Although I have a nine-to-six job and a comfortable lifestyle at home, I am a nomad at heart, making every new place I visit my home.

Back in 1997, I was afraid of traveling on my own, but when my first backpacking trip to Europe with two friends fell through, I had to make a decision: stay at home, or go by myself. Holding that ticket for a Madrid flight, I didn’t know that I would make a decision that would forever change my world perspective and continue to empower and inspire me. I decided to go on my own.

In more than 10 years of solo traveling, I have had all sorts of experiences from the road. But I am not your typical tourist, traveling only the “safe” destinations or just visiting the touristy sites. During these journeys, I have seen the lives of many people of all nationalities, ethnicities, and religions up close. I have experienced their kindness, but also their brutal struggles between life and death.

Since that first trip in 1997, I was never the same. The places I visit and the people I meet on the road continue to have a deep impact on me, the way I see the world, and the way I live in it.

Henry Miller’s quote describes my experience best: “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

For many years I shared my adventures with my friends and relatives via email. But last year I decided to share my travel experience and my life on the road with people across the world through www.diariesofabackpacker.com, hoping that through my personal diaries, readers learn more about the world, bringing more tolerance and understanding to people of different cultures, and to nature.

I strongly believe that traveling opens your eyes, your mind, and your heart to nature and humanity.