Hi. What’s your name? Where are you from? How long are you staying here and where are you going next? What do you wanna see here in <this very cool place I just arrived but haven’t done a lot of research about>? If you have ever stayed in a hostel, chances are you’ve heard those questions, in that exact order, an inhuman amount of times. So for the sake of the stability of the universe, here we go again, but let’s change the order a bit and see what happens.
I’m Bruno, nice to meet you, new reader! I’m some kind of scientist who became a traveler. In the last few years, I have lived longer on the road than I ever thought I would. I first solo traveled during grad school while trying to extend my conference stays abroad. Little by little, I got addicted to it and began taking longer and longer breaks to travel around Europe. I’ve met a few people in their gap years and a few fascinating humans traveling indefinitely. The cat was out of the bag, so to say.
After finishing my thesis, I had a few office jobs but ultimately decided that corporate life was not what I was looking for, especially after the freedom I had at university. I came up with a plan to see what else is out there and travel for one or two years. Then March 2020 arrived… During the resulting chaos and difficult months, I slowly figured out that life was lighter when I would live with less stuff, responsibilities, bills to pay, worries… Eventually, the gap travel year became more of a possibility, I sold what I could and left my old apartment without a clear destination or goal in mind. It has now been around two years and counting.
I’ve been lucky enough to see how amazing life can be when you open your mind to possibilities and how many incredible people you meet on the road. How living one day at a time can be both inspiring and scary. How unexpected the world is when you don’t have to do the same repetitive tasks all day. And how much you can learn from it all.
Here you will find some of the stories I’ve lived during this special time and some travel tips with various degrees of usefulness. Written a few times in a nonsensical way, filled with questionable humor. Maybe some real entertainment too, as travel journals can be fun to read. And a few travel itineraries that you can incorporate into your travels (or, let’s aim high here, life!).
As of the day I created this penguing-themed blog, I am still traveling, in an undisclosed location to sound more mysterious. I am not sure when this will end or where this will go. But let’s look at the horizon of possibilities and find out, shall we?
While talking to a particularly nonresponsive coconut.