Travelling back home

They say you’ve got to be careful what you wish for because it might just come true. And so it was for Tatiana. Her move to France in early 2012 heralded a whirlwind of globetrotting years for her, much to her joy.

In France, she discovered the ease of travelling across Europe. While her Master’s took her to Lithuania in January 2013, experiencing for the first time in life a –20degree-Celsius winter, she traveled across the continent too, sometimes with her mom, ticking off from her bucket-list wonders like the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Vatican City.

Tatiana’s Master’s also needed for her to do a six-month internship program in a topic of her choice. She chose micro-finance in India, interning with an NGO in Delhi from July to August 2013, working with 10,000 artisans in Rajasthan. She lived with a Rajasthani family in Jaipur for the project, experiencing first-hand the land’s culture, food and traditions.

However, an error in the company visa and a subsequent change in job later, she found herself in Mumbai, interning for another six months with another company, Rockwool. The next four months were filled with travels, for work and otherwise, to the UAE, Thailand, and Malaysia, with the 2014 New Year in Singapore.

“What excites me about travelling is the experience, the unnoticed details, the daily living, seeing life through someone else’s life, and as I always say, the opportunity to be in somebody else’s shoes,” she states.

After her recent escapades, she got back to India, joined the company’s Turkey team, and headed back to the UAE, in Dubai, while carrying on social projects in India, Kenya, and Tanzania. Her travels continued—first to France for her Master’s graduation ceremony. Then a hop-skip-and-jump to Germany, visiting her sister and nephew; after that, a trip to Kenya where she’d celebrate her birthday, and then a layover at Singapore while heading to Australia to celebrate Christmas and the 2015 New Year’s Eve!

“Traveling is good for the soul,” says Tatiana with a chuckle, as if responding to the disbelief on my face as she rattled the names of places she’s been to. “I believe traveling helps you recognize yourself in the world while marveling the absolute incredible creation surrounding us. Despite the rich diverseness of our world, it shows us we all have the same roots,” she says.

From 2015 to 2019, while still living in the UAE, her bucket-list brimmed with more travels—to places including Japan, Laos, Sri Lanka, India, Kyrgyzstan, etc. in Asia; Turkey, Finland, Netherlands, Leichtenstein, the Czech Republic, San Marino, etc. in Europe; and Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, etc. in Africa, with a touchdown at New York, New Orleans, Miami, etc. for shopping and fun before heading back home to Bogota.