Every travel blogger says about the pros of travelling and how many things you can learn from that. That you become an open-minded person, helps you to discover yourself. It’s all true, but what does it all mean actually?

I can’t say I discovered myself throughout travelling. It’s not an easy job. But for sure I’m much closer to this than ever before. And I think it’s not an obligatory thing to live happily. But I’m sure you should discover what makes you happy in your life.

http://patrycjaorlowska.xaa.pl/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/20160912_135435-1024x576.jpg  Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro

And you can’t say it’s money, expensive clothes, cars, parties, well-paid job. Do you have any of this? Do you feel happy? Ask any rich person if he’s 100% happy. If someone says yes, it’s not gonna be only because of that.

Money makes life easier. It’s true. And I always dreamt of graduating university, making a good career, and being able to afford everything. Live high life. During my travels I discovered it’s not what’s gonna make me happy. I know, coz I felt 100% happy on many of my trips. And I didn’t have anything apart from my backpack, my experience and… myself. I understood that simple things are the most important ones. I understood I don’t need to pursuit money to be happy. If I have it, I will be thankful because nowadays it’s important too – but as long as I’ll have enough of it to pay my bills, buy a food and ensure other basic needs to me, and in the future to my family – it’s pretty much for me. Of course it doesn’t mean that I won’t be applying in the future for some great jobs, trying to make a career. But if something doesn’t work, I won’t cry. Because I was the happiest in the simplest moments. When I had the walk on the beach during the night with the person I love. When I was having coffee in the cheapest place in the city that I visited for the first time. When I saw the sunset while running in the most quiet village in Spain I’ve ever been to. Or when I was having some cheap wine with my friend on the beach in Gran Canaria.

Traveling showed me how many things you can get without money. I met thousand different people on my trips. With most of them I don’t have any contact anymore – but with some I still keep in touch. But my point is, that we all made some memories together. When I go to couchsurfing meetings, I meet people that I have best fun with. And one day when I come back to this place, and go to this bar, I will think of these people with a smile on my face.

I met my boyfriend during one of my trips. On another side of the world, in the moment when I would have never thought that I’ll fall in love then. And he makes me the happiest woman in this world.

I went to Spain as an au-pair and I’ve met the family that I treat as my own one. A year after that, I went to visit them, and the following year I came back there as an au-pair, even though I gained much experience during these years and I was receiving hundred offers from families living in way more interesting places. But it wasn’t attractive to me, for me attractive was my second family waiting for me in small town in Catalonia. Even though we don’t keep such a good touch every day, every time I go there is like nothing changed.

I also felt freedom. I was free on my trips. Not every trip. When I was a teenager, I had a period in my life when I was passionated by hippie culture and I was dreaming to have born in 60’s to live it and feel free. My dad told me then that you can never be 100% free, even when you think you are, coz you always depend on something – even such a thing as your physiological needs, your health, other people. And it’s 100% true. But on some of my trips I felt I achieved the highest (or almost) level of freedom that a human being can reach.

When I was hitchhiking, there was no way to make everything go perfect. I was in moments when money didn’t matter. Because sometimes everything I could count on was human kindness or myself. I was in situations, when everything could have happened. Sometimes I had no food, no water, no ride, no place to sleep, and sometimes not a thing from it all and it was a night in the middle of nowhere. And first time something like that happened, I was panicked. Even though I was with my friend. But then I had no choice – I had to calm down and figure out what to do. And few hours later, I felt I can do everything in my life. No matter how bad it is, you can always make it better. But it’s also much more difficult to do it alone – you have to open yourself and be kind. I felt the less you own, the more free you are feeling. Because the more you own, the more scared you are about what will happen if something of your basic things is missing. And then when you don’t have it… you kind of find yourself. I’m saying just kind of, but it’s enough to feel free. You find out then how smart a human being can be and that we actually can survive without all the modern facilities (and by a modern facility I mean even access to the running water!). I’m not saying you should/you can live all the time without that, but once you realize it is possibile… the world is yours.

During my trips I met so many people doing different things in their life, that I understood that you don’t necessarily have to go to a great university and graduate from this and work from 9 to 5 every day to have a great life. I understood that life is much more than this and it gives you a lot of opportunities to get a good job.

I also understood that… I don’t have to always understand everything. And it’s totally okay. What am I talking about now?

One day I noticed that every time I was meeting a person with a completely different point of view, a life-style that seemed weird to me, or I was getting to know new culture, I was always trying to explain it all to myself. I just had to, I wasn’t even realizing I was doing that. But at some point I was meeting so, so different people that I just couldn’t understand something. And understanding another culture might be much easier if you like it, but you’re not gonna like culture of every country in this world, and then it gets more difficult to understand these people. But it’s totally okay, coz you don’t have to. I realized that instead of focusing on differences, we should focus on the things that we all have the same, because all the people are also equal in some aspects. And you can just accept the differences, you don’t have to understand them. Something is different, and… that’s it. It might sound pretty cheesy but I think sometimes we just don’t realize the problem. In my opinion, in some societies, like even in my country Poland, many people are judging others all the time… and it can be difficult to understand for them that something is just different and that’s it.

I am still young, and I am still learning life, and I will be learning that all the time. But travelling allowed me to learn a few things that I would never know without it.