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Brenda proceeds to bend, crack, and snap my body into align-
ment. We’re mostly quiet throughout, but when I flip onto my
stomach, she taps my butt playfully and laughs “mismo, mismo!”
same, same! And we start cackling all over again. She repeats
this word when massaging my scalp, her hands deep in my afro.
“Mismo,” she says, and then, “linda,” beautiful. She whispers it
over and over, “linda, linda, linda.”
When she’s finished, I pass Brenda the 50 mil, plus 20 more in
respect for her hustle. She tucks the rolled-up bills into her bra.
We sit together for a while. My Spanish isn’t great and nei-
ther is her English, but we make do. I learn she’s actually from
Venezuela but left six months ago to earn money to send back
to her children, who stayed behind. Brenda is one of more than
four million Venezuelans who’ve had to flee due to the country’s
ongoing political and economic crisis; food is scarce, the dollar
is hyperinflated, and death tolls are rising.
“Colombia es beautiful, pero Venezuela ... ” Brenda sighs.
“Venezuela es ... sweet,” she says, kissing her fingers to her lips.
I look at her, thinking this town might be a little strange for the
both of us, but in this moment we’ve found a sweet familiarity
in each other. Sean and I had set off to Colombia in search of
thrills, but, as I’m constantly reminded on each of my journeys,
adventures don’t have to be about adrenaline and increased
heart rate. They can be about the bravery it takes to reach across
cultural divides and find commonalities.
Brenda pulls a small Nokia from her fanny pack; the screen
is slicked with massage oil. “Mi hija,” she says, pointing to a
photo of a smiling brown girl on the home screen.
“Linda,” I say. “Que linda.”ANNE FARRAR ( @afarrar) is National
Geographic Travel’s director of photog-
raphy. Her feature on Portugal
appeared in our June/July 2019 issue.
KATE SIBER ( @katesiber) is a
Durango, Colorado–based freelance
writer, a correspondent for Outside
magazine, and, most recently, the
author of a children’s book, National
Parks of the U.S.A.
MONISHA RAJESH ( @monisha_
rajesh) is the London-based author of
the memoirs Around the World in 80
Trains and Around India in 80 Trains.JILL K. ROBINSON ( @dangerjr) is a
regular contributor to Traveler who
most recently traveled with Gordon
Ramsay for his National Geographic
Channel show, Uncharted. She is based
in California.EMMA THOMSON ( @emmathomson
travels) is an award-winning travel
journalist for National Geographic
Traveller UK, the Telegraph, and the
Times, among others.Brooklyn-based GLYNN POGUE
( @bedstuybrat) is at work on a collec-
tion of essays on race, class, and
traveling while Black, topics she covers
on her podcast, #BlackGirlsTexting.WOMEN & ADVENTURE: TRAVEL LESSONS