Enora Kriegel is only 22 years old, but she has already accomplished some incredibly adventurous feats of travel that most people only dream of in their lifetimes. It’s the kind of badass, no-holds-barred exploration that makes the rest of us look like amateurs.
Hitchhiking Sailboats Across the Atlantic
One of Enora’s biggest adventures was hitchhiking her way across the Atlantic Ocean by sailboat. The process of making this happen is fascinating. It involves going to major ports like Gibraltar and the Canary Islands and trying to connect with boat captains needing extra crew members for their upcoming voyages. With a combination of luck, persistence, and personability, you can find a boat making the trans-Atlantic journey and work as an unpaid crew member in exchange for the ride.
Enora first did this hitchhiking sailboat journey from Gibraltar to the Canary Islands and then from there all the way to Antigua in the Caribbean islands. Despite having minimal sailing experience, herself, she trusted her instincts about the boat captain and went for it. The entire crossing took around 3 weeks with several stops after that to places like the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico before ending up in Colombia.
Enora set a challenge for herself not to fly, and she’s loved the unique experience of this mode of travel – truly feeling the physical distance of every inch across the vast ocean and around South America. She witnessed incredible sights like radiant bioluminescent waters at night that made it look like the stars were shining up from the sea itself.
The Simple Pleasures of Sailboat Life
While the hitchhiking sailboat lifestyle is certainly not luxurious, with cramped spaces, rigid shift schedules, and no way to get off along the journey, Enora appreciated this simplicity. As she explained, when you take away all the usual distractions and comforts, you’re left with just the present moment and the revelations that arise from slowing down your mind and life in such an extreme way. For Enora, the joy was in the journey itself – not necessarily the destination. A German saying she mentioned encompasses this philosophy perfectly: “Der Weg ist das Ziel” – the path is the goal.
The Warmth of the Venezuelan People
In the end, Enora not only felt safe throughout her Venezuela travels, but was overwhelmed by the kindness of the people she met. She explained that many Venezuelans desperately want tourism to return to their country, so they have created grassroots initiatives to facilitate it. This includes WhatsApp groups where locals offer free accommodation and guidance to any visiting travellers. Far from the hostile landscape one might expect, Enora found the Venezuelan people to be extremely warm, welcoming, and hospitable.
Venezuela’s Stunning Natural Beauty
And as for the country itself, Enora described Venezuela’s natural scenery as some of the most beautiful she has ever witnessed. She raved about the stunning beaches, which she considered prettier than even the renowned Caribbean Island destinations. She also visited the tabletop mountain formation of Roraima near the Brazilian border, a place so remote that it has flora and fauna that can be found nowhere else in the world.
Extreme Budget Travelers
During her extensive travels around South America, Enora met some truly fascinating people living life in what most would consider an extreme way. Among the most memorable were a duo of seasoned backpackers from Europe who had been on the road for two years already. Their lifestyle was so stripped down that they were spending an average of just $50 per month by dumpster diving for food, relying on the kindness of strangers for housing, and simply sleeping outside every night without ever paying for accommodation.
The Tandem Cyclist Picking Up Riding Partners
One particularly fascinating traveller she met was a cyclist who had bought a tandem bicycle. Despite being a solo traveller, he would pick up new cycling partners for a few days or weeks at a time by offering them the second seat on his tandem bike! Not only did this allow him to share the load and workload, but it made for a far more interesting and interactive journey compared to going it alone. By the time Enora met him in Chile, he had cycled all the way from Canada and had hosted 36 different cycling companions along the way from all walks of life.
What’s Next?
Enora’s travels around South America and the Caribbean are coming to an end for now, as she is headed to Amsterdam in August to begin studying neuroscience. However, she plans on taking an interdisciplinary approach, combining brain sciences with sociology subjects like violence, conflict, and migration patterns. The liberal arts program will allow her to customize her curriculum by blending traditional sciences like chemistry and math with sociological electives.
Despite her intense passion for travel taking a temporary backseat to academics, Enora definitely hasn’t completed her final grand adventure. As she said herself, long-term traveling gets into your blood – it’s an itch she’ll surely need to scratch again after completing her university studies. The world is wide open for this fearless young traveller to conquer.
Keep exploring and inspiring us, Enora! Your story shows it’s never too early to start seeing the world in an extraordinary way.
My name is Palle Bo, and I gotta keep moving. See you.
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