About Cristina Vanthul from Wander Florida
Hi there! I’m Cristina (Cris) Vanthul, the creative mind behind Wander Florida. Thank you so much for stopping by to read about the Florida I love most.
I was born in Miami and have lived in the Magic City, the Florida Keys, Orlando, Ocala, and now the Tampa Bay area. My parents raised my brother and I with a love for nature, wildlife, and the water. We lived on a sailboat for two years so being on the water and one with the environment comes naturally to me.
I started Wander Florida because there is much more to this beautiful state than beaches, theme parks, Miami, and weird people. Each part of Florida is unique and fascinating with activities, food, and a history that reaches far deeper than many visitors (and residents) realize.
Florida’s beauty stretches across mile upon mile of endless grass and sky in the Everglades. Freshwater springs spark adventure and hold secrets of the past. Quaint small towns in Florida’s interior celebrate a rich agricultural history. Temple mounds scattered across the state speak to the past when people lived in harmony with their surroundings. Events like the kumquat festival, manatee festival, Gasparilla, and seafood festivals meld history with fun. This is the Florida so many of us love.
By nature, I’m an introvert. This site is my guide for you, a native Floridian’s introverted guide to the Sunshine State. In these pages, I explore those small towns. I explore the best of natural Florida by hiking the state parks, swimming in the springs, and kayaking to offshore islands. And, yes, sometimes I go to a beach or to a theme park.
Overall, though, the Florida activities I share with you embody the spirit of a richer, more diverse, and infinitely more beautiful Florida than you’ll find at the beaches or in Orlando. Join me. Explore with me, and see everything that Florida offers.
My Journey
Now that you’ve read the summary about me and this site, would you like to learn more about me? I’m not particularly comfortable sharing the details of my life. I think being private and being an introvert probably go hand in hand. However, I also believe in stepping out of my comfort zone. AND, I know how important it is to connect with others on a deeper level.
I hope some of my story will resonate with some of you. I’m sure it will. Please feel free to email me at wanderflorida@gmail.com or step into my DMs on Facebook or Instagram if you want to share your story with me or have any questions about Florida. I also run a Facebook group in which I share Florida travel tips, and secret spots and hidden gems around the state. Please join Florida Travel Tips & Secret Spots.
The Early Years
I was born in Miami to parents who fled from Cuba in 1960. Both of my parents became US citizens (as did their parents and grandparents) and attended high school and college in Miami. My mom studied education at Barry University and my dad earned his degree in the young field of computer engineering. My younger brother and I were both born in Miami.
When I was about two years old, my parents decided to move us to a place with less crime than what they were seeing in Miami in the 1970s. We moved to Wilmington, North Carolina where we went to the beach every weekend or went sailing.
First, we had a 19′ day sailer, then a 23′ sailboat with a little cabin that we spent weekends on with other sailing friends. But my dad had always dreamed of more. He wanted to build a sailboat so when I was four or five, they began a journey into his lifelong dream.
Pop’s job with computers at a boiler maker provided friends who could help in their quest to build a steel sailboat. Mom learned to wield, and the bones of the 37′ Bruce Roberts sailboat took shape in our driveway. For three years they worked on it, drawing the curiosity (and sometimes the ire) of neighbors and newspapers. The boat was launched at a nearby marina. After a time, the boiler maker shut down, and we moved aboard the boat to cruise for awhile. Mom and Pop homeschooled us – me 5th grade and my brother, Victor, 4th grade.
I’ve always been a writer and that began early on. My poetry hung in displays in malls, and my stories caught the attention of my teachers. I loved to read more than almost anything and always had a book with me.
Back in Florida
After nearly a year cruising, slowly making our way from Wilmington to Virginia and back to Miami, we settled there when Pop was offered a job by his former employer in Miami. By this point I wanted nothing more to do with boats. I was a horse-crazy almost-teen. I earned horseback riding lessons for good grades and launched into a decades-long love affair with horses and riding.
For a time we lived on the boat then, after moving to a house, we still spent many weekends on the boat. We saw sharks and dolphins, swam with stingrays, eyed barracudas as they inched by. We learned how to safely snorkel and dive. We explored the Keys and saw the reefs, the birds, the fish. Watched sunrises and sunsets, water spouts and thunderstorms, and learned to loved Florida’s unique ecosystems.
As a teen and into my twenties, I rode hunter-jumpers and competed around the state. My parents gave up the boat for a horse trailer and even learned to ride. They came to every competition, every lesson, and eventually bought a small farm in Homestead so that the horses could live at home, and I could ride more. From there, I started a training business and successfully trained a number of students and horses to championships.
Through high school I wrote poetry and some stories. Writing gave me a place to express my teen angst. And books provided the escape from everyday life that I craved. Though I now look back and realize how exceptionally lucky I was to have the childhood I had, at the time I wished for parents who were wealthier, who owned big farms and fancy horses. It seemed so hard to be the “poor” rider when surrounded by so much wealth.
Into Adulthood
With a very privileged youth, I was bound to have some hardships coming into adulthood. Let’s face it – I had a pretty fairytale childhood. Meeting the real world was hard, and in many ways I wasn’t prepared for it. Mostly I wasn’t mentally prepared for it, despite being a tough competitor.
At 18 a few pivotal things happened. First, I was date-raped the summer after I graduated high school. I had not had any serious boyfriends to this point, and this was my introduction to sex. We were just starting to talk about date-rape in 1991 so I kept on with life as if nothing happened. Later that summer, I traveled to Haiti for a riding competition. That was the first time I truly saw poverty. It was mindboggling.
We had always spent family vacations traveling – a 3-week RV trip to Canada, cruises around the Caribbean, etc. Haiti, though poor, was gorgeous, and the people we met were incredibly nice. I ate food I had never eaten, saw sites I’d never seen, and loved every minute of it. But I had always seen privileged parts of a place, the more touristy parts, and seeing Haiti the way I did at 18 sparked an interest in seeing the “real”ness of a place, the behind-the-scenes so to speak. Though I didn’t have the resources, I dreamed of traveling the US, the Americas, the world.
For the next couple of decades I fell into alcoholism, didn’t reach my full potential, married poorly, and had a great kid. After I had my son and after my divorce, I cleaned up my act and strove to provide a good childhood and example to him. And my wanderlust was reborn as a vision to photograph, video, and write about the authentic side of any place I visited.
I started with Florida because that’s where we live, it’s where I’m from, and it’s where I can easily travel and explore. Wander Florida was born as a result of that. The more I learn about Florida’s natural beauty and unique resources, the more I love it and the more I want to help protect that nature, the beauty, and the uniqueness of the state. In these pages and posts, I hope you learn more about Florida, its history, and the wonderful wildlife, plants, and people who call it home. And I hope you come to see Florida for the beautiful place it is.
