The Nightmare after Christmas
I would never have thought I would spend the Christmas of 2017 in Brazil, nor that I would do it with my new family. After hiking the Caminho das Missões in Rio Grande do...
I would never have thought I would spend the Christmas of 2017 in Brazil, nor that I would do it with my new family. After hiking the Caminho das Missões in Rio Grande do...
We kept on walking alongside the red dusty road that would lead us to the next village, São Luiz Gonzaga. We had been told that we still had around 30 km left, which translated...
We had been in touch for months already, sharing thoughts and feelings about our travels. I had found out about his blog after someone had shared one of his posts on a social network:...
The Trans Salvador bus to Santa Cruz de la Sierra left Calama at 11 PM. I had 31 hours ahead of me, which made it the longest bus ride I had ever been on....
There is one place on Earth where sunsets are pinker and stars are brighter. It is a village in the middle of the Chilean desert that lies a few hours between Bolivia and Peru....
If there was anything that spoiled my Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu, was a heated discussion with my guide, Edgar, because of some little extras we had to pay on the hike that the agency had...
Of them, I had a vague memory from ten years ago. It was the summer of 2007, and I had moved to London for a couple of months, hoping to find some temporary job...
My hiking boots stomp heavy on the deserted Plaza de Armas in Cabanaconde. A couple of stray dogs are sniffing around: they are my only company in this cold night. It’s only 9 PM,...
A seagull is quietly floating on the dark blue waters, when it suddenly catches flight. Women are working the fields and it seems that the heat doesn’t affect them under their elaborated and colorful...
Both Peruvians and travelers had been enumerating the beauties of Cusco at annoying levels, so that I had quite lost my interest in reaching the heart of Gringoland. After all these months traveling off...
Going there had been in my bucket list since I first landed in Peru, five months ago. Reaching it after hiking 74 km in the Salkantay Trek is what made it memorable. Machu Picchu is...
Elena Sabella
I was born in Florence (Italy) thirty-two years ago.
I have been many versions of me, but today I am a wandering soul, a honest heart in a countinous search for revolution. I carry my home with me, but I never forget where my roots are. I fill my belly with colorful plants, because animals are our friends and the Earth our mother. I fly high with my purple and green dreams. I travel the world because I am thirsty for knowledge, because I want to catch all the beauties of the Pachamama with my short-sighted eyes and smell freedom. I travel to share with those human beings that cross my path, to learn from them and take a small piece of every place and every person with me.
I love photography, foreign languages, maps, the smell of old books, of recently cut grass and filtered coffee. I love people who laugh loud and spontanously and fill you with happiness, those long and deep conversations, and sisterhood.
This blog started in 2016, when I decided that I was not going to look at my life pass by while sitting behind a desk, planning and saving up for my next trip. If what I loved the most was traveling, then I wanted to spend my days doing that! My adventure started with a one-way ticket to Lima and a plan-less plan. Two years later, I am far from being the person that jumped on that plane: it is a journey of transformation.
After over three years of traveling in South America, I had to return home in Italy due to the Covid-19 pantemic.
In spite of all, I take this as an opportunity to get to explore my own region and country.
Traveling is on hold, but not for long 🙂
The journey is not only made of places, but
mainly of the people we meet on the way. And neither my trip nor me would be the same hadn’t I crossed paths with Joel, with whom I shared ten wonderful months hitchhiking in South America. Don’t miss his blog Buenas Rutas!
Not only do I work onsite, but I do a lot of online jobs to finance my trip.
I am also a freelance translator, travel writer and photographer. Would you like to work with me?