Travel Stories

What stories have you heard or lived that seemed to come from a movie?

What is it like to travel in a van with a stranger? How does a 77 year old woman travel the world? How did I end up accidentally participating in a beauty pageant in India?

Read some of the crazy, beautiful and inspiring stories that I heard and created during my travels on five continents.

10 Days to Make a Documentary (Uaxactún)

Ilse

Jan 194 min read

10 Days to Make a Documentary (Uaxactún)

Forestry concession community Uaxactún (Guatemala) invited us to co-create a documentary in 10 days via Actuality Abroad. How did that go?

How Do We Get Black African Surfers in the Next Olympics in 2028?

Ilse

Aug 26, 20244 min read

How Do We Get Black African Surfers in the Next Olympics in 2028?

Have you ever wondered why there are so few Black African surfers in the Olympics? Here are three action points to include them in 2028.

Ilse

Aug 19, 202410 min read

The Hidden Black History of Surfing

Have you ever wondered why there are no Black African surfers in the Olympics, despite Africa’s Atlantic waves? Read the hidden history here

Solo Travelling Mexico as a Female: A Counter Narrative

Ilse

Feb 20, 20247 min read

Solo Travelling Mexico as a Female: A Counter Narrative

What to make of contrasting experiences and narratives when travelling Mexico, or any other foreign country? Here is what it is really like

Navigating Reverse Culture Shock: Understanding and Overcoming Post-Travel Depression (PTD)

Ilse

Dec 3, 20236 min read

Navigating Reverse Culture Shock: Understanding and Overcoming Post-Travel Depression (PTD)

Sharing my experiences, symptoms of and coping strategies to reverse culture shock and post-travel depression (PTD).

Driving in dreamtime: embarking on a timeless vanlife adventure in Portugal with a stranger

Ilse

Sep 9, 20236 min read

Driving in dreamtime: embarking on a timeless vanlife adventure in Portugal with a stranger

How I came to live my summerdream of vanlife in Portugal with two friends and a (former) stranger by surrendering to trust.

Ilse

Jun 13, 20233 min read

The current Indigenous crisis in Brazil is real life Avatar

Avatar: Ways of Water is now available on streaming platforms. The sequence on the Avatar from 2009 tells the story of the indigenous...

The power of stories for solving the ecological crisis

Ilse

Mar 12, 20234 min read

The power of stories for solving the ecological crisis

Indigenous languages have the power to inspire a closer connection to nature, they can make us see the world differently and hence...

The Brazilian Rainforest as a Pharmacy exists through Indigenous Languages like that of the Yawanawa

Ilse

Feb 7, 20234 min read

The Brazilian Rainforest as a Pharmacy exists through Indigenous Languages like that of the Yawanawa

As you may or may not know I have spent a month in the Brazilian rainforest at the end of 2022. I lived in a village of the indigenous...

The Medicine of Music - Interview with Ray Brown

Ilse

Dec 28, 20225 min read

The Medicine of Music - Interview with Ray Brown

Musician Ray Brown sees music and life as more than just connected: life is music, and we are all musicians. We just have to remember ...

Meet Cristina Terre: A 77-year-old woman from Chile who just decided to do it

Ilse

Jul 9, 20225 min read

Meet Cristina Terre: A 77-year-old woman from Chile who just decided to do it

Imagine you are at the register of a bus station somewhere in India. All the buses you see are small and without AC. It is hot so the...

Amber on the role of yoga, spirituality and philosophy in her life

Ilse

Jul 5, 20223 min read

Amber on the role of yoga, spirituality and philosophy in her life

I met Amber in my first week on Oʿahu, Hawaiʿi. She worked in the hostel where I was staying. I remembered her kindness and so when I was...

Ilse

Jun 21, 20224 min read

Un mundo muy pequeño

The backpackers world is small. I remember that from travelling in Southeast Asia. I would see people that I met in my first week at a...

Introducing Soulday - A Spiritual Event on Oʿahu, Hawaiʿi

Ilse

May 19, 20222 min read

Introducing Soulday - A Spiritual Event on Oʿahu, Hawaiʿi

A couple of months ago I was talking with someone whom I had just met. I was talking about how I liked dancing and she told me about an...

Ilse

Apr 15, 20222 min read

A stranger shows me his sweet spot

Last week I went surfing at a beach I haven't surfed at in quite a while. Even though this surfspot was in Waikīkī, Honolulu, Hawai`i,...

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& Personal Growth

Plantmedicine, Psychedelics

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Journey to My Life Philosophy

A continuous insight into my personal journey of figuring out what life is and what it means to be alive. Read about some of my realizations and lessons learned in different spaces and through different spiritual traditions.

Life Philosophies

How do Indigenous languages inspire a closer connection to nature? Can you categorize nature if your language does not have a word for 'nature,' such as in Hindi? What is the medicine of music?

Why are psychedelics are illegal and is that right? What is it like to do ayahuasca? How can plants help you become happier, more creative and more focused?

Travel Tips & Advice

What is (reverse) culture shock and how do you deal with it? How to travel more authentically? What is backpacker culture like?