Tag Archives: adventure

02/7/12

I'm officially off to Poland! :D

It’s funny how a simple conversation can spark an entire trip out of the country. I had just sat down in front of my computer with a hot cup of tea, defrosting from my time spent around a camp fire in the snow, when my Colombian friend starts chatting with me on Facebook (she had gone back from the camp fire early because she was too cold). We had a pleasant chat and when I mentioned how much I wanted to travel around this semester, she invited me to come to Poland with her and her friends next Thursday (16th) for the weekend. Excitedly, I said yes and immediately started looking to book my flight ticket so we would all fly together. To my dismay, there was a flight out of Oslo to Wroclaw (apparently known as the Venice of Poland) but the return flight was full. My friend cheered me up by proposing a trip to Belgium for her birthday in March that we could plan for together (and of course I agreed). But I wasn’t giving up yet. I started looking for other flights out of Poland back to Norway on Sunday (19th).

I managed to find one flying late out of Krakow, Poland – which is about 4-5 hours south of Wroclaw by train. I debated if it even would be worth it to go to Poland and take the train down on my own to Krakow. After a little internet research, I was convinced to go to Krakow – both for the city as well as for the fact that Auschwitz was only a little ways away. I must go to Auschwitz if I go to Poland. There isn’t even a doubt in my mind about that.

So now I’m figuring out train schedules and debating when I should part ways from my friends in Wroclaw to head off to Krakow on my own. I’ll probably take night train to Krakow Friday night/Saturday morning – sleep on the train – and arrive in Krakow ready for a free city tour (which I found) and explore the rest of the city on my own for the rest of the day. Auschwitz would be my last destination on Sunday before I fly back to Oslo in the early evening. A sombre note to end my weekend trip, but a crucial one nonetheless.

My first real trip on my own (well, at least for half of it)! It’s great to know that I’ll have company in a strange new country for the first two days at least. And also to know that I have future trips with friends to look forward to. Bought my tickets and ready to lock and load. Must start planning! 😀 SO EXCITE.

And all it took was a simple invitation to spark the start of a new adventure. 🙂

01/20/12

The Roller-Coaster Effect

I’m freaking out because I don’t feel at all prepared for this exchange. But the point is that I can never be prepared for something like this. I don’t know what it’s going to be like in Norway, or anywhere else I might find myself. I can’t plan out every detail to the T – all I can do is prepare for the worst. But I still feel like I don’t know anything – like a small child being thrust into the deep end of the pool when she doesn’t know how to float yet. When I went shopping today with my mom, I felt even smaller when she would mention important things that I had gone over but had forgotten, or even things that I didn’t even think about. In her spare time, she had read travel blogs and located places where I could cash in traveller’s cheques, etc. and here I was, still unable to quite remember what classes I had listed to take. When I told her how I would pack something, she would point out something I didn’t consider and give a better alternative and all I could do was sheepishly pout. I’m such a child around my mother.

But that’s the whole point of this trip, isn’t it? To leave my comfort zone. To stop being coddled and take care of myself. To take the leap into the deep end of the pool willingly and not drown. That means not knowing what I’m really getting myself into. That means being brave even though I’m exci-terrified. I’m finally taking flight with my own two wings.

I am sitting alone in the first car of a roller-coaster, the heavy clinking of the track chain pulling me up towards the top of the hill. I’m nearly at the top now, and every day that passes is another clink uphill. In four days, I will be at the top of the tracks, about to take the first plunge.

What will await me?

I hold my breath. I don’t know. The truth is, I won’t until gravity pulls me downward. I won’t know until I finish the roller-coaster ride and get off. What I am confident in is the fact that I chose to ride this particular ride and that with every roller-coaster I’ve ridden in my life, I’ve always said at the end:

“Let’s do that again!”

01/15/12

Strength and Love

Without either, I would not be the person I am today. Strength and love are what I have after almost three years of learning to love and rediscover myself every day.

Strength lifted my head high towards the clouds when I felt so alone on the ground. I grow stronger every day. With every obstacle I face, I trip and stand taller than ever – ready for more. And in those moments when I feel as if I’ve lost all my strength – when I have fallen – I have love. I receive such wonderful love and support from my family and friends; I can count on them to give me a helping hand to reach for when I have tripped and can’t get up on my own. They give me my strength. Love is what gets me through each morning as I stand before my bathroom mirror. The lifelong romance I have with myself my most valuable relationship in my life. It is with this self-love in which I build my self-confidence, bravery, and determination in the pursuit of my many passions. It is self-love that returns me back to my roots – my identity – and what I stand for when I feel lost. And through self-love I am constantly rediscovering and reinventing myself. It is through learning how to love myself that I grew to understand and embrace being alone. Self-love taught me strength and it opened me up to embrace the love of those around me so I didn’t have to always be on my own. Truthfully, I am never alone anymore.

This morning, upon waking, I looked out the window up at the winter sky overhead. An endless blue. So full of wonder and at night, so full of stars. The stars dazzle me with the inspirational people I have met and the precious experiences I have thus gathered. These are the things that shown me the beauty of the sky. But it is the expanse of clear day blue – so limitless and serene – that excites me most. I ask myself what is up there waiting for me. I’m almost ready to sprint as I spread my wings for the first time and take off into that beautiful sky, ready for anything to be thrown in my way. After all, with strength and love, I am unstoppable.