Category: National Parks

I thought I was going to shipwreck trying to get to an existing shipwreck in the Solomon Islands…and I was traveling solo with just a fisherman driving me on his small boat. 😳 But! We made it, even with a massive storm approaching, and I experienced one of the most incredible “my life’s a travel movie” moments in my 12 years of continuous solo traveling!! I truly felt like I was in a movie! The ship is an old cruise ship that hit rocks and slowly sank as it washed ashore on Roderick’s Bay. It’s only half sunk, so you can swim around it (it’s super creepy and dangerous, don’t do it alone), and since it’s completely unregulated, you can also climb it and zip line into the water (also dangerous, can’t recommend) The angle of the ship also created one of the most vibrant marine sanctuaries I’ve seen in a while, with lots of actual colorful coral and fish (including clown fish!) I went to Solomon Islands after my second trip to Papua New Guinea, on my quest to slow solo travel to every country in the world. Would I go back to the shipwreck? Probably not. That boat ride was terrifying. But I’d go back to see more of the islands in the Solomon’s, there’s so many! Would you brave the ride to get to this shipwreck? For any fellow extreme adventurers, my Solomon Islands travel tips and itinerary is on my website linked in bio! ———————- For anyone new here: Hi! I’m Alyssa Ramos of @mylifesatravelmovie - one of the most traveled and most experienced solo female travelers in the world! I’ve been to 146 countries so far over 12 years, and love rare destinations and animals! My goal is to inspire you to travel off the typical path and to shatter negative stereotypes about “dangerous” destinations. Follow me for expert tips and inspiration!

D. R. Congo and Silverback Gorillas both have reputations for being extremely dangerous, and that’s true, to an extent. But hear me out. First a disclaimer: I am one of the most experienced solo female travelers in the world, and I also have a degree in Animal Science plus extensive experience with wild animals. All of my animal encounters are ethical, researched, and done with professionals. My goal is to promote responsible animal tourism that actually benefits and protects the animals, Don’t try to do any of them on your own! Ok so the Mountain Gorillas! Yes, they can be extremely dangerous! However, many of them have been socialized, and are therefore accepting of human visitors (and very curious) Gorilla trekking tourism is what protects these beautiful animals, because it generates more money to have them alive, so it forces the govs and other orgs to implement strict rules and anti-poaching efforts! In fact, these gorillas were almost poached to extinction before trekking became popular, and now most of the trackers (people paid to find the gorillas to trek to) are former poachers! I’ve gone gorilla trekking 5 times and it’s always a safe and beautiful experience (the trek is difficult though and can be up to 8 hours through thick jungle) Now about D.R. Congo…. Shortly after my first solo travels there, Virunga National Park closed and remains closed due to armed conflict with rebel groups..: I still went to visit Goma several more times, and I truly love Congo, but I will be waiting with anticipation for the safety to increase, because the gorillas in DRC were my top favorite see! For more info on DRC or the other 150 countries I’ve traveled solo to, please check out my blog linked in bio! ———- Please follow me @mylifesatravelmovie for more extreme adventures with purpose 💖 #alyssaramostravels #mylifeisatravelmovie #mylifeisatravelmovie

I have a “bucketlist tattoo” that I add to when I complete a major bucketlist check! This one was a double check: seeing a wild Polar Bear and reaching my farthest latitude north (so far): 82 degrees North! For reference, the geographic North Pole is at 90 degrees North, so we were very close to it! Maybe one day I’ll reach it! There’s only one tattoo shop in Longyearbyen, therefore it’s officially the northernmost tattoo shop! And I also have tattoos from the Southernmost tattoo shop in Ushuaia for my 4 trips to Antarctica! Anyone else have cool tattoos? ——————- For anyone new here: Hi! I’m Alyssa Ramos of @mylifesatravelmovie - one of the most traveled and most experienced solo female travelers in the world! I’ve been to 146 countries so far over 12 years, and love rare destinations and animals! My goal is to inspire you to travel off the typical path and to shatter negative stereotypes about “dangerous” destinations. Follow me for expert tips and inspiration!

This is my 3rd year being an American living on a vineyard in Italy (married the owner!) and I def have a lot of tea/wine to spill about it 😂 People have this dreamy or glamorous “Emily in Rome”-esque idea about traveling to Italy, falling in love, preferably with someone who owns a vineyard, and living happily ever after…well I did that, and it can be a bit more “difficile vita” than “dolce vita” at times! Shall I give the full interview for the “real Netflix documentary about an American living in Italy”?? 😂

I’ve swam with Orcas, a crocodile, and my for-fun hobby is shark diving, but I draw the line at poisonous swimming snakes. 🙅‍♀️🐍 It really just came up to me like that when I was sitting on the beach on an island in New Caledonia! I had been contemplating going swimming with the turtles nearby, but changed my mind after I saw this! This was a “Blake-banded Sea Krait”, common to this area in the South Pacific Islands, I’ve heard several divers say they’ve seen them! But no thanks, I prefer sharks. 😂 Animal safety tip: as an experienced animal encounteress, i never ever suggest provoking or trying to “fight off” any dangerous animal that isn’t actively trying to attack you. Stay calm and still and let it pass like I did in this video. Then, feel free to run. (Jk I’d still suggest carefully and slowly backing a way, keeping an eye on it). What would you do if you saw a swimming snake?! —————— For anyone new here: Hi! I’m Alyssa Ramos of @mylifesatravelmovie - one of the very first travel “influencers” and now one of the most traveled and most experienced solo travel women in the world! I’ve been to 146 countries so far over 12 years, and love rare destinations and animals! My goal is to inspire you to travel off the typical path and to shatter negative stereotypes about “dangerous” destinations (and animals). Follow me for expert tips and inspiration!

I’ve stayed at over 500 hotels in my 12 years of traveling to around 20 countries per year, here’s 20 that absolutely blew my mind and I cannot forget!! Swipe to see each caption for the name and location of these beauties (and some just bizarre!) I have a full list with links of the hotels here and ones I’ve posted about, linked on my bio! Please use those links if you book these places bc most don’t pay me to give this free publicity so the way I can monetize is using the links, it costs you nothing, and helps me a lot, thanks!! 😁😁😁 The currently viral @shebara resort in Saudi Arabia with UFO looking over-water bungalows! Costs around $2-4k per night and doesn’t include the transfer to get to the island… Check out my Shebara blog post for full details! Probably the most bizarre hotel I’ve ever stayed at is this one in Turkmenistan. It’s known as “the wedding hotel” bc it’s where most people have their receptions, but the ground floor wing behind me is open for tourists….except, I was the only one there and it seemed like it had been empty for a while.. You can’t book hotels on your own in Turkmenistan, you have to take a tour and have a letter of invitation. Full blog post with that info too. I’m scheduled to return to Turkmenistan in October and also next year with @mylifesatraveltribe (sold out though, join the waitlist!) I never would have guessed I’d end up living on a vineyard and recalling @pacheca.group The Wine House as inspo for a future rental project!! These wine barrel rooms are in Portugal. Who thinks I should try to build some on our vineyard in Sardinia Italy? One of the bougiest hotel experiences is at @anantaramaiaseychelles ! The villas are beautiful but it was the 24/7 butler service that I can’t forget! The Seychelles was my 100th country, and they brought me enough wine bottles to write out the number in my private jacuzzi! One of my all time favorites is @tulia_zanzibar 😻 it’s one of the most beautiful, thoughtfully designed, sustainable resorts I’ve experienced, AND it has a water slide! Scotland surprised me a lot with its incredible hotel options! Namely, all of the castles! There’s so many of them!!! An incredibly u

Yes, that is a real, wild Crocodile. Yes, I swam with him (several times) Would you dare? This is Panchito the Crocodile, he lives alone in Casa Cenote which is close to Tulum. Crocs are not commonly found in cenotes (pronounced “seh-note-ay” and are deep fresh water reserves throughout the Yucatán peninsula ) and no one is really sure how he got there. Panchito is allegedly “friendly”, but it’s more like “unbothered until provoked”. Recently for the first time ever Panchito attacked a swimmer because some unintelligent people were throwing rocks at him to try to provoke a reaction for a video 😡 Even this last time when I was there, while I was freediving in the cenote, other tourists were loud and slashing at Panchito, causing him to interrupt his tanning session, jump into the water, and dive under the mangroves until the people were gone (I watched all of it and was honestly a bit scared when he came swimming towards me underwater). Anyway! If you want a unique wildlife experience, check out Casa Cenote but do not disturb Panchito!!! Or any wildlife! Animal karma is real! I live in Tulum half-time and have lots of posts and tips about it and also this cenote, all on my website along with tips for over 140 countries - MyLifesAMovie.com ————————— For anyone new here: Hi! I’m Alyssa Ramos of @mylifesatravelmovie - one of the most traveled and most experienced solo travel women in the world! I’ve been to 146 countries so far over 12 years, and love rare destinations and animals! My goal is to inspire you to travel off the typical path and to shatter negative stereotypes about “dangerous” destinations. Follow me for expert tips and inspiration!

Anyone else here grow up watching Free Willy and cried every time? Wait till you see Orcas in real life! 🥹 BTW it’s World Orca Day!!! Yay!!! Share this with a friend who also loves Orcas and Free Willy!! A trip to Mexico to do a Sea Safari where you can potentially see Orcas is likely cheaper than a trip to seaworld to see them in captivity. The choice is yours! (Plz don’t support captivity) All of the info to do this Sea Safari is on my website mylifesamovie.com — full disclaimer that there are no specific “orca tours” because they are highly unpredictable! And all trips must follow local regulations and rules! After 12 years of continuous travel to over 140 countries, I have to say that this is one of my top memorable moments!

I got off the plane in the wrong country in Africa and almost got left in a small remote town with limited flights 😬 What had happened wasssss…I was flying from Zanzibar (Tanzania) to a country called Burundi but was not aware of a quick stopover, so when we landed, I saw a welcome celebration, assumed I was in Burundi, then got distracted watching the ceremony and didn’t realize my hosts weren’t there… Luckily, an airport worker came to find me, it wasn’t hard because I was the only foreigner there, but I accidentally made the whole plane wait an extra 20 minutes 🤦‍♀️ Cool experience though! However if I had realized I was in the wrong country, I would have had a panic attack. How bout you? ———————- For anyone new here: Hi! I’m Alyssa Ramos of @mylifesatravelmovie - one of the most traveled and most experienced solo travel women in the world! I’ve been to 146 countries so far over 12 years, and love rare destinations and animals! My goal is to inspire you to travel off the typical path and to shatter negative stereotypes about “dangerous” destinations. Follow me for expert tips and inspiration!