Where the heart is, or at least many say so.
As 21th century digitals girls and boys, our decisions are more made by brain than by heart and we constantly convince ourselves to enjoy what we think is the best for us.
We start believing that we actually like that weirdly looking green smoothie mix, because it is good for our skin, we convince ourselves to give up habits which are not bringing us forward even if we enjoy them and start new ones which we think they will.
Sometimes we dream big, but sometimes, we forget what makes us happy.
2015 was all about changes and new starts. Moving more times, changing jobs, constantly learning more and more about the country, the industry and the most important: about myself.
It was full of stress, but it was worth it:I started seeing things falling into their place in my mind and I promised 2016 will be a year lead by my heart. I created challenges for myself and so far it feels like it was the best decision I ever made.
When I first moved from Hungary, I felt like home doesn't exist anymore. I'm in love with Budapest, it's athmosphere, it's architecture, the restaurants and parties, but I started to act and feel like I'm a tourist in my own place of birth. Still not feeling like home in the UK, I decided to start the hunt for a place where my heart really wants to stay. Of course, I had concerns- how will I find the time while working full-time, wouldn't it be wiser to spare the money and buy a car, but planning is luckily a strenght of mine and I quickly realized that with a little time-management and googleing everything is possible.
The goal from the beginning was to visit 10 countries this year, and visit at least 2 different places every months.
So far I have 8 countries, 10 cities and several smalltowns behind me this year, and I feel like this is just the beginning. There are many people who live their life staying in one country and they are happy with that, and it's fine. I'm just not one of them. Thanks to my father's obsession towards travel I was lucky to have the opportunity to see many beautiful places in the world and open my eyes towards new cultures since the year I was born, but the more I see, the more I feel like I haven't seen anything yet. See? There are still so many grey spots on the map.
A few weeks ago, I found my first ever grey hair, and totally panicked. The feeling that I'm getting old sat down on my shoulders and attacked my brain. I wished for a second that I was my younger, stronger, faster self who never got tired, who never forgot anything, never got hangover after a heavy nighout and who had so much more time in front of her. So little time and so much to see!
Then on my previous flight to Denmark, a very elderly, minimum 90 years old looking lady was sitting opposite me. I could see she enjoyed the flight, she was drinking tea and calmly having breakfast while we experienced the biggest turbulance ever in my life. Like a hero. No idea what was the purpose of her journey, but seeing her really touched my heart. You are never too old to get out after all, and I did not wanted to be my younger self anymore.
For years, just like many people, I was rushing everywhere in my life. I had to learn that if I stop, I can hear the best concerts standing on a street from a noname musician, I can see the most interesting street art, or I can find random things which make my brain spinning and my heart beating faster.
When I was in Copenhagen, I had 3 hours alone while my friend attended a job interview. While randomly walking around the city, I found this photography project near to a popular tourist destination. Many people passed by, but while I was standing there for about half an hour, staring at the pictures and thinking, no one else took the time to look at them. For me, seeing this made my day.
Just another kind reminder to all the dreamers out there- please, don't stop. Whatever your dream is, to see the world, find the perfect home, a dream job, to fall in love, build your own business or master a sport- don't give em up, no matter how old you are. Just start going on the path towards your dreams, and hope that it never stops.
P.S.: This little blog is basically an experiment, publishing my brainstorms. Long time ago I used to write blogs but always gave up so no idea what this will be yet, but I will definitely try to give some travel tips, or just write about things which interest me. If you find it interesting, awesome, but even if no one will read it, at least it makes me organize my thoughts about things. The biggest reason why I'm writing these in English rather than Hungarian or German is that there is one person who I know is interested in whatever boring or exciting thing I do, and I'm hoping I can somehow get her to start learning English again. Shoutout to mom, I love you! Haha :)
If you are interested, how your travel map looks like, I created mine at https://www.amcharts.com/visited_countries/.
If you also keep counting the countries you have seen, this can also help: http://www.listchallenges.com/countries-of-the-world/
