Lucinda Aragon: Free Spirit

• Name: Lucinda Aragon
• Age: 26
• Job Title: “Free Spirit”
• Job Description: I am working with Guiness to set the world record for the youngest woman to travel to every country on Earth!
• Location: Everywhere!

Tell me about the path that led you to where you are today.

I have always been a traveler. I started traveling at a young age and have always felt like I was most happy when I was far away from home, eating exotic foods, talking to strangers, and frequently visiting distant countries whose names I couldn’t even pronounce.

How did you come to the realization that this is something you wanted to pursue as a career?

I wanted to set a strong example for young women by showing them that traveling isn’t dangerous the way people tell you — there is beauty everywhere in the world, even in the darkest, most war torn countries. I wanted to utilize my social media presence to highlight the benefits of making friends with strangers and to demonstrate how platforms like Instagram and Twitter have globalized our society in a very positive way. We have access to people across the globe with just a single tap. I have met many people just over social media and have stayed with them, dined with them, and learned from them. I want to throw the entire concept of “don’t talk to strangers” out the window.

Tell me about your daily routine.

I don’t really have one. That is the greatest part of doing what I do. Every day is a new adventure. One day I wake up in a little chalet in the Swiss alps and other times I wake up on a boat headed for Tonga. The only things I do on a daily basis are write in my journal and make sure to call my mom so she doesn’t think I’ve been abducted.

What is the best part of your job? What excites you the most?

The most exciting part of my job is that I get to make a difference in people’s lives. I often receive comments across multiple social media platforms from followers saying “they wish they could do what I do but they can’t afford it.” I want to show people that it doesn’t cost all that much money to travel. I have made it from place to place by flight, by boat, hitch hiking, and all sorts of obscure methods and I have slept anywhere from someone’s truck to a kind stranger’s couch to outside in a sleeping bag. You could sleep in a fancy hotel with 4 or 5 stars or you could sleep outside with 4 or 5 billion of them.

What aspects of your job do you dislike? What is the biggest sacrifice that you’ve had to make?

The hardest part of my job is leaving everything behind. Putting my life on hold for over two years means abrogating my opportunity for a love life, Christmases spent away from home, and living out of a suitcase. This is the bane of my existence!

Did you make any mistakes along the way that you think could have been avoided? What would you have done differently (if anything) to ensure a faster path to where you are today?

My biggest mistake was not anticipating the difficulty I would have at border crossings. I applied for all of my visas and had no difficulty getting myself from place to place, but often times I was traveling by car or motorcycle and it turns out that is a whole separate set of paperwork, not to mention very costly.

How do you handle the negative comments on social media about your lifestlye?

I used to get really annoyed with my haters but now I just feel sorry for them. I have come to realize that the vast majority of them are just sad, envious people hiding behind their computer screens. I choose to spend my time being nice and spreading a positive message. That being said, I do enjoy giving them a taste of their own medicine. Nothing brings me more joy than when a hater writes “your dumb” and I get to show them the irony in their statement.

If you only had one month left to live, where would you go and what would you do?

This is a difficult question. I literally have loved every place I have ever been. I would like to think that I am the type of person who would say that they would want to visit family or save the planet, but in truth, if I had only one month left to live, I would take every penny in my bank account, buy a small sailboat and cross the Pacific ocean. There is no adventure that I am better suited for than this. Adventures on the high seas, SCUBA diving in the coral triangle, swimming with singing humpback whales in Tonga, running around naked on empty islands…I can think of nothing better.

If you were confined to one city for the rest of your life, where would it be and who would you live with?

Just when I thought the questions couldn’t get any harder! I know without any hesitation that my favorite city on earth is Rio. The people have such flavor, the food is divine, the drinks are strong, and the city is absolutely breathtaking. But if I had to choose one place to be for the rest of my life it would be home in Santa Barbara with my friends and family. I am privileged to have grown up in what is arguably the most charming and picturesque town on this planet. I am so proud to be Santa Barbara bred.

Is there anything else about your job or industry that you think people should know?

The most important thing I have learned from all of this is that having things isn’t nearly as cool as having done things. As rising transience ruthlessly undercuts the old urge to possess, we are beginning to collect experiences as passionately as we once collected material possessions. Stop spending your money on nice cars and fancy bags and treat yourself to something different. Nobody has ever been as impressed with my Louis Vuitton shoes as they have been with the fact that I lived with a tribe in the South Pacific!

What one question do you want the next interviewee on People With Cool Jobs to answer?

If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?

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