– a middle-aged Peruvian woman exclaims upon seeing me hike up on my own to the famous waterfalls. She is not the first to react this way, people are generally surprised to see a young woman travelling on her own. They usually seem concerned about my well-being or look around suspiciously to see if there…
dirty hands, happy heart
pulling out weeds a big grin on my face dirt under my fingernails a broken boot good company freshly brewed coffee the sound of music in the air walking barefoot Almirante Nieto looking down on us keeping a watchful eye las Torres rising up behind him such a beautiful scenery a dirt-smeared face grinning back…
Looking back
14th of January 2019 – Off again! Suitcase and backpack packed, getting on a plane to the other end of the world. Mixed feelings. Full of expectations, dreams, a little bit of fear. What will await me this time? . Almost a year later, I sit at the Coirón checkpoint in the middle of the…
New year, new me
Happy New Year 2020! I can’t believe a new decade has begun. So many new possibilities, projects, plans… Still – new year, same me. Don’t worry, there haven’t been any crazy changes, apart from the ones that have happened gradually in the course of my travels (more about that later). However, I thought it might…
Lima la gris
. Así la llaman, con desprecio qué apodo más ordinario e injustificado . Cierto, la ciudad te da la bienvenida con neblina y nubes opacas parece fría y hostil pero no lo es . Como me explicó alguien en el Malecón, a la hora del amanecer la verdad es que está llena de colores, de…
Side street interview
Remember my writer friend from the jungle, A. C. Ridenour? Well, he visited me in Cusco back in March and interviewed me for his project «The Nomad Theory». Sitting on a doorstep in some side street in Cusco, we talked about my volunteering experience, gap years and multilingualism. Go check out the result here. And…
On the road
Hello there again! For those of you who were wondering, no, I haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth or gotten kidnapped in some shady side street. It’s just that since I’ve left Cusco, I have been busy traveling and exploring and meeting new people. So don’t worry if you hear a bit less…
Cusco mágico
Cusco encantador Cusco soñador Cusco, mi querido Cusco Ha llegado el momento de despedirse. Después de ocho meses, después de tanto tiempo en esta hermosa ciudad, dejo atrás la vida que me construí acá, pedazo por pedazo, amistad por amistad. Ya está. Me marcho, ya no puedo dar marcha atrás. Me voy, el corazón pesado,…
little victories
climbing the stairs on his own walking around the entire school grounds without help hugging a fellow pupil pronouncing a difficult word correctly and clearly neatly and rapidly solving a math problem presenting a science subject in front of her classmates surprising me by remembering the exact arrangement of certain objects reading a new word…
On a Zero Waste mission
After working at the Foifi ZeroWaste shop in Zurich, learning a lot about the Zero Waste concept and implementing various changes in my life to reduce the waste I produce, I was curious how challenging it would be to maintain these habits once in Peru. To my surprise, for me it’s almost easier (and cheaper) here than…