There is a Chinese myth that says that an invisible red thread is tied around your ankle and connected to each and every person you will meet in your life who will be important to you in a certain way.
This thread may stretch, or tangle, but it will never break. And now, this thread has led me… to you.
Yes, you. You who are reading these words right now. We are already connected even if we do not know each other yet, and perhaps that red thread will bring us closer still. Perhaps you have been sent to help me. Perhaps I have been sent to tell you a story.
“Fairytales are more than true. Not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be defeated.”
Hi! I’m Juliana.
I grew up in Colombia, South America, in a museum. Yes, literally! My grandfather was an important artist, and his house was home to sculptures and pianos and all sorts of music.
An all my life, I’ve been fascinated by stories.
I would tell the stories of my family to visitors to the museum, →
then I started telling stories of my city Medellín to tourists from all over the world.
I got my tour guide license (which means I can enter museums for free!! Yay!) and I’ve taken over 12,000 travellers all over Medellín. Being a tour guide is never boring! I even caught a thief once! (And I was also got hired as a tour guide for a month in Seville, Spain, after being there only one day. But hey, I would research! The local guides would just make stuff up.)
Obviously you can’t be a tour guide if you don’t like to travel, right?
Except that my way of travelling is,
- No money
- No plan
- Hit the Road and
the Road will provide!
How did I get into such a crazy way of travelling? Funny you should ask.
I went to Israel for some college credit, and due to a series of unfortunate events ended up stuck there penniless for two months. That was an adventure too! I wasn’t about to sit around and feel sorry for myself: I mean, this was Israel, come on!
So I slept on the streets and ate from the garbage, hitchhiked the whole country, and had the absolute time of my life!
Now, looking back, I realize what a predicament I was in. But I wouldn’t change it for the world! That experience made me discover a strength within me I never knew I had, and now I can confidently take on nearly any challenge.
And since then I’m addicted to travelling (and to WHITE CHOCOLATE REESES WHICH YOU CAN’T GET IN COLOMBIA!!!!) and have never looked back.
Of course, along the way, there’s plenty of room for adventure!
On one trip I accompanied two Indian documentary filmmakers on a motorcycle trip to help them film and translate.
One time we got lost for two days on a volcano in the Amazon.
Good thing I’ve always loved wilderness survival!
I’ve been going on extreme campouts in Colombia for years, pretending to prepare for the Apocalypse.
(Never expected the real apocalypse to require a Netflix subscription).
And I taught nature, wilderness survival and edible wild plants at summer camps in the US.
PS: I love summer camps! I want to start one in Colombia some day!
Always explore caves.
And try your best to become a goddess.
Aphrodite’s birthplace, Paphos, Cyprus. (Though I like Artemis better)
Or go live in a cabin to learn to be a witch. J
(Note: no cats were sacrificed during this endeavor.)
But beyond all of those things, first, and foremost, I am a
Storyteller.
Planting stories like seeds to heal the earth is my Soul’s Purpose, my Life Passion.
I never knew you could be a storyteller, that that was a profession. But it just so happens, it is. There is a school for Storytelling in Colombia, called Vivapalabra, and since I discovered that, I’ve never looked back.
In my third semester I took a year off to hitchhike Central America, a trip that I paid for by telling stories in the parks.
After graduating in 2015, I realized there was so much more to learn around the world, so I took off to Europe to discover storytelling in other cultures.
And now I’m here.
Writing these words for you, without knowing yet who you are. Telling you my story. You know a bit about me now. I’m looking forward, and so excited, to getting to know you.
Now, I want to hear your story.
