Ayngelina Brogan pressed pause on her corporate career to travel the way she had always dreamed—for a long period of time, going wherever the wind took her. She has been making her way through Latin America by herself, blogging about it at
Bacon Is Magic.
How would you define your travel style?
I'm definitely a backpacker. I carry I giant backpack with my Canadian flag patch sewn proudly on it, sleep in hostel dorms, and often eat in markets. At $30 a day, I'm far from being a luxury traveler.
If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be and why?
When I planned this trip I had grand dreams of making it through Latin America, Africa, and then Mongolia. I changed those plans when I spent so much time in Central America to include just Latin America and India. Last week, I decided to just stay in Latin America. This is all to say I'm exactly where I want to be. I've given myself enough time that I can come and go on a whim and I often do. For example, I'm currently in northern Peru, and I met the woman sitting next to me on a bus who told me I had to go to Cajamarca. She said few foreign tourists go there but Peruvians love it. I had no idea what it looked like or what there was to do but she was so passionate that I took the next bus there. I'm in Cajamarca now and it's incredibly beautiful.
What was your best travel experience?
There's no one best experience. But I am one of the few people who loves travel days and it's often because I choose to take the cheapest form of transportation and the locals think I'm crazy. In Bangkok, I traveled with an ex-boyfriend, and I decided we would take the train to the Cambodian border. It was 50¢ and seven hours on wooden seats. It was crowded with 3–4 people on a bench, so we met lots of people and communicated through hand gestures. It's also one of my favorite food experiences—a woman came by selling rice topped with a fried egg and a baggie of liquid. I have no idea what the seasoning was but the best breakfast was the best I've ever eaten.
What was your worst travel experience?
Once I was in a rush and was on a series of buses in Colombia for 72 hours. The air conditioning was cranked and the roads were windy. I could barely sleep, I was freezing, I had motion sickness, and the AC dried my skin so much it looked like I had aged ten years. I promised myself that I would never rush again.
What's your best travel advice for the TravelPost community?
Take it slow. In the beginning, it sounds great to say you're traveling 3–4 countries in one month. Sure you can check the little pins on the map on your Facebook profile but you don't really get the true value of a country.
What have been the greatest challenges and rewards of travel writing?
Other travelers think I'm crazy to spend an hour or two a day working on my blog, but I think because I'm a career breaker it helps me feel focused and still productive. A couple of months back I had a really low day where I wanted to go home and hated everything; at the same time, I felt ridiculous because these were the complaints of a privileged person living her dream. I sat down and wrote about the 12 things I hate about traveling, and I was overwhelmed by the response and support from those reading my blog. I realized I wasn't alone. From that day, blogging has changed for me and I've felt such a connection with the people who read my posts. I'm no longer afraid to share my fears or the ridiculous tantrums I have when I'm on the road. Traveling isn't perfect, nor am I, and now I feel like it's OK to share that.
This particular odyssey you're on took you to South America, and primarily Colombia. Why did you choose that destination?
Choosing to start in Latin America was kind of simple. I couldn't afford to go back to Europe. I had already lived and traveled through Southeast Asia, and Latin America is really affordable, so I could aim to budget $1,000 a month. I started in Mexico and traveled overland through Central America, and I'm now in South America. I had no idea that Latin America would capture my heart, but I think it was what I needed. In 'real life' I tend to be a bit of a closed person. I'm not open and warm when you first meet me. I usually try to scope people out before I open myself to them. This is not true of the Latin American culture, where you know exactly what they think of you; whether you're someone they'd like to take home or a son of a bitch. I've learned to open myself up a bit, express my feelings both good and bad. I also let go of being afraid of new experiences—in Colombia I learned salsa dancing even though I'm a terrible regular dancer.
