Adventures in the art of traveling alone
Ever since I started venturing around, at the age of 17 when I left home to go to University, I’ve developed the habit of traveling alone, connecting with culture and people around. The more different the person or the place, the better. In the first years, my travels were within my country, Brazil. As a student I didnt have much money, so I would take buses and cross the continent. From Sao Paulo to Fortaleza, it took me around 50 hours to get there. At the age of 27, I left Brazil for the first time. I moved to London for one and a half years, exploring all over Europe. Then, the next lone adventure abroad was the United States, Durham, New Hampshire, which gave me the opportunity to discover and explore the diversity of the USA; The next continent was Asia, first Taiwan and then Singapore. Finally, I landed in the Netherlands 11 years ago.
When I travel, my focus is less on the “things” to be known and more on the culture to be discovered. When I tell people that I have been to Paris hundreds of times but was never at the top of the Eiffel tower, people are shocked. OR that I lived in London but never been to the London eye.
These adventures and experiences also serve as a tool in my daily life. When I come home and face routine again, I’m transformed as I learn other possible ways to look at the world and to connect with my work, family, friends and life in general …
All these adventures and the intertwined experiences that have accompanied them, transformed me, my life choices, my way of looking at the world. It has also given me a cultural perspective and an acknowledgement for different ways of knowing. That impacted my professional identity.
Currently, in my professional life, I am engaged more and more in discovering and integrating different ways of knowing to help tackle complex matters. I am about to start a new lone adventure: one year sabbatical exploring South America and its hidden gems and traditional/indigenous knowledges. A journey experimenting with its culture, its people, and its innovative initiatives.
I’m designing for serendipity!
