" The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page " –
St. Augustine
There are 196 countries and 7 continents in the world for us to explore and become part of. As some of you may know, I have a major thirst for travelling and I always seem to runaway from this little island of ours. Flying off to an unknown destination is something that has always made me happy. I guess that is why I was given the name Dora the Explorer...apart from being a short half Mexican just like the little miss herself... (but no mushroom haircut I'm afraid)
But at the end of the day, I only have to thank one person for making all the adventurous trips of my life become possible...my little madre. Leaving Mexico at the age of 21, she jet-setted of to San Francisco, Hawaii, Japan and through China from north to south. During those years, travelling to China was unheard of especially at this age, as it was a country that had just opened its doors to the world due to communism. However my mother's exact sentence describing her adventure was "un viaje increiblemente interesante e inolvidable" (an incredibly interesting and unforgettable trip). Two years later, the crazy cat decided to place the nachos and tequila to one side and set of once again to Japan, but this time not only to improve her Japanese but to turn into Hello Kitty lover herself and stay there for good.
However not long after, off she went again and this time came to Europe, specifically to England planning only to stay for 3 months before returning to Japan. But this never happened. Destiny sometimes play funny games in our lives and 3 months became 30 years. Meeting a Turkish man in a green card line office in Holborn, who could hardly speak English himself, is not really a fairytale Cinderella story but more of a lost in translation love affair. After having a family of her own her love for visiting new countries did not stop there and that is why I can count myself very lucky to have travelled around many places whilst growing up.
My mother has always encouraged us to travel, making my first solo trip at the young age of 16. Then not long after, was my first visit to the magical land of Oz and NZ. As I fell in love with Australia, it was there and then that I knew that I had to come back and hopefully one day to make it my home and make my own 'shrimp on the barbie' whilst sipping Bundi rums. I guess there is no harm in dreaming...
This year I travelled for a year round Mexico, Cuba, Australasia and South America. Since the age of 15, I dreamt about visiting these places and in order to save up for my trip I worked for 5 years as a face painter during the weekends and all I can say is that it was totally worth it. Meeting those amazing people, exploring those breathtaking places and having all the freedom and independence in the world, is a wonderful feeling.
And so in September 2009, Dora finally set out on her journey and never regretted a single day of it ♥
A few snappy happy pictures of previous adventures
