Addicted to travel

So let’s see. I am a 25-year-old physiotherapist student from Hungary and I am in Finland right now. I speak German, French, Danish, English and of course Hungarian as well. But how did I learn these? I took all the chances life gave me. My goal is to see and learn as much as possible.

I was a volunteer in France at the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta and this experience changed my life. I was 20 years old, when I left Hungary to live somewhere else. I was scared and shocked. The start was really hard without French knowledge in a completely different country. But step by step I learned something every day, a new word, an expression and finally I had the chance to have real conversations with French people. But I learned much more than a language.

The language is an important thing, but I learned lots of things about myself, and about the people. This experience was only the start of my travels, my real life. Some of the people think, oh this is not possible, I need a lot of money to travel and of course they know only stereotypical things about other countries. If you want to travel, you can always find a solution, or an opportunity to see the world. In France I was working with disabled people, they gave me the biggest gift in the world, love. The love of the life, and the joy of the little things.

The moments, the adventures, the laugh are the real thing in the life.  We can have more and more items, new fancy shoes, or an iPhone, but we need to ask ourselves, is it really valuable? The money, the items are necessary but not the most important in life. What is home for you? The house, where you grew up? But why? Not because of the items, because of the memories. This is the only thing that nobody can steal from us. The nice evenings, when we played games until midnight, or the birthdays with the friends. 

One of my friends told me, that in Denmark I can study for free in the hojskole. Okay then, let’s see. I had 2 weeks between France and Denmark. I couldn’t stop. I felt like I own the world and I can go anywhere. I felt free, brave and able to climb any mountain, learn any language. I was already addicted to exchange. I challenged myself but I failed. Sometimes we lose the battle against ourselves. I enjoyed the time in Denmark, but I had some problems, and finally I came home after a year. Now after 3 years I can see where I made a mistake. The change was too quick. Even if you are strong and brave, you need a base, a real home, where you can relax and feel safe. But the home is not a place, it’s the family. I am lucky, because I have a strong family, which supports me through my travels and in the hard times. My mom is a very strong woman. She works a lot, maybe too much. Suddenly this is the life. She needed to give up her dreams, and wishes because of us. I respect her a lot, because of her efforts to help me on my way. She is my special person, because she make my dream come true, and she is always there for me, when I need somebody to talk.

Now, I am in Finland, with the Erasmus plus program. I am very thankful because for this chance. This is such a nice country, and I met lot of nice people from different countries. I know after this experience, when I go back to Hungary, I will be somebody different, someone better, and my family will be there for me.

The life’s a gift and I don’t want to waste it. I learned that each day counts, each day can be the very first day of your travel.