Turning 28: awesome!

Exactly one year year ago, on the 7th of February 2014, I gave myself the most extraordinary gift ever: I handled my resignation letter, quitting my corporate job to go on an amazing adventure. One year later the circle is complete: I am back and I am wondering who is that girl in the mirror. And this has little to do with the fact I haven’t seen myself much in a mirror these last months or that I have a brand new haircut. I am back the same, but different.

The 28 years old crisis?

What did I do last year? What did I achieve? These are the questions I ask myself every birthday. This year, I didn’t had to think long, so many memories are flashing back. Last year, I quit my job, bought a one way ticket to South America and did a hell of a bye bye party with my friends. I spent 222 days on the continent, each of them rich in adventures and new discoveries. I learnt to dive, climbed mountains, snorkelled with sharks and sea lions, I met witches, explored majestic inca remaining, appreciated the infinity of desert, participated in Rio’s carnival, learnt to dance tango, drunk a lot of wine, trekked for hundreds of kilometres, almost bought a pig at an animal market, summited 6088m, ate guinea pig, went to a mine, celebrated Xmas in Argentina, experienced the strongest winds ever, met king penguins and finally reached the end of the world…

“Age only matters if it’s a wine or a cheese”. Seen in Mendoza, Argentina.

I replaced fear by curiosity, reconnected with a big passion and brought back to life my child’s dream – becoming a writer.

Not bad for 365 days.

I feel blessed I have been able to experience so much and proud I took the pluge to go on this long travel. Without maybe realizing it, you all played a part in this journey. Thanks to all the ones, friends, family, colleagues… who supported the project and encouraged me, it has been so much easier to let everything go. Thanks to you, reader, I hope you enjoyed to follow – almost in real time- some of adventures. Thanks to the amazing people we met on this trip, it would not have been the same without you. And finally, thanks Adnan for sharing these 222 days of adventure with me.

Thanks to you all, I come back home (in Europe), with this big smile, this incredible serenity, and this envy to live life to the full. And this is probably the most extraordinary gift ever!

{the grown-up gap year series}