Just imagine for a second undertaking the challenge of traveling on the ocean on a surfboard for an average of 90 km per day for 4 days in a row, reaching some of the most beautiful scenery available in Brazil, sleeping in small fishing village to recharge your batteries before hitting the waves again and again for over 6 hours daily. This is what I’ve been signing in for on this incredible journey of downwinder KiteSurf trip that took me on an adventure of more than 350 km of surfing in August 2020. The prospect of such a challenge seemed overwhelming at first when a friend invited me to take part in Lagartixa kite trip, but it undoubtedly turned out one of the most amazing experience I have done in the past years! In This Article…1 KiteSurf Downwinders2 Freeride Kitesurfing vs Downwind KiteSurfing3 The Ironman of the oceans4 Four days of Surfing5 How to join a Downwind6 Video Summary of the Trip7 More in Pictures8 […]
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Surfing the Pandemic in Paradise… Life in a North-Eastern Brazilian town during Covid-19 times
The pandemic has had a devastating effect on the tourism industry around the world and digital nomads have been particularly affected by the events. In an instant, people living on the road had to find shelter and morph into a sedentary lifestyle. In my case, I chose to spend these hard times in my favorite country, even though it was one of the hardest hit by the virus. To keep my moral high, I needed to be near the ocean, connect with nature and surf my days away while waiting for the world to fix itself. What else could I do? I was asked to stay home… Might as well isolate in the ocean on a surfboard riding the waves! In This Article…1 Stuck in South America with borders closed2 Kitesurfing in Cumbuco, Ceara3 Life routine in Ceará during Covid4 Living in paradise!5 The Ocean and Kitesurf were my saviors6 A few selected pictures7 Pin to Pinterest Stuck in South America with borders closed Living […]
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My Favorite Town in Cuba is… Trinidad!
Even better than Havana in my opinion, it is a perfect little picturesque and authentic village to spend two to three days while in Cuba. I felt transported back in the 19th century walking around its cobblestone streets and its colorful houses. The setup is just magical and nature as well. But be quick to come because I predict that its authenticity will disappear very soon as it is booming with construction at the moment. Hotels are popping everywhere and tourist traps will arrive soon after. If they say Cuba must be visited before it becomes developed, then Trinidad is to be number one on your bucket list. In This Article…1 What should you do there?2 Any restaurants to recommend?3 How to get to Trinidad?4 Trinidad in pictures… What should you do there? I enjoyed just walking around the old town. It’s so nice and feels so good to just observe how people are living. It just feels so colonial at the same time so […]
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Viñales – Best Day Trip from Havana
If you happen to make Havana your base for your next trip to Cuba, don’t forget to do a day trip to Viñales, which is such an easy trip to do as a day tour from Havana. You can do it yourself or do it with an organized tour and it will not cost you more than $60. Highlights are coffee plantations and most especially that tobacco plantations which you can easily visit and test by yourself by smoking a big cigar made in front of you. [TOC] How to get to Viñales from Havana? Some people prefer to stay overnight or to stay two days because of the nice little village that they can just stay and relax. But most people do it as a day tour as there’s not much more to do than what you can do in one day. That’s what I did. Also, by tsharing the cost on a shared tour becomes much cheaper than doing it by yourself because […]
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YEMEN – My 194th of 195 Country Visited – A One Week Expedition Across Socotra
Plunged into a Civil war since 2015, Yemen has been a difficult destination to visit on my quest to reach every one of the 196 countries of the world. I have been waiting for years to be able to go to Sana’a, the cultural capital of Yemen. But as I was planning to come in 2014, it became more and more dangerous for foreigners. It became too risky to make it to the country and soon after, the country fell into a never-ending war which is still raging strong at the time of writing this article. But even during wartime, there are always workarounds to enter a country. So how was it possible for me to spend a whole week in Yemen in 2019? The Secret was to go to Socotra, an island which is part of an archipelago of 4 islands located in the Arabian Sea, right on the tip of the horn of Africa. When I visited the island in November 2019, the national […]
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Piran, the Slovenian Jewel of the Adriatic Sea
Piran, also known as Pirano, it’s Italian name, shines as one of my favorite and most beautiful city on the Adriatic coast! After visiting Rovinj and choosing it as the most beautiful city of Croatia in a previous article, Piran is toe to toe with Rovinj, probably even more beautiful! No wonder Slovenia kept this tiny opening coast to the sea where Piran is located as part of their territory. In This Article…1 An example of Italian Gothic Architecture2 Best 2 Days Itinerary in Piran3 Top 10 Things to do in Piran4 Top Rated and Recommended Cafes in Piran5 Top Rated and Recommended Restaurants in Piran6 Piran In Pictures7 Pin to Pinterest An example of Italian Gothic Architecture Piran is actually very small, just about 5000 inhabitants, but definitely boosts that amount to several thousand more during the peak summer season when all the tourists are around. Its reputation is quickly gaining some momentum and soon this tiny little town will be on everybody’s itinerary […]
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Visiting The Magical Istrian Mountain Towns in Croatia
Though the Istrian Coast gather much of the fame for its pristine blue seas and beautiful Venetian towns, another side of Istria should not be missed while visiting the area. The Istrian interior, a mixture of rolling hills, fertile plains and pine forests with medieval hilltop villages is just as impressive and interesting, making a day or two visit an ideal way to gasp in the experience! If you are the kind of person who gets enchanted by Toscany style Plaines, the Istrian Interior is sure to impress you just as much. In This Article…1 Vineyard-dotted Hills and Medieval Towns2 Best 2 Days Itinerary in the Istrian Interior3 Top 6 Things to do in the Istrian Interior4 Top Rated and Recommended Cafes in the Istrian Interior5 Top Rated and Recommended Restaurants in the Istrian Interior6 The Istrian Interior In Pictures7 Pin to Pinterest Vineyard-dotted Hills and Medieval Towns The pace definitly slows down from the buzzing tourist lifestyle of the coast, but that’s actually a good […]
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Canadian Newspaper LA PRESSE Publishes my Recommendations for Popular Destination Alternatives
For a third time, my travel recommendations were showcased in the Canadian Newspaper “La Presse”. The last time I was contacted by a journalist of the famous Canadian news outlet, I was asked to contribute to an article about Travel Recommendation for Top Destinations for Canadians in 2019. The article Can be found here. It was an interesting experience and gratifying since I have always read this newspaper growing up in Canada. This time around, I was asked to contribute to an article about Travel alternatives to popular destinations around the world. This was an interesting choice of subject since I am the first to complain that some cities are being totally ruined by the insane amount of tourism that roam their streets. This uncontrollable inflow of tourism is good for the local economy, but as a world traveler, I now sadly avoid to stay in these destinations, which would otherwise be amazing places to spend time. Some examples are Paris, London, Barcelona, Prague, Dubrovnik, […]
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Saudi Arabia (Country 193/195) – 1 Week Traveling between Jeddah and Riyadh
I had been waiting for years to figure out a way to reach Saudi Arabia on my quest to travel to every country of the world. Being one of the closest countries in the world, Saudi Arabia recently made a 180-degree shift of policy to open its doors in a bid to kick-start tourism in the country. Not only did they start issuing tourist visas for special events starting late 2018, but it also has plans to build a touristic city a little bit in the style of Qatar and Dubai in the middle of the desert, and is already starting to invite several countries to come since 2018. I took advantage of a recent event called Jeddah Seasons to finally being able to explore the Kingdom after years investigating all the possible ways to come. This marked my 193rd country visited out of the 196 in the world. In This Article…1 A long due trip to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia2 Jeddah and the […]
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Saudi Arabia Quietly Welcome Canadian Tourists to Visit the Kingdom for the First Time in History
With the recent political clashes between Canada and Saudi Arabia back in November 2018 over humans rights, with Saudi Arabia striking back by shutting down relations between the two countries, coming to the Kingdom was pretty much out of range for most Canadians. There has been no official warm up in the relations, but suddenly the government of Saudi Arabia quietly added Canada to its list of countries who can visit the country under its new “Sharek Tourist Visa”! This is great news for Canadian travelers and even for the relations between the two countries! At the time of writting, this has not yet been reported by news outlet or officially by neither govemenents. Actually I don’t even think the officials actually know about this prior to this article… and I pretty much found it by luck! So a new country is now available for Canadians to travel! and I’d recommend you take advantage of this Visa before the situation changes, yet again… So here […]
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