April 16, 2018 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Started the day with Qi Gong before going hiking with others at 07.30. There is an activity 07.30 every morning in the weekdays. Sophie was leading today's hike, and we went to Buenavista. It was a lovely hike, except for the part where there was a snake in the trail. I have a fobia of snakes, and it was not a pleasant experience. It went better than I would have thought, and I was happy not to be alone when this happened.
The view from the endpoint of the hike was beautiful. We took some time to reflect upon three things we are grateful for. Mine was all the possibilities I have in my life, all the people I have met in my life, and the beauty of the nature.
After the hike we had an amazing breakfast. I went to the beach for a little while, and then went for some errands. I needed a notebook for my stay here, so I can do some writing. I went back to the beach with Aline. It has been raining the last couple of days, and today the sun was shining again after some rain this morning.
In the evening we had a session about mandala meditation. We did some drawing, and it was a nice. I have never really been into drawing, but I enjoyed this practice.
I have decided to do the Heartattack program here from 20th of April to 20th of May. Super excited about it!Read more
April 15, 2018 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
It's already been a week since I arrived at Rosemary dream. The time flies by so fast here, at the same time I feel like I have been here for a long time.
After the Rosemary experience on Tuesday, I needed to spend Wednesday to do some reflecting and writing. There was a lot of impressions in one day. I spent some time at "the natural pools" with others staying in the hostel. It is actually not pools, but that's the name the place is given. Later in the evening Ariella was giving us a lesson about Qi Gong. Very interesting!
On Thursday I started the day doing some Qi Gong by myself before the others woke up. At 7.30 we did yoga. I love starting my days like this, with activities before breakfast. We spent the day at the beach, relaxing. We ended up joining a group of Israelis from the hostel for a spontaneous dance party at the beach to israelien music. So much fun!! I love how natural it seemed for this family to do something like that. Later on we played beach volley. Me and Jackie coocked dinner for ourself, Alina and Juan. The four of us clicked very fast. Lovely day with lovely people.
Friday we started the day with Qi Gong on our own (me, Jackie, Juan and Aline). We did a short session of exercising after. Breakfast was delicious as always. We ended up spending most of the day at the beach relaxing. Later on a israeli couple had a session about Tantra. I found it very interesting. They focused upon boundaries, saying no, and more. We did some exercises. Friday means family dinner at Rosemary. Great food and great atmosphere. After dinner there was a "open stage" night. People singing, playing instruments and sharing. It was lovely. I was told earlier that day that everybody had to sing, and was super nervous about it. Didn't want to do it at all. In the night I decided not to, it felt like to much out of my comfort zone that I am not ready for it. Singing in front of people is something I don't do at all. In the end it somehow ended up with me singing, when Eva and Sophie was singing "a whole new world" from Aladdin and I ended up joining them without even thinking about how scary it would be. I just love that song, and it happened so spontaneous. It was a good night!
Saturday we started the day with Qi Gong after breakfast. Ariella was leading us, and it was a energic and powerful session. After that she showed us a Chinese massage technique, it was super nice. Can you have a better start to the day? Great breakfast, qi Gong and giving eachother massages. What an peaceful morning. We went kayaking to Lagoa after this. It was very nice to kayak up the river here, beautiful. At night we went for dinner in Lagoa, and then to a party. We had a great day and did a lot of dancing. A perfect day together with my new crew here at Rosemary; Jackie, Aline and Juan. I love these people!!
Today was a quiet day perfect for doing as close to nothing as possible. We had lunch at the beach, deck 6 has amazing food! We went to the turtle rescue centre and saw some awesome turtles. Jackie left for Iguazu Falls for a couple of days. Gonna miss having here around! Luckily she comes back at thursday. We have became such a close crew here, and I feel like I have know these guys forever.Read more
April 10, 2018 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Yesterday was one of the most inspiring, challenging and fun days I have had in forever. I joined in for 'Rosemary experience" which is a full day program for people to get a taste of what rosemary is all about. They are an empowerment centre and they use three steps in their programs: the monk, the monkey and the modern human. The monk is about connecting with yourself and loving yourself, and also connecting and loving others. Meditation and yoga is some of the tools they use for this. The monk is being more connected to your inner child and primal behaviour. Moving around, letting your body do what it wants to do. The modern human is the acknowledge of us being part of an modern world, and giving us tools to be true to yourself and happy within the society you live in.
Read more about Rosemary dream here: www.rosemarydream.com
My day startet early, I joined my first yoga session ever at 07.30 on this platform they have here overlooking the town and the ocean, amazing view. I found the yoga very difficult, as my muscles and flexibility was not ready for this. But I tried my best, and found that I really enjoyed it. It was a very peaceful way of exercising, and I will definitely try it again.
After yoga I had the best breakfast in my life. They focus on the whole body here, and nutrition is a big part of how your body and mind is feeling. After three months of eating white bread with dulce de leche this was like coming to heaven.
Every morning after breakfast they have a "sunrise" session. This morning it was Oscar that took us through meditation with focus on your inner-child. We were thinking about childhood memories and how they made us feel. In the end we wrote a letter to our inner-child and told her (myself) what I am grateful for. It was an interesting session that brought up some warm and happy memories and thoughts.
Our "Rosemary experience" started at 12. We were a group of 9 dreamers (guests) and two doers (workers at Rosemary). We started with an introduction round and everybody told a bit about why they were here and what they wanted to get out of this day and their stay here. For me it is about getting better at appreciate and live in the moment, and not stress and plan to much for the future. Not always wanting something more and different, and being restless. To be able to connect more with myself and find some ways of slowing down when it get to much stress and find an inner peace.
We did an session of meditation, and it was actually my first "real" meditation. It was focusing on giving positive feedback to yourself and to others. Love, strength and peace. Sometimes I found it hard to focus, bus I also found it very interesting and peaceful.
We finished up before lunch with an estatic dance. This is something that is really challenging my boundaries. It is freedancing to music, letting your body move as it wants to music. Britta was leading the session, telling us to close our eyes and then taking us step by step through moving our body. Starting with the feet, the knees, the hips, and so on. It made it easier, to just focus on the parts she was telling us to do. In the end we were dancing with the whole body, moving around to the music. In the start I felt very uncomfortable with it. Dancing without alcohol is something I don't do at all, and I feel really stupid. After a while I started enjoying it so much, and just went with it. I catched myself standing on a roof smiling and moving around like an idiot - and loving it! It was such a powerful feeling to be able to step so far out of my comfort zone. But I decided before going here that I am going to be open minded and say yes and join every activity there is - and go through with it even though it is super awkward. I think this is a great way to get to know yourself better, and for selfgrowtht.
We had delicious lunch, and then went for a hike to a lighthouse. We did some monkey-streches before the hike, and Eva talked to us about the nature and how we can be more connected to it. She encouraged us to touch and feel different things in the nature while hiking. We hiked in silence to get more impressions from the nature. The view from the lighthouse was beautiful.
We had a connection workshop at the top, paring up two and two and changing the group sometimes. The first practice was about connecting with someone only through physical contact, and no speaking. It was a very weird and new experience for me. Usually physical contact is something I share with friends or some family members, or it is connected to sexual contact. Our personal space boundary in Norway is quite big. To be in physical contact with strangers like this was in the beginning intimidating and uncomfortable. We started with just looking into eachothers eyes for four minutes. Then we touched eachothers arms and hands while doing the eyegazing, also having our knees touching eachothers while doing this. After a while it got less intimidating, and more comfortable. We were told to send eachother the same wishes as we did in the meditation this morning. Wish the other person peace, strange and send our love. With time I felt more comfortable, safe and even cared for with just looking into someone's eyes for that amount of time.
After this we did some active listening exercises. Asking eachother questions and listening. The questions made us reflect upon different things in our life, and it was nice. I feel more aware of what I like and don't like in my life, and what I need to do to feel more true to myself. We finished up with a meditation focusing on connecting with the nature.
We walked down to the beach and was told to pick an object from the nature to bring with us. Something to sticks out to you, or you feel connected to. I picked a red flower that stuck out in the green forest. For me it represented the courage to be your self and follow your dreams, even though if it is following a path that is different from what is expected from you. At the beach Eva told us to make a castle in honour of ourselves, using the objects we picked. I made a sand heart with the inscription "2018" and my red flower. 2018 was the year I had the courage to do what i have been dreaming about, going out to the world alone. I guess that deserves a castle at the beach!
We all went in to the water and played around. We had some group activities, splashing around like children. It was so much fun! I sometimes forget how much fun you can have when just letting go off your boundaries, and act like an child! I need to do more of this in my life, it is very liberating.
We went back to the hostel and had an value session. We were reflecting upon our values and why they are important to us. In the end we had to choose some values that is the most important (core values) for us. At this point my head was so full from the day with so much activities, impressions and reflection. Still, this value session was not too hard for me, as values is something I have to reflect upon a lot in my work. I ended up with this list of what is most important to me:
- Humanity (we all have the same value as an human being. Treat eachother with respect and love.
- Empathy
- Connection (friends, family, love, co-workers, loyalty, honesty, openness)
- Authentic/Integrity (be true to yourself. Know, respect and love yourself. Freedom to be independent. Learn, evolve, explore. Self growth.)
We had an great "family dinner" with healthy and good food. It started with one of the founders wishing everyone welcome, talking a bit about what had been going on this day, inviting us to share about the rosemary experience. I did some sharing, standing up at the table! At least talking in front of a crowd is not a problem for me, and I was happy to share.
After dinner Britta had a connection session. This is by far the weirdest and most out of my comfort zone thing I have ever done. We were all holding hands, standing in two lines facing eachother. First we did the eyegazing again with strangers, and after some minutes you would step to the left and do the same with a new stranger. This time it felt even more uncomfortable than earlier today, bescuse it was all new people that I did not know at all. But with some deep breaths I somehow managed to calm down and be in the moment and just focus on the person in front of me. After doing this four or five times, we connected with the one in front of us by holding their hands. And wait for it - ended it all with eststic dance holding hands with the other person. This part is the strangest thing I have done. But actually I didn't find it uncomfortable at all. We hold hands, our eyes closed, and just moved together to the music. Our bodies synchronising. It was fun, and nice and caring. Ending up in big hugs and so much love!
After this I had to go to bed. It was a very long and exhausting day, but in a good way. I felt quite overwhelmed. One day felt like a week because of so much different and meaningful activities. I did more soul-searching and boundary pushing in one day than I have done in years. I felt so happy and grateful for everything I experienced this day. I felt proud for challenging my boundries, being open, curious, sharing and being true to myself.
In the end it is only yourself that can make you happy and decide how to spend your life. It is so important to know, respect and love yourself. We are all good enough, but we grow up in societies that sometimes makes it hard for us to feel this self acceptance and love. I know I have some work to do with being more present here and now, and be more satisfied not always wanting more. This is a good place to work on this, I will definitely stay a while to explore new sides of myself in this beautiful environment.Read more
April 9, 2018 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
I took the night bus from Chuy to Florianopolis, arriving at my hostel in Barra de lagoa around noon. Rosemary Dream is a hostel and a empowerment centre. I was told about it a year ago, and haven't been able to let it go. My plan was to not go to Brazil in this trip, but somehow it just felt like Rosemary was the right place for me to go right now. I have been having some time with a bit of a bad travel spirit, and want to stay some place a bit longer to do some reflecting and relaxing.
Rosemary has a beautiful location with the forest surrounding it, and 5 minutes to the beach.
You can read more about Rosemary here: www.rosemarydream.comRead more
April 8, 2018 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Spent 6 hours in Chuy, and that was more than enough. The boarder town is popular for tax-free shopping.
1,5 hour too late the bus to Florianopolis arrived at the boarder, and I was so ready to enter it and get some sleep. Hanging out in Chuy us definitely not a exciting experience.Read more
April 6, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
I went with the 4WD at 06.00 from Cabo Polonio to catch the only bus to Punta Del Diablo. I slept for most of the bus ride, and arrived around 09. I waited on the bus station until it opened and bought my bus ticket to Chui on Sunday.
I took a taxi to my hostel that is called Diablo Tranquilo Beach Suites, and is at the beach. It has an amazing location! When checking in I met Jonatan in the receiption, which was a surprise! He will be staying here until tomorrow.
I got breakfast and went for a walk along the beaches. There is so many beautiful beaches and sand dunes here. I spent the day at the beach, relaxing in the hammock at the hostel, and having wine with some other guests.
In the night the hostel offers dinner, but in their "twin hostel". The reception of my hostel close at 07, and after that everything move over to the other one that is only two blocks away. We went there for dinner and some wine, and went to a bar and got drinks after. The town is quite dead now that is out of season. A lot of restaurants and bars are closed down.
I like the vibe in this town as well. I have now been to three charming small beach towns in Uruguay, and all of them have been really nice. I did not like Punta Del Este, that is a big city with beaches. I would rather recommend the small and cozy beach towns.Read more
April 5, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
I woke up at 06.45 and went down to the beach to see the rest of the sunrise. It was mesmerising. After a while I got back to the hostel and got some breakfast, and then started my morning beach trip. I went to the lighthouse to watch the sea lions first. They all looked like they were dancing or something in the first sunlight of the day. I find them so fun to watch!
I went a long the beach and walked to the sand dunes. I had a nice walk for about 2,5 hours. I love to start my day like this. When I got back I went to the beach to relax. After about 1,5 hour my skin had enough sun, and I got quite red of course. I went back to the hostel and chilled out in the hammock in the shade instead.
I feel this place is just what I needed right now. I have been having some bad spirit lately and felt very tired. Already in La Paloma I could feel it get better, and this place is definitely like conditioner for my soul. I feel ready to continue my adventure in south America, and I am feeling excited about it.
Traveling can sometimes be very exhausting. You are moving from place to place, need to constantly find new information about the places and where to stay and how to get there and so on, and you need to meet new people all the time when traveling alone. It is a lot of fun, but still exhausting sometimes. I really needed some time to chill out and do nothing more than walking around at pretty beaches.
In Cabo Polonio I have not been asking anywhere for WiFi. I know they have it some places, but I just don't want to be connected. I use my phone for writing here, and to listen to music. Except for that I need to be disconnected. One of the things I was going to be better at after this travel is not being so addicted to social medias. I need to think more about this, as I have been so well connected my whole trip. When traveling alone it is very easy to use your phone and social medias as companies - but it is kind of a little bit of cheating. I will try to focus more on this from now, maybe put in some restrictions in how much I can use the WiFi. I will have to put off more time to do some reflecting here, as the time flies by really fast and there is always something new happening. I still have a lot of things to reflect upon when it comes to my life back home, and how I want to spend my time and where when I get back home.
In the night I had dinner and drinks in the hostel with the other guests. Me and two others went to the beach to watch the sunset again. Later on we went to the beach to watch the moonrise and the stars. It is my first time watching a moonrise. I like the hostel, it is very simple but the staff is so nice and it has a Buena onda. Tomorrow I'll have to take the vehicle out of here at 06 to catch the bus to Punta Del Diablo. That is my last stop in Uruguay, and I will stay there for the weekend at an hostel at the beach.Read more
April 4, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ 🌙 17 °C
I started the day with a beach walk in La Paloma, what an perfect start to the day! I took some time to sit down and watch the surfers doing their magic. Suddenly I saw a fin in the water with the surfers and almost had an heart attack, until I saw more of them and understood it was dolphins that wanted to have some fun in the waves as well - amazing!
At 14 I took the bus to Cabo Polonia visitor centre. From there you need to take a 4WD vehicle to get to town. Cabo Polonia is a national park, and regulare cars is prohibited. Already at this ride I understood that I am going somewhere very special. It was a bumpy ride on dirt road, heading towards beautiful sand dunes and beaches as long as the eye can see, and in the middle of this you find the charming small town called Cabo Polonia. I was super impressed by the scenery during the drive to the village.
I went to my hostel (Lobo bar) and checked in. The staff was super friendly and welcoming. When I entered the door one of the guy told the other one "es la chica de noruego". I guess they don't get many of them here, and my pale skin made it quite obvious for them. The hostel is simple, but that is what you should expect here. The whole town is without electricity and running water. They use sole cell panels, and get water from a well. It is around 100 habitants here. A lot of the houses looks empty now that the summer is over.
The town is super charming and hippie. I loved it from the moment I saw it! The nature is beautiful, with sand dunes and amazing beaches. I went for a walk with a German girl that I met in the hostel. We saw most of the city, the lighthouse where you have Uruguay's second largest sea lion colony, and then went to watch the sunset at the beach while enjoying the "Marley" alfajores. That's a chocolate/dulce de leche thing that I was told is made for people craving sweets when smoking marijuana (which is legal in Uruguay, I stick to the chocolate tho). The sunset was beautiful. A dog came and cuddled up with us at the beach. What an beautiful day!
After the sunset we went back to the hostel to take a shower, and I was happy I brought a head torch. The hostel has some light, mostly candles but some running on the power from the sol cells. They do also have showers with water from the well / the earth. Very simple, but enough to get away most of the sand.
I went out in the garden and laid down on a bench to watch the stars. The town is almost completely dark except for the lighthouse, so the sky is super clear. It was the perfect day for star watching. No clouds, amazing view!
The hostel offered dinner for the guests, fish and potatos. I really like the staff and the vibe here. Such a good atmosphere.
Today was a perfect day! I will stay here until Friday, but no more because of the bus schedules. I could probably stay here for a week, just soaking up sun and the amazing atmosphere in town. This is the definition for chilled out. All of Uruguay is a super chilled country, but this must be the most chilled out place there is. My tips will definitely be to skip Punta Del Este, that for me was soulless, and go and spend time at one of the beautiful small beach towns a long the coast.Read more
April 3, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
The day couldn't have started worse; with foodpoisoning and almost no sleep all night. My body was feeling exhausted and everything hurted. At 06 in the morning I ended up changing to a private room, to get some comfort and my own bathroom. I was suppose to go with a bus 07.30, but that was impossible. I was feeling really bad, and so much sorry for myself! In situations like this I think you are extra vunurable when traveling alone so far from home.
After some hours in the hostel in Punta del Este without having to run to the bathroom anymore, I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and get a new bus to La Paloma. I already booked a hostel there for the night. The owner of the hostel in Punta del Este was nice and did not charge me more for the 5 hours I spent in a private room. I checked out and got on a bus at 11 to Rocha. There I had to change to a new bus to La Paloma. The ride was not very pleasant, as I was still feeling very bad and my whole body acing.
When I arrived at the bus station in La Paloma it started raining, and I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. I made my way to the hostel, and after short time the sun came out. I brought music and my camera and went for a walk for a couple of hours at the beach. It was very beautiful and peaceful, and just what I needed to cheer up. My mood changed, and I felt so much better. La Paloma is a charming small beach town. In high season there is a lot of people here, but the summer is over and it is very quite now.
The hostel I stay in is called balconada beach hostel, and I really like it. It is right on the beach, and has a cozy common area. I have only booked one night here, and will see tomorrow if I stay more or go to Cabo Polonia. I have limited time left for Uruguay, as I take a bus to Florianopolis on Sunday.Read more
April 2, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
I arrived here late last night and just checked into my hostel and went to bed. I am staying in Tas D Viaje hostel, and it is great! Really good common areas and 2 minutes from the beach. The breakfast is great as well!
This morning I walked along the costanera here. There is some nice beaches, but the place suits it's reputation about being a fancy place that are expensive. There is a lot of super nice summerhouses and yachts here. I finished my walking around right before the rain started, and have just chilled out in the hostel the rest of the day. Went for a run on the beach and had salad for lunch - I think my body was grateful for that after three weeks in big cities and a lot of unhealthy food. Hopefully this week can be a bit better when it comes to that.
I will leave for La Poloma tomorrow morning. If I hadn't booked two nights in Punta del Este I would probably move on today. I think I will like the small beach towns more.Read more
