The Wanderluster

It seems as though good things end too soon. One day they are here and the next day they are gone and all you are left with are memories and stories to tell. I spent the last three months living in London and it seem as though I left my heart and soul there.

Before London, I worked two jobs to save money to pay the tuition of the school I wanted to attend, the flight, and food expenses. There was still the question of finding a place to live, which seemed impossible to afford. I signed up to Couch Surfing, a website where you meet strangers online and stay at their houses in exchange for a good conversation. Of course this sounds like a crazy idea and against everything my parents ever taught me but thanks to that, I was able to be in London. I would stay at someone’s house for a brief time and then move someplace else. I got to stay in sketchy areas of London as well as luxurious flats near Tower Bridge. I met some truly wonderful people who will forever be stored in my heart.
I arrived in Heathrow, feeling weak-kneed and I made my way to West London and rang the doorbell, unknowing that the person on the other end of the door would become a friend. I ended up staying there for a whole month.

Being in Europe made me feel as though the world was at the tip of my toes. Travelling around the continent is extremely inexpensive. I had little to no money but I managed to travel on some weekends to Germany and Wales. After I graduated, I bought the cheapest one-way ticket I could find, it didn’t matter where to, I just wanted to go somewhere and I ended up in Zagreb, Croatia where I also used Couch Surfing to find accommodation, I stayed with a married couple who made me feel at home by preparing dinner and having a little welcome party. After the party, I met a guy who drove me around Zagreb at 1am in the morning and then we walked around the center. I felt as though I was in a movie. We climbed up a hill and from there, you could see the entire city lit up. The next day I took a bus to Prague, which I can only describe as the most beautiful place I have seen in my entire life. I stayed three days in Czech Republic, travelling around the country, seeing amazing places such as Cesky Krumlov, a small, fairytale-like town, and the Sedlec Ossuary, a church decorated entirely by bones.

One the plane back home, I looked back and thought “I am truly crazy”, but then again, the best people are.