Photos: Peru

lyndseywhale — Thu, 21 May 2015 09:53:00 GMT

Photos: Ecuador

lyndseywhale — Thu, 21 May 2015 09:43:00 GMT

Finding Myself

lyndseywhale — Thu, 21 May 2015 09:41:35 GMT

Before this, I had never travelled in my life. I only recently discovered backpacking 3 years ago and instantly fell in love with getting lost in the wilderness for a few days. Then I decided to put myself in a situation that would completely bring me out of the shell I didn't even know I was in. So I packed up everything I owned, put everything in storage, quit my job, gave up my apartment and I left everything behind to go to a foreign country. I had researched the things I wanted to see and do and made a list. All I knew in Spanish was how to say Fish and Apple. I had no idea what to expect, and nothing could prepare me for what actually did happen on this trip of mine. I put myself 3000 miles south of my home in Ecuador where I traveled for 1.5 months. I went to this foreign country only knowing how to say Fish and Apple in their language.
I started my journey in the Galapagos Islands and explored the main island. I had never seen so much wildlife before, nor had I even seen such a paradise. This is where I started to open up and meet new people, which hadn't been easy for me my whole life. I even swam with sharks while I visited, which is something I never even pictured myself doing.
After leaving the islands, I made my way across the country into the Amazon forest where I took a 2 hour canoe up into the isolated rainforest. Once again, it was spectacular. I saw things I never imagined. I lived in a hut for 4 days, visited a local tribe and its shaman, learned how to use a blow gun to hit a target, I swam in the Amazon river where the piranhas and anacondas lived.
Over the course of my travels through Ecuador, I made my way through Banos, the adrenaline capitol of Ecuador. Im not a person that has a need for adrenaline but here I was facing my fears of heights going canyoning down waterfalls, zip lining through the Andes, swinging on a swing that went out over a cliff. I was becoming a new person.
I made my way down through Ecuador and continued my journey into Peru for the next month and a half where I participated in South Americas largest Carnaval event in Cajamarca, I surfed for the first time in the Ocean, I even climbed the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu which was probably the hardest thing I've yet to accomplish.
I went to a place where I felt completely lost. I grew as a person, I changed as a person and freed myself. In a way I found the person I had lost over the years and now I feel like a completely changed person. I will see the world

A Girl and A Backpack

Photos: Peru

Photos: Ecuador

Finding Myself