Until the age of 17, my world was a 400-square-mile stretch of Atlantic beauty. Then I encountered snow in Boston. Today, I feel fully at home in both my Azorean and American identities, and I move easily between two cultures and two languages. For more than 20 years, I have worked as a writer and editor for newspapers and magazines in English, my second language. Still, a deep part of me longed for home.
The Azores remain one of the Atlantic’s best-kept secrets: just four and a half hours from Boston, yet wonderfully far from the familiar. These islands are an outdoor paradise, a volcanic wonderland, and a place meant to be savored. And because they are still relatively undiscovered by destination-makers, I felt inspired to share them in a more personal way.
Travel has always felt richest to me when I could truly connect with a place. A friend in Rio gave me a deeper appreciation of the city, and staying with a mother and son in Ireland led me to their after-hours local pub. That sense of insider connection is exactly what we hope to offer through minuvida: a warm welcome, a local perspective, and the feeling of having a friend waiting for you in the Azores.