and see how things work in various places with diverse cultures,” she said. “It really gives me a new perspective on how the world works.”

📍5th stop - Brazil

Lorena’s favorite place to travel is Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil 🇧🇷. She has read before that happiness is contagious and she believes that Rio is the perfect place to test that hypothesis.

“The vibe of parties, bars, and the beach culture there is unmatched,” she said.” There is an amazing variety of experiences that I can do in every weather, and in every mood, like I can do when I am 15, when I am 20, and when I am 60.”

“For example, you can go for a chill walk around Sugarloaf Mountain and then you can go paragliding over the forest if that’s what you like. If you do so, you can land on the beach just in time to have a refreshing drink.”

“Whenever I get somewhere I try to see if I can fit a stopover in Rio so for example, if I am going from the South of Brazil to America, I try to stop over in Rio. Or if I’m going to Argentina, I try to stop over in Rio to have three days of heaven.”

After leaving her corporate job, Lorena started a travel blog where she can help people craft their way into amazing experiences around planet Earth.

“I realized that travel and exploration is what make me wake up in the morning,” she said.

This post was written in April 2024 for a class called Data Studio at the Columbia Journalism School. For the full original post, click here. I’ve been thinking about doing more interview-style posts. What do you guys think? Leave a comment and let me know!

Welcome to our travel adventure! I’m a huge travel enthusiast, which I am sure is shared by many of you, having explored 23 countries and 29 territories so far, with plenty more on my bucket list.

For this feature, I had a blast chatting with four awesome women between 21 to 25 years old who’ve bravely taken on solo travel around the globe. They shared their insights on their favorite trips around the world. For the adventure junkies, stick until the end.

So, let’s dive into their stories and the amazing places they’ve visited!

📍1st stop - Seychelles

Seychelles 🇸🇨 is the smallest country in Africa!

Hannah Neves, 23, has traveled to 21 countries and chose Seychelles as her favorite destination.

“I really loved it because it was very sunny, the weather was warm, there were a lot of beaches,” she said. “The people were very nice and welcoming.”

Seychelles, an island country and archipelagic state with 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, boasts numerous beaches, diverse fauna, and flora, making it a nature enthusiast’s paradise.

Hannah visited Seychelles to participate in marine conservation efforts near the capital, Victoria. She went scuba diving multiple times a day, documenting coral loss and invertebrate populations in the ocean’s national park areas.

“I made lots of amazing friends and got to talk to a lot of conservation officials and specialists in the area,” she said. “They all do good work.”

Overall, Seychelles is considered a safe destination, especially for travelers without a car.

“I was actually very surprised at how effective and easy to understand the public transport system was,” she said. “I was able to go to very far away places using buses which was very cheap. That was really fun.”

📍2nd stop - Egypt

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With a history spanning millennia, Egypt 🇪🇬is known as a cradle of civilization, dating back to the 6th–4th millennia BCE.

Lorena Ribeiro, 24, has traveled to 47 countries, starting her explorations during college and continuing ever since. Among all her travels, Egypt stands out as the most surprising destination.

“I always thought of Egypt as primarily a historical destination, always thinking that if I toured for more than a week I would just start to get bored by seeing the same type of architecture over and over and over again,” she said. “When visiting Egypt, I was actually mindblown by the diversity of fantastic activities available.”

Video as a courtesy of Lorena Ribeiro

“Believe it or not, other activities include swimming with dolphins!! For nature enthusiasts, Egypt can also be a great destination.”

“My happiest ever memory is the time I went swimming with hundreds of wild dolphins in Marsa Alam.”

“Asking why I keep traveling is the same as asking why I go to my yearly doctor’s visit,” Lorena said. “I mean, as long as I can afford to go, I will go, because I recognize how much it benefits my health.”

“Although I did tons of historic tours, and visited the pyramids in Giza, I still feel like I have to go back to Egypt to spend over a month and explore a lot more of what the country has to offer.”

“From river cruises to desert tours to insane diving and snorkeling opportunities.”

“Recently, I went through I major burnout from a corporate job,” Lorena said. “I did therapy. I read all types of self-help books and even explored some religious practices to understand what drives me and why I exist.”

“I did a lot of reflection,” Lorena said. “I realized that even in my most tired days, the only thing that could keep me up late, or make me wake up early was looking for travel destinations or actually traveling.”

Lorena has a blog where she shares photos, opinions, and guides.

Yasmin Almeida, 21, the youngest among those interviewed, shared her surprise and enthusiasm for Egypt, naming it her favorite travel destination. She ventured to Egypt with AIESEC, an international youth-led non-profit organization providing business development internships worldwide to young people. During her program, she actively promoted tourism in Egypt by exploring cities and showcasing the places they visited.

“My favorite country that I have been to so far has definitely been Egypt because of the people and the culture. It is a place that I have a lot of good memories,” she said. “I got to meet so many people from different parts of the world and they have become my friends and ever since I can not let go of them. We have been friends since 2022 when I went to Egypt.”

Yasmin, currently studying international relations in Brazil, sought a cultural experience in a foreign country.

“It is such a beautiful and historical place. You can learn a lot,” she said. “It is very different from how things work here in America, and in South America specifically. This is why it is currently my favorite country.”

This post was written in April 2024 for a class called Data Studio at the Columbia Journalism School. For the full original post, click here. I’ve been thinking about doing more interview-style posts. What do you guys think? Leave a comment and let me know!

Other people are gifted. Other people get chosen. Other people get clearer skies.

I am not naturally someone who believes that what is meant for you will find you, even though I really wanted to be that person, probably because life has rarely felt that simple to me.

Nothing has ever clicked for me the way it seems to click for other people. I can work hard, care a lot, spend years trying, and still end up just being okay at something. Never great. People say keep going, you’ll get there, you just need to work hard, as if that is guaranteed. But I don’t think that is true. Some people give it everything and are still just average.

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During Carnaval, I confessed to a priest, and at one point, he asked me what gift God had given me. We were talking about gifts in the sense of service, talents, skills. I told him I had no idea, and I was telling the truth. I still think that is true. I may love writing, but I do not think I am especially good at it. After years of trying to improve and of watching it fail in professional spaces, I have had to make peace with the possibility that it is simply something I love, not something I was particularly blessed with.

Maybe that is why the Northern Lights affected me the way they did. They belonged to the same category, in my mind, as so many other beautiful things: the kind I assumed were for other people, not me.

Ironically, this was my second time trying to see them. In 2014, in Alaska, I tried and failed miserably on a night when everyone said the chances were extremely high. On theme, isn’t it?

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And yet this time I saw them strongly, clearly, with my own eyes. Three times.

On our second day of aurora chasing, it did not look especially promising at first. The sky was not really cooperating, there were clouds everywhere, and our guide kept driving around in a small van that fit seven people in total, searching for some gap in the sky that might give us a chance.

Then, after all that driving, things changed. The sky suddenly opened up, and once it did, more lights started showing up, strong and dancing right in front of me. I could see them with my naked eyes so clearly. Even our guide seemed shocked by how good it was. He was running around with his camera, yelling “we hit jackpot,” taking photos and videos with the kind of joy that made it obvious this was special even for someone who does this all the time.

The aurora came even after clouds, after doubt, after driving around in the dark looking for a chance.

The third night, we spent about two and a half hours on the bus chasing a clear sky and somewhere to park. When we first stopped on the side of the road, the aurora was there, but only faintly, just a tiny green thing. So we kept going.

Only later, after almost another hour, did we reach a clearing in the forest where the show finally happened. That was when the aurora turned super bright.

By then, I was freezing. I was wearing one of those turmeric suits they give you for the cold, and even with that, plus gloves and hand warmers, the wind still hit my face so hard that there were moments when I thought my hands would fall off. The snow was soft and deep, almost to our knees in some places. Since the moon was not as bright that night, the pictures of us were not as nice, but for once, I did not care very much. At some point, I just lay fully down on the snow and looked up.

And maybe that was the first time the phrase “what is meant for you will find you” made any real sense to me.

Not in the way people usually say it, as if life’s best things just fall on your lap while you do nothing. That is not what happened with the aurora. We had to go looking for it. We had to spend hours on the road, in the cold, and keep going after the first stop turned out to be only a glimpse.

But there was also a point where nothing we did could force it. We could not move the clouds ourselves. We could not make the sky open. All we could do was stay long enough to see it if it showed up.

That is the version of the phrase I can believe in.

Not that everything works out if you want it badly enough, and not that effort guarantees reward. I do not believe that. But I can believe that some things take longer, that some things arrive after false starts, and that sometimes the first glimpse is not the full picture. I can believe that what is meant for you may not come easily or quickly, but you may still find it in the end.

The aurora felt, in its own way, like a small argument against my habit of assuming that the most beautiful things were for other people. Because there I was, lying in the snow in Norway, under a sky that had finally opened, watching something I had quietly feared might never show up.

And for once, it found me.

If you want to read about my first time seeing the Northern Lights, check out my previous post:

“Here I am tipsily writing another Substack post.”

I was inside a bar made entirely of ice in Bergen, slightly drunk, sitting next to my parents when I wrote this. The walls were ice. The glasses were ice. Even the seats were ice.

The day before, we had been on the fjords. I remember thinking: this is beautiful. And then thinking of nothing else. Just staring at the landscape in front of me. And maybe thanking God for being who I am and the luck I had to be where I am.

The next day in Bergen was another long one.

By the time we ended up in the ice bar, I felt that specific kind of exhaustion that only comes from over-living a day. Too many activities.

And in the middle of it, I typed:

Now I’m writing the rest two days later. From a restaurant in Tromsø. Waiting to see if the sky will cooperate tonight.

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My parents are the reason a Tuesday night in an ice bar feels normal to me. They raised me in a way that created the idea that you do the thing now. You go. You see. You don’t wait for perfect timing.

My first trip was before I turned one. I was just three months old, I believe. My first international trip was when I was six. And I haven’t stopped since.

Which is ironic, because they also believe in stability. In building a career in one place. In not jumping ships. My dad stayed at the same company for decades. He built something steady and safe.

My parents didn’t start traveling seriously until their 40s, when they had money and structure. Which, ironically or not, was when they had me (late, I know). I was born into their travel phase.

I’m in my 20s, trying to calculate whether I can drain my barely-there savings account for a four-day bike trip in Vietnam just because it seems cool.

We see life differently.

I feel like I am always in a rush. There’s so much to see and so many things to do and, unfortunately, so little time. Some things are simply better done when you’re young, and I feel a constant urgency to experience them now. That doesn’t mean I want to travel on a whim forever, but at this stage of my life, a more flexible career that allows me to experience the world feels more appealing than committing to one fixed career path.

My dad thinks there’s time and that I should build a safety net before doing anything else.

I kinda disagree. And realizing that I’ve already done things he will probably never be able to do because of age only makes that anxiety worse. But we’re here together.

@renatadaouPretty pretty pretty #travel #world #eurotrip #norway

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Earlier that same day, before the ice bar, we took the cable car up the mountain in Bergen.

French. In her 80s, I believe. Traveling alone.

She speaks Portuguese fluently. Learned with her Portuguese friends. She’s been to Manaus, my hometown, years ago. Of course she has. This time, she was alone.

After a few minutes of conversation, I asked her if she didn’t feel scared to travel alone.

She smiled and said, “Se eu esperasse pelos outros, eu nunca iria pra nenhum lugar.”

If I waited for others, I would never go anywhere.

She said it casually, just answering my question. Just a fact she learned with life.

I haven’t stopped thinking about her and I regret not asking for her name.

Because she is what I want to be. Independent. Curious. Moving through the world without needing someone beside her.

And here is the uncomfortable part: I am afraid of exactly that. Being alone. I crave companionship. And I don’t think it helps that I am very much in love.

And there’s someone very specific that I hope would be with me.

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One of my biggest dreams was to see the northern lights. Maybe the number one thing on my checklist.

This trip only happened because I pushed my parents into it. I told them they were getting older. That it was now or never. Some tours here have an age limit of 65. That fact unsettled me more than I expected, especially considering my parents are in their 60s and 70s now.

As for me, I would have come on a version of the trip anyway. I had already budgeted what a solo Lapland trip would cost. But I wanted them to see it while they still could. With me.

Last night was our first aurora chase.

The forecast said 90% cloud coverage for most of the night. An 8% chance of seeing anything.

Our guide, Paolo from Chile, told us forecasts are unreliable. Sometimes nothing happens until the boat turns back. Sometimes the aurora shows up after he’s already gone home.

“Aurora forecasts are like men,” he said. “They promise a lot but… let’s see.”

Funny. And I must say I agree.

We were about to return when it appeared.

A baby aurora. Soft. Faint. Green. Not dramatic. But there. It beat the odds.

This time, anxiety didn’t help. It took its time, but it showed up.

And maybe that’s the thread running through all of this.

My parents built stable lives and then learned how to chase wonder later. The French woman never waited for anyone. Paolo left his entire life to chase the lights in the Arctic.

And I’m here, somewhere in between, I guess. Afraid of being alone, afraid of missing my window, afraid of wasting money, afraid of standing still.

The odds don’t always look great. But sometimes the sky turns green anyway.

Life is good.
God is good.

I’ll let you know if it shows up again tonight.

Before that, I was in Cartagena de Indias. I spent a few days there as a tourist, walking through its colorful streets and visiting its famous attractions. During my senior year of college, I lived with a Colombian girl, and it was always funny using her slang and expressions with locals. They would immediately ask how I learned them.

This was an unforgettable trip for many reasons.

It was my first time in Colombia, and everything felt new.

I had also just broken up with a not-really-my-boyfriend-but-we’re-definitely-more-than-friends.

And I was sad.

Sad, but determined not to let a “loser” ruin a trip I had been looking forward to for months.

I had spent six months building a relationship with someone who didn’t want to be in a relationship with me. We did everything couples normally do — stayed at each other’s houses, went on dates, met friends and family. He even picked me up from the airport. With flowers. Romantic, right?

But in the end, he didn’t want to put a label on our relationship. And even though I was heartbroken, crying over something that never officially existed, I wasn’t about to stay in a not-relationship with someone who said he “needed time to figure things out” while never really considering my feelings.

So, a break-up and a trip to Colombia it was.

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In Cartagena, inside the Walled City, you can’t walk more than a few steps without someone offering you something like tours, boat trips to the Rosario Islands, or transfers to Playa Blanca. That’s how we heard about something I didn’t even know was possible.

Did you know that near Cartagena, you can take a boat out at night, away from the city lights, and swim in water that glows?

I didn’t.

From Cartagena, we took a rocky taxi ride to the Barú Peninsula. We arrived at Playa Blanca, known for its white-sand beaches and turquoise water, and spent the afternoon at a beach club. At sunset, the guide told us to wait because later, once it was dark enough, we would take a small boat out into the open water and away from the buildings and infrastructure to see the glowing water.

Bioluminescent plankton are microscopic marine organisms that produce light when disturbed. When the water moves (when you swim or splash), they emit a bright blue glow, like tiny stars in the sea.

Barú isn’t especially famous for it, and the glow isn’t overwhelming. It’s subtle. But it was enough to make my heart melt.

When I slipped into the water and moved my hands through the dark, it shimmered. I felt like a little kid again, splashing water around and kicking my feet to make the “stars” shine.

And God, I was so happy.

I didn’t know that night was coming. I didn’t know I would get to cross that off my list, one of those dreams I had saved for “someday.”

I keep a list of things I want to do before I die. See Machu Picchu in Peru. Visit the Pyramids in Egypt. Hang glide in Rio (done). Bungee jump (done). And many others.

I didn’t expect bioluminescent plankton to happen on a random night in Colombia, especially not during a trip I had booked while trying to stitch my heart back together.

Now, I don’t consider myself overly religious. I grew up in the Catholic Church, but beyond Sunday Mass, I’m not deeply involved. Still, floating there in the dark water, watching it light up around me, I couldn’t help but wonder if it meant something. If that was one of the signs I was asking for.

And maybe that’s why it felt bigger than it was.

How could it be that at the exact moment I felt unwanted, I was given something I had always wanted?

That’s the thing about travel for me.

My favorite trips and activities are the ones that remind me of how beautiful the world is. I love watching everything in it, from the organisms to the landscapes, and the tiny details, all interacting in ways that feel bigger than me. In those moments, I’m reminded of how small my problems are, how vast the world is, and how much I still have to see, do, and explore, and how many dreams are still waiting for me.

Maybe the plankton wasn’t a sign that everything would work out.

Maybe it wasn’t about signs at all.

Maybe it was the first moment I realized that losing him didn’t mean losing momentum.

I was still traveling. Still dreaming. Still crossing things off my bucket list.

Just without him.

About a year after the trip, my therapist asked me a question that stayed with me: Did I actually like him, or did I like his lifestyle?

He lived a somewhat nomadic, travel-for-months-at-a-time life — something I’ve always admired but never fully allowed myself to do. Did I like him (his personality, his mind, his heart) or did I just like the version of myself I imagined with him?

The truth is, I don’t think we had that much in common.

And here’s a glimpse into the future: I’m now in a relationship with someone I like — love — and who actually loves me back. In about a week, I’ll be crossing off another bucket-list item: I’ll be in Tromsø, chasing the Northern Lights. (This will be my second attempt, after a failed one in Alaska in 2014.)

I’ve never been someone who documents every detail of a trip, unlike my father, who keeps a dated journal listing every restaurant, every tour guide, every bus company.

But this one, I’ll remember.

If you have any recommendations for Tromsø, please let me know. And thank you for reading ✨