The baseboards creaked beneath my feet as I walked onto the second floor patio of the historic home-turned-museum. I gazed at the terra-cotta tile rooftops in the city of Diamantina, Brazil. Far from the tourist havens of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, I allowed myself to imagine that three centuries years earlier, the woman who started the chain of events that brought me here stood in this very spot, looking upon the small mountain town below.
For years, I’d dreamed of visiting the house of Chica da Silva, now a museum that interprets her life as an 18th-century nonconformist turned folk hero. Born enslaved at the height of Portuguese diamond mining in Brazil, Chica da Silva was manumitted by her enslaver, a diamond contractor. She asserted herself into Brazilian colonial high society, a world that would do anything to reject a freedwoman of African descent. For this reason, she’s remembered in Brazilian pop culture as a heroine of sorts, her rags-to-riches story retold in telenovelas, films and books.
This museum visit was important to me because my American parents inadvertently named me after Chica da Silva. In the 1980s, they watched a Brazilian movie dramatizing her life. They liked the name, so they put their own spin on the spelling, naming me Sheeka.
I thought visiting Chica da Silva’s house would simply be a unique way to pay homage to the origin of my name. It wasn’t until I was in Chica’s home, seemingly retracing her footsteps, that I was able to reflect on the legacy that started there.
Chica overcame the unthinkable in colonial Brazil. She provoked conventional hierarchies and forged her own path. Although she didn’t challenge some of the worst ills of her time—once freed, she enslaved dozens of people—Brazilian pop culture remembers her as a clever, self-made woman. As I learned in talking to Brazilians in town and at the museum, people continue to revere her story three centuries later.
Being in her home made me wonder: How am I creating a life that will leave a lasting impact years later? How am I seeing past the social conventions of my time to live in accordance with my values? Chica and I might be inadvertently linked through our name, but the pilgrimage to her town sparked introspection about legacy.
Trips of self-discovery, like the one I took to Diamantina, are growing in popularity as travelers look for ways to reset. According to Hilton’s annual travel trends report, 22% of travelers are planning a trip for self-discovery or mental health. Whether they’re exploring their name’s origin, embarking on personal development retreats or simply taking time to reflect on their lives, these trips are enriching and also helping shape the way a traveler defines who they are.
“Twenty-four percent of our global travelers admit that they completely power down and turn off social media during a vacation, which is more than they used to do,” says Kevin Osterhaus, president of global lifestyle brands at Hilton. He’s a personal proponent of these self-reflective trips, having taken some of his own, including a trip to a monastery in Italy.
“It was all about meditation and yoga and being in silence for the entire time I was there. And it was a remarkable reset,” he says.
Osterhaus says travelers are looking to not only unplug but also engage in an activity that allows them to connect to a local community, new culture or hobby.
“We’re living amongst chaos right now, and people are losing their sense of self,” says licensed therapist and certified travel coach Lisa Pittman, who holds a Ph.D. in counseling psychology. “I’ve heard that quite a bit, that people are losing their sense of self as it relates to being in jobs that have defined them for many, many years.”
Pittman works with career-driven women in her travel coaching business. She encourages her clients to use self-discovery trips as an opportunity to quiet the everyday noise and get to the heart of their values and goals, whether personal or professional.
“You don’t have to jet off to Europe or Asia or somewhere for that. You could literally go to a mountain cabin and just self-reflect there and take in the landscape—whatever it is that speaks to you,” she says.
The first step in planning a self-discovery trip is to figure out what part of your life you want to explore. From there, travelers can make time for activities that will help them tap into the deeper understanding they seek. Whether you choose to travel a couple hours from home, or to the other side of the world, the most unique discovery you’ll make is learning more about yourself.
Photo from everst/Shutterstock.com
