I’ve read your articles over the past few years and after reading this one, I found out you’re from Florida (I’m originally from West Palm Beach). It’s my home state too and I just wanted to say that I share many of your sentiments about life in the U.S.
I appreciate your willingness and openness in sharing your experiences as a Latino to a wider audience. While life has forced me to live in Florida after 6 years in the Northeast, I know that it’s temporary. Your articles continue remind me why I keep pushing myself to leave haha.
Thanks again and cheers to you! Good luck in South Africa and continue to do the great work you’re currently doing.
Hi Amanda! Your films and writings inspire me! Specifically your video of the Peruvian tribal man saying how life was better before being contacted. I was wondering how you got survival international to showcase your film? And if you know of any other sites that collectively show case films on uncolonized tribes? I hope to bring awareness to this, as I feel the colonization of the Earth mainly by the English French and Spanish conquerors has separated us from heaven on earth. I am going to be actively helping build a self sustainable community in Costa Rica beginning September of this year. I presently live in central Pennsylvania and I am enrolled at Matador University. I want to leave America and help bring awareness to the destruction of true freedom
I just read your story and wish many people could read it too and get to appreciate the Travel Perspective of Life.
Am from Kenya, did my MBA in Texas, Worked for Verizon for 7 years, traveled extensively all over the USA, Spain, England, Seychelles and South Africa amongst others.
What surprised me while in the USA is that very very many Americans did not know their country. Many were born, educated and worked in the same two and never even left the State. One really shocked me… she thought Canada was part of the USA, as in one of the 50 states !
Am now back in Kenya and I try to take my growing family on various trips any time we get a chance so they can combine formal education and practical experiences as they grow up.
Here are small clips of our travel just before the new school term started just 3 weeks ago.
Amanda, I loved your article.
I am also a Latina who loves to hike. I am also the only person of color in my hiking club in Virginia. We hike and maintain one section of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia and my club friends are great and very welcoming.
Hi Amanda,
I really appreciate your piece on being a Latina who loves the outdoors. I relate to it on many levels, one being that my introduction to the outdoors happened when I took a year off from college and settled in with my aunt in Quito. From there our experiences diverge a little. My cousin was a Boy Scouts leader and invited me to climb the Cotopaxi just three days after having left sea level. I won’t bore you with the details more than to say it was a rough, terrifying, mesmerizing and eye-opening experience.
It was underscored for me quickly there, something I had always known but struggled with growing up in the states, that Latinos do everything. I was always put off by people who would say “That’s a white people thing.” Having grown up visiting family in Mexico every year (my other ancestral half) I knew this didn’t make sense as we wouldn’t have a society if Latinos didn’t do everything. Nevertheless, the outdoors was something I had minimal experience with and there in Quito, much like you, I learned not only that it was in my blood (after a serious altitude a@@-kicking), but also that it could be experienced by people with little income. There, in fact, it was the cheapest way to have a good time.
That revelation transformed my life in more ways than I will probably ever know. I am proud to say that since then I spend nearly all of my free time in the dirt, on a rock, in the ocean or snow somewhere. My biggest obstacle to moving to an idyllic mountain town is not a question of not belonging, as I know it is in blood and arguably more mine than most, but simply that I might miss the diversity of food, languages and cultural experiences that I have grown so accustomed to having lived most of my life between LA and San Francisco. I also know that it is difficult to think of moving anywhere that might put greater distance between me and Yosemite, a place that feels more like home to me than anywhere else on the planet.
There are, in fact, lots of us out there and the more others see that, the more they too will realize we belong everywhere. For that in particular I thank you for writing this piece. I am happy knowing that I don’t think of the outdoors as anything other than an essential part of my being, and proud that I went from a kid who grew up surrounded by asphalt to an adult that spends most of his free time on granite, and a professional who is currently charged with directing a sizable team of filmmakers while we make a production on glacial slopes high in the Andes because, yeah, this is exactly what Latinos do and where we belong.
Amanda, I was just listening in to my She explores podcast and your episode “permission slip” was exactly what I needed to hear! I would Love to share my experiences as a child of a first generation Mexican and biracial American parent born and raised in also flat middle of flat …Ohio. and how my childhood oddly shaped my love of the outdoors! So wonderful to hear of you
I was given a link to your webinar “Stories We Don’t Tell About People of Color in the Outdoors” and it was so motivational. I am striving for DE&I in filling my partner organizations’ courses and this really shed some light onto the subject. Any advice on reaching out to undeserved communities for outdoor-ed learning opportunities?
Hi Eliot, thanks so much for reaching out and for the kind words! I’m available for hire for DE&I consulting and facilitation, and do that work often with other environmentalist organizations. If you’d like to speak more about how I can work with you, you can contact me through email: contact@amandaemachado.com and I can send you more information about the services I offer. Thanks so much again!
I enjoyed your article in The Lily about in-person Pride month celebrations being cancelled. It resonated with me because I had convinced myself that I was straight till I was about 22, and I rarely hear stories of other people realizing that they are queer later in life. I also live in a more rural area of Canada and heard many people express disdain for Pride while growing up, and still do from time to time.
Overall it was a great article, and it made me feel good about myself.
Thanks so much for taking the time to write this Kody! I appreciate the support and loved hearing that the piece resonated with you! The best way to reach me over time is through twitter/instagram (@amandeamachado0). Looking forward to staying connected!
Amanda E. Machado 
Hi Amanda,
I’ve read your articles over the past few years and after reading this one, I found out you’re from Florida (I’m originally from West Palm Beach). It’s my home state too and I just wanted to say that I share many of your sentiments about life in the U.S.
I appreciate your willingness and openness in sharing your experiences as a Latino to a wider audience. While life has forced me to live in Florida after 6 years in the Northeast, I know that it’s temporary. Your articles continue remind me why I keep pushing myself to leave haha.
Thanks again and cheers to you! Good luck in South Africa and continue to do the great work you’re currently doing.
Sincerely,
Angel Roque
Hi Amanda! Your films and writings inspire me! Specifically your video of the Peruvian tribal man saying how life was better before being contacted. I was wondering how you got survival international to showcase your film? And if you know of any other sites that collectively show case films on uncolonized tribes? I hope to bring awareness to this, as I feel the colonization of the Earth mainly by the English French and Spanish conquerors has separated us from heaven on earth. I am going to be actively helping build a self sustainable community in Costa Rica beginning September of this year. I presently live in central Pennsylvania and I am enrolled at Matador University. I want to leave America and help bring awareness to the destruction of true freedom
Hi Amanda,
I just read your story and wish many people could read it too and get to appreciate the Travel Perspective of Life.
Am from Kenya, did my MBA in Texas, Worked for Verizon for 7 years, traveled extensively all over the USA, Spain, England, Seychelles and South Africa amongst others.
What surprised me while in the USA is that very very many Americans did not know their country. Many were born, educated and worked in the same two and never even left the State. One really shocked me… she thought Canada was part of the USA, as in one of the 50 states !
Am now back in Kenya and I try to take my growing family on various trips any time we get a chance so they can combine formal education and practical experiences as they grow up.
Here are small clips of our travel just before the new school term started just 3 weeks ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fCKOlIHdh0 ( swimming with the Elephants )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06GTSuyk9Wg ( elephant Photo Shoot )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r11w5xatIlo ( Eye Ball to Eye Ball with wild game )
I guess due to my love for Videography and Photography, am always looking to see more and more interesting places and taking clients on guided tours.
Well, Amanda, keep on traveling and I hope your travels bring you to Kenya some time.
Regards,
Dennis Dickson
https://web.facebook.com/dennis.dickson.161?fref=ts
Amanda, I loved your article.
I am also a Latina who loves to hike. I am also the only person of color in my hiking club in Virginia. We hike and maintain one section of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia and my club friends are great and very welcoming.
Hi Amanda,
I really appreciate your piece on being a Latina who loves the outdoors. I relate to it on many levels, one being that my introduction to the outdoors happened when I took a year off from college and settled in with my aunt in Quito. From there our experiences diverge a little. My cousin was a Boy Scouts leader and invited me to climb the Cotopaxi just three days after having left sea level. I won’t bore you with the details more than to say it was a rough, terrifying, mesmerizing and eye-opening experience.
It was underscored for me quickly there, something I had always known but struggled with growing up in the states, that Latinos do everything. I was always put off by people who would say “That’s a white people thing.” Having grown up visiting family in Mexico every year (my other ancestral half) I knew this didn’t make sense as we wouldn’t have a society if Latinos didn’t do everything. Nevertheless, the outdoors was something I had minimal experience with and there in Quito, much like you, I learned not only that it was in my blood (after a serious altitude a@@-kicking), but also that it could be experienced by people with little income. There, in fact, it was the cheapest way to have a good time.
That revelation transformed my life in more ways than I will probably ever know. I am proud to say that since then I spend nearly all of my free time in the dirt, on a rock, in the ocean or snow somewhere. My biggest obstacle to moving to an idyllic mountain town is not a question of not belonging, as I know it is in blood and arguably more mine than most, but simply that I might miss the diversity of food, languages and cultural experiences that I have grown so accustomed to having lived most of my life between LA and San Francisco. I also know that it is difficult to think of moving anywhere that might put greater distance between me and Yosemite, a place that feels more like home to me than anywhere else on the planet.
There are, in fact, lots of us out there and the more others see that, the more they too will realize we belong everywhere. For that in particular I thank you for writing this piece. I am happy knowing that I don’t think of the outdoors as anything other than an essential part of my being, and proud that I went from a kid who grew up surrounded by asphalt to an adult that spends most of his free time on granite, and a professional who is currently charged with directing a sizable team of filmmakers while we make a production on glacial slopes high in the Andes because, yeah, this is exactly what Latinos do and where we belong.
Amanda, I was just listening in to my She explores podcast and your episode “permission slip” was exactly what I needed to hear! I would Love to share my experiences as a child of a first generation Mexican and biracial American parent born and raised in also flat middle of flat …Ohio. and how my childhood oddly shaped my love of the outdoors! So wonderful to hear of you
I was given a link to your webinar “Stories We Don’t Tell About People of Color in the Outdoors” and it was so motivational. I am striving for DE&I in filling my partner organizations’ courses and this really shed some light onto the subject. Any advice on reaching out to undeserved communities for outdoor-ed learning opportunities?
Hi Eliot, thanks so much for reaching out and for the kind words! I’m available for hire for DE&I consulting and facilitation, and do that work often with other environmentalist organizations. If you’d like to speak more about how I can work with you, you can contact me through email: contact@amandaemachado.com and I can send you more information about the services I offer. Thanks so much again!
Hello Amanda,
I enjoyed your article in The Lily about in-person Pride month celebrations being cancelled. It resonated with me because I had convinced myself that I was straight till I was about 22, and I rarely hear stories of other people realizing that they are queer later in life. I also live in a more rural area of Canada and heard many people express disdain for Pride while growing up, and still do from time to time.
Overall it was a great article, and it made me feel good about myself.
Thanks so much for taking the time to write this Kody! I appreciate the support and loved hearing that the piece resonated with you! The best way to reach me over time is through twitter/instagram (@amandeamachado0). Looking forward to staying connected!