Buenos Aires is a wonderland for book lovers. Borges’ hometown has bookshops o practically every street. Best of all, many of them have cafes where you can while away a day surrounded by beautiful books while drinking tea and eating medialunas.
These are my favourites so far. Read more
At the weekend, I wrote my first field report for Vagablogging. I`ll be contributing on a montly basis from now on, along with seven other field reporters from around the world. We answer questions about things such as daily living costs, typical days, the things we like and don’t like, and the strangest things we see.
Vagablogging is a blog from Rolf Potts, author of ‘Vagabonding: A Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel’. It’s a brilliant book and Rolf is an excellent writer so I`m really excited to be part of his team.
If you like, you can read my first field report on living the Porteña life in Buenos Aires. Enjoy.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about the feeling of saudade for the forest that I got when in Brazil. Mine was a sense of loss, but for many people deforestation is having a direct and devastating effect on their way of life in the here and now. There is one man who can change this. Please watch this beautiful video and do what you can to help the Awa.
On a less serious note, does anyone know what that excellent creature is? The one playing in the hammock with the little boy?
Steve has been gone for a week now and there’s another four to go so I’ve been finding my feet in Buenos Aires alone. Most of the time I’m quite happy wandering the city and setting up camp in cafes with my iPad and a good smoothie, but sometimes I want some company. Travelling alone is rarely as lonely as it sounds so I thought I’d share my tips on going solo in the city – and not just hanging out with fellow travellers/ex-pats (although sometimes that’s lovely too). Read more
Our visit to Iguazu Falls gave birth to a new catchphrase: ‘Exxxxcellent splennndoooooourrrrrrrrr of the universssssse’. This has to be shouted in a mighty way as if a superhero, preferably with one joyous hand thrust into the air.
At the end of out trip, we had a tiredness that reminded us of days spent at theme parks as teenagers, fuzzy from the repeated rush of adrenaline. Every view is like a ride with the La Garganta del Diablo (the Devil’s Throat) being the main event. Read more
The walls in Brazil are completely alive with street art. From the winding murals of Santa Teresa in Rio, to the hyper-glyphs and psychedelic pandas of Sao Paulo’s backstreets, you can sometimes hardly turn a corner without seeing a piece of finely crafted visual madness. Read more
The trip to São Paulo started and ended in tears. The first for the jungle and the latter for the new friends we will miss. It’s a concrete forest of a city – a sprawl of never-ending skyscrapers and dense traffic – but within that madness, a medley of fascinating culture abounds including some of the best street art we’ve ever seen.
The last post I wrote was a little melancholic (as an aside, I’m feeling much more up-beat now and very much looking forward to spending six weeks in Buenos Aires). One of the factors I didn’t mention that contributed to that mindset was the journey to Sao Paulo.
It was an 8-hour trip from Paraty and it started out wonderfully. The seats were ridiculously comfortable and I felt blissful, listening to my iPod as I stared out the window at the gorgeous Mata Atlantica. I was captivated by the magnificence and beauty of the trees.
Then things took a turn and the forest started to thin. Read more
This moment is a difficult one. I’ve been bitten by bed bugs which has made my entire body itch. It’s maddening, and as always the ailments of the body are affecting the mind. Steve has also realised he has to go to America for five weeks to shoot Continuum. I was hoping it’d be three. I know it’s not long but today it feels like it and I can’t decide what I’m going to do while he’s gone. I was going to do a month-long yoga course but I can’t find one. Two of my friends were going to come visit but they can’t anymore.
There are many things I could do, so many places I could go, but I’m in that abhorrent place where because one thing hasn’t gone the way I wanted, everything else seems unsatisfactory. It’s an ugly emotion but one I’m familiar with. It’s something I want to get better at, and one of the things this trip is about. Read more
Before we left the UK, I kept lusting after beautiful yoga retreats in the wilderness. Unfortunately, many of them came with a huge price tag and were confined to the stuff of dreams.
Then one day I stumbled across the incredible Sea and Forest Hostel in Trindade. It ticked every box of my yoga dreams: a gorgeous platform amid the jungle within earshot of the sea, and with private wooden cabanas to sleep in. When I saw it, I could barely believe it. Instead of the hundreds or even thousands of pounds other yoga breaks go for, this one was only 50 reins per night and 12 for a yoga lesson. It didn’t have the luxury 5 star elements of some yoga hotels but that wasn’t the part I was looking for – I wanted nature and yoga, and this seemed perfect. Read more
We are Victoria and Steve, a couple from London. In March 2012, we packed up our home and left on a quest to find a way we’d like to live.
Follow us as we travel, freelance, volunteer, couchsurf, retreat and ponder our way round the world.
