So by now you may be wondering what I’ve actually been up to these last 2 years traveling solo full-time?
And I’m looking forward to giving you the down low. I’ll try to keep it brief, but I’d like to give you a sense of how far you can come
travelling alone, without having all your destinations set in stone.
Couchsurfing in California
It all started in Las Vegas, for a wedding and the infamous Burning Man festival, nestled in Nevada desert.
From here, I left my friends and sister to continue my travels solo along the coast of California. During a recovery pit-stop at Lake Tahoe, I managed to hitch a ride in a caravan heading to San Francisco. A very memorable ride at that!
Here on, I travelled throughout California for a few months, couchsurfing from Santa Cruz to Los Angeles and San Diego, living on strangers sofas one place at a time. By far an experience I’ll never forget and am
forever grateful to those who welcomed me into their home.
I was funding this leg of the journey on my last wage as an Executive Assistant in London, whilst also starting to earn a little through Your Pro VA, working on various projects here and there remotely.
Falling in love with Brazil
After some time in San Diego, it was off to Florida where I took my flight to the big bucket-lister, Brazil.
Now just to be clear, I quit my job and left my securities in London to travel the world for kitesurfing, but I wasn’t even an independent kiter yet! As crazy this might seem,
my intuition just wouldn’t let this go.
I felt at home in Brazil almost instantly, thanks to a family hosting me in Recife. I couldn’t have imagined a better, more warm welcome into South America.
Now it’s from here I started to volunteer, in return for food and accommodation, keeping my expenses low whilst working as a virtual assistant part-time.
I volunteered in a hostel at Pipa Beach for 2 months, at the reception without speaking a word of Portuguease but keen to learn and help where I could. I can only describe this place as pure magic!
La Garto Na Banana was a place where people came together to dance, sing and share their travel stories in a small hill-top jungle, with maromsets greeting you for breakfast.
Learning to kite in Colombia
My 90 day visa was running out, so I decided to explore the rural North with a friend I made at the hostel (who I’d roadtrip with in Portugal in 2019) before making my way to Colombia.
It was here I finally gripped a kite into my hands, volunteering at a kiteschool in Riohacha creating content for their social pages, sleeping in a Chinchorro (hammock) at night in their kite equipment room, with 3 crazy, yet very lovable dogs.
For 2 months I stayed here, happy as larry progressing daily with my kiting, assisting with classes and learning Spanish whilst listening to the rhythmic sounds of Romeo Santos.
I then travelled South, but not before visiting the incredibly talented Wayu in Cabo de la Vela and exploring the rest of the stunning Caribbean coast.
It was in Calima Lake where I met my board sponsor Cogua.
That colourful board you see in my pictures, that’s the one.
Seeing family in Guatemala
By this time I had been travelling 10 months, and seeing my family was well overdue.
We met in Guatemala, ticking my mothers backpacking adventure off her bucket-list, watching sunsets at Mayan ruins and seeing the most unforgettable sea-life in Belize, Caye Caulker.
Then, after saying farewell I became ill with a bladder infection. I was bed-bound for nearly 2 weeks and experienced the surprisingly cheap public health-care in Panama.
I was ultimately rescued into recovery from an off duty doctor 6 hours before needing to catch my flight to the next the place I would call home, Dominican Republic.
Four months in Caribbean paradise
Little did I realise that this 3 hour taxi journey from the airport would be taking me to my little piece of heaven.
Buen Hombre was a paradise I found most difficult to say goodbye to.
Managing this rural kitecamp, walking along an empty beach during sunrise with 6 dogs at my feet was simply a dream. This was the
real simple Dominican life and I loved it.
At Kite Buen Hombre I completed my IKO teaching certificate and was now able to teach the sport that essentially turned my world upside down, in an unimaginable way.
Traveling through Mexico
After my ‘Buen Hombre bubble’ as I like to call it, I stopped over in New York.
Not to my surprise, I was a little overwhelmed finding myself suddenly back within a bustling city. It was time to arrange the next destination, Mexico.
From Mexico City I travelled with a friend from home for a few weeks over Christmas and New Year to Yucatan.
We visited kitespots on our arrival – El Cuyo, Holbox and Isla Blanca (where I ended up settling for nearly a month).
Back to where it all began
I always envisaged myself returning to the place that introduced me to kiting, Dakhla.
A place that kept coming up in conversation at almost every kitespot I had been to, surrounded by the never-ending Sahara desert. But this time, with the ability to navigate freely in the water.
I was adjusting to desert life when I was connected with Dakhla Experience and Free Your Mind, as a content creator.
I was returning almost 3 years later after my first kite trip, with my board, kite and teaching certificate to hand. I’ll admit,
I no longer felt like I was chasing a dream, I was in fact living it.
