Then the universe aligned with what I wanted all this time. I knew there was a life behind those four pink walls.
When going to bed during this past week, I have let my eyes drift across the old interrail map on the wall beside my bed, just like I always used to do when I still lived at home. The pastel coloured european countries and all the cities marked out has been a gathering point for my daydreams. I can't even begin to count all the hours I have spent staring at that map. I find it mesmorizing.
The map is also a gathering point for my favorite travelling memories; for the places I have been that have inpacted me in some way, the dreams I have been given the opportunity to fulfill, and the journeys I've made that has taught me to be more secure in new environments, more curious about other people and more independent.
This map makes me think of the 12 year old girl that dreamed about travelling to Paris, and the 18 year old that quite spontaneously went with her best friend on an interrail tour, visiting Paris (among other places) and finding it beautiful but overrated.
The 14 year old that nervously travelled for 12 hours through Sweden with a train, and over to Denmark with a ferry, accompanied by her just as nervous 14 year old best friend, exited to travel abroad for the first time without her parents or other adults.
The 16 year old that wanted to apply for a scholarship to study abroad in London, and the 17 year old that sat alone on a plane heading to Heathrow airport, excited to meet her new classmates and her host family.
The 18 year old that was so restless that she would make sure to travel to a new place every month, getting chances to do so time after time, not rarely for free.
The 19 year old hiking in the mountains above the polar circle, the 18 year old with her bare feet on a beach by the mediterranean.
The 19 year old that left her home town for Stockholm, and experienced a year of intense love-hate to a city, learned about the importance of friendships and how to manage a life on her own.
The almost 18 year old that dreamed about studying at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, without knowing how that would ever become possible, but praying to God and asking Him to make a way.
And the 20 year old that has got her bags packed and boarding card printed, that will arrive in Scotland tomorrow night.
