Women Who Wander: Haley Reeves

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Women Who Wander series! I am so excited for you guys to read today’s post! But first, let me tell you about Haley! The two of us met way back in middle school (shout out Lavilla), we were good friends in high school but drifted apart after graduation. Life works in funny ways though and a few months ago we reconnected. This girl is such a ray of sunshine and never fails to put a smile on my face. She is an insanely talented photographer and always captures the most beautiful moments, which you’ll get to see in today’s blog post! 

Where She Went

Haley recently had the opportunity to go to Nicaragua for a month for an internship. During her time there, she solo traveled to several different cities including El Gigante, Popoyo, Granada, Leon, and Managua. She had an incredible time and learned a lot on this trip.

Where She Stayed

The first place she stayed was Hotel Igignate where she was interning. She had a dorm space with four others but said it was pretty comfortable. She also stayed at several different hostels, Airbnb’s, and even crashed at a friend’s house for a few days. Her favorite hostel was Tukasa in Popoyo and highly recommends it to anyone visiting!

Her Highlights

The highlight of Haley’s trip was the people she met. She met other solo travelers who shared a similar mindset when it came to life. She had a lot of deep conversations with these people, and they started to feel like family. She expressed that these individuals truly left her feeling inspired. 

Another thing she mentioned was how the local community lives with so much love. She said she could tell they value and have a lot of respect for each other. Where she was in Nicaragua, the people did not have constant water, their power constantly went out, and they lived very simply. However, none of the locals she met ever complained about it and they were grateful for what they did have.

Challenges She Faced

The biggest challenge Haley faced during her trip was the language barrier. This was hard for her because she couldn’t understand what most of the locals were saying. Thankfully she made a friend who spoke fluent Spanish which helped a lot. But she also said a lot can be read by body language and I definitely agree. Humans adapt and even if you don’t speak the same language, there are still ways to communicate and connect. She believes that there are more good people than bad ones out there and most of the time they are willing to help you when you’re going through challenges. 

She shared an amazing experience with me that I had to add in here. She was teaching a yoga class one day, and some of the local kids showed up. Even though they didn’t speak English, she was still able to give them corrections and they would make those corrections. The kids even wanted to play with her afterwards which she thought was very special. 

What She Saw

The most beautiful thing she saw during her trip was the views during the volcano hike she did. She said she was so high up to where she could see the world curve. She was laughing when she told me this, but I knew exactly what she meant! Seeing these views reminded her that nature is resilient and that every season plants still bloom. She admitted that she started tearing up during the hike because she was doing something she never imagined she would do. She also loved learning about the volcano itself and told me it only has one more eruption, how insane is that? Once she reached the top of Cerro Negro volcano, she got to slide down it. She could literally feel the heat radiating off the volcano as she slid down! 

What She Learned

This trip changed Haley’s perspective on life in many ways. She realized you don’t need much to live a good life. She said you don’t need money, a big house, materialistic stuff, or even that much food. Toward the end of her trip, she was living off peanut butter and oats! 

During her travels, she also gained confidence and learned the beauty of human connection. She confided in me that over the last two years, she grew quiet and was starting to feel like a shell of herself. Going into this trip, she told herself to be outgoing. She had to be brave and believe in herself, but she found it easy to make new friends. She told me that all the friends she made left such a meaningful impact on her. While I was talking to her, I could tell she was truly grateful for the people she met on this trip. 

Her Advice

If you’re thinking about traveling, Haley says “Do it. 100%.” She thinks everyone should solo travel at least once in their life. She also says if you’re planning a trip go in with no expectations and a loose plan. She went in with a plan and it changed, but she’s so glad she stayed open to opportunity. To sum everything up, she said to go out and talk to people, try new things, and have more belief in yourself!

Haley, thank you so much for letting me share your incredible travel experiences from Nicaragua! I know that the future has lots of good things and travel experiences in store for you and I can’t wait to see all the pretty pictures you take along the way. I think everyone needs to go follow @reevesphotos_ on Instagram to see more of Haley’s amazing shots!

Thank you to everyone who has been following the Women Who Wander series! In case you missed the last one, you can click here to read it!