About Me

"When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream."

- Paulo Coelho

I started this blog years ago as a way to document my Washington, DC college years for my friends and family.

Since I was young, I have always enjoyed recording things... my nana gave me blank white books when I was 3 to fill up with my ideas (since then, when I see blank paper I immediately want to fill it up), when I was in first grade I tried to create a library system for all of my books, when I got older I tried to write my life story (all 10 years of my life) in my diary, and when I was in high school I kept journals of my secret boyfriends (they are embarrassing... the journals that is, well, the boyfriends too). In college I would write down all my anxieties to myself to relieve stress and tension.

Today, I try to keep up with this blog for family and friends around the world and I also toy around with the idea for a children's book. There have been numerous instances where I've wrote down where I want to be and then find myself there in no time.

Global Tumbleweed.

The name is sort of perfect for a lot of reasons. At the root of it, I came from tumbleweeding parents. My parents were born from opposite sides of the world (Vietnam and Mexico) and eventually found themselves in the great state of Texas. They fell in love, had a set of boy/girl twins (me), and unfortunately, passed away within seven years of each other. I was raised by my Colombian godmother and Italian-American godfather. I have lived in 6 countries, 10 different USA states and many more cities.

I don't completely identify with Vietnamese or Mexican culture... I love the US, but traditional American culture goes over my head too. It seems I have always lived in cities and towns where the minority is the majority... except in the farmlands of Western Maryland and parts of Texas, but that's another story.

Growing up with a twin brother and a feminist godmother who encouraged me to be strong and independent, I learned how to play well with the boys and hold my own, while keeping my affinity for leotards and tutus. I've been active, acrobatic and adventurous from a young age and continue to embrace travel and exploration.

In many ways, my wandering lifestyle and racial ambiguity has stripped away all preconceived notions that I may have had about what I am, and has pushed me towards figuring out who I am and who I want to be.

I know many twenty-somethings go through this transformation, but for me, being a "free-spirit" has always been a way I could define myself. I adapt and roll into almost any situation, not much seems to hold me back, and so I keep finding myself in the most unique environments. And what's more like that than a tumbleweed?

"Caught without a class, a structure, or tradition to support me, in a sense the choice to take a different path is made for me. The only way to assuage my feelings of isolation are to absorb all the traditions [and] classes; make them mine, me theirs." 

- Barack Obama

raquel@globaltumbleweed.com

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