“The book takes place during my travels to Germany and then to Portugal, I wrote about how I met many people throughout my visit who helped me, financially and with a place to stay, and how they showed up in various forms when I needed help, almost like divine intervention”, Hannah told The Portugal News. “It was quite the journey of faith, to trust that something will be good for me eventually.”

About the author

Hannah’s life has been one of ups and downs, but her passion for writing has been a constant throughout all of it. “My mom was an English teacher and my dad is an author and journalist, so I’ve always been encouraged to write”, she shared. “I got my first typewriter when I was 10 and got my first story into a newspaper’s students’ page.”

Her work has been able to make a real impact on the world, even since her teenage years. When she was 17 years old, she worked at a newspaper doing administrative work, but was able to get an article of her own published. “It was an article about the environment in school – it was terrible, it gave us headaches, it was moldy – and they actually made renovations after it was published. That was when I felt like my words can make a difference”, Hannah recounted.

Her career advanced from there with her getting educated in copywriting, encouraged by the director of information at TetraPak at the time, until she finally started writing professionally. However, despite the promising future, Hannah felt disconnected from the industry, recalling she “got tired of the business because it’s very unfair, very superficial. It was more about status than about the creativity”.

The process of healing

Since then, she has taken up life coaching as a profession, after getting further educated, aiming to tap into her experiences to guide others in Hawaiian philosophy. Still, she continues to pursue her passion for writing on the side, and is now releasing her third book, a travel journal expressing her life-changing time in Portugal.

“A lot of people wonder why I’m unemployed, why I’m begging on the street, why I’m moving around, why my life looks like this, because a person with my education would be able to work at a normal company and have a normal life and salary, but I don’t. I still don’t really know why that is, and while I try to figure it out I’m writing, because that helps me see things a little clearer”, she explained her motivation behind writing the book. “It’s to share my side of a longstanding conflict.”

“People also wonder why I’m not married and what’s going on with my life”, Hannah continued, “and it’s not like things are going wrong all the time, it’s more that my needs are not being met the way I need them to be to feel safe and loved, and that has bought me on a journey of trying to heal my inner child. That’s the theme of my book, to find a connection with myself. To see my younger self inside me and to see her as my hero”.


The book also provides a deep insight into Hannah’s grief over her late mother, who passed before her journey to Hawaii in 2004. “It’s a testament to share who I am, what happened to me and how I want my relationships to be”, she stated. “It doesn’t matter which nationality we are – we are all humans, we can all help each other. Most of us have to deal with the same type of struggles and I hope others can see a reflection of themselves in my journey.”

Living in Portugal

Hannah Telluselle came to Portugal in July 2019 and stayed in the Lisbon and Cascais area for the next year and three months. “I would like to say thank you to the people of Portugal, to those who lived in the area and helped me with money when I didn’t have any, who helped me stay safe in the hostels, and who treated me with respect and decency”, she praised.

“Even though we didn’t always understand each other, it was a connection that became real”, Hannah added, “and I felt very safe, happy and physically well here, like my health just thrived and I’m very grateful for that, that I was allowed to stay even though I had no income”.

Hannah now hopes to move to San Francisco to build a life there. She describes the city as “kind of a Lisbon in the USA”, as they share the hilly terrain, trams and red suspension bridge. “I would like to start an organic wellness centre where people can dance, honouring nature and storytelling, as well as attend support groups and meditation, coaching and maybe some yoga too. All focused on living a good, healthy life.”

To order a copy of “The Call for Divine Harmony – Finding Pearls of Wisdom” or one of her other two books, you can find more information at https://www.telluselle.com/ and https://telluselleliving.com

Author

A journalist that’s always eager to learn about new things. With a passion for travel, adventure and writing about this diverse world of ours.

“Wisdom begins in wonder” -  Socrates

Kate Sreenarong