Speeding uphill. No going back. Leaving your city behind. This sweetness.

We were speeding uphill, leaving Barcelona behind. It was completely dark outside. The road was enormously steep. I didn't know where we were heading and neither did the two Ukrainians. The Spanish guy didn't want to tell us. We were driving fast! If my overly protective parents only knew what adventures I was undertaking while discovering the world. It was so dangerous! The guy had been drinking and now he was driving! Honestly, I had no idea how he managed – I couldn't concentrate on anything because of the loud music. I had taken his iPod to search for some good stuff and found Nirvana. Yay! I turned the volume to maximum and it got so loud in the small car that I couldn't hear my own breath. I was expecting he would shout at me to tune it down but he was totally into it! The whole vehicle was jumping up and down, both because of the insanely loud beat and the speed with which we were literally flying uphill in the dark. Hot blood was running through my veins pumping excitement. Encouraged by the driver’s approval of the deafening music, I accompanied Kurt Cobain at the top of my lungs. Sweetly intoxicated by the sangria that our Spanish host quenched our thirst with, I tried not to think, just enjoy the intensity of the moment; embrace the speed, the pace of life. But the thoughts wouldn't go away: “Where am I, what am I doing and how did I end up here?!”

For the first time in my life I was traveling. Sure, I have visited different places before; I have even lived in 3 foreign countries already, but I never experienced backpacking. This time, after spending 2 months in Madrid, I decided to do a little road trip rather than take the plain to Berlin. Having no budget to pay for accommodation or train tickets, I counted on finding carpooling deals, couchsurfing hosts and having acquaintances to host me along the way. Until the moment I actually left, I wasn't sure it would all work out. I was unbelievably lucky - within the week I carpooled my way up to Karlsruhe where I took a bus to Berlin. I made stops in Barcelona, Montpellier and Strasbourg. I stayed with a friend of my former professor and I couchsurfed for the first time. I played frisbee on the beach, danced salsa, visited art museums, cycled around French cities, visited a botanical garden, found a silver credit card, googled and contacted its owner and returned it. I hanged out with couchsurfers and I tasted the most delicious paella and experienced the most surprising day and night with them.