Nomad life: what traveling for one year taught us about dreams

A mix of anxiety, lots of expectations, and chills going down our spines. Exactly one year ago, we were closing our suitcase and getting ready to start this journey. On paper, a crazy and unconventional dream. In our minds, a huge doubt about what was to come. And in our hearts the wish to make a dream come true.

Words aren’t enough to say how we felt during those first months: the butterflies in our stomachs when passing through the first border control (and getting our first yes of our journey), the first night we spent on a bus while going to a new destination, the first time we volunteered (and we pushed ourselves as if we were CEO’s of a multinational), the first times we talked to people of other nationalities, the first time we arrived at the house of a complete stranger for a house sitting.

We celebrated each day as if it were a new battle that we won. ‘We are here! We are doing this! It’s working! ‘ When problems crossed our way, we didn’t even panic. We managed to fix them and then we spent hours remembering and laughing at them. We were too amazed by everything that we were living to be bothered.

Soon, we realized the road was generous to us. We met many good people. Doors were opened to us. We saw things that were so stunning they didn’t even look real. It was as if we woke up every day with a carte blanche from the universe.

In the meantime, we learn. Every day. About languages, lifestyles, the art of packing a practical bag, understanding public transportation, and how to befriend new people. About arriving in a new city and feeling at home on the first day. We learned about ourselves. Who we really are, what speaks to our hearts, and who we want to be.

The biggest lesson we’ve learned, though, is that we must be faithful to ourselves. No dreams are too crazy or too big that they can’t be accomplished when we work hard—an extra dose of enthusiasm and determination are always welcomed.

Today, we are celebrating one year that we closed our bags for the first time. Although being grateful for everything that has happened so far, we celebrate this day with new dreams in our hearts—wild ones we may say! We still have a long way to go. There are many goals to reach, some of them are big enough to cause us that mixed feeling of the early days all over again.

But we have a year-long journey in our luggage, now. We have friends around the world and skills that we never thought we would have. We have faith. We want to make a difference. Above all, we are grateful for everything that the road has given us. Let more plans, projects, and butterflies in the stomach come. The road still has a lot to show us. About the world and, especially, about ourselves.