About Me

Hey there,

Welcome to my little corner of the web!

My name is Vanda Mendonça and I’m a journalist turned yoga teacher turned travel blogger.

 

My Story

Born and raised in Terceira, a small island of the Azores archipelago, Portugal, I dream about exploring the world since I was a little girl.

After finishing high school, I finally moved to Lisbon to study journalism and live in a big city.

Four years later, I completed my bachelor’s degree and, after a short internship in Porto, found a job as a journalist back in my homeland.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan: I was working in my chosen career, I had a paycheck at the end of the month, and I even got to travel a couple of times a year.

Except I wasn’t happy.

I remember sitting on my work desk, looking out of the window and thinking: “There’s a whole world out there to explore! What the heck am I doing here?”

It may sound like a cliché, but I felt I was dying on the inside, trapped in a job and a place that didn’t feed my soul.

It was around this time that I found yoga and started attending regular classes.

I continued working as a journalist for several years, in print publications and radio, before I finally decided to change my life: I moved to Lisbon for the second time, started a yoga teacher training program, and became a full-time yoga teacher.

Fast forward to June 2013, I left Lisbon for Zurich to follow love and my own dreams: discovering the world and my true self.

After moving to Switzerland, I continued teaching yoga and traveled extensively around Europe and the world on a journey of self-discovery that led me to reinvent my life once again and create my dream career as an international yoga teacher and award-winning travel blogger.

And that, kids, is how The Yogi Wanderer was born!

After 10 years as an expat in Switzerland, I am now location-independent, spending the warmer months in Lisbon and the European winter months traveling the world as a digital nomad, with 27 countries and 5 continents under my belt and counting.

 

The Yogi Wanderer

Combining my passions for writing, traveling, and yoga, The Yogi Wanderer is a wellness travel website offering yoga-friendly travel advice for the mindful traveler.

Here, and across my social media channels, you can find detailed travel guides and itineraries, plus free yoga resources that will help you explore the world and your true self one mindful experience at a time.

I also write about all things wellness travel, from relaxing hot springs to hiking across Europe or surfing in Bali (as a hiking enthusiast and surfer wannabe myself).

Check out my yoga page for the best yoga and wellness destinations, retreats, experiences, gear, and tips.

Or explore by destination and let me inspire your wanderlust!

 

How I Make Money & Travel

Want to know how I turned The Yogi Wanderer into a full-time business and now make passive income online while traveling the world and living the digital nomad dream?

Get my free guide here!