2024 Recap: The Essence Of Who We Are

For the first time in years, I’ve come to peace with who we are and how we exist. As always, I am grateful to have come to this conclusion by allowing myself to observe the world, in all its different shapes and forms, in different parts of the world. 

2024 has proved that you can have the year you dream of if you dare to dream it. 

It was only about 6 months before my big Latin America trip that I dared to dream of it, and it seemed some sort of fantasy at that time. But that fantasy made me smile instantly, and that’s when my mind was set on it. My rational side said that I might not want it or that I am not capable of this far-away travel. 

But, as with all my past travel plans, once my mind is set, my ambition and personality stepped in and made it happen. It comes to prove, once more, the power a decided mind can have. I’m lucky to have discovered some years ago the power of manifesting, for myself and others, the things that we want and to make them happen in our lives. 

To many, the idea of manifestation might still look like a childish game, but as far as my travel plans, I have yet to decide on a plan that didn’t turn into reality. 

As always, I urge you, as you’re reading this, to waste no more time with thoughts like “What if?” or “Should I?” and dictate your mind exactly the things, or better yet, the experiences you want and need in your life.  

And before you jump to any conclusions, I fund all my travels with my freelancer jobs. So if I can do it, you can do it too. 

And I want to let you in on a little secret. Travelling gets you burned out, so don’t overdo it. 

Latin America

As a child, I watched telenovelas for hours. My mind was understanding Spanish before I could properly read my mother tongue. But I never spoke about it. So, I just let it sit in the back of my mind for a couple of decades. 

At the end of February 2024, I started my Latin America trip, and the first stop was Miami. 

Sure, Miami is a city in the United States. But all taxi drivers are from Latin countries, and that was the perfect moment to start practising my Spanish. Luckily, Miami is a huge city, and 50-minute taxi rides turned into intense Spanish practice sessions with native speakers. There’s nothing that’s going to get you speaking faster in a foreign language than practising with a native speaker. A native speaker who cannot speak anything but that language. 

Guatemala

By the time I reached Guatemala, about one week later, I was faster at reacting and getting more complex sentences, but it was still hard to reply in Spanish. 

However, Guatemala is when I really got into the essence of Latin America, as I rented a car for 9 days and drove all around the country. By the way, the internet advises strongly against renting a car in Guatemala, but, as always, they are wrong. 

Renting a car there was the absolute best travel destination for me, and I would do it again. However, it might not be for everyone, so make sure you read my blog about driving in Guatemala before committing to similar travel plans. 

After all that time in Guatemala, by the time I had to return the car, I was able to tell my travel stories and make jokes in Spanish with the staff at the rental company. They told me my Spanish had improved tremendously, and we joked that there was no other option after visiting the entire country. The joke is that most locals don’t speak any other language anyway. 

Costa Rica

I travelled next to Costa Rica. It sounds amazing, I know. But I planned this trip as a working holiday, so I didn’t plan too much to go sightseeing. As it turns out, Costa Rica is more of a scam, specifically marketed as an exotic destination for rich Americans. 

You don’t really believe such statements until you see it with your own eyes. I even tried to warn others and posted a detailed YouTube video about it, which received a lot of hate from “local” Costa Ricans who claimed that the high prices are the correct prices to keep that pristine nature that everyone wants to visit there. 

Anyway, it might be true, but most of Central America looks similar, and most countries are very welcoming and affordable, except for Costa Rica. They call themselves the “Switzerland of Central America,” whatever that means. 

Peru

And then flew to Lima, the capital of Peru. I had high expectations before visiting Peru, but the next 3 weeks of my life blew my mind. I spent two weeks in Lima and then another on a road trip around Cusco. This was a life-changing experience, as I visited cities, lakes, and tourist attractions at over 4,000 meters altitude.  

I challenged myself and got challenged by life almost every day in ways that cannot be replicated back home. It’s Peru that made me realise the beauty of the human soul and reminded me how beautiful life can be, living with simplicity and care for those around you. 

So, for 2024, Peru is the country that gets the best destination. I don’t usually give awards or make weird travel tops because I stand for the kind of travel that depends on personal experience. 

And I believe that each experience is different, as each human soul is different and in need of different things. But Peru is a destination in Latin America that I would recommend to any kind of traveller. 

I then (almost) drove all the way to Machu Picchu. This isn’t something many tourists do. Not a lot of locals do this, either. But I am not your average traveller, and this story deserves the title “Lost in the Amazon” because it felt like some sort of National Geographic show, and not the kind in which you sit back relaxed and enjoy the ride. It was dangerous, sprinkled with bad decisions, and almost deadly mistakes were made. 

Luckily, I made it back to tell others about it. Possibly, the closest near-death experience from all my travels. Would do it again. 

Made it back to Cusco just in time for the flight to Lima and then Buenos Aires.

Speaking about flights, for the first time in my travel expert life, I almost missed a flight, the one from Cusco to Lima, due to an error in the booking process made by my favourite third-party website – Kiwi. 

That’s something that has never happened before, and I was literally crying in front of the airline staff, with a limited internet connection, with my laptop in one hand and my phone in the other, trying to find my booking or buy another ticket. Guess what – all the money in the world wouldn’t have helped us because it turns out you can’t just buy a new ticket with some airlines because they don’t have a POS at the counter. 

Somehow, my lucky stars once more aligned, and the airline staff (Alejandro) didn’t give up on us. The online support at Kiwi was very prompt, and things got sorted (almost). The important thing is that we made it to Buenos Aires as originally planned. 

Argentina

Argentina is another huge country that needs months to be explored. 

But by the time I stepped foot in central Buenos Aires, I was tired and a bit confused. 

For the first time, I experienced an anxiety attack due to my poor travel planning, which I thought would never happen to me. It was in Buenos Aires when I realised that one-way return flights back to Europe are the most expensive thing on Earth and that Argentina is basically on another planet. It looks like Europe, smells like Europe, but it’s not. It’s pampas land, with nothing new to show you after you’ve seen all of Europe.  

There are some iconic destinations in Argentina that you need to take some internal flights to reach. That’s how huge the entire country is. 

Because of my poor planning, I didn’t have the time or the budget to include them all during this trip, so I settled for Ushuaia and Iguazu Falls. 

Well, stepping foot in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, made me feel better, as I love travel extremes and planet extremities. I guess Antarctica is next because there’s literally no place further from home that I can find on the map that’s less accessible and more spectacular than everything else I’ve seen. 

Then, we returned to Buenos Aires for a couple of days, experienced some of the largest peaceful protests against the government, and then flew out to Iguazu. 

Iguazu is literally in the jungle, so it was a nice warm and humid change of seeing snow and a glacier in Ushuaia. 

The border between Argentina and Brazil is easy to cross by public bus, and that’s exactly what we did. 

Brazil

There were a couple of minor hiccups but I made it safely to Brazil and explored the Brazilian side of Iguazu. That was the moment I realised that Brazil is much more advanced and cool than all the things the media shares about the country. Just take this as a reinforcement of the idea that the media manipulates you and serves only certain ideas to the masses. Might as well not watch the TV ever again, because it’s not useful. 

After a couple of days in Foz do Iguazu, we flew to Fortaleza, a holiday beach city on the northern coast of Brazil. At first, I was terrified about landing in Fortaleza, especially since some websites rank it as one of the most dangerous cities in the world. 

We were so terrified when we arrived there that we were afraid to take our phones out while on the street. 

But as it turns out, that’s also more an exaggeration, especially for tourists staying in the tourist area close to the beach in Fortaleza. 

We spent two amazing weeks in Fortaleza, drinking beers on the beach and eating Acai bowls every day. You buy them by kilo there, and it is amazing. 

The internet does a stellar job of telling us how Brazil is such a dangerous place when, in fact, it’s not. It could be, but it’s not the kind of place that won’t let you sleep at night or, worse, let you walk on the street at night. 

Spoiler alert: you can even use your phone outdoors, use Uber or stay there for two weeks and never use physical cash. 

Yep, Brazil is so much more advanced and smart at many social things than we think it is. 

At the end of it all, I was sad to be leaving South America but so glad that I would be back in my beloved Europe. 

I missed life in Europe, and I am grateful to call it my home. 

Three months in South America were awesome, filled with many travel experiences and filled my memories with stories to last for a lifetime. And that’s exactly why we travel and why I inspire others to see the world. 

In terms of finances, I lost track of our spending in Latin America. If I had to guess, it’s a bit over $10,000. 

The rest of the year, I spent more time at home, working and relaxing, as the last few years got me into a chronic state of travel fatigue. 

Conclusions of 2024

I learnt that I don’t enjoy rushing too much when travelling, and I would rather have extra days just to relax and do some work than have to see an entire country in a week. 

Some call it slow travel, but for me, it’s just a new measure to enjoy my experiences more. What’s the point of it all if you don’t enjoy it?! 

Finding meaning is an important pillar of my entire existence, and if it doesn’t make sense to me, it will not spark my curiosity. And without it, I won’t be driven to do anything. 

Overall, I loved my experiences, although I once more realised that moderation is key, even when it comes to travelling. 

Travelling more doesn’t necessarily make you do more or want to do more. It might also make you tired, and bored of it all and make you feel guilty for not enjoying an experience that others might deem unique. 

As for my travel blog and YouTube channel, I finally saw some results, and they filled my heart with joy. 

I used the time at home to edit my videos and share more stories with anyone looking to learn about the world or in need of a little push to start exploring on their own. 

Was it a good year or a bad one? I don’t know. Because comparison is the thief of joy and we’re not here to make ourselves feel miserable.