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Tiziana Stupia
I’ve always wanted to travel the world, ever since I was a little girl. I dreamt about adventures in strange lands, treasures that were to be uncovered and destinies that had to be followed. When I turned 35 years old, the time to live my dream had finally come. I sold my house, surrendered my responsibilities and gave away most of my possessions to follow the call of my soul. Travelling Priestess
My journey started in 2007 with an overland trip to Pakistan that was only supposed to last for a few months. I left my hometown of Leamington Spa in England for a train trip that took me through Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Mongolia, China, Tibet, Nepal and Pakistan. In the Hindu Kush Mountains on the Afghan border, I celebrated the Winter Solstice with a Pagan tribe called the Kalash. After that, I went to India and stayed for five months in the Himalayan foothills, where I studied yoga, met mystics and learned to perform ancient fire ceremonies.
My life has not been the same again since. My love for India has remained, and I’ve never really settled again after my return to Europe. I’ve been living in different countries, and recently completed a circumnavigation of the world by cargo ship, a form of travel I have fallen deeply in love with. I sailed from Germany to USA, and lived in magical New Mexico for about a year to study Ayurveda.
From America, I sailed to Australia, where I met and fell in love with a beautiful Indian man I met via TravelBlog. We lived together in Australia for nine months, then took a ship back to Germany, where we are at the moment.
I choose to travel primarily overland, because I feel that flying misses the point of the journey. I love to travel slowly and soulfully through the different landscapes and oceans, appreciating the journey as much as the destination. This way of travel has enriched my life immensely and opened up doors to worlds that I never dreamt even existed.
My biggest passion in life is spirituality. Therefore, as I travel, I often explore the beliefs of the different people I meet, whilst furthering my own path of yoga and ancient ritual. This blog is called travelling priestess because I trained in a lineage of pagan priestesses many years ago and often perform rituals as I travel, as well as connect to the lore of the lands I pass through.
It is my wish that you feel inspired to follow your dreams as you journey with me through this blog and experience the magic of life to the fullest.
To find more about me, you can visit my website at http://www.tizianastupia.com/
Travel Blog Posts
Pirates of the Indian Ocean, thieves in the Red Sea and Egyptian bazaars on the Suez Canal: Travelling from Malaysia to Germany with cargo ship MV Hatsu Courage
Published: July 2nd 2012Oceans and Seas » Indian » Red Sea
July 2nd 2012
I must have been a nomad in one of my past lives. Over the last five years, I have moved locations and countries more than other people change socks, and I rarely grow tired of it. It’s like in the film ‘Chocolat’, when Juliette Binoche breaks up her tents every time the winds start blowing again. After a few months in one place, I become restless – and every time I get excited about what needs to be done. I love to dispose of things, plan seemingly impossible trips through the world’s oceans and terrains, and overcome the hurdles that stand in the way of me and the road. I even love all the confusion and uncertainty that come with cargo ship travel. It all invigorates me. This time, as we were getting ready to leave ... read more
Travelling in the land of love: a different voyage altogether
Published: June 27th 2012Oceans and Seas » Indian
June 27th 2012
And so the adventure that is my life continues to unfold. After exactly nine months in Australia, I find myself once again on a cargo ship, this time heading back to Europe. It’s high time. I haven’t been home for two years, and I miss my friends and family dearly. This ocean stretch completes my circumnavigation of the world by container ship, a form of travel I have deeply fallen in love with. This time I am on a German vessel called MV Hatsu Courage, journeying from Port Kelang, Malaysia to Hamburg, Germany via the Suez Canal. What’s different this time is that I’m not travelling alone. My partner Sameer is with me, something that I would not have imagined would happen when I sailed to Australia nine months ago to meet a man I had ... read more
In the fire of transformation: Life at Osho Samaya’s Ashram in Australia’s Bush
Published: January 30th 2012Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Byron Bay
January 30th 2012
Living in Australia has been a mixed bag for me so far. Without a doubt, it’s a beautiful country: the nature is green and lush, there are forests, plants, herbs, exotic wildlife, and of course, the wild ocean. But somehow I have not been able to connect with the land on a deeper level, at least not here in Queensland. When I was living in New Mexico last year, I felt instantly part of its rugged terrain and big skies. In the desert, something ancient was singing to me, and my heart flew open wide every time I went walking in the Sandia Mountains and in the woods of Tijeras. Everything felt magical and novel. Here, my main sentiment has been one of mundanity, visually appreciating the land’s beauty, but not feeling very much about it ... read more
Tales of love, life and rebel priests in Queensland
Published: January 17th 2012Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Toowoomba
January 17th 2012
I’ve been in Australia for just over four months now. Time has flown by since I last updated this blog, and it has taken me some time to get used to being in a different hemisphere. After disembarking cargo ship MV Bahia on 27thAugust, I spent a week in glorious Sydney, where I wandered around in the Botanical Gardens and in vintage shops, sang kirtan at Govinda’s, and saw ‘La Boheme’ at the famous Opera House. Sydney is beautiful and vibrant, and was a nice place to get used to being in civilization again after a month at sea. Finally, on 2nd September, I hopped on a train to Brisbane, Queensland, to meet Sameer, my reason for coming to Australia (see previous blog for background). After a loooong journey along Australia’s coastline, I arrived at Brisbane ... read more
30 days on a metal island: From USA to Australia on cargo ship MV Bahia
Published: September 27th 2011Oceans and Seas » Pacific
September 27th 2011
It may come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog, but I just love unusual, slow forms of travel. I am particularly enamoured with trains and cargo ships. There is just nothing like travelling across the vast oceans or landscapes of the world in slow motion, with plenty of time to reflect, absorb and prepare for the next destination to come. Hence, in line with most of my trips over the past four years, I have booked myself onto a cargo ship again – this time travelling all the way from America to Australia. It’s an epic trip that’s going to take thirty days via Colombia, Panama and New Zealand. A whole month at sea – awesome! But sometimes, making travel arrangements for these kinds of trips can be a little... arduous. In the ... read more
'When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it' ~ some thoughts on following your dreams
Published: September 9th 2011Oceans and Seas » Pacific
September 9th 2011
Recently, I remembered a scene from when I was around 28 years old. I was sitting on a bench in a graveyard in a little village in Suffolk, England. I was reading a book. I believe it was ‘Zorba the Greek’, and it talked about the author of the book who had travelled widely and for many years around the world, often by ship. I recall being overwhelmed with emotion and longing as I read about this person’s life. Sitting there in this picturesque, desolate burial ground, I thought: will I ever be able to do this? Ever since I could remember, I’d wanted to travel the world like this, and yet I had no idea if and how I could ever make it happen. I had work commitments, property, a boyfriend, pets. My longing remained ... read more
Five nights in Chicago: Vegan Food Feasts, Goddesses on skyscrapers and the reunion of two Priestesses of Avalon
Published: October 4th 2010North America » United States » Illinois » Chicago
October 4th 2010
Sometimes, the unexpected things in life turn out to be the best ones, especially when travelling. Chicago is a prime example of that philosophy. It is mid-September, and I have surrendered to Great God Amtrak by submitting to going north to Chicago before I can go back south to Albuquerque. That however doesn’t mean that I’m particularly excited about my next stop. I have no expectations whatsoever about Chicago - just another big American city, right? - nor do I know anyone there. Two nights max, and I’ll be out of here again. But then, one evening, while still in Washington D.C., somebody pops into my head during my evening meditation. Mary-Lisa Gauldin. Of course! Doesn’t she live in Chicago?! Mary-Lisa, like me, is a Priestess of Avalon. We started our Priestess training together exactly ten ... read more
Never mind the White House: A Pagan Priestess’s multi-faith journey through Washington D.C.’s Embassy Row
Published: October 1st 2010North America » United States » District of Columbia » Washington D.C.
October 1st 2010
Now that I am in Washington D.C., I am enjoying it. It’s a beautiful city with grand architecture, wide streets, parks and lots of free museums. Here, I am staying in a B&B just off the National Cathedral. Actually, it’s not really a B&B but a converted porch in a private house. While researching where I’d like to stay in D.C., I came across this marvellous website: It’s a website through which you can find people who hire out rooms in their houses and apartments, meaning that you stay with locals of the city, rather than in an anonymous hotel. Airbnb goes under the slogan ‘Travel like a human’ and this just about sums it up for me. And you can find some fascinating people on this site: I am intent on staying with an Arabic ... read more
Riding the train across the USA: An antiquated mode of travel?
Published: September 26th 2010North America » United States » South Carolina » Charleston
September 23rd 2010
In America, many people I meet can’t understand as to why anybody would take the train. It takes longer, can be more expensive, and the service, is, quite frankly, pretty limited. Rail travel is seen as something of an oddity, something either eccentrics or old people do. Though I must be one of the world’s biggest train loyalists, I begin to understand why when I plan my train trip across the USA towards New Mexico. I want to travel from Charleston in South Carolina to New Orleans (also on the South Coast), and then westwards from New Orleans across to El Paso in Texas. Simple enough. But is it possible? No. Instead, Amtrak (the US train company) wants to send me all the way up to Washington D.C., then across to Chicago, and from there on ... read more
Couchsurfing in Charleston
Published: September 20th 2010North America » United States » South Carolina » Charleston
September 20th 2010
So now, after gliding over the ocean for two weeks, I am in the United States of America. It’s a strange, almost surreal feeling. And I have to admit that part of me doesn’t even want to be here. I am half-tempted to stay on board of MSC Ilona and go all the way to the Bahamas and Mexico with my lovely Filipino crew. If it wasn’t for my study place in New Mexico, the reason I came here for in the first place... When I climb down the wobbly gangway at Charleston harbour, it is extremely hot and humid. Again my hands get messy with black machine oil. A feeling of nostalgia comes over me when I remember scrambling up the same gangway a mere two weeks ago. Just opposite our ship is the tiny ... read more
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