About Me

Hola! I’m Mica, 31 year old feisty latina (Puerto Rican) who’s passionate about travel and in love with all things Peruvian.  I graduated with a major in Journalism and a minor in photography, and I’ve been backpacking and travel blogging since 2005.

Me hanging out on Lake Titicaca, Isla del Sol-Bolivia

I had my first taste of traveling abroad in 2005, when I gallivanted across Europe. Shortly after coming home I became obsessed with planning my next trip. As the story goes, I went into a local Walmart to pick up a Monopoly game one night and decided to select my next location by spinning a globe with my eyes closed and pointing to the place I’d travel next. (Seriously, true story.) When I opened my eyes, I’d landed on Peru. The rest is history.

In 2007, while on my first trip to Peru, I met 2 young archaeologists that changed the course of my life completely. Its amazing how meeting other travelers can do that to you. Since that trip, I’ve been back to Peru every year. I’m quite attached to the country and its my home base when I’m not traveling. I’ve lived in Cusco for the last 2 years on and off and I love it. Since coming to Thailand in July of 2011, we love it so much that it will also be home in the future-half Peru half Thailand!

I’ve worked as a cook in fine dining kitchens, freelanced with child photography, written for local magazines in my hometown, and had a crappy desk job (or three). I could talk about food all day-I love to learn about all types of food and cooking methods-whether it be Peruvian, or Thai cuisine or raw/vegan finds or anything in between. To me one of the best parts of traveling is the food & photographing it as well.

Speaking of food, let me introduce another food lover-

His facial hair is fierce

Meet Mike, my biggest inspiration for starting this site and the best travel partner any crazy girl could ever ask for. We met in 2007 and I’ve been driving him nuts ever since. He has amazing facial hair & I’m quite obsessed with it. It’s the topic of many conversations when we travel.

Mike is a mechanical engineer (Merchant Marine) and he works on ships-not cruise ships- those big ugly ones that carry cars and stuff. The ones that sometimes get attacked by pirates. Pirates are bad (when they attack ships, otherwise they are pretty cool). His job is awesome and crappy because he’s away at sea for months at a time but he only works half the year (3-4 months) so we get to travel and stuff our faces the other half. I don’t know how he puts up with me but I think its something to do with my cooking skills.

We’re flashpackers with a little extra style-as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten a little more picky so we try to find affordable accommodation but also places that are up to our standards. We like to splurge but we also know how to save money. We’re past the era of hostels with shared bathrooms- they are great when you don’t mind but as I’ve gotten older I really like having my own potty, you understand right? And hey, nothing beats a private villa. With your own pool.

Also, now that we have made nomadic living our lifestyle, we travel really slow. This way we can enjoy the locations at our own speed and also save money by not running around as much, something we loved to do when we started traveling- but it completely burns us out now if we attempt it.

When I first started traveling, the idea of having your own blog was very new. Most friends I knew had signed up to have free blogs on sites like travelpod & travelorg, & in the beginning I also wrote about my journeys on my own free blog on travelpod. Since I’ve become a full time nomad, I’ve created this site for readers to explore & create their own remarkable adventures, hopefully with a little inspiration from me. If at the very least I provide you with some new information, that makes me happy.

It makes me satisfied to look back through my journals of my earliest travels (2005-2007) and see how I was really writing journal style (mostly for my family), and nowadays my writing has evolved and grown and the process is exhilarating. I believe as with everything writing can always be improved and that is why I share my older travels on this site as well- I’m not ashamed of how I used to write. I believe in the process of growth.

We both love to dance, drink, eat, and be happy. Join us somewhere along our journey! Leave us a comment! We’d love to hear from you.

For Friends and Family who want to help keep me on the road, I’ve moved the donate button here. Or for anyone else that feels like dropping some spare change my way. I’m grateful. Thank you!