World Travellers: Christina from Fleeting Life

In my latest World Travellers, we meet Christina who travels the world, dances and runs a cool site called Fleeting Life.

Who are you?

My name is Christina Gmyr, author and chief goofball at FleetingLife.com. I’m in my mid-twenties and I’m currently writing and dancing my way around the world.

Where are you from?

I am from upstate New York originally, but lived in NYC for two years prior to quitting my job to travel the world.

Where have you been?

After graduating university, I’ve lived in Costa Rica, New York City and Spain. I’ve also traveled to Canada, Panama, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Brazil, Ireland, and Romania.

Where are you now?

I’m currently living in Madrid, Spain.

What are the top 3 places you’ve visited?

Costa Rica, Brazil and Ireland.

What is the best travel experience you’ve had?

One of my favorite experiences was kayaking in the bio luminescent bay in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos as I did not have a waterproof camera at the time!

What is the worst travel experience you’ve had?

I’m not sure if you can consider this a travel experience since I was living in NYC at the time, but on March 22, 2013 when I was going home from a great Venezuelan dinner in Brooklyn, I was struck by a car. It was a hit-and-run accident (the driver lost his mirror and bumper from hitting me so hard, but didn’t even slow down!) and I was extremely lucky that only my legs were affected. I ended up having surgery to place 4 screws and a plate into my ankle, and was stuck in bed for months afterwards. As a dancer and restless travel addict, this was a pretty difficult time for me! I still haven’t recovered fully but I am thankful every day that I am finally able to walk and travel again!

What is the funniest travel experience you’ve had?

One time while zip-lining in the rainforest in Costa Rica I was bit by an unknown bug on the side of my nose. I had a severe allergic reaction to it and my nose swelled up to about 4 times its normal size! Although I was pretty nervous, the guides ended up giving me some medication that took care of it within 30 minutes, and it ended up being pretty hilarious.

What is the scariest travel experience you’ve had?

The scariest moment I’ve had while traveling was on my first solo travel trip. I landed in Costa Rica at 20 years old in the middle of the night, and my Spanish speaking skills were atrocious. I had never traveled by myself, and San Jose is a pretty ugly city by day, so by night it was quite terrifying for me. I remember riding in the back of a van that was taking me to my host family’s house and staring out the window at some very run-down buildings and wondering what I had gotten myself into. It didn’t help that it was storming and I couldn’t communicate with the driver whatsoever. In the end, that trip turned out to be so incredible that I moved back to San Jose after graduating from university.

What is the most random job you have had on your travels?

So far I’ve only really done some English teaching and freelance writing! I’m always open to a random job if anyone knows of any 😉

How do you fund your travels?

English teaching and freelance writing, along with some savings from working in NYC for two years.

What 3 tips would you give a new traveller before they set off on their adventure?

Be open minded, smile a lot, and try to spend as much time with locals as you can.

What are your future travel plans?

Living in Spain makes it pretty easy to travel so I will be visiting quite a few countries in the near future! In the next six months I plan to be in France, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Greece, Turkey and Jordan. Also next summer I plan to live in Galway, Ireland for a couple of months. So much to be excited about!

Biography

Christina Gmyr is a goofball, dancer, and travel addict who left her job in NYC in search of meaningful travel experiences, cultural insights and laughs. With her budget and travel tips on her blog, she hopes to help others enrich their lives through travelling.

http://fleetinglife.com

http://www.twitter.com/Fleeting_Life

http://www.facebook.com/FleetingLife

Thanks to Christina from Fleeting Life for being the latest in my series of World Travellers! If you travel the world and run a travel blog or are a travel writer, please get in touch, you can be featured (there’s a HUGE waiting list at present), either e-mail jonny (at) dontstopliving (dot) net or head to my contacts page and get connected! You can also subscribe to Don’t Stop Living by filling in the form below! Safe travels!