Stories That Cross Boundaries
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
Being born in Colombia —a violent and lovely land of duality, of rancid poetry, marvellous heartbreak, impossible beauty, and sequestered abundance— is a curse. On the one hand, it’s a magical, fertile, lush kingdom filled with wonders and beauty. From the Amazon Rainforest to the Caribbean Sea, from the Andes mountains to the Pacific Ocean,… Continue reading The Colombian Curse: A Love Letter to my Country
In late 2015, I embarked on a nomadic journey through Brazil that forever changed my life. I wasn’t sure where exactly I would go or for how long— all I knew was I would start in the Amazon, head south to Uruguay, and stop at Iguazu Falls. After eighteen months on the road, I managed… Continue reading My Nomadic Life: Leaving Colombia. Again.
Ever since I was a little girl, I was made to believe that boys were better, stronger, smarter, funnier. That my life would only be complete once I found a man to support me financially, emotionally, and intellectually. That my greatest accomplishments would be fulfilling my womanhood by bearing children and raising them. That my… Continue reading 8M – International Women’s Day 2021 (Growing Up Girl)
As my thirtieth birthday approaches, I find myself constantly thinking about time. I think about its role in our lives, how it influences our decisions and our actions; I think about how we try to manoeuvre it, wishing it to bend to our desires; I think about our perception of it when we look back,… Continue reading My Nomadic Life: Parallel Universe
Before I reached Fortaleza, I was feeling a bit stuck in Barreirinhas, not feeling quite at home, dreaming of the beach and the Lençóis Maranhenses, a national park in Brazil’s state of Maranhão. The park is made up of 155,000 hectares of white sand desert, and during the rainy season, hallucinating lagoons fill up the… Continue reading My Nomadic Life: Finding Freedom in Nature
I hope my Little Mermaid facecloth will detract attention from the rest of my mess; I don’t have much privacy and the place for my stuff is, well, the floor. Just now, as I was trying to tidy up my things as neatly as I could against the wall I’ve claimed as my own, I… Continue reading Nomadic Life: Home is Where I can Unpack
Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I was always told I could do and be anything I wanted, and I believed it. We, as a generation, were told to reach for the stars, that the sky was the limit, that the world was our oyster, that it was at our feet, in the palm… Continue reading Nomadic Life: Chasing Waterfalls in the Amazon
For a few weeks now I'd been trying to write about Manaus, this strange, crazy, concrete jungle of a city which I can't quite figure out but have loved from the night I arrived. Located in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest, Manaus is home to 2.5 million people and spreads out over 11,000 km²… Continue reading My Nomadic Life: Finding the Road from Manaus
Now that I’m face to face with the start of a nomadic life, I can see that preparing for this change goes beyond travelling light; it means starting from scratch, learning to do things in a different way, and being more spontaneous; it means allowing myself to be guided by what’s inside of me—that thing… Continue reading My Nomadic Life: Running Toward the Water
Laura Restrepo Ortega 