Get to know me and a travel story
A little bit more personal in this issue!
Greetings readers!
I am doing things a bit differently for this issue. First, I am going to to a little get to know me since I’ve never formally introduced myself here, and that’s probably long overdue. Then, instead of an article this month, I’m going to tell a short story from my trip to Medellín, Colombia in 2017. The consuming will be here as well, so let’s get started. I’m skipping links this time because I don’t want it to be too long because it is already longer than you can read in email, you’ll have to use the link to open it in your browser. Sorry! I am chatty this issue.
Hi, I’m Sonya, nice to virtually meet you…
I’m not going to give you my life story but tell you that my parents and grandparents liked to take us on road trips all over the United States when I was a kid. And then when I was 16, I was fortunate enough to go on a high school spring break trip to Edinburgh, London, and Paris. I had so much fun on that trip, I was hooked on travel!
I spent my college summers and spring breaks working and saving money to take trips and managed to visit Europe after my second year of college and when I graduated from the University of Florida. I went to Italy, Switzerland, and Ireland on one trip and to Ireland, London, and Paris on another. Both of those trips were with separate groups of friends, hence some of the repeats. However, I am never opposed to going back to places I’ve been before.
In 2015 I decided I wanted to run a marathon 8 years after a previous marathon and wanted it to be somewhere that I had not been before. I chose Reykjavik, Iceland. I planned a week long trip around that and had an amazing time! I still want to go back to Iceland (more on that farther down). After that trip several of my vacations from 2015-2019 involved a race and friends who run and don’t. I’ve been fortunate to run a marathon or a half-marathon in Banff, the Faroe Islands, Latvia, Hungary, Napa Valley (twice), Vancouver and visited many other neighboring countries on those visits too. I also ran several in the US including a back to back half marathon weekend where I ran a half in Wisconsin on a Saturday and a half in Michigan on a Sunday and I will never do that again. It was an experience but it was tough!
I also visited Latin America for the first time in that stretch and went to Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Chile, and Argentina. I’ve also done hiking trips. I climbed Kilimanjaro with REI Adventures in 2017 and hiked the Inca Trail in 2022 with a friend and have been to Ecuador on an active trip of hiking, biking, and rafting. I like to move on my trips.
I have been very fortunate to travel so much and have the means to do so. I lived in Chicago for all of those heavy travel years which of course has a huge airport with lots of direct flights daily so it was not that difficult since they were not that expensive (relatively) either. I don’t know if I’ll ever travel at that pace or regularity again, or if I want to. I did a lot of it solo. However, I am grateful for those character building experiences. It is not easy to go somewhere you’ve never been before on your own and where you don’t speak a bit of the language, like my trips to Poland, Latvia, or Lithuania.
I included some photos and it was so challenging to narrow these down plus Substack warned me this was getting too long. I am so sorry if you’re reading this and you’ve been somewhere with me and I have not featured a photo from that trip, I did not intentionally leave you out. There is not a trip I love more than another. I’ll have to do a whole month on South American travel.
In the summer of 2019 I decided I need a job related to tourism because I was bored and unhappy with my job at the time. I realized that the only way to get that was to go back to school. I’d been applying for tourism jobs for years to no avail. When I started looking at programs, I decided the best program for me was in Canada. In Victoria, British Columbia to be exact. I moved here at the end of April 2020 and it was such a weird time to be a new person in town. It was not easy to make friends in a pandemic in a place where I knew NO ONE. I’ve had a couple of people mention to me that the move was brave and I never thought about that way, I just did it. I guess it is, but not brave like running into a burning building or saving someone. There are some things you just do when you’re on your own because you have to, you know?
So, now I’ve been here in Victoria for 4 years, I finished a master of tourism management and I started this newsletter in January 2023 because I missed writing about tourism after I graduated. What a nerd, right? I do like that this is my little corner of the tourism newsletter space where I can write about what I want. I used to have a travel blog but found it too difficult to keep up with, so some stories might start coming from those archives, let me know if that interests you. I currently work for a women’s adventure travel company, Wild Women Expeditions. We have trips all over the world and I’ve been there almost three years and I traveled to the Galapagos Islands with my job at the end of 2022, what a dream, right?
What else is there to say about me? I obviously like to run since I base vacations around such silliness. I have done circus arts for over ten years and take weekly classes. I’ve performed a few times here’s a group performance I’m in if you’re interested and here’s a solo from last June. I do like hiking, swimming, and cycling. I also love creating. I have been slowly working on a novel about long lost family members from the Dirty War in Argentina that takes place partly in Chicago and partly in Buenos Aires and Mendoza. I knit, I sew at a beginner level but I have fun. I like to paint and draw and I love to read. If you give me a free day to myself with no obligations I’d cram as many of those into my day as possible.
I also teach yoga virtually and I love teaching. I’m thinking of a way to combine my love for teaching yoga and painting into a retreat or a regular offering. Last year in March I led a small group on a yoga retreat in Valparaiso, Chile. It was my second visit to the city and to be honest, I’d go back to Chile a hundred times, there is so much to explore there. I do love that I’ve been able to visit so many countries where Spanish is the main language since 2019. My listening and speaking skills have improved immensely and I do practice with Duolingo daily and with any Spanish speakers as much as I can. I want to be fluent. If any of you speak Spanish or are learning and want a language buddy, hit me up.
Finally, I belong to a small but mighty group of writers and we dubbed ourselves the Big Magic Writing Group. We meet on the last Thursday of every month for a virtual co-writing session. Sign up to join us! It is casual but focused on work. You don’t have to be writing a book or a newsletter, you could be returning emails, addressing thank you cards, doodling, it is simply dedicated time for yourself to work. We work in 25 minute sprints, times three.
You can also read more from those ladies at the following Substack links and you can subscribe to all of them:
Petya writes about reading, books, and writing in her newsletter called A Reading Life. Petya just finished writing an interesting novel set in Bulgaria during the communist years and I was lucky enough to read a first draft. I can’t wait until it is published.
Lauren’s newsletter You’ve Got Lauren is design-focused and is impeccably styled. She write some personal essays and I love the design features and links.
Kaitlyn is a licensed therapist who writes a newsletter called Dialoguing. She’s funny, great at explaining therapy concepts, feelings, and relating them back to readers.
Gabriella is working on a historical fiction novel set in Virginia, where she lives, but does not currently have a Substack. I can’t wait until her book is published.
I hope that I’ve done a good job of describing these talented writers. :)
If you join a writing session, you’re likely to meet all of us!
Picture it, Medellín, Colombia, February 2017.
This story isn’t long, but it is one of those stories I will never forget!
I visited Medellín, Colombia in February 2017 on a trip to Panama. I went with two friends and we spent time in Panama staying in a neighborhood called Casco Viejo and we traveled to a car-less island one day and of course we went to the Panama Canal. That was the highlight and reason I wanted to go to Panama. I didn’t want to spend 10 days in Panama though so I planned a 4 day excursion to Medellín at the end because I’d been watching Narcos at the time and wanted to go. I know that is a weird reason but I was very curious about the city and how it had moved on from he who shall not be named - they don’t like to talk about him. I’m talking about Pablo Escobar.
On our first full day in Medellín, we went on a walking tour. When we were midway through our walking tour, our guide Juan was getting ready to let us all break and get food from the food vendors in plaza known for good street food. It was near the Plaza Botero and in the neighborhood called La Candelaria. Just as he was finishing his dialogue and there was a break in our small crowd, a local man walked through our group, his hands covered in blood and still bleeding profusely. He was leaving a trail of blood in his wake. He clapped his hands hard at chest level and right in front of me. The blood splattered everywhere. Luckily, it only got a tiny drop on my dress, a lot on my chest and shoulders, and a little bit on my neck. I had just put my camera away (thank goodness) and none got in my eyes or mouth.
I usually think of myself as someone who is not good in emergencies, this was a minor one, a strange person’s blood. But I behaved calmly. Two people on our tour immediately whipped out their little bottles of hand sanitizer, and I also had some but I turned to my friend and said: “get the Clorox wipes out of my backpack and distribute them to all who need them”. And she did. I had almost left them out of my bag that day, I travel with them in my carry-on and wipe down airplane seatback trays, and the armrests with them.
I used a few to get all of the blood off of myself and my friends used some too. Once we’d gotten food and were back on the tour, I spoke to one of the British men on our walking tour and he’d gotten some blood on himself too but wasn’t around me when I had the Clorox wipes so I offered him as many as he needed as well. After I cleaned the blood off of myself, I slathered myself in my own anti-bacterial hand sanitizer.
Once we’d rejoined the group, Juan told us that the man had approached him, told him (in Spanish) that he’d been attacked by vampires and that is why he was bleeding. Juan had promptly called the police and an ambulance with Colombia’s version of 911. He then told us that number and said if we see anything on our own that looks suspicious or illegal, to call that number. Specifically, human trafficking, because that is on the rise in Colombia :(.
I really appreciated that he pointed that out and made a case to talk about it. Sometimes as tourists, I don’t think we think about those things. Or when we see strange things, we just think “oh, I hope that person is okay.” And really, we should be alert and aware of illegal activity regardless of whether we are on vacation or at home.
I also want to mention that I told my story to one of the doctors who I worked with at the time and he said I have no need to worry, in case anyone was worried about diseases. He said if it was in my mouth or an open wound, then I’d need to worry. This is actually what I supposed, but asking for a professional opinion gave me a peace of mind.
Consuming
Finishing How Iceland Changed the World. I’ve enjoyed reading little bits of history about how the small island nation has played a role in major events in the world. Fun fact, Iceland in Icelandic is Ísland. :) I’ve been there for one long trip - ran the Reykjavik marathon there in 2015 and two very short overnights back in Reykjavik in 2016 and 2017. My dream is to rent a campervan and drive the ring road that circles the whole island. The weather is unpredictable so probably late spring, summer, or early fall. This is not a trip I want to undertake alone.
Since the last issue I also finished The Book of Doors (audiobook) and read Remarkably Bright Creatures. The first was fascinating and kept me on the edge of my seat! I liked the story though some people on Goodreads said it does not have good character development. Hi, I just like to be entertained and I thought the story was wild. Remarkably was such a charming and fun read with a nice message about families and characters that I liked.
I just finished listening to What Have We Here, the memoir of Billy Dee Williams, read by Lando Calrissian himself and so endearing and sweet. That man has led a life! I didn’t know he was also a visual artist (painting). And, I appreciate that he read the entire story himself though about halfway through I had to adjust it to 1.5x speed. I usually don’t like listening to sped up books but it was a bit slower paced than I’m used to, but the man is 87! He got choked up at the end and it made me start to tear up a bit too.
I just started listening to Norwegian Wood by Murakami and I’m curious if it will be a DNF for me or if I’ll make it all the way through. A few of my friends have told me they don’t like Murakami and so I am trying not to have a bias but I also might not like his writing.
I watched Baby Reindeer on Netflix from start to finish and I found it shocking, heartbreaking, and heartwarming in a few places. Has anyone else watched it? It’s the story of a man who was stalked for years by a woman and explains some backstory and how he handled the situation. I can’t reveal anymore. Some parts were very difficult to watch because of the subject matter. I would suggest if you have not watched it yet, do not Google it because parts of it are true. The stalker has come forward to to the press say she’s the victim because it is about her and she’s getting unwanted attention. She could have just stayed private? Moving on…
That’s it for this issue! Thanks for being here and sticking around to learn a little bit about me.
-Sonya
I'm embarrassingly late to this post, but so happy to learn more about you!
My husband is turning 40 this year and we're headed to Iceland in the fall to celebrate. Your glowing review made me even more excited for the trip.
Also fun to learn that you're a fellow yoga teacher – I might have to pop in for one of your virtual classes sometime!
Loved this deep dive on you and travel. And I loved, loved, loved all the pics. 🖤🖤