I didn’t have near enough money on my bank account but I was determined to do it anyway. My heart had been shattered by a guy that didn’t seem to care, I had just graduated from uni and my future was an unwritten piece of paper.
The “responsible” thing to do would have been to stay at that solid job I had acquired for the summer, work for a few more months and leave with a lot more money saved up to play it safe. But driven by heartache and impatience I said f*ck it, now or never, and booked that one way ticket to Peru.
I didn’t have much of plan, all I knew was that I wanted to see Latin America, learn Spanish, take photos, meet people and then spend the summer road tripping and hike my way through the western United States and eventually Canada. Ideally I’d make it all the way to Alaska. I had about one year to accomplish this dream before returning to Sweden to “settle, grow up and get serious.”
Turned out someone had different plans for me.
Half way through that trip I stopped for a moment, trying to take it all in. I realized I was vibrating with so much happiness, waking up almost every morning with butterflies in my belly feeling that the universe so fully had my back that I made the promise to myself there and then; I was gonna keep living this life for as long as it made me feel this happy.
I looked at my shoes, they were dirty and had big holes in them. I was definitely experiencing financial constraints but I was breathing, eating healthy amazing food, I was learning and growing every day, I kept meeting wonderful people from all over the world, and got to experience the amazing hospitality from the local people of all the places I traveled. It was so humbling and every night I fell asleep high on gratitude. I was also getting more and more passionate about photography as I used my camera every day to try to capture all the beauty along my path.
My plan of returning home and look for a job started to fade away. For the first time in my life I wholeheartedly let go of the expectations on me from other people and society, and with that, doors I didn’t know existed started to open.
Fast forward to today I now work as a professional photographer and travel worldwide to capture the charm and beauty of places around the world for a few large travel companies. I work about two months out of the year and still make more money than I ever did before. The rest of the time I’m away chasing new adventures around the globe, mainly in the mountains where I’ve realized is where I belong.
Now more than ever is a great time to dream up the future you’d love to be living when this is all over. We may not know what the world is going to look like, but we might as well be somewhat prepared with an idea of our ideal life.
Dream big, friends. With shit loads of faith and courage you really can have whatever you want, you just gotta reach out and grab it 💛
Well traveled companions
Poor but happy in Hollywood
Blame My Gypsy Soul 