I had a desire to move to Central America for 15 years. It all started on my first trip to Belize in 1998. I can recall the exact moment as I canoed down the Macal River and the feeling of freedom and awe struck me as never before. I had never experienced anything like it and it literally changed my life forever. I fell in love and wanted more.
I was finally able to make my dream come true. I sold everything I had and quit my 20 year career to move to Costa Rica to work with wild animals at a rescue center. After 9 months, I moved to Panama and raised butterflies. I decided to travel to New Zealand after that, where I worked on a sheep farm for two months. I bounced back and forth between Australia and New Zealand until obtaining permanent residency in New Zealand.
My friend Camille and I wrote a book about our experiences living abroad to help potential expats in their own journey and to see what life was like in Costa Rica and Ghana. We named it ‘Two Brauds Abroad‘ and can be found on Amazon or directly through us.
Living at the bottom of the world comes with its own challenges regarding travel. While it’s nice to explore New Zealand, I often yearn for the comfort of Central America but with airfares being high and also so far from here, I don’t get back to that side often.
Wildlife will always play a part in my life and blog, so although the focus on travel has changed a bit, animals will always be front and center here. Enjoy!
-Steph
I cannot believe you are at Jaguar! I volunteered there for 3 weeks last year! You look like you are having a blast, and it is good to see that Poo hasn’t changed, only keeps getting better! I did some posts about the place, go check them out. 🙂 Glad we found each other again.
Well it finally occurred to me that this is how you and I met…I came across your post about JRC when I was in the states. Good to see you’ve had some cool trips since we first met, can’t wait to catch up on your blog!!
Thank you for directing me here, I love it!
Lorna xx
You’re welcome! Hope you enjoy it!
Ha, looks like you are having a great time!! Be safe!!
Steph,
Fantastic story – so glad you got out to do what you wanted! We are happy for you and glad to see you are enjoying all the experience has to offer….take care and next time we dust some powdered sugar on a raspberry croissant we will be thinking of you!
Came to here via your old blog ” Solo Guyana”. I was wondering if you had read the late Gerald Durrell ( animal collector and founder of the durrell wildlife conservation trust). He had written about his animal collection trip to guyana, including spending time with the McTurks, in his book ” Three singles to adventure”. It was nice to see the snaps on your blog, it helped me to better visualize and understand Durrells sojourn.
Hi, thanks for reading the blog! No, I hadn’t heard of him but will look it up. My mind wanders to Guyana quite often as it was so different and challenging than any other place I’ve been. I swore I’d never go back but when I think about the time there, it almost makes me want to experience it again. As I imagined, the pain would fade over time and I would only remember the good things. It’s good to be challenged sometimes…it makes you appreciate what you have. Thanks for the comment, it may solidify my desire to return there.