A couple of days ago I received a package from my mom back home. In there I found a note written by me 4 years ago. It started with “I am happy”.

“I am happy. I don’t know if it’s Robyn that’s singing in my ears or the calm wobbly rhythm of the train. When I look back to the me of a couple of years ago, I’ve grown so much. Not literally of course. I am much more confident and I just feel better in my skin.”

I’ve always had a thing for writing a couple of sentences here and there. In this case, I lost/forgot about it and after years my mom found it in a forgotten ’empty’ notebook that I had put in one of her drawers.

And I am happy she did. It made me smile and brought back the me of 4 years ago. It’s interesting how much can change in a few years. How a person can change. For example, the note said as well: “I love the life I have now […] I want to have fun and then when I am 28 I’ll have kids.

Oops. Sorry to disappoint you ‘past me’, I am 28 and not quite there yet. There are no kids on the horizon and none in my belly. That’s for later. It is funny how perspectives change over the years.

But the happiness stayed.

In general I am a happy person, but I’m also very emotional. My boyfriend calls it my emotion elevator. When I get excited, I’m immediately SUPER excited. I take the elevator all the way up to the highest floor of the ‘Happy Building’. And then when something doesn’t come through, my elevator crashes all the way down to the basement.

Travelling makes me super happy. But seriously, I’m often going up and down that elevator. I don’t know if people realise it, but travelling means dealing with a lot of ups and downs and A LOT OF emotions. To begin with there’s the departure. Leaving the people you love behind, to do what you want (right?). You have to learn to be alone, try to figure things out, you sometimes are or feel lost, you’re out of money or you miss your friends.

But then you suddenly find yourself flying above Hoover Dam in a tiny plane, discovering the Arizona desert or swimming in the most beautiful bay you’ve ever seen. You realize how lucky and spoiled you are. Travelling is like being on a roller coaster.

I love my roller coaster, with all its emotions. I wouldn’t want to delete the bad or sad moments, they help you shape into the person you are now. I know it is cliché, but it is true. You can only personally grow from living all those intense emotions, the highs and the lows.

Let’s applaud the happy moments and embrace the sad ones. And being able to share those stories on this blog, makes me even happier.

I didn’t start blogging that long ago – for real let’s say. In the beginning it was me sharing my travel tales to friends and family back home. But then I noticed how much I liked travelling, writing, taking pictures and meeting people. So I’m definitely going all the way for it now. I have to admit I find myself sometimes struggling with HOW much I should share with everyone. We often read happy, inspiring stories online, but posts where people reveal themselves are a bit rarer.

From realising that you don’t fit in well on a road trip, what once happened to me in New Zealand to admitting that it’s not always easy to leave everything and everyone behind. Sometimes when I write I think about that stupid girl who didn’t like me at Uni or that guy I had a fling with and what they would think. Well, screw them. I do what I want, but of course no one is never without doubts.

But then I read the Young Adventuress blog, I just love her easy, straightforward and honest style. She obviously doesn’t care what other people think and even dedicated one of her posts to all the hate mail she got. I love the way she tackles the mean people out there. And she’s right!

Travelling isn’t always pretty and fabulous, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. It is an unforgettable and addictive feeling to have the world surprise you, by its beauty and by its generous people. (note: it is possible I lost my sense of reality by being in New Zealand, people are just the sweetest here).

Do you want to join me on my roller coaster? You would make me really happy (oops, here I go again to the top floor in my elevator..).

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Do you ever feel lonely while travelling? What do you do against it? And what are your unforgettable happiest moments on the road? I’m curious to hear about them!