Ria Xi on Agency, Pilgrimage, and the Long Road From the Camino to a 20,000km Continental Run

Ria Xi has spent the last two years pulling her life apart and rebuilding it entirely on her own terms. She left a tech career in California, stepped away from the version of success she once thought she was supposed to want, and slowly discovered something she never expected: running as a path toward agency, direction, and self-trust. In this episode, she talks openly about moving to Portugal, finding community after years of drifting, why she’s drawn to extreme challenges, and what it feels like to be in the quiet space between a major accomplishment and the biggest adventure of her life.

She recently ran 780 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago and is now preparing for an almost unimaginable project: running 20,000 kilometres from Russia to Portugal. But this isn’t a conversation about distance — it’s about agency, identity, loneliness, self-worth, and building a life that feels like it belongs to you. Ria shares the inner battles she’s faced and why running became her way of stepping back into her own power. It’s a thoughtful, honest journey through what it means to choose your own life.

Follow Ria and support her next adventure: 

• Instagram: @whereisriax

• Website: 20000km.com

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