Rerouting. A journey from Seattle to Berlin and to the world.

The beginning of my new traveling adventure is about to start and I would be lying if I say that I am not scared. It is incredible how times flies in front of our eyes, how memories continue to evolve and dissolve, how new plans are made and how we continue to meet new people and say goodbye to others. This 5-year experience of living in the United States shaped me to be the person that I am right now. A more mature, responsible, and world-minded person. Sadly, it is time to say goodbye to Uncle Sam for the moment and welcome new adventures across the ocean.

 

With Anya back in Rome, Italy.

 

My original travel plan was to leave Seattle on July 3rd and meet two of my friends in Berlin, Germany. One of them is a girl from Hawaii named Anya whom I met during Semester at Sea Fall 2015. My other friend is Yunus a Turkish-German boy whom I met during an Erasmus party in Istanbul, Turkey back in 2014. Yunus was also an exchange student at Bahcesehir University with me.

 

Me and Yunus back in Istanbul, Turkey.

When we first met, Yunus came to me and told that I was going to be his sister. That he wanted me to be his friend and nothing else. I remember laughing hard at him as he did not even introduce himself to me at that moment, he just went straight to the point just as Germans are. No chase. Just reality. Ultimately we became really good friends.

 

I was supposed to meet them on July the 4th but the Canadian Immigration Office did not process my transit visa on time so I had to change routes. I knew that if I wanted to leave the US on time I had to reroute to NYC instead of flying through Toronto. Happily, the airline changed my itinerary for a small fee which was awesome. However, this sudden change in the itinerary will make me arrive 4 days late which unfortunately means that I won’t be able to see one of my friends.

Now the current plan is:

4th of July: Seattle
9th – 13 th of July: Berlin
13th – 21st July: Paris
Continue traveling

The idea is to travel Europe then to travel to Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and then cross to Asia (maybe start in Thailand). At some point of my travels, I want to write about people and about their stories. I want to show people that there is positivity out there waiting to be used.  I want to be inspired by actions and write about them.

If anyone has any advice on where to go in France or where to visit in Europe please comment below. Any word of advice helps e.g: cheap hostels, cool towns to see, cool things to do, random towns to visit, archeological sites to see, activities, festivals, what to eat, cool clubs, etc.

Have a lovely 4th of July everyone.