A curiosity that became a life.
Japan has been part of my life since my early teens. It began with Japanese video games: I wanted to understand the stories I was playing. At around thirteen, I started teaching myself the language.
Later, I took a part-time job in a Japanese tavern in Madrid, deliberately surrounding myself with Japanese speakers. Most of my colleagues came from Kansai. Without realising it, I picked up an Osaka accent. I usually guide in standard Japanese today, though a little Kansai still slips out when I get excited.
The parents of some Japanese childhood friends were tour interpreters. Listening to their stories, I began to imagine a life sharing my own country with others.
More than twenty years
of guiding.
I began in Japanese travel agencies in Spain, first in Operations department, then in Coordination. However, before long, I knew where I wanted to be: out with travellers, sharing the places I loved. I have been guiding since around 2004.
My degree in Art History, studied at Madrid’s Complutense University and UNED University, underpins my work. Years living in London, Versailles and Milan deepened that knowledge and taught me how differently people can see the same world. After guiding across central and southern Spain, I chose to devote more of my working life to the North.
- Education
- Degree in Art History
- Profession
- Official tour guide
- Languages
- EnglishJapaneseSpanishFrenchItalian
Good company.
And a different perspective.
When we meet, I want to know what interests you and what you hope to find here. I enjoy guiding solo travellers, couples and small groups, with time to talk and the freedom to follow a curiosity.
Along the northern coast, I like to connect what we see with the life around it: fishing harbours, hillside vineyards, the food on our table. We can talk about how the sea has shaped a town, then take time to enjoy its cooking and its views. Your questions and interests help shape the day.
I am calm, observant and fond of a joke. On the Camino, I walk the stages alongside you and adapt to your pace. Sometimes you need a conversation; sometimes, room to enjoy the landscape in your own silence.
A moment by the sea.
A new direction.
In autumn 2024, I walked the Way of the North, all the way from Hendaye to Santiago de Compostela: 930 kilometres in 26 days, including some detours here and there. I already knew several parts of the route, but walking it all gave me time to reconsider where I wanted my life to go.
One day, after leaving the fishing village of Getaria, close to San Sebastian, I climbed through some vineyards to a viewpoint. Tired and alone, I sat on a wooden bench and took off my boots. Ahead lay the Cantabrian Sea. There was the breeze, the landscape, and a brief feeling of complete happiness that I had not felt for years.
That moment has stayed with me ever since. I have always loved the North’s cool air, rain and green hills. It is where I choose to go myself, to linger over a coffee, eat well and watch life pass. The Camino gave me the resolve to create this site and share more of this part of my country with you.
- 2024
- 930 km
- 26 days
Some journeys
keep bringing us together.
Some travellers have returned to Spain five times and chosen to travel with me on every visit, exploring a different region each time.
Over the years, some have become friends who welcome me into their homes when I visit their countries.
Even now, I value that continuing exchange: hearing how someone else sees the world in a different way, sharing a good meal, and picking up a conversation that began on our journey some years before.
Connections like these are one of the most precious things this work has given me.
Shall we discoverthe North together?
Tell me what draws you to the North and what you would love to discover.
I offer visits in English, with a preference for small groups and time to enjoy the places we visit.
What I hope you take home is the happiness of discovering something wonderful together.
And, who knows? Perhaps even a new way of looking at it!