Viva Travel

The Awakening That Begins in a Single Moment The first time I understood travel’s power to heal both people and places, I was crouched in a Moroccan village, my hands caked in clay as Fatima, a potter with laughter lines deeper than the Sahara’s cracks, guided my fumbling fingers. “You think you’re shaping the bowl,” […]

The Lesson I Never Saw Coming The first time I trusted an expert travel guide, I was lost in Kyoto’s Arashiyama bamboo grove at sunset, the stalks creaking like ancient ship masts. A silver-haired man in a faded indigo jacket appeared, his smile a map of wrinkles. “Follow me,” he said, leading me not to the

The Whisper That Changed Everything The first time I realized travel could heal, I was ankle-deep in Slovenia’s Lake Bohinj, my fingers numb from the alpine chill. An elderly fisherman named Jože rowed up, his beard crusted with ice crystals, and handed me a bread crust. “Feed the ducks,” he said, nodding to a flurry

The Night the Ocean Sang Me to Sleep The first time I realized a hotel could change my life, I was alone on a cliffside in Santorini, listening to the Aegean Sea crash against volcanic rocks below. But this wasn’t a postcard-perfect suite—it was a converted fisherman’s cottage in Oia’s backstreets, where the owner, Yiannis,

The Lesson That Changed the Way I Pack The first time I understood the weight of my suitcase, I was on a moonlit beach in Zanzibar, watching a fisherman untangle his net. “Every stone you carry,” he said, nodding to my overstuffed bag, “is a story you won’t have space to receive.” That night, I