Born in El Bierzo, a lush and mountainous region in northwestern Spain, Paula Belenda Álvarez never imagined that a journey far from home would redefine the course of her life — or that it would begin in the Sultanate of Oman.
After completing university, Paula moved abroad, spending several years working in different countries while travelling whenever possible. “I worked, saved and travelled — that was my rhythm”, she says. By 2020, she took a leap of faith, leaving her airline job to travel independently.
Drawn to destinations across Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, Paula ultimately found herself most intrigued by the Middle East. “It was often portrayed negatively and felt largely misunderstood”, she explains. “I wanted to experience the people and landscapes beyond the headlines”. That curiosity led her to book a one-way ticket to Oman.
For six weeks, Paula travelled slowly across the country, from north to south, immersing herself in everyday life. “Oman revealed itself gently”, she recalls. “Everything invited you to pause. The journey stopped being about where I was going and became about being present”. Above all, it was the people who left the deepest impression. “Kindness came without expectation”, she says. “It was something I had never experienced before”.
One encounter remains especially vivid. While hitchhiking, Paula was invited by a man named Mohamed to stay with his family in Sharbathat, a small fishing village. “His family, neighbours and relatives all took care of me”, she recalls. “We went fishing, shared tea at sunset, ate dates, wore traditional clothes and danced together in the evenings”.
Oman also reshaped her understanding of solo travel as a woman. “It is one of the safest countries I’ve ever been to”, she says. “There was a deep sense of tranquillity. I could travel with a peaceful mind”.
After Oman, Paula continued her journey through Saudi Arabia before the pandemic left her based in Riyadh for a year. From there, her travels extended across the Gulf, Lebanon and Iraq. Over time, she felt a growing desire to help others experience the region beyond stereotypes.
This led her to organise women’s group journeys to Oman and neighbouring countries, with more than 100 women travelling with her so far. One participant, Eva Rodríguez, describes the experience as transformative. “We didn’t just connect with one another”, she says, “but with every person we met along the way — people who invited us into their homes, smiled at us, or offered tea, coffee or dates, without expecting anything in return”.
In 2023, Oman marked yet another turning point. Invited by a friend to cross the country on a motorcycle — despite never having ridden before — Paula travelled from Muscat to Salalah on a Kawasaki KLR650. “Seeing Oman from a motorbike made me fall in love with it all over again”, she says. “The landscapes, the freedom — it felt limitless”.
That journey opened a new chapter. Paula went on to ride solo through northern Pakistan, cross the Algerian Sahara and travel by motorcycle from Spain to Iraq. An accident in Tajikistan ended her plan to return to Oman by road, but the experience inspired her recently published Spanish-language book, ‘Solo Expedition to the Heart of the World’.
Now embarking on a two-year solo motorcycle journey across South America, Paula says Oman remains her emotional anchor. “Oman was the gateway”, she reflects. “Not just to a region, but to a different way of being — moving at the pace of trust, generosity and quiet freedom”.
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