Why Did I Write
A Travel Guide on Seville?

¡Hola! My name is Sandra and I'm from Spain.

I have been living in Seville for the past eight years, a city that many people believe as the most exuberant and beautiful in the country. I couldn't agree more!

Although my biggest passion is travelling, I also enjoy photography, learning languages and surfing on the net.

As an independent traveller myself, I like to plan in advance my next holidays working on every detail. I have learnt a lot of all these hours spent in front of the computer studying maps, looking for cheap flights and trying to find the best accommodation.

That's why I thought about paying back all the travel writers, guidebook editors and nomads who, like me, use to wander around the web sharing experiences.

Some time ago I realized that I could combine all my hobbies while helping other people. How? Writing an online travel guide!

However, this story started a while ago.

I used to dream of becoming a 19th century explorer when I was a little girl...

I don't know if it was a bunch of coincidences or a question of fate but my life is related to travelling, discovering different cultures and learning new languages.

When I was seven I moved to Morocco with my family, learnt French and explored the whole country together as my Dad drove through impossible roads (sometimes very rough and not even paved). I believe it was back then, visiting old Kasbahs and looking for bargains in the Souks, when the travel bug started to grow inside.

A few years later, I finished my academic education after living in Mexico and France. I also improved my English in the United States and in Australia and started with Italian, visiting my parents that lived there at that time.

... But reality almost convinced me to give up

I worked for a big corporation where I was very happy even though it meant spending endless hours at the office. In spite of it I managed -still wonder how...- to travel a lot.

Suddenly, some kind of economic bubble burst and I found myself out of the company that promised me the world and a successful career in exchange of all that work.

One day in October I decided to spend a weekend in Seville looking for an excuse to escape the cold autumn. The color of the city, the contrast of the buildings and churches, Sevillanos' joy of life... It was love at first sight. And I realized that I wanted to stay there.

But...

You never know what Destiny has planned for you...

Oh boy, what a huge surprise Destiny had for me. I was offered the chance to spend a whole year in Australia! I think it took me less than three minutes to ask for a leave of absence. Or maybe it was two minutes, I can't recall it.

I had a terrific year in Oz. Everything was amazing, the Great Barrier Reef, the National Parks in Victoria, the not so little Tasmania, Sydney's Opera House, the Outback and the Aussie accent. I was thrilled.

When I was doing some research on the West coast (I was planning a trip from Darwin to Perth) I accidentally found B. ("just B." as she says) and her great site about the Australian Outback. It was exactly what I was looking for. I started to read and because of my curiosity I was immediately clicking the author's page.

At first I thought "I wish it could happen to me too" and my second thought was "Ok, come back to earth, this is never happening to you".

The Kimberley was awesome and Western Australia was wilder than expected (and trust me, I spent half of this year reading a lot about Australia). But it was time to come back.

And that meant back to Europe and back to work.

Sometimes, good things last forever!

Fortunately Seville was there to welcome me with arms wide open. And it was a relief to discover that everything was back into place. I missed my tapas and the noisy bars, the incredible light of the sun in spring, the azahar (orange blossom) smell and the chords of a Spanish guitar.

Now some of my Sevillian friends tend to laugh at me -oh yeah, they're quite funny and love teasing everybody- because they believe that I am more Sevillian than they are. "The only thing that betrays you is the accent", they tell me. "You'll never have our smooth pronunciation". Fine!

Now, some time later, I'm still stuck at some office (yes, I have bills to pay) but fortunately some things never change. Because I am sure Seville is the place where I want to be but my growing little bug convinces me from time to time to buy a plane ticket and fly far away.

I guess I just can't help it and I am already preparing the next trip... ;-)

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