My 26th Birthday

On 19th March I turned 26 and I celebrated my birthday between two countries: breakfast in Bratislava and dinner in Budapest! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.

One year ago, on my 25th birthday, I thought I had everything I wanted. I celebrated my freedom, my independence surrounded by family and friends. And yet I couldn't have been more wrong. Yes I was content but I wasn't fully happy and I had no idea why. I realise now that what I believed was freedom and independence was in fact comfort disguised as empowerment of making my own choices.

Instead I didn't have a choice: my days were pre-written and my life was heading towards a path that I could already picture by heart. That was precisely what I didn't want. I didn't want to know already how my year was going to play down, I didn't want to wait for the weekend or for holidays to be free to do what made me happy, I didn't want to be tired from a job where I felt replaceable and where I wasn't making any positive impact to the world. I was chasing the wrong dream and running down the wrong path.

Only one year later everything is different! How much can a person change in 365 days?

The answer is: COMPLETELY.

I don't have a flat or a full-time job anymore, I live with only 80 items out of a backpack, I live each week in a different country, I spend my days walking around a new city, filming, editing, creating content and trying to figure out a way to make a difference in this world. One year ago I never slept in a hostel, I never owned a backpack, I never travelled for more than 2 weeks, I never believed I would have been capable of achieving what I am doing right now.

Instead, I have seen and done more in the last 20 days than in the last few years. And that is exactly the kind of present I wanted for myself. I was so bored of my life, of all the social conventions, the unwritten rules of what defines success and how a person is supposed to live their life. It took me 26 years but finally I have control over my life, my time, my money, my possessions, how I spend my days, I rule my world and I answer to nobody.

Was it hard? HELL YES! I was terrified of failing, of hating full-time travel, of not having enough money; and I didn't know if I would have been capable of living day by day and leaving behind everything that was familiar to me. But the alternative terrified me more: the idea that I could die any moment and never have seen the world, or tried to live differently by giving this dream of mine a fair shot was too much.

I am 26, and I celebrated my birthday with vegan chocolate pancakes for breakfast in Bratislava and a delicious vegan burger for dinner in Budapest. I couldn't be happier, I couldn't be prouder of myself.