The Trip

Traveling is a privilege that few of us have enjoyed, even if it is becoming increasingly easier and more affordable. The first time I left Colombia was in 2012, when I was 23 years old. Back then, the idea of leaving everything behind to travel the world for nearly a year was unthinkable madness. I am certain that many people from the two generations before mine never left the country at all, or only did so much later in life.

If traveling outside Colombia was difficult, the idea of living in another country was something I didn't even contemplate for a long time. Honestly, it seemed far out of reach given my family's income and my own, and living abroad sounded incredibly complicated—not to mention the deep roots we have for our own culture. That said, in September 2016, I arrived in Barcelona to study for a master's degree in Data Science (back before AI was trendy).

It was while living in Barcelona, after obtaining a residency visa as a skilled worker, that the idea of taking a sabbatical year to travel first crossed my mind. Many of my colleagues had done it or were planning to. Spain is one of those European countries that allows for a career break with a certain level of guarantee that you can return to your position.

It took a long time for this idea to materialize. The sabbatical became a tangible dream after I married the love of my life, Daisy Pacheco, in the Catholic Church. It became a shared dream that began to take shape the month after the wedding, when we opened a savings pot named: The Trip.

The Trip was a dream that took 3 years and 4 months to manifest. It was an idea that carved its path month by month through savings, conversations, vague concepts, YouTube videos, and travel books. However, it was never entirely clear that we would actually pull it off. In fact, at one point Daisy believed we had started saving much later. I don't know if it was because she didn't think taking a sabbatical was possible, or if she only really got motivated after our incredible trip to India in 2023.

In 2024, we began sharing our dream with others, which made it feel more real, even if few people took us seriously. However, it wasn't until the end of that year that we reached the point of no return. In December, Daisy obtained Spanish nationality through residency. Having that allowed us to travel without restrictions and return to Spain (should we choose to do so).

That same month, we decided to make our "madness" official at our respective jobs. Daisy requested a leave of absence and I resigned. Although it was difficult, it was a decision we had to make to finally launch our adventure. May 2025 would be our target month for the start of The Trip.

What we didn't know was that that very same month, my back pain would return with such intensity that I ended up in surgery in January 2025. Although we doubted at times whether we could continue with the original plan, my operation was a success and we were able to overcome this setback.

Before traveling, we made a short stop in Colombia to complete my recovery, attend the wedding of two very special people, and say goodbye to our family. We returned to Barcelona on May 2nd for another big wedding and to finish clearing out our home, which would ultimately be reduced to 1.5 square meters in a storage unit.

It wasn't easy leaving behind everything we had built in Barcelona: friends, home, work, routines, comfort, and financial stability. While we already had some experience as migrants, the final weeks were tense. We had to sell off things we had worked so hard to acquire, we left jobs we truly enjoyed, we handed over a dream apartment that held so many memories (both good and bad), and we left our income behind to begin dipping into our savings. Finally, after a big farewell party the weekend before our departure, the adventure began on May 24th, 2025.

First destination: Istanbul, Turkey. Our dream, The Trip, became a reality.