You should definitely travel to the Amazon—with indigenous tour operators to ensure your money goes into the local economy and to reduce the negative impacts of your visit on indigenous communities, wildlife, and ecosystems.
Tag: blog
In Celebration of Human Art
Art is everywhere. Even when we don’t notice it, when it seems to blend into the background of the mundane, most of what humans create is influenced by art. Because there is nothing more human than art, nothing more fundamental to our social progress or essential to our development as a species. Art exists not just around us but within us; it gives life meaning. Art also helps us solve problems, develop critical thinking skills, and process information. It is one of the pillars of community as it brings us closer together. Art is, ultimately, the antithesis of capitalism, which is why it’s under attack.
Forests, Water, and Climate: Pillars of Our Survival
Many “international days” go unnoticed, so one of my goals for 2026 is to start highlighting the ones I believe bring attention to crucial issues we’re facing as a planet. To start, celebrating three pillars of our survival: International Day of Forests, International Water Day, and World Meteorological Day.
Responsible Cultural Tourism in the Amazon
Can we still enjoy cultural travel responsibly in 2026? I think we can, but it requires travel to become purposeful, intentional, and thoughtful. It means going back to the basics.
Jungle Life
Them: “You’re crazy! What will you do in the Amazon for three months? Three days is enough!” Me: That’s what most people in Medellín said when I told them I was leaving the city for the jungle, the thought of spending so much time in such a wild place actually incomprehensible to them. To me, nothing… Continue reading Jungle Life
How Missing My Cross-Atlantic Flight Home Last Year Made 2024 Unforgettable In All the Best Ways
In June 2024, I missed my cross-Atlantic flight home from Madrid to Medellín. And it was the best thing that could've happened.
Thirty-Five
I always thought I’d be dead by thirty-five. I don’t know where this fixation came from, what triggered it, or why I believed it, but the imagined certainty that I wouldn’t live to see forty defined my 20s and early 30s in a very real way. My friends in university would tell me to stop… Continue reading Thirty-Five
My Nomadic Life: Force Majeure
There are things beyond our control. Things that force us to change our plans, to be flexible and spontaneous, things that humble us, that remind us that the world keeps spinning regardless of what we’re going through, things that make the impossible possible and the possible impossible. These unpredictable factors are known as force majeure—a… Continue reading My Nomadic Life: Force Majeure
My Nomadic Life: A Crazy Idea
For years I’ve said that my craziest ideas have been some of my best ideas. Studying for a semester in Peterborough, Canada when I was sixteen; moving to Brisbane, Australia before my eighteenth birthday to study journalism… and then transferring to creative writing after only two semesters; moving to Sri Lanka on a whim and… Continue reading My Nomadic Life: A Crazy Idea
My Nomadic Life: Life & Loss on the Road
It’s been nearly a month since I wrote a new post about this new chapter of My Nomadic Life, even though when I left Colombia I told myself that this time I’d be more constant about updating my blog—not like in Brazil, where it fizzled out after a few months as the daily distractions of… Continue reading My Nomadic Life: Life & Loss on the Road
Laura Restrepo Ortega 