From then to today, the short version..

I grew up and started to accept the fact that eventually I would have to go home, I was still screaming silently though. With my family I got to see many countries, 1000 of beaches and met so many amazing people along the way. I loved every single day of it, but it was first when I started to travel by myself that I really became mesmerized by it.

I and 2 friends decided to go around the world when we finished our school. We worked every weekend, ever single afternoon, between final exams and school we managed to save up what we needed for tickets, insurance, all kinds of vaccinations and 6months abroad. 

Just the planning was endless hours of dreams, assumptions and hope entwined and brought down to earth by a tight budget. Even though we were well aware that millions had done the trip before us we felt like pioneers. 18, ready to concur the world!

Can't stop laughing when I think back at that first long 6 month trip. God the rookie mistakes we did! The ridiculous budget we had that made us sleep 3 in one bed most of the time, just to be able to stay away for a while longer. I was appalled that one of the girls ordered orange juice for breakfast. Budget people, budget! I may also mention that we booked our plane tickets so stupidly that we had to go on a bus for 60 hours to the airport because we decided to fly in and out from the same airport. We did this twice, first from Bangkok (had to head back from Bali to Bangkok to fly to Australia.. ) then from Sydney (yes, we made it to the far north just to get on the bus all the way back..). We also booked a month in California, in February, but only backed for sun and beaches. Walking around Beverly Hills, freezing equipped with every piece of clothing we had made up for a fun picture. Same in Mexico where we ventured in hopes that it would be warmer. It wasn't.. 

But we had fun, we were in a sense brand new, shiny and happy. We met so many people that I will never forget, some I'm still in contact with today, 12 years later. 

Coming back home after that trip I knew 3 things. I was in no way as grown up as I had thought, Stockholm was always going to be home and I would never stop traveling.