Hi, I’m Audrey — the founder of K-SOUL.
I was born in Morocco, raised in Italy, and spent most of my life there before starting my journey around the world.
Over the years, I’ve lived in different countries and experienced completely different cultures and lifestyles. I lived in Portugal for over 2 years, Spain for 6 months, spent almost 1 year traveling across Asia (4 months in Japan, 3 months in Thailand, and 3 months in Indonesia), and I now live in South Korea, where I’ve been based for more than 2 years.
I’ve been traveling for the past 6 years and have explored more than 50 countries across 5 continents, mostly as a solo traveler.
Traveling alone taught me how to adapt anywhere in the world, step outside my comfort zone, connect with people from completely different cultures, and experience destinations beyond the surface.
What I love most about traveling isn’t just discovering new places. It’s discovering different ways of living, thinking, loving, and seeing the world.
Travel taught me that no culture holds the absolute truth.
Growing up between Moroccan and Italian culture naturally shaped my first beliefs about life, family, religion, success, and happiness. But the more I traveled, the more I realized that every country has completely different answers to the same questions.
That’s when I understood something important:
I wanted to form my own opinions through experience instead of simply inheriting the ideas around me.
I never wanted to collect countries.
I wanted to collect perspectives.
Because every culture I experienced challenged a belief, changed a habit, taught me a lesson, or helped me understand myself a little better.
Many people travel to escape life.
I travel to understand it.
And in many ways, K-SOUL was born from that journey.
What made me the woman I am today?
A series of courageous decisions brought me here.
After a difficult and dysfunctional childhood, I left home at 18 years old and decided to risk everything in search of freedom.
Not success.
Not money.
Freedom.
Freedom to discover who I was outside the environment where I grew up. Freedom to make mistakes, learn, evolve, and build a life that felt truly mine.
I’ve always been fascinated by people and cultures. I never dreamed of simply stepping into countries, taking photos, and moving on. I wanted to understand how people lived, what they believed in, what made them happy, what they feared, and what gave meaning to their lives.
The more I traveled, the more I realized how much we all have in common. Different languages, different religions, different traditions — yet the same hopes, fears, dreams, and emotions.
At the same time, I became addicted to growth.
Over the years, I found myself constantly seeking experiences that pushed me outside my comfort zone. Solo travel, survival camps, scuba diving, boxing, ice baths in Sweden at -17°C, sleeping in the Amazon rainforest, and traveling through remote parts of the world all had one thing in common: they taught me resilience.
I often compare difficult experiences to a vaccine for the mind.
Just as a vaccine exposes the body to stress so it can become stronger, I intentionally expose myself to discomfort, uncertainty, fear, and challenging situations so my mind learns how to adapt instead of panic.
Every challenge leaves me with more confidence, more perspective, more gratitude, and more freedom.
The places below are not simply places I visited.
They are places that helped shape who I am.
Morocco is where my story began.
It is the country where I was born, the blood that runs through my veins, and a part of my identity that I will always carry with pride.
Italy is home.
It’s where I spent my childhood, my teenage years, and where I grew into the person I am today.
Although I am proud of my Moroccan roots, I cannot ignore another truth: I am Italian. My way of speaking, my gestures, my sense of humor, my relationship with food, music, beauty, and human connection were all shaped here.
Most of my values, beliefs, and ideas about life were formed in Italy because this is the country that raised me.
No matter where I travel, there will always be something about Italy that I miss.
Living in Portugal for more than 2 years taught me something I desperately needed to learn: how to slow down.
Before Portugal, I was always focused on the next goal, the next project, the next destination. Portugal showed me that life doesn’t always need to be rushed.
It taught me balance, patience, and the ability to enjoy the present moment instead of constantly chasing the future.
It was also where I matured emotionally and began to understand that success means very little if you don’t know how to enjoy your life along the way.
I originally arrived in South Korea planning to stay for only a few months.
Instead, it became home.
After one of the most difficult periods of my life, Korea gave me something I had been searching for without even realizing it: peace. For the first time in years, I felt safe, stable, and genuinely happy.
I fell in love with the culture, the people, the language, and the everyday lifestyle. I connected deeply with the Korean mentality: discipline, consistency, ambition, self-improvement, and respect for others.
Over time, Korea became much more than a country I lived in. It became the place where I rebuilt myself, formed some of the deepest friendships of my life, found love, and finally experienced what it feels like to be at home.
Even today, after visiting more than 50 countries, South Korea remains the place that feels most like home.
Japan taught me a level of respect I had never experienced before.
Respect for others, respect for silence, and respect for details.
I spent time staying in traditional temples, where I learned to appreciate meditation, simplicity, and stillness. Japan showed me how much beauty can exist in the smallest things, from architecture and food presentation to language and everyday interactions.
It taught me that excellence is often hidden in the details.
Uganda was one of the most beautiful and challenging journeys of my life.
The trip lasted around 40 days through Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo. Alongside unforgettable experiences like seeing mountain gorillas in their natural habitat, there were also countless unexpected problems and difficult situations.
At some point, I realized that panic never solves anything. Getting angry never solves anything.
Uganda taught me resilience. It taught me to pause, breathe, regain control of my emotions, and focus on finding solutions instead of feeding fear.
I spent 4 months in Georgia, and while the landscapes were breathtaking, what stayed with me most was the people.
Georgia taught me what true hospitality looks like. Complete strangers welcomed me with warmth, generosity, and kindness, making me feel part of their family.
It reminded me that beneath our different languages, religions, cultures, and passports, we are all simply human beings looking for connection and belonging.
Sweden was probably the most beautiful solo trip I have ever taken.
I drove more than 2,000 kilometers alone, spent nights sleeping in my car, and celebrated my birthday under the Northern Lights.
For much of that trip, I intentionally reduced my phone usage to almost nothing, using it mainly for maps, music, and occasional photos.
It taught me that solitude doesn’t have to be loneliness. Sometimes, it is where we reconnect most deeply with ourselves.
The Amazon humbled me faster than any place I have ever visited.
I joined a survival camp deep in the rainforest, sleeping in a hammock suspended between trees and completely immersed in nature.
The Amazon taught me how precious life is and how small we truly are. Surrounded by one of the most powerful ecosystems on Earth, I realized how fragile human beings really are compared to the forces of nature.
It reminded me that we are not the center of the world — only a small part of something much bigger.
Mongolia completely changed my understanding of freedom.
The endless landscapes, nomadic culture, connection with animals, and vast open spaces made me realize how little we actually need to feel alive.
It was one of the places where I felt most connected to nature and most disconnected from the pressures of modern life.
Mongolia taught me that freedom is not having more. Sometimes freedom is simply needing less.