10 years today, I woke up and felt the most scared I have ever felt before in my life. I had just arrived in Santiago Chile, and it was going to be my home for the next year. I had no plans, no north, or even a clue on what I was in for. Sometimes I can’t believe it’s been 10 years already. It feels like yesterday I was hugging my dad goodbye at the airport. And at the same time, I can break down each year and see how much I’ve grown.
If ya’ll follow me on Instagram, you know that I’ve been using this quarantine to catch up on the things that I never have time to do. I’ve been cooking, I’ve been writing, and I’ve been looking through old pictures. Doing these things have reminded me of the stories and moments that I wanted to share with you. These are moments that are relative in time. Some happened in just one day, some have taken me years to learn. They form part of this incredible journey to remind myself how lucky I am, how grateful I am, and how wonderfully crazy my life has been during the past 10 years.
If anyone takes a look at their past 10 years, they will find plenty of mistakes, losses, new friends, old friends that are still around, hilarious stories, sad stories, and stories that may change lives.
1. The moment I said goodbye to my old life.
Making the decision to uproot my life was a really fast one. However, Saying goodbye to it took some time. In 2010, I had just ended my first serious relationship. I was a recent graduate in a recovering economy, and I was working in a place where I had no future. My dad put the idea in my head of taking a break to figure out my next move. The moment I said Yes to Chile, I had two weeks to prepare for the first phase of saying goodbye to my old life. At the time, I didn’t realize the impact this decision would have on my life. After the first year of being back, I knew that things were different. I knew that I had changed. Life back in Orlando just wasn’t the same. The year I had, changed my ways of looking at the world, at my friendships, at everything.
So I left again. I made several attempts to come back to my old life, and each time something would happen that pushed me away. Eventually, I realized that I couldn’t go back to that old life. I knew that I wanted more, and the world had so much to offer that I couldn’t say no. I still have those moments where I ask myself what would have happened if I stayed. My old life wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t making me happy anymore. I felt that I didn’t connect with anyone or anything. I didn’t want the things that were being offered to me in Orlando. And when I tried to look for a different place that would make me happy, I realized that Chile was the place that made me most happy. It had turned into my new home. Orlando still feels like home, but it’s different now. It’s hard to explain, but I try to focus on the fact that now I have two places to call home, and that’s my new life.
2. The moment I Volunteering with Techo
One of the coolest things that I did during my first year living in Chile was volunteering with TECHO. They are a youth-led NGO working to eradicate extreme poverty in Latin America. In 2011, they were just opening in several countries and had this incredible grassroots start-up feeling that inspires you to want to be better and do better for the world. Today, their mission is the same. I was a volunteer in their headquarter offices a couple of days a week and worked in the communications and grant writing area. I learned a lot about NGO grant writing and was finally doing something related to what I studied. A couple of times during the year, they would gather university students and volunteer to build transitional homes for these families. Of course, I was the first to sign up and get real hands-on experience and help these families. The first house I helped build was in Chile. Then I was pretty lucky to be able to visit Uruguay, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic to do the same thing.
I learned so much and grew professionally and emotionally. The biggest lesson I learned is about the amount of privilege I have in this world. For being white, for being educated, for speaking two languages, for the passports I have, for never being in a situation where I didn’t feel safe. I carry that with me all the time. That year taught me to be an ally for others. I learned compassion, empathy, and how happy people can genuinely be in the worst situations.
3. The moment I stepped on a nail
Chile’s independence week-long celebration known as “Diechiocho” was coming up, and a bunch of my friends got together and decided to rent a house in a beach town called Algarrobo. On our first night in town, we decided to go to the “fondas.” These are areas where you can play traditional games and eat food during the day, and then you come back to a party at night. These are also areas that are built with ply-wood and leftover scraps of wood on a dirt platform. They are magical places that you only find during this time of year. Every year, people also try and knock over the fences to avoid paying the entrance fee. Stupid, I know, but it’s one of those things that only happen when you have lots of drunk people who collectively agree that it’s a great idea.
As we all proceeded in pushing this fence until it fell over, I stepped on a nail. It penetrated my boot and got me in the big toe. After a few minutes, the pain started to come in, and I asked my friends to wait for me to check my foot. I sat down, took my boot off, saw my sock soaked with blood, looked up to my amigas, looked back down at my foot. Here I had two options; ruin everyone’s night and ask to go to a hospital or suck it up because the nail wasn’t there and continue to drink to ignore the pain. I choose to grab a napkin I found on the table, put it over my bleeding foot, and proceed to buy myself a drink. We danced all night and walked home at 5 am.
The pain in my foot woke me up the next morning, and my friends took me to an urgent care center to get a tetanus shot and a look at my foot. The nurse thought my foot was broken because of how swollen it was and suggested that I go to the hospital for x-rays. The closest hospital was a little bit more than an hour away. Long story short, it wasn’t broken just really infected and needed to be drained. They just popped it like a pimple and sent me home with antibiotics. I asked the doctor if I can drink, he said yes but moderately. While I was in a significant amount of pain, I turned to my “moderately” drinking habits to ignore it. My foot was elevated during the day, and I went out to the “fondas” every night with a limp. Your girl was not going to miss out on one of the most fun and memorable diechiochos I can think of.
Coming back to Santiago, I went to the doctor again because I was still in a lot of pain. I learned later that some antibiotics and alcohol cancel each other out, and the infection never cleared adequately. I also found out that I had nerve damage due to the lack of care of my foot. Was I irresponsible? Absolutely. Do I still feel sharp pains when I jump and land on my big toe? Yes, sometimes. Do I regret it? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
4. The moment I finished my Master’s degree.
Studying was never a strong suit of mine. Once I finished UCF, I said that I was never going back to school. Two years later and constant rejection from job offers because I was either “over” or “under” qualified made me realize that going back to school was a MUST. After careful consideration, I choose to go back to Chile, where it just so happens that the University of Chile has one of the best marketing programs in Latin America. It was meant to be, right?. To my surprise, I was accepted. Why? I would say that I’m a pretty average B- student, and this university has some of the best, smartest, and hardworking students in the country. I’m talking about people who ace their entrance exams out of high school and have science and mathematical brains. On the other hand, I’m a creative and sensitive soul who depends on a calculator to figure anything out.
Within the first week of classes, I was second-guessing myself and cried at least once a week because I felt so stupid. Almost all my exams during those two years were endless essays explaining theories or mathematical equations. Every lecture was in Spanish, but the textbooks were in English. I thought my brain was going to explode at least once a week. Some professors let me answer in English out of pity, and others challenged me to be better. I will never forget that professor who thought I was always in the wrong class every time he saw me. He also always spoke to me in English even though he heard me speak Spanish. I will always love the PA who sat with me every Wednesday after class to explain the theories of supply and demand. I was so proud of myself when I finished my thesis with one of the highest grades in my class. Those two years was hell. I loved it, but I would never like to go back.
5. My first 36 hours in Ibiza moment
I went on my first backpacking trip to Europe in 2016. The purpose of the trip was to visit two of my BFFs from Chile who had already spent a year studying in Madrid. With a couple of other friends, each of us got to pick a destination, and from that, we planned our 3-week adventure. Ibiza was a destination that I didn’t choose, but it was one that I thoroughly enjoyed. We rented this apt that we never slept in and basically just used it to store our things and shower. We napped outside during the day and were exploring the town at night.
I’m not into techno/dance/psy whatever-you-call-it-music too much, and I couldn’t see myself spending over $100 bucks just to get into a club or spending 25 on a poorly made drink to listen to that. As soon as we arrived we went straight to the clubs and just went wild. On our second night, we decided to split up, and the girls and guys would each go their separate ways to party how they wanted to. We brought pisco from Chile that we brought to with us and in our Chilean fashion made “mamaderas” or pre-made drinks that we would take on the beach and just mingle with others until something interesting was presented to us. We met some local paramedics, and after some drinks on the beach, they took us to a club that we could get into for free and ended up having the BEST time.
We met so many people that night, we danced with so many people. I can’t even remember what time we got home, but the boys got back the same time as we did, and I can easily say that we had a better time than they did. I remember floaties, I remember a sunrise swim in the ocean, and that’s all I’m going to say for now.
6. The moment I finally moved on:
Everyone has that one relationship that they hang onto longer than they should. Mine was my college boyfriend that I knew that I wanted to marry him the moment I saw him. Our relationship was intense, beautiful, and filled with ups and downs that eventually led us to break up and me going to Chile to move on. I tried to move on, but in the back of my mind, even when I dated other people, I always thought we were going to get back together. Always.
Looking back now, The reality of that relationship was that no matter what we did or where I was, we were never going to be on the same page. When I wanted to get back together, he didn’t. Or when he was actively looking for me to come back home, I wasn’t interested. Years went by. Seven to be exact. One day I realized, “relationships shouldn’t be this hard.” Why was I searching and hoping to be with someone when there was a considerable possibility that the version of the person I know doesn’t exist anymore. So many years have passed, I know that I have grown up a lot, so why wouldn’t he? When we finally met up, it kinda just hit me that I knew that I was always going to love him.
I stopped the internal fight with myself of trying to wipe him out of my life. BUT…I also realized that I wasn’t IN love with him anymore. I didn’t want to be with him. I was happy for him and his new life. I felt grateful for everything we went through. He is a part of my life. When I realized that difference, I was able to move on.
7. The moment I fell in love with travel
One of the first big trips I did while living in Chile was a 1-month backpacking trip through Peru and Bolivia in February 2011. I went with 9 friends that I had made in the first 6 months of me living in Chile. These guys have known each other for years, and I was the “newbie.” Everyone in Chile called me “gringa” instead of my real name Andrea. Since my dad is Chilean, I also have Chilean citizenship. So when we traveled through Peru and Bolivia, we all just needed our ID card to cross borders. When we cross the borders, one person would collect the ID’s, get the OK, and then give them back when we passed.
On our first crossing, when we were giving back ID’s someone said: “who’s Andrea Mujica Torres?” I said, “me!” and my friend was so surprised because 1: she knew for almost 6 months and didn’t know my real name and 2: she expected some American last name but was surprised to learn my last name is a very Chilean last name—Yay for being first-generation Latina-American. We still laugh about that to this day.
That trip, in general, was one of the best trips of my life so far. It was everything I thought backpacking was. We didn’t have a lot of money, we all had different opinions, we got stupid drunk one-too-many times, and we had a fantastic time. Our route started in Arica (the most northern and border city in Chile), and then we traveled via bus to Arequipa, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, La Paz, and back to Arica. I can come up with a story, several stories actually, in each of those stops, and I love reliving them. I definitely think this trip played a huge role in my intense travel addiction.
8. Starting a blog
Back in 2014, I had to write a thesis to complete my master’s degree in Santiago. I decided to study the impact of electronic word-of-mouth on a consumer’s decision-making process when traveling. My studies showed that websites like TripAdvisor and travel blogs were more critical after the consumer had made a decision of where they were going to go. So electronic word of month answered the “what to do” questions more than “where to go” questions. I propose that travel companies add a travel blog aspect to their websites and focus on content marketing to get new sales. Starting a blog to influence travel to Chile came up, but my professor didn’t really think the idea would sell and told me not to include it in my thesis.
2016 came along, and I had quit my “dream” job at the time, and the idea of starting a travel blog of my own came up again. Plus, 2016 was the year where travel blogs were trending and the cool thing to do. I was a bit hesitant at first, but I knew it was the perfect time to learn something new. Saying I was a travel blogger felt silly. But I started creating content about Chile, and that eventually led me to where I am today.
9. Solar Eclipse 2019 in La Serena
Solar eclipses are one of the world’s natural phenomenons everyone should experience if given a chance. Chile experienced one in 2019, and since I was already traveling, blogging, and working nomadically, so naturally, I had to find myself in the path of totality somehow or another. The universe made it happen, and the months of June/July of 2019 were someone of the most magical, perfect, and beautiful months of the year. I landed a worldpacking volunteer opportunity at a hostel in La Serena during the month of the eclipse.
The other volunteers became my family. It was just pure love and good vibes with everyone in the house. We cooked together every day, and it just felt so beautiful to connect with so many strangers in such a powerful way. The day of the eclipse was an emotional one for me. I cried before, during, and several days after the eclipse. It was a release of so much energy that to this day, I still have a hard time putting into words what a solar eclipse looks and feels like in real life. Saying goodbye to my team was heartbreaking, but I know that our paths will cross again. All I have to say is that if you find me in Brazil or in Australia, it’s because of the solar eclipse.
10. Becoming a nomad
Once I started my travel blog, I knew that the next step was to eventually become nomadic. My plan was to wait a bit until I felt a bit more established in the blogging and internet world before taking that step. I wasn’t 100% ready. It definitely was scary because I didn’t have consistent or reliable work or even enough “savings.” What I did have was a handful of backup plans and lots of crazy ideas. It sounds irresponsible to most, but my mindset was “it’s now or never.” I’d rather spend the money I make on the thing I love most, and then everything else will fall in line. Leaving Santiago in March of 2019 was one of those moments that I remember feeling scared and excited about not knowing how this was going to go. It reminded me of how I felt when I left Orlando in 2010. I could have failed miserably and ended up coming back home crying. I also could have started one of the coolest chapters of my life that will take me all over Chile and even possibly beyond. The latter happened. I’m in year 1 of that Chapter. Let’s see what I say in 10 more years.
These are just 10 moments. I have a thousand more in my mind just waiting for me to write them down so I can look back in another 10 years. I’m so proud of myself. I don’t tell myself this enough. I’ve been so hard on myself and pushing myself to be better, to do more, to keep on pushing through. I was always go-go-go that every rest I took was just a small recharge of my life battery. I needed to stop and take a serious pause. This quarantine was definitely the pause I needed. Everything that I’ve done in the past 10 years as part of a journey of discovering who I am and what I want in my life.
Today I’m back in Orlando. I’m back where I started. But this time, things are different. I know who I am. I know what I believe in. I’m not afraid to question things anymore. I just let things be. They will work out the way they need to. I still try not to make plans because the universe has a way of changing them anyway, am I right 2020?
Let’s see what happens in the next 10 years. If you made this far, thank you.
