Quitting my job, leaving home for months and diving into the unknown was probably one of the scariest yet best decisions I've ever made in my life. It's very unlike me to drop everything and take such a huge risk because I like having my future planned and know what's to come. I got tired of the same old daily routine along side with struggling with a few personal issues and relationships so something needed to change. After debating for a few days, I decided to take some time off for myself away from any distractions and see what else is out there. I had extreme curiosity for people and culture which made my decision to leave even easier. I gave my two week notice, made a brief outline of my travel and booked a one way ticket to Europe all within a few weeks. Finances were not an issue because I'm a great saver but ultimately I did set a travel budget of $3,000. My friends and family confirmed they were going to be in Europe for the months that I'm planning to be there so I decided to start off and take advantage of the lower cost of living in a number of developing countries first.

Leaving my house, bags packed, my parents blessed my travel and let me go. As I was leaving my house, unexpectedly I burst into tears. Anxiety and fear filled my head and I suddenly lost all focus of the trip. What am I doing? Where am I going? What's going to happen? I'm traveling across the world alone to who knows where with no one by my side to tell me everything is going to be ok. After crying off all my make up I remembered that I've done this before, I'm well experienced and I can do this. I calmed myself down and prepared for my flight ahead.

For the first month and half I spent in the slavic countries of Ukraine, Belarus and Poland embracing my culture that I have slowly became detached to. Although my nature and roots are grounded in Belarus, I've lived in America for 18 years now and have been fully equipped by the Anglo culture. Living there for some time, I got to indulge the slavic culture for what it's really worth. Gone are the fake niceties and verbal webs of politeness. I personally experienced it first hand when I was trying to exchange my money outside in the middle of a winter storm in Ukraine. The lady was too busy smoking a cigarette and rudely told me, "When I'm done with my cigarette I can help me, and if you don't like that, then go somewhere else." And a second hand experience just sitting on my first flight to Kiev where a lady was flipping out on the flight attendant trying to save a baggage spot for her carry on until her husband gets there. Little did she realize stalking this baggage space like hawk is not the norm and there is plenty of space for everyone's bags. There was no need for that unpleasant honesty in both situations but the slavic culture has such freedom in their speech and have no problem with expressing how they feel without any filters. After experience that, I kept my human interaction to the minimum and stuck with family and friends only. Visiting these slavic countries opened up my eyes to a lot of things about myself and my character that was sculpted throughout the years by both cultures. It made me question why I do and act a certain way, why I value one thing more than the other, and that in itself makes me vividly different from other natures.

In 2 full months I visited 8 countries and 12 destinations. My primary way of travel was through buses and trains because it was the easiest and cheapest way to get around the countries with a huge luggage. I only had 2 flights to Sweden and Germany, one of which I missed, and I'm still salty about it. But I guess nobody makes it through life without collecting a few scars on the way out. Some of the greatest life lessons and character defining moments came out on the road during this trip in situations like missing my flight or losing very expensive things. I learned how to deal with extremely stressful situations under a lot pressure to make the right decisions in a short amount of time. I learned how to control my emotions in avoidable mistakes and how to prevent them from happening again. I was very proud of my perseverance throughout this trip because I continued to achieve my goal despite many difficulties, failures, and oppositions.

Traveling alone, especially as a female, boosted my independency skills to high measures. I was often asked if I was ever scared or if my safety was put into question. I did a lot of research on this topic and came to find out that Europe is one of the safest places to travel alone and many people have done it. You just have to be aware of your surroundings and make good judgements like not walking around in sketchy areas or at night away from the public. Throughout most of my travel, I was experiencing places with friends and family so I never felt fully alone. It wasn't until Amsterdam and so forth where I had full responsibility to have best time without having a familiar face by my side. There were definitely times where I wished someone was sharing this experience with me but I didn't let those thoughts and feelings become the priority of my experience. It allowed me to open up my shell a little wider and meet some amazing people that made my solo travel so much better than it would have been. For those people, I'll be forever thankful.

Travel is fantastic self development tool because it extricates you from the values of your culture and show that another society can live entirely different values and still function at a high level. This exposure to different cultures and metrics forced me to reexamine my life and my values. It encouraged me to investigate what is significant in my life, who are my greatest influencers, and where my major focus is. It put some of my understanding into perspective and helped me become more open minded towards other cultures. It helped me realize that their different lifestyle is coherent with their values, and their values are constructed from their cultural roots. Fully comprehending that made me appreciate our differences a little more.

I realized there are things we don't want to do to get what we want. I didn't necessarily want to spend thousands of dollars and sleep nights in crammed buses and trains but I wanted to experience amazing places and create unforgettable memories. People only see the glamour of your travel on social media but no one sees the actual work and sacrifice behind it. Traveling is simple although not easy but it's most definitely well worth it. Choosing to spend time abroad was one of the greatest risks I've ever taken because it helped me overcome the fear of closing some chapters in my life in order to open doors for better opportunities. I'm so grateful for the set of circumstances that made this entire trip possible to create memories that will last a life time. This truly has been the best experience of my life.

Kiev, Ukraine
Zhovti Vody, Ukraine
Lviv, Ukraine
Vladimir-Volynskyi, Ukraine
Ratne, Ukraine
Brest, Belarus
Warsaw, Poland
Gothenburg, Sweden
Berlin, Germany
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brussels, Belgium
London, England