Road Trip to: Great Smoky Mountains

Great Smoky Mountains National Park road sign

This summer, my partner and I decided to take a road trip to Tennessee and visit the Great Smoky Mountains. We stayed in a cabin in the mountains, about 30 minutes from Gatlinburg. It was such an amazing trip. The national park is absolutely beautiful, and the views are mesmerizing. Living in Florida can sometimes feel a little monotonous because everything is so flat. Visiting the mountains was a much-needed change of scenery.

On our way there, we drove through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and finally Tennessee. I would love to go back someday and explore even more—not just the mountains, but also the small towns and the people who live there. Gatlinburg reminded me a lot of Orlando, with gift shops everywhere, plenty of tourist attractions, and a lively atmosphere. Alcohol also plays a big role in the town's culture, with numerous distilleries offering tastings of ciders and moonshine. It was definitely a fun experience.

Capiies Sticker inspired by a hiking clothing brand

Sometimes I forget how enjoyable road trips can be. I personally love driving, and traveling through the mountains while taking in the scenery was both relaxing and exciting. We made several stops along the way, and each one added something special to the trip.

We left Florida pretty late on the first day, so we decided to spend the night in Georgia before continuing our journey. The following morning, we headed to our next stop: Asheville, North Carolina. Funny enough, our original plan for this trip was actually to stay in Asheville. However, after realizing that most of the accommodations were outside of our budget, we changed our destination to Gatlinburg instead.

When we arrived in Asheville on the second day, we stopped at a restaurant called Daddy Mac’s Down Home Dive to watch the World Cup semifinal between Argentina and England. The food was great, and the match was incredibly intense. Afterward, we picked up some groceries so we could cook our own meals at the cabin.

The Great Smoky Mountains were everything we had hoped for. We originally planned to wake up before sunrise and drive to the highest point in the park to watch the sun come up. Unfortunately, when we woke up, it was raining, and we were still exhausted from the previous day's drive. Instead, we decided to get a little more sleep and wait for the rain to pass before heading out to hike with more energy. It turned out to be the right decision, and we were able to enjoy the mountains at a much more relaxed pace.

Por Ella.

On June 24th, Venezuela, the country where I was born, experienced an unexpected tragedy brought by Mother Nature. Two powerful earthquakes struck one after another: the first with a magnitude of 7.1, followed by another measuring 7.5. It was one of the most devastating seismic events Venezuela had experienced in over a century.

Although there are many things I could say about this tragedy, I want to focus on something that is often left unspoken: how difficult it is to process these moments when you are far away from home.

There is a unique kind of pain that comes from watching your homeland suffer from a distance. The guilt of not being there with your loved ones, not being able to help, and having to wake up the next day pretending that everything is okay. Pretending you are fine while, every chance you get, you check the news, search for updates, and worry about the situation in your country for days that feel endless.

Many Venezuelans have had to leave their homeland and build a life somewhere else. I am certain that many of them have felt this same emptiness: the feeling of being physically distant while your heart remains somewhere else.

Yet, the resilience of humanity never disappears. There is something truly beautiful about seeing how Venezuelans living far from home came together without hesitation, without thinking twice, to offer help in any way possible.

I witnessed people organizing collection centers to gather water, clothing, medicine, and essential supplies to send to our brothers and sisters who needed them. I saw people from different countries extend their hands to help, offering kindness and solidarity during a moment of great hardship. For that, I will never have enough words to express my gratitude.

Although the cities affected were not the places where I grew up, that does not reduce the pain I feel for my homeland. The land that saw me being born, growing, and becoming who I am. The land that gave me countless memories. The land that held me in its arms, just as it has held so many Venezuelans who today carry heavy hearts because of the suffering we have witnessed over the years.

A suffering that, with time, many of us have learned to hide. Sometimes we even learn to ignore it, not because we do not care, but because carrying so much pain for so long can become overwhelming.

And still, I love her.

I love her because she is the place that brought me into this world. Because through her, I learned what it means to have an identity. She filled my life with laughter, memories, and experiences that I will carry forever. She comforted me when I was sad. She taught me the beauty of nature, the strength of our people, and the warmth that exists within our culture.

Venezuela, you were my first love.

And the first love is never forgotten.

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El 24 de junio, Venezuela, el país donde nací, vivió una tragedia inesperada causada por la fuerza de la naturaleza. Dos poderosos terremotos sacudieron nuestra tierra uno después del otro: el primero con una magnitud de 7.1, seguido por otro de 7.5. Fue uno de los eventos sísmicos más devastadores que Venezuela había experimentado en más de un siglo.

Aunque hay muchas cosas que podría decir sobre esta tragedia, quiero enfocarme en algo que muchas veces queda sin ser mencionado: lo difícil que es procesar estos momentos cuando estás lejos de casa.

Existe un tipo de dolor muy particular cuando ves sufrir a tu tierra desde la distancia. La culpa de no poder estar allí junto a tus seres queridos, de no poder ayudar, y de tener que despertar al día siguiente fingiendo que todo está bien. Fingiendo estar bien mientras, cada vez que tienes la oportunidad, revisas las noticias, buscas información y te preocupas por la situación de tu país durante días que parecen interminables.

Muchos venezolanos han tenido que dejar su tierra natal y construir una vida en otro lugar. Estoy seguro de que muchos han sentido este mismo vacío: la sensación de estar físicamente lejos mientras el corazón permanece en otro sitio.

Sin embargo, la resiliencia del ser humano nunca desaparece. Hay algo verdaderamente hermoso en ver cómo los venezolanos que vivimos lejos de nuestro hogar nos unimos sin dudar, sin pensarlo dos veces, para brindar ayuda de cualquier manera posible.

Fui testigo de cómo muchas personas organizaron centros de acopio para recolectar agua, ropa, medicamentos y suministros esenciales para enviarlos a nuestros hermanos y hermanas que los necesitaban. Vi cómo personas de diferentes países extendieron sus manos para ayudar, ofreciendo solidaridad y bondad durante un momento de tanta dificultad. Por eso, nunca tendré suficientes palabras para expresar mi gratitud.

Aunque las ciudades afectadas no fueron los lugares donde crecí, eso no disminuye el dolor que siento por mi tierra. La tierra que me vio nacer, crecer y convertirme en quien soy. La tierra que me regaló incontables recuerdos: momentos hermosos y momentos difíciles. La tierra que me sostuvo en sus brazos, así como ha sostenido a tantos venezolanos que hoy cargan un corazón pesado por el sufrimiento que hemos vivido durante tantos años.

Un sufrimiento que, con el tiempo, muchos hemos aprendido a esconder. A veces incluso aprendemos a ignorarlo; no porque no nos importe, sino porque cargar con tanto dolor durante tanto tiempo puede llegar a ser abrumador.

Y aun así, la amo.

La amo porque ella es el lugar que me trajo a este mundo. Porque gracias a ella aprendí lo que significa tener una identidad. Ella llenó mi vida de alegría, recuerdos y experiencias que llevaré conmigo para siempre. Ella me abrazó cuando estaba triste. Ella me enseñó la belleza de la naturaleza, la fuerza de nuestra gente y la calidez que existe dentro de nuestra cultura.

Venezuela, tú fuiste mi primer amor.

Y el primer amor nunca se olvida.

It’s called Béisbol

Cuando yo era niño, mi padre y yo siempre íbamos por lo menos a uno o dos juegos del equipo de béisbol de nuestra ciudad, las Águilas del Zulia.

Era increíble. Mi padre siempre trataba de conseguir asientos por la tercera base porque, según él, era el mejor lugar para ver los juegos.

El béisbol es un deporte que está muy arraigado a ser venezolano. Es algo que nos ha ayudado a identificarnos en otros lugares al exportar nuestro talento, nuestra emoción y el sentimiento que tenemos por este deporte, y que también nos ha servido como una reflexión de vida. En Venezuela era común escuchar frases relacionadas al béisbol que se usaban como moralejas de vida, como “te agarraron fuera de base” o la mítica “no te hagas el Willie Mays”.

Ver que mi país ganó el mundial me hace sentir orgulloso de lo que a veces trato de esconder. Me hace recordar de dónde vengo y quién soy. Extrañar la casa es algo común, pero olvidarse de ella es algo que jamás podré hacer.

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When I was a child, my father and I would always go to at least one or two games of our city’s baseball team, the Águilas del Zulia.

It was incredible. My father always tried to get seats along the third-base line because, according to him, it was the best place to watch the games.

Baseball is a sport that is deeply rooted in what it means to be Venezuelan. It’s something that has helped us identify ourselves in other places by exporting our talent, our passion, and the emotion we have for the sport. It has also served as a reflection of life. In Venezuela, it was common to hear phrases related to baseball that were used as life lessons, like “they caught you off base” or the classic “don’t act like Willie Mays.”

Seeing my country win the World Cup makes me feel proud of something I sometimes try to hide. It reminds me of where I come from and who I am. Missing home is something common, but forgetting it is something I will never be able to do.

A creative mind

There are moments where I do not feel creative. I get a creative block that I do not how to escape.

Recently I have been trying to not focus on the outcome but enjoy the process more. Doing other activities has helped me a lot too.

There is this book that I have been reading about creativity that it has been very helpful. The name of the book is The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. I got it second handed (probably one of the best ways to get books) and it has helped me to learn how let creativity flow.

If you are an artist that sometimes struggle with creativity, I recommend you to read this book.

A Mushroom!

When I made the Etsy Store of Capiies I open it with only 2 hats. One was a black hat with a chain on the side and the other one was an orange–and–red tie–dye bucket hat with a red mushroom on it.

Those were my first steps into designing, managing a business, and making products. A lot of people like mushrooms–especially when they’re on a hat. It went well. It didn’t sell a lot, but it sold enough to encourage me and motivate me to try a different design.

The second mushroom design I released was a light blue hat with a different mushroom. I experimented with a new tie–dye technique to get a lighter color. Surprisingly, this one performed better than the previous design.

A funny story about that hat is that one of my friends saw it online an she didn’t know I had made it. That felt like a good sign to me because she genuinely liked it.

After releasing the first jellyfish bucket hat , I felt happy. People loved it, and it started getting attention on social media—not a huge amount, but much more than I expected. It was great. At the same time, it made me feel i hade to release something better. I had people’s attention, I was suddenly on their radar and wishlists.

I loved the idea of mushroom–inspired bucket hats. However, I always noticed an issue with most of the mushroom related bucket hats: either they had a lot of spots that ended up being cut in half, or they were plain hats with a single mushroom graphic on them. I wanted to create something I would personally want to wear.

Other types of design I saw a lot was the crochet ones and personally, i love them but I didn’t see myself crocheting large quantities of hats. Still, they had something I was looking for—full spots,, not cut in half, and not over design. So I decided to release something that mix both.

On October 27, 2023. I announced the new collection: Mushroom Madness. The plan was to release four different hats, each inspired by a different type of mushroom. The spots wrapped around the hat without being cut, and they varied in size. At the time, I thought it was a strong idea.

I sold a couple of them, it wasn’t a best seller but it wasn’t a total failure either. Still, it didn’t perform the way I expected, and that honestly brought me down a bit.

After I releasing the JellyfishJam hat—which received a lot of attention—I felt I have to be better on my designs. My next piece had to be something people would love and something I would be excited to wear. I decided give it one more chance to the mushroom design. This time only one hat and a new style. That’s how the Mushroom Hat was born.

This time I tried to make the design close to an actual amanita mushroom but keeping the cartoon ish style. Driving inspiration from the iconic red mushroom eaten by a certain plmber as if it was Popeyes with his spinach.

I continued my rule of keeping all spots intact—no halves, different sizes–and added a new detail: the inside of the hat has a color similar to a real mushroom. Another design choice I made was removing the stitches from the brim to make the hat less rigid.

Honestly, I loved it. To me, it perfectly summarized my journey with mushroom hat designs and showed how far I had come. I created something I was genuinely happy to wear. It was different. Regardless of how it was received—whether it sold well or got a lot of views—I liked it, and that’s what matters most to me.

At the end of the day, I design to express myself and to prove to myself that I can create great things. Not every design needs to be a bestseller. Sometimes, it just needs to feel right.

Inspiration

Something that stayed in my mind at the beginning of starting Capiies was: "Where am I going to get inspiration from?" I was always intrigued by how artists came up with those awesome, mind-blowing, original ideas they always seems to have every time they release something. Growing up, I would see creators with so much passion and ambition-musicians, artists, clothing designers, directors, etc…-and wonder, "How do you have such an amazing imagination to bring those meaningful projects into life?"

With time, I came to realize that no idea falls from the sky. Every idea has a process. It starts with just a thought that slowly but surely starts to build up until it becomes real and tangible. A huge part of this process is to draw inspiration from the world around you.

There's no rulebook for inspiration.

An artist could be inspired by any song.

An architect may get inspiration from a flower-filled garden.

A designer can be inspired even by a random street sign.

After all, inspiration is ultimately just whatever helps you develop your idea. It's anywhere you choose to find it, and that's something I see reflected in my own projects, all the way from shows I watched when I was a kid to things as broad and limitless as outer space. To me, inspiration is like fuel. It's the gasoline that gets a project moving, the energy that keeps an idea alive. And with Capiies, every design, every collection, and every piece of art brings with it small pieces of things that once inspired me.

The Jellyfish

My first steps with Capiies began by selling bucket hats. It was such a fun start — bucket hats allowed me to explore my creativity and experiment with design.

One of my very first designs was a bucket hat inspired by the TV show SpongeBob SquarePants, specifically the jellyfish from the show. When I was a kid, I used to watch SpongeBob every day. One of my favorite episodes was “Jellyfish Jam,” where SpongeBob takes a jellyfish home and later throws a dance party with it. That episode was so fun to me — the dancing jellyfish, the colors, the music — and it became the inspiration behind my design.

Over the years, I’ve continued to evolve this hat design. It started as a light blue tie-dyed bucket hat with some jellyfishes design on it. Later, I changed the style to a blue gradient, simulating the ocean, and added colorful flowers inspired by the underwater world of Bikini Bottom.

Even today, this remains one of my favorite creations — a design that connects me with my childhood memories and my love for a show that inspired my imagination.

Capiies?

Sometimes when people ask me, “What is Capiies?” I pause. Not because I don’t know, but because the answer keeps changing.

Capiies started as a personal project — a space where I could share what I create and see how my work evolves with me. It became my outlet to think, design, and experiment without limits. Over time, it’s grown into something more layered — a reflection of who I am and how I keep learning.

But Capiies isn’t just about me. I see it more like a creative studio — a place that explores ideas and emotions through different forms. It’s not tied to a single style or category; it’s about the message behind what’s made and the feeling it carries.

Capiies is my child, but it also has a life of its own. It’s a place where creativity exists simply to exist — where ideas can take shape freely, and where growth happens without needing a clear destination.

Maybe that’s what makes Capiies what it is — something that keeps becoming.

Persistance

I got this old stop sign at a garage sale. I repainted it and added the Capiies logo. Now I hang it up as a reminder and motivation.

To start something, you have to take the first step — and sometimes that’s the hardest part. I’ve always been the type of person who likes to do things, but I never fully committed myself to the process, the journey, or the persistence required no matter the outcome.

Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about this. Capiies has been my way of testing how long I can commit to something that doesn’t show results right away. But I’ve realized that wasn’t 100% true. Some days I feel like I did less than the day before, and other days I feel like I accomplished a lot. Either way, I was doing something — and that was progress. Every step, even the small ones, taught me something I didn’t know the day before.

It’s easy (at least for me) to get stuck wanting immediate results. But when I take a step back, I can see that I have been moving forward. Maybe not at the same pace all the time, but I’m definitely not in the same place I was yesterday, last week, or last year.

Capiies has been a learning journey for me. I’ve learned patience, commitment, and persistence. I’ve learned not to expect instant results from everything I do — but to keep going anyway.

I don’t know exactly where this will lead me, but I can say this: I’m not planning to stop, no matter the outcome.