Richelle da Costa

I am an adventurer.

'Adventuring', I have learned, is an ‘attitude’ which permeates my whole existence, impacting on the choices I make physically, professionally, creatively, emotionally and spiritually. To be an adventurer one must be willing to step outside one's comfort zone, to take risks, to be challenged, to trust one's intuitions and use one's instincts.

I love to travel and my sense of adventure determines how, where and why I travel. Curiosity can lead me to exotic, off the beaten track destinations, but wherever I go I'm looking for the essence of a culture. I'm passionate about music, dance, language, food and wine, design, and the different ways people behave and express themselves creatively.

My travel narratives, inspired by my Leopard Print Luggage, document my journeys to a string of inspiring destinations. For more details go to: http://www.richelledacostaauthor.com

Volume one, THE LEOPARD PRINT LUGGAGE, is a travelogue with a difference. It documents my inaugural journey with the reckless, personified Luggage through Turkey, northern Greece, Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, northern Italy and Romania, where the physical and emotional challenges we encounter are as diverse as the countries we visit.

ARMENIA is the second book in the series. On a whim, I book flights for myself, my then partner Tim, and the Leopard Print Luggage, to this enigmatic, pocket-size Christian nation. A small-group Food and Wine Extravaganza tour, intended as a luxury diversion, develops into a full-blown Leopard Print adventure as we (the only participants) travel from cosmopolitan Yerevan to remote monasteries and mountain-top villages, deserted hotels and family kitchens around the countryside. In the shadow of biblical Mt Ararat, we experience a haunting taste of Armenia's powerful history, rich culture and unstinting hospitality.

The third book documents my journey through UZBEKISTAN, an exotic travel destination that doesn't always come highly recommended. It borders on a warzone and is, itself, politically unstable. But what an enticement! Hub of Central Asia and the cradle of the region's culture for more than two millennia; home to ancient Silk Road cities oozing history and intrigue; a landscape of harsh desert and wild mountains and a proud and resilient people. I hope you will love this a dazzling, fascinating and timeless land as much as I did!

THREE SUMMERS IN PORTUGAL is a Leopard Print adventure of a different kind, a love story. Tim and I are drawn together by Fado, the haunting nostalgic genre of music which originates in Portugal. We become lovers and undertake two separate journeys to Lisbon and beyond. Our relationship, fuelled by Fado (fate), is intense and challenging, dragging me out of my comfort zone, offering new lessons and experiences, and demanding all the feline courage I can summon. As we are inevitably seduced by all things Portuguese, our lives take on all the passion and tragedy of the song.