I will always remember the day I decided, I mean really decided, to start travelling and pursuing my dreams. I was sitting in school and the teacher went around asking every single student what they wanted to do with their lives. With the rest of their lives. Answers like "I will study", "I will start a job", "I will start another education" or "I am not sure yet, but I will therefore go and study something until I know" were thrown around the room. The more students answered, the more panicked I became.
How was I supposed to know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life? How would I know what I want? I haven't experienced anything. Who am I? What do I want?
My mind was going around in manic circles trying to figure out if anything the others said would spark something in me. But the only thing it sparked was annoyance and frustration about what I wanted and anger for not knowing it. I felt the pressure creeping up inside me. So what do you do when panic sets in? You either make really smart decisions or... well, you are not. Suddenly I felt all eyes on me. The teacher got to me. They all looked at me while he repeated the question. "So, what do you plan on doing after school?" I looked him into the eyes and said: "I am going to Australia for a year."
Sometimes silence is louder than words. He gave me a look I will never forget and which I swore myself I would redeem. The way he looked at me was a mixture of disappointment, amusement and mockery. At that moment he made me feel like this is not the right thing to do and yet while he didn't say another word I felt free. Like a massive load was lifted off my shoulder. I said it. I said it out loud. I did it. And while I felt ecstatic, relieved and suddenly really excited for life and what was about to happen. There was no going back now. Because if I didn't do it now, I would prove my teacher right. And I swore to myself that I would return one day. Look him in the eyes and tell him and show him that I did it and that there is another way of successfully living life to its full potential.
Spoiler alert. I did return after 4 years of travelling non-stop. I went back to the school, gathered all my teachers in the teacher lounge and told them, showed them how great I was doing and that I wasn't done yet. Telling them about everything I had planned for the future and that my resume was now 2 pages long. And when I saw that he now looked at me with a smile, surprise and I dare even say a bit of pride, I knew I did it. Of course, I never wanted to travel for my teachers' opinion about myself. I wanted to do it for me. But I am also the type of person who if you tell me I can't do something, I will prove you wrong. Somehow, I get a real kick out of proofing people wrong about myself. And I love to showing others that swimming against the flow is still swimming. That adventure is possible and just because you decide to do something differently that you can still be successful. Because everybody defines success differently. For me, it's staying true to myself. Always giving it 100 % and always trying something that is way out of my comfort zone.
So I did a lot. I did things I never thought I would, and I always try to ask myself why not? The worst thing that can happen is failure. And failure can only happen if you don't learn anything from your experience. So really in those 10 years I have not yet failed. Was it easy? No. Definitely not. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, and yet it was the most rewarding life ever. It opened my eyes to other countries, religions and lifestyles. I saw places I never even dreamed of. I witnessed kindness beyond anything I could have ever experienced at home. I saw animals I only ever saw in books. I dove into oceans, climbed mountains, hiked through deserts, studied kung fu in China, walked the length of the United States, rode bikes, slept in tents, almost drowned, ate different foods, hugged thousands of people, had deep conversations, rode hundreds of buses, broke bones, slept on the street and was scared for my life. I ate incredibly strange foods, shaved my head, worked amazing jobs, was frustrated, depressed and lonely but also never laughed as hard, never loved as deep and never cared so much for others. I went weeks without a shower, hid from the police, was chased by a swarm of bees, surfed with dolphins, jumped out of airplanes, ran races, volunteered, did farm work and so much more. I may not have a proper education with a certificate, but I got an education from life in its purest form. It wasn't cheap. I worked really hard to continue travelling for that amount of time. Remote work wasn't really a thing yet, social media wasn't as big, and you still had to press my phone button a few times to get the correct letter for the text message. As you can see, even sending a text was hard. But I loved every moment, I am so excited to finally start this blog and tell you all about it.
I hope this will inspire you to travel as well. To dream big and to not let others discourage you because life is short. Life is uncertain, and we have to make every experience count. I was privileged and lucky enough to be born in the right place, in the right time to the right parents to even have this opportunity to see the world. I worked 5 years to save the money to start. I worked even harder during my travels to continue to do so. And I want to share my stories with you and hopefully inspire you to do the same, something similar or to simply feel excitement when you read my blog. If I can get you to jump over your shadow and try, I have done my job. Aim high! Live the best life. And don't let anyone tell you, you can't.
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