I started travelling when I was 19, working in Greece for the summer. Then off to Spain to study, Nepal for an internship and that was it. The beginning of a nomadic life. Couch surfing all around Europe, backpacking through Asia, hitch hiking in Australia, road tripping along the west coast of the US, often going back to places I fell in love with. Coming home a handful of times to try and make life work in Belgium, but visas in Canada and New Zealand tempted me too much.
So here I am, living on the other side of the world, daydreaming about life and travels while rearranging my van at a beach side camp ground in the Coromandel. Where are the days I fit everything I needed for a whole year of travelling into one single backpack? Now I’m a rolling wardrobe and library, taking boxes of glitter outfits and a dozen books wherever I go. You know. Just in case.
I like to hold on to the thought that I haven’t changed much in these past ten years. 20 or 30, what’s the difference? Of course some things stay the same. I still love festivals as much and my summers are always packed with them. That’s why I need so many outfits, you see? And I have forever travelled with at least five books in my pack. Now things just seem to get out of hand when there’s a lot of good second hand shops around, and plenty of space under my rolling bed to store all those treasures.
But in some ways I guess I’m getting a bit more comfy. I notice at festivals, when my body hurts and sleep sounds like some foreign thing from a faraway land, I can really really look forward to coming home to a big fluffy bed. Road trips now happen mostly in the comfort of my van, with all the outfits and books to choose from. Staying at nice campgrounds, reading for hours on the beach and transforming into a gala queen to take myself out at night. This is new. And I like it.
Even though I’m not couch surfing or hitch hiking much these days, I still love life on the road. Waking up not knowing where the day will bring me. Having time, time, time. To read all the books, write stories, daydream of past travels.
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