With every trip I learned to be more independent, open to the universe and people, courageous and most of all I learned how little we, I need to be content and relaxed. From hotels I moved to hostels, staying with friends I knew for 2 days to jungle life in a wooden house in the Philippines and showering under the stars and to staying in a cave on my next trip in September.

Someone told me last week that traveling is not a hobby. No, it isn’t. It is a lifestyle, a way of life, it is life, the way i choose to live my life- explore, learn, look, watch, listen, absorb like a sponge and never ever stop wandering, asking, searching, yearning to discover another piece of land, the land of the universe, the land of me. It hasn’t always been like this, this desire burning inside, this trait that became part of my DNA.

A few years ago I went on my first solo trip to London! For 8 nights, I had London all to myself. I stayed in a small hotel, just 10 minutes away from Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens and the first thing I did of course the morning after my arrival was heading to the gardens. I remember It was a gray English morning, drizzling, a bit cold, but I felt amazing! Nothing compares to the feeling of being entirely alone, in a place you have never been to before- exciting, worried, anxious, happy to have made it and so thrilled because you know great things are coming. For an entire week I enjoyed my very own company- having an English breakfast, Shephard’s pie for lunch, tasting great food in Camden street market and wandering London’s streets with my camera. It really is empowering to travel alone, eat alone, share the world only with yourself. Yes, it can get lonely and the fact that I had stayed in a hotel didn’t help, but it was my first step to understanding what I needed, feeling comfortable experiencing all those things alone. It is quite a challenge, getting comfortable in your own skin, when you are in a foreign country, but there is no other way of learning what you need in life to be happy, then this way.

There were moments I wished someone was sitting beside me at the dinner table, or across me at the bar, walk beside me at the park and just be able to look at each other and share all your emotions and excitement in one glance. This very journey taught me how wonderful it is to try things for the first time, get out of my comfort zone and realize how strong, independent and lucky I am.

The trip was a gift I gave myself- the gift that keeps on giving and gave me the courage of traveling for longer periods of time, to faraway lands, places that amazed me and discover my very own country more and more. I stopped waiting for others to make up their minds, find time and just find the desire to explore and started exploring all on my own.