Travel Crush Tuesday: Diana
Photo Source: Diana and Instagram
Welcome to Travel Crush Tuesday!
From reading books about magnificent places to visiting those same beautiful sites, our travel crush has created a lifestyle where all her travel dreams come true. She's an inspiration to everyone who began their adventures through books, movies, and documentaries. Keep reading to get Diana's story.
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Tell us about yourself! Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do? What inspires you to travel?
I am a digital nomad. I have a 9-5 working for a startup, a travel content creator, an Airbnb host, and a real estate entrepreneur. I am from West Africa (Equatorial Guinea + Nigeria), but I am also part Russian. I have always dreamt of traveling the world. I grew up watching BBC earth, National Geographic channel, movies around the world in 80 days, and reading encyclopedias. In the house I grew up in, my grandmother had a library with a lot of Geography content, so I spent a lot of time learning about the world. Itโs important to understand that because I grew up in a poverty-stricken country like Nigeria, these movies, documentaries, and books proved that there was a big beautiful world out there. These were the mediums that I used to experience them.
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Share with us the first experience that made you catch the travel bug.
When I finally got the chance to experience in real life some of the things I had read in books and seen on TV, I knew that was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. The best trip from my childhood was an excursion my school planned that cost a fortune, but my mother and grandmother scraped the funds to send me on a trip to Malaysia. I remember it like it was yesterday. I couldn't sleep the days leading up to our departure from the excitement and anticipation. We visited a rainforest where I got to hold a giant python, hike through the forest, visit the marketplaces with locally made goods and learn about the area's geography. We also visited the famous Twin Towers, which was the first time I had ever seen a building so tall.
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How many countries have you been to and which was your favorite? What put this destination above the rest.
I've been to 16 countries, and my favorite by far was Costa Rica! I'm not a leisure traveler; I'm an adventurous traveler, so Costa Rica sits at the top of my list, and Mexico comes in second. Costa Rica has a truly diverse geographical landscape. It sits on the edge of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the most active seismic area on earth!
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Where and what is the most overrated travel experience you've had and what should fellow travelers do instead?
I don't like to say specific places are overrated, but traveling to popular destinations can ruin the experience during peak season! I always advise traveling during months right before and after peak seasons.
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What was your most memorable travel experience and what made it so special?
My most memorable travel experience was my recent trip to the Huasteca Potosina Region in Mexico. The geographic landscape consists of mountains, rivers, and, my favorite, waterfalls! You can jump off the cliffs, zipline over the river, explore underwater caves and even rappel down the falls. It is in Mexico proper, so I always tell people to be cautious. No one speaks English there, and some areas you have to drive through are what people would describe as sketchy. It's not a popular destination except for locals. It is not advertised widely, so I still consider it a hidden gem.
Where else can folks find you?
On Tik Tok under the same handle and my blog coming soon under the same name daringdianchka :)
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