To the End
DAY 31: July 3rd, 2014. Monte do Gozo – Santiago de Compostela, 5 km José woke me up at 6 AM telling me that our clothes are locked in the laundry, that would only open at...
DAY 31: July 3rd, 2014. Monte do Gozo – Santiago de Compostela, 5 km José woke me up at 6 AM telling me that our clothes are locked in the laundry, that would only open at...
DAY 29, July 1st, 2014. Palas de Rei– Arzúa, 28.8 km It was time to go back to walking, and especially to say goodbye to Houliane. “I will become the best doctor”, she told...
DAY 27, June 29th, 2014. Triacastela – Portomarín, 40.9 km Today we are doubling the distance: we are going to pass through Sarria (which is where we actually wanted to arrive yesterday) and end...
DAY 25: June 27th, 2014. Villafranca del Bierzo – O Cebreiro, 28.4 km Today was the day everybody talked about, the toughest of the whole Camino: the hike to O Cebreiro. We are walking...
DAY 22: June 24th, 2014. Astorga – Foncebadón, 25.9 km Today was a perfect day. Today was walking painless, it was walking lonely and smiling under the rain. It was the smell of the...
I started the journey alone. It was my first solo backpacking trip, and even if hundreds of pilgrims have been following the yellow arrow and walking the Camino every day for centuries, it was...
DAY 21: June 23rd, 2016. Villavante – Astorga, 22 km We stopped for breakfast in Hospital de Órbigo, a lovely town that I had already had the chance to visit earlier this year with...
DAY 18: June 20th, 2014. Calzadilla de los Hermanillos – Puente de Villarente, 30 km I am walking fast and smoothly. I haven’t been taking any Ibuprofen for two days, and today I finally...
DAY 8: June 10th, 2014. Logroño – Nájera, 31 km I struggled the first couple of kilometers; after that, I warmed up and walked with no problem whatsoever. It was a lonely walk, except...
DAY 3: June 5th, 2014. Pamplona – Puente la Reina, 24 km We woke up with a mix of Italian and French opera playing. Folding the sleeping bag, applying Vaseline and plasters to my...
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?