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Author: DREA CASTRO

September 14, 2020

EP 04: VISITING NORTH KOREA, A CAMBODIAN DISH TO DIE FOR, AND SHOOTING KALASHNIKOV’S IN ALBANIA

Special Guest:
Vitnija Saldava

Vitnija (pronounced as Whitney) Saldava is a true world citizen, born in the small Eastern European country of Latvia, but now living and working all over the world. She speaks 6 languages and has lived in 6 different countries, now residing in the UK. For the first half of her career she worked as an international news journalist covering news stories all around the world. At the moment, she works as a communications officer at NATO by day, and as a career adviser and a masters student at Harvard University by night.

My thoughts:

Vitnija made me laugh and laugh!  This woman is one adventurous traveler.  I definitely thought that I was an adventurous traveler but I was wrong. I am no where near adventurous.  It was so interesting to hear her experiences in countries such as North Korea.  Who travels to North Korea for fun? Apparently, Vitnija does.   After her crazy espionage experience in North Korea, my travels abroad look like trips to Disneyland.

If you want to hear some interesting stories in Albania or North Korea, this is the episode to do it.  Yes, there are also other tips such as the pineapple curry in Cambodia, which I am definitely going to get when I go visit this country.  Take a listen!

Stay Wild,

Drea

SHOW NOTES:

Introduction

1:10 Vitnija shares her family’s history with wanderlust

4:55 Vitnija shares her first solo trip to Finland at a really young age

7:30 How Vitnija chose to go to North Korea

8:35 Vitnija shares her experience sneaking around and getting caught in North Korea.

17:55 Vitnija shares her FAVORITE places that she has traveled with a few helpful tips on how to make your way over to these special places.

19:30 Vitnija shares her tips on traveling to Cambodia

21:00 Solo Traveling and why

29:05 Vitnija shares her experience in Albania shooting Kalashnikovs

36:30 How has Covid affected Vitnija

39:00 Feeling connected

41:30 Vitnija’s favorite item to buy when she travels

 

FIND HER ON :
www.instagram.com/whitneytheexplorer

September 7, 2020

EP 03: PILOT SOYLA FLOR & ADVENTURES IN HONDURAS & INDIA

Special Guest:

Soyla Flor

Soyla Flor was born in San Diego, California and raised in Los Angeles.  She has traveled to 51 countries, lived in Paris, France to study Art History, and in Rishikesh, India to study Hatha Yoga. In 2015, she decided that she was ready to embark on a new journey, when she was hired as a flight attendant for Delta Air Lines and discovered aviation.Her love for travel and adventure has married perfectly with aviation. She took her first ‘discovery flight’ in November of 2018, and in February 2020 became a private pilot.She is currently working on my instrument rating and commercial pilot license, and her goal is to become a Certified Flight Instructor and eventually an airplane pilot. When she travels she enjoy spending her time mingling with the locals and sitting at coffee shops while people-watching. She also love cats, mangos, yoga, and deep meaningful conversations. Want to connect? Follow me on Facebook or Instagram @soylaflor. God bless!

My thoughts:

Before speaking to Soyla, I didn’t really have any idea of how truly difficult it is to be a female pilot.  I mean, I saw that stats and did some research but hearing how isolating it can be as a woman was certainly eye-opening.  And who knew, there would be a group of avaition women called “The 99’s” that would come together to support each other.  The pursuit of aviation and becoming a pilot is so hard as it is, but being a woman pilot is even harder especially when you don’t have aviation running in the family.  BUT Soyla shares with us her journey to keep going and fighting for that dream.  It’s amazing to see her career grow and blossom into this “unicorn” woman that she is.  Soyla shares some handy tips for chasing those blue skies!

My take away as a fellow unicorn in a different male dominated industry – WE GOT THIS.  And if you’re a woman out there trying to fight for that dream that is usually a dream for men, know that you can do it.  Thanks for the inspiration, Soyla Flor!

Stay Wild,
Drea

Show Notes:

Intro:Soyla shares her experience in Cuba when she decided to give back to the local community7:10 Soyla tell us about her aviation journey and getting hired for Delta12:28 The challenges of being a pilot and finding “The 99’s”16:37 Soyla shares her love for india during her spiritual awakening, Hatha yoga training course she attended.  19:09 Tips and Tricks for traveling to India23:05 An adventurous trip to Honduras and a near death experience on a boat29:00 Soyla talks about her next adventure, Dubai31:22 Soyla’s favorite items to travel with32:30 Soyla shares the advice she would give her younger self33:32 Soyla can be found on TIKTOK
September 1, 2020

EP 02: SOLO VAN LIFE LIVING WITH DOMINIQUE RITCHIE

Special Guest:
Dominique Ritchie

Dominique is a full time vanlifer with her blue heeler, Kaia. She travels the world in her van sharing her stories through her blog and her own podcast, Roaming Roads.  

She wanders earth hoping to make a difference by empowering people to live a meaningful life, spreading awareness, kindness and love to each community she connects with.  She is focused on sustainability practices and purchases products with an eco-conscious mission. Her goal…. is to spread awareness, kindness, and love. 

MY THOUGHTS:

What did I learn from Dominique?  First off, I find Dominique to be one of the coolest people I have ever spoken to.  She is fearless, funny, knowledgeable, and just all around a good human.  You know when you meet someone, you can tell from the energy that they are one of those cool souls roaming the earth.  I felt that in our all too brief conversation.  She is an inspiration to me and I am so glad we got to meet.  Anyhow,  I’ve always dreamed of living on the road as a ,omad and doing the whole “van life” thing but there are so many factors that get in the way of chasing my wild, wild hearts desires.  One of the reasons why I started this podcast is because I get to live vicariously through other people’s adventures.  Perhaps, one day I’ll have the courage to go and chase that wanderlust dream that Dominique is living.  For now, this podcast episode has taught me a lot.  I hope it teaches you listeners out there, a few handy tips.  The moose story was terrifying!  At the time she told me, I hadn’t heard the sounds of what happened, so I had to place that recording in the episode.  Nature is beautiful and terrifying at the same time.  Dear friends and listeners, I hope this episode inspires you as much as it did for me.  And if you really want to hear more of this wonderful female powerhouse, please check her out on her own podcast, Roaming Roads.

SHOW NOTES:

2:13 Drea discusses how she found Dominique when she was searching for a Solo Female Van Lifer.

2:57 Dominique shares her passion for travel and van life living

4:00 Dominique discusses exploring her own country, Canada

4:39 Dominique tells us the life transition that pushed her to move into her van. She speaks about the documentary “Minimalism”

9:27 Dominique discusses some of the terrifying moments of living in a van/car and a few tips on how to stay safe

11:37 Dominique talks about feeling safer with Kaia, her dog by her side

12:30 Some challenges of living in a van. Dominique provides solutions on how to mitigate these challenges

14:12 Free Camping and the importance of keeping the budget low

15:21 Tips and Tricks for how to live in a van and avoiding dangerous situations like bears and people.

18:53 Dominique tells us her recent terrifying moose attack while she was hiking and a tips on how to try to keep safe

27:28 Dominque talks about what she does in order to support herself on the road

30:39 Dominque tells us advice she would give to her younger self

32:03 Dominique shares her favorite trails with us: The three sisters & Pearly Rock in Glacier NP in Canada

34:08 Dominique shares her favorite places that she has traveled to in her Van

  • The Oregon Coast and The Kootnays

37:14 Dominique tells us her most meaningful person that she has ever met on the road and how this person reignited her love for van life.

41:59 Dominique shares her plans for the Canadian winter after her plans for coming to warmer areas in the US has been derailed due to Covid and the border restrictions

44:45 Tips and Tricks to Dominiques favorite destinations, Kootnays and Oregon Coast

  • The importance of booking ahead in British Columbia
  • The Okanagan Wineries

47:20 Dominique shares the thing that she purchases when she travels

49:14 Dominque shares with us what her podcast “Roaming Roads” is all about

Find her on: www.instagram.com/shewandersearth

August 31, 2020

EP 01: TRAVELING TO ANTARCTICA, 430 UNESCO SITES, & THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO WITH AMADO DEHOYOS

SPECIAL GUEST:

AMADO DEHOYOS

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to travel the world, but sometimes it helps. Having spent 8 years building a career testing rockets with SpaceX, Amado DeHoyos decided to leave it early in 2015 and spent the last 5 years circling the globe on a seemingly never-ending quest – the desire to see the world. A friend made the fateful decision early in that trip to gift Amado a book called “100 Wonders” and he would sweep the globe, attempting to visit as many of those as he possible could (currently at 97, those last 3 are going to be tricky…). The checklist of 100 Wonders would expand to the checklist of UNESCO world heritage sites and would then expand to just being and living in the moment among the cultures of the world. 

My Thoughts

My take away from Amado’s interview – I want to go to Antarctica.  I mean, I’ve always wanted to go but now hearing his gorgeous journey to the arctic, my heart is calling out to the tundra and penguins of the South! I’ve never met someone who had accomplished so much by seeing the world.  His journey inspired me and I learned so much in our short talk.  He has visited 430 UNESCO Sites! 97 of the 100 wonders of the world?!?!?!   That in itself is pretty darn impressive.  I have books like the “100 wonders of the world” book that he based his explorations off of, but I’ve never actually said… Hmmm, I’m going to tick every single one of these off, but now, maybe I should?!

Cheers to crossing off bucket lists!  Kudos to you Amado!

Stay Wild,
Drea

 

SHOW NOTES:

1:04 Amado discusses the book that changed the course of his life.

Dehoyos has traveled to a 117 countries (including Antarctica), alongside 430 UNESCO sites.

5:33 A former engineer for SpaceX, Amado discusses the transition to following his dreams to explore the world. He discusses his travels to Rome and Machu Picchu.

Amado discusses the history, culture, nature, and people of Iguazu Falls, Manaus, Ataturk dam and the Amazon river

97 of the 100 wonders and what’s left

12:40 Amado shares his secrets to get to Antarctica.

Wildlife in Antartica and the Polar Bear Plunge

Discusses his love for New Zealand and some tips and tricks

21.15 Find out how to cover the trail while en-route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Discover what it feels like to be connected.

Interesting stuff to carry during travel.

The desire to travel to Iran and visit the man-made and god-made beauty out there.

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