Sunday, December 22, 2024

‘I’ve travelled to 163 countries – one of the most dangerous is my favourite’

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This solo traveller turned influencer has seen an impressive 70 percent of the world’s countries – her travel tales are not to be missed.

Alyssa Ramos, 36, is known online as ‘My Life’s a Travel Movie’; she told Express.co.uk that after 10 years of travelling, one country is a definite favourite despite its dangers.

Originally from Florida, she has been travelling for over 10 years and embarked on her adventures after quitting her job at 26.

Her favourite place – to live – is Mexico, where she has just bought a place to live, despite its sometimes dangerous reputation.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Alyssa said: “I’m in Mexico right now – I really love the culture here, especially the Riviera Maya. It feels very high energy, very positive energy, very chill, very tranquil, no chaos, no hustle mentality. It has a pretty good mix of local culture and the modern world.”

However, another destination is also very close to Alyssa’s heart. She said: “Probably the most breathtaking places I’ve had an adventure in, I would have to say right now my heart is really deep into Papua New Guinea.

“I just went there for the second time, and I brought a group of 22 people with me, and they absolutely loved it, which makes me feel like I’ve done a really good job of representing the country in a positive light.

“They have otherwise a really negative stereotype and not many content creators or travellers go there and show the positive sides and the beauty of it and the beauty of the people. So when I went there, I had a really, really positive experience.

“Everyone was really kind to me and that’s a place where I see things that are really real. So I don’t like going places where they put on you know the shows of tribal dancing at your dinner table or at your hotel. I think that’s kind of not actually good for the local traditions because you’re putting it on like a show.

“In Papua New Guinea, you can actually go into authentic villages and see real people in these tribes that still wear their outfits, and they perform their songs and their dances and their reenactments, and it is completely real, which is a mind-blowing and really cool experience.”

Alyssa shares her travels via her social media pages and on Instagram, where she has 203k followers. She also runs a YouTube channel and a blog, where she shares tips and tricks for travelling the world alone, achieving financial freedom, and travelling full-time.

She continued: “Papua New Guinea can be dangerous and it can be very logistically complicated so I don’t fully actually recommend going there by yourself and always only go with a highly credentialed or certified tour company.

“But otherwise, I thought that was really beautiful, and from there, I’ve been hopping around the South Pacific Islands, which I think are also amazing, especially because they have some of the last remaining really colourful coral reefs, which are unfortunately diminishing quite rapidly.”

Alyssa continues to travel full-time and has built career around her passion for exploring the world.

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