30-year-old woman quits her business job to travel solo for 12 months (exclusively)

In the 30s, Nikki Vontaya passed away from a successful career in advertising sales, left after his apartment in New York City and traded the company’s burnout for a pass and a plan: 12 countries in 12 months.

What started as a personal recovery quickly became a solo discovery. Now in month 10, Detroit is native to Peru – where she recently found herself swimming at the side of sea lions in the wild water off the coast.

“My first time as traveling solo was for my 30th birthday in Cabo. I was super nervous, but it ended up being one of the most memorable trips I have ever taken,” says Vontaya exclusively.

That experience gave her the confidence to take on this year-long solo trip-Henne’s second solo tour of 32. She mapped four months in Europe, four in Asia and now four in Latin America.

When she landed in Peru at the end of May, swimming with sea lions was not on her itinerary – it was a spontaneous decision that arose from social media.

“I saw a random tikok about swimming with sea lions and thought,” it’s strange, “and would usually never have thought to register for this,” admits Vontaya. “But when would I ever get the chance to do this again, especially in Peru, especially solo?”

This year is about saying yes to things she would usually talk herself, so she went on and booked the trip. Her mother and family called her crazy and were more than a little nervous.

The Speedboat trip took Vontaya – and about 30 others – about 40 minutes off the coast, far into the open water. Along the way, they saw wild animals as penguins before reaching a sea lion society.

She was surprised at how smelly sea lions were. “It was bad at first, but you get used to it,” she reveals.

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About 75 percent of the group chose to enter the icy water, while others looked from the boat. The guides gave a security briefing before the bath and ensured that everyone felt prepared.

“The instructor told us not to touch sea lions and to keep our feet up in the water to show that we are not a threat,” Vontaya recalls. The lakes were extremely energetic and browsed through the water as “acrobats.”

“The sounds they make sound like something out of a horror movie,” she says. “Definitely made me hesitate before I jumped in.”

The scariest moment came when a sea lion swam uncomfortably near Vontaya. For a second, she thought it could attack – but she remained calm and reminded that the guides said the animals were curious, not aggressive.

“It brushed up to my leg, then ran really fast. My heart competed, and I screamed, but nothing happened, and when I calmed down, everything was good,” she says. “I was nervous from the moment I jumped in the water and questioned why I even registered for this.”

Nevertheless, the most memorable part of the entire experience in the water flows surrounded by sea lions in their natural living environment. “It’s something I will never forget,” admits Vontaya. “And it wasn’t as scary as I imagined it would be.”

Her advice for future solo travelers: Take the leap – it’s always worth it. “After ten months of solo trips, I have had high, lowness and moments that completely changed how I see the world and myself,” Vontaya tells People. “You grow in ways you can’t plan for. Don’t let fear talk yourself out of life waiting for you on the other side” Yes. ”