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Sometimes I forget how incredible people I’ve met during these past two years. Then I go back to browse my photos, and suddenly it all comes back to me.

First Copenhagen and the magical selected seven. Then Australia, European Bartender School, surf camp, Christmas, New Year’s eve. Chicken papa. A giant spider on my shoulder, a giant spider on the floor, a giant spider in the tree. Eating pizza on a deck and witnessing a random dolphin just swimming around in front of us, among all the rest random things Australia made us encounter. New Zealand and free seafood meal from a random hostel friend who was just feeling lonely. The craziest tide but the most beautiful views in Kaikoura. Walking around the Hobitton. Swimming in smelly Rotorua. Dragging some abandoned Christmas tree in Budapest in a February night with some Aussies. Ireland and trekking in Killarney. Legendary night in Dublin. Edinburgh and my dear hostel and all those people. Nine months. Captain’s. The Jazz Bar. Finnegans and Opium. Road trip around Scottish highlands and Isle of Skye with my Finns. Le-gen-dary. Falling asleep in the staircase. Hanging around in the hallway and karaoke at the reception. The list is never ending. Iceland and the people. The road trips. The people’s pool and the snow storm. Northern lights and lying on the snowy ground, staring the dancing sky. My birthday and a surprise cake. Human dartboard in the cellar. Drunken hostel owner. Will never ever forget that week… Asia. Oh boy. Hitchhiking in Thailand. Meditation retreat and turtle lake. Oh my Buddha. Tubing and getting sick in Laos. Camping on a beach and swimming with glowing plankton in Cambodia. Sleeping in sleeper buses, trying not to get hit by a scooter and having my friend’s birthday on the top of a skyscraper in Vietnam. Almost getting drowned in Malaysia and having to trek hours in the rain in the middle of a jungle to get to our hostel. Having a coffee with a millionaire in Singapore at one of the Southeast Asia’s best luxury hotels. Singing Backstreet Boys and sipping Singapore Slings. Practicing yoga and climbing up volcano in Bali. Enjoying cocktails at a beach bar in Gili Islands. Getting almost eaten by dogs in Lombok. Spending four days on a boat in Indonesia, 100 % sure about being shipwrecked at any second, especially during the big storm. Snorkeling at one of the best spots in the world, swimming with giant turtles and manta rays and hundreds of different colored of fish. Having the best green tea frappe in Flores. Traveling all the way from Bali to Koh Phi Phi in Thailand, in 24 hours. (Too hot hot damn.) Phi Phi, Krabi, crazy times. Never again. After that Bang!, Bangkok, and finally Finland, home sweet home.

So many places. So many memories. Too many places! Too many memories! I seriously need to calm down with this traveling. 😀

If anyone ever asks me what was the best part of my travels, I will answer the people. One of the best things about staying at hostels are the other travelers. Life can be really colorless and, well, meaningless if you don’t have the right people there sharing it with you. When you travel you get to meet these amazing people from all around the world. You become friends with them, you experience all sorts of stuff together and if you’re lucky, you might even meet the partner of your dreams on the road. I’ve heard that happens actually quite a lot. But oh boy, I love travelers. They’re such an amazing source of life. They live in the moment. They’re so chilled. No stress, they just let life happen at it’s own phase. No rush. No schedule. They’re always willing to help out, whatever issue or mission you’re on. They’re always up for having fun and making life worth living. They’re exciting and interesting, I’ve had one of the best conversations with travelers. It’s because their eyes and minds are open for new. Every one has their own stories and so you learn a lot about different people and cultures. One of the most common expression among travelers is “sharing is caring”, which all travelers know to be true. Me and my travel mate Maija, we’ll always be grateful for our friend Rob who brought us juice and electrolytes when we needed it the most. Food poisoning hit us and we couldn’t move from the bed, and he kindly came to us and asked if we needed anything. Thanks to him, we survived! 🙂

I often think about the people I’ve met on the road. There’s someone from every continent, except Antarctica. I have so many couches I can sleep on!!! It’s crazy! But what’s even crazier is that we’re all here, living on the same planet, under the same sun and the same moon. Right now, everyone I’ve met are living their lives somewhere else, continuing writing their own stories. My brother once told me to think that the planet earth is a house, a home, and countries are just rooms in it. So when you go anywhere, you’re just in another room. The thought of that brings comfort, it makes you feel you were closer to both home and all the rest of your friends, no matter where you are. 🙂 I like that.

My dear travel mates, I hope you’re all well and happy, wherever you are. I don’t know what most of you are doing right now, where you’ve ended up or how life’s treating you. I know we can’t live the past again but instead, let us cherish the memory of us and the good times we’ve had together and then embrace it. It’s important to remember, especially if you’re feeling down or lonely after your travels. Oh boy, me and you, and our adventures together. And you and the rest of your travel buddies. All the unforgettable memories we’ve created, the breathtaking moments we’ve lived. Only travelers can understand what kind of a richness in life it is to have friends and experiences like that. So I thank you. 🙂 xx

Here’s some beautiful people who I’ve been lucky to meet during these past two years. I’m so grateful our paths crossed and that you’re a part of my life and memories now and forever more. 🙂 xxx

Sleeper’s Square. / Phu Quoc and crazy boat people!

My lovely people in Bali and Lombok. ❤

Maija and Kuala Lumpur. / Edinburgh, Salla and Rob.

(N)iceland.

Edinburgh and my hostel.

NZ and Australia. ❤

Iceland / Edinburgh

Cambodia / Bali

Chicken papa and Saana in Australia. / Copenhagen and selected seven. 😉 / Iceland.

Cake competition in Edinburgh with Rob. Yum.

It’s surely been quite a couple of years! No regrets. Thanks for sharing the moments with me. You people are the light of my life! Keep your head up and mind set in your ways, sings Ben Howard. ❤ I wish you all the best and who knows, maybe we’ll meet again one day. 🙂 x

“Travel light, live light, spread the light, be the light.” -Yogi Bhajan

Peace n love, until the next time xxx

– Jenna

"It's a lifestyle. It's almost like another life in another world."

Traveling,

What a beautiful way to live.

Just think about it. Every day is a brand new day. You’re not in rush, you don’t even have schedules. You just… are.

Here’s a sunrise from Mount Batur, Bali.

When you’re on the road life flows so well. You see, experience, grow and learn. It’s the circle of life. It is exhausting, yes, but also very rewarding. Life rolls forward, like a wheel going down the hill, and you actually feel like living. It’s like a new world, a new life.

Traveling by yourself pushes you far out from your comfort zone, that’s for sure. It turns your life upside down, both, in a good and in a bad way. You will have to face reality in many ways, including challenges you’ve never even thought about before. Whether it was getting stuck at the Singapore border when your bus has brutally left you there and you have no money and no one speaks English, or when you’re deadly sure a boat you’re on will sink soon because of the massive waves. (Yes, been there.)

It’s not fun anymore, it’s facing the worst moments and worst fears in life and having to do it alone. But you learn to trust life and most importantly have faith in people. What ever happens, you will get back on your feet. Even though if you were by yourself, you will find a way. Besides, there’s always someone willing to help you. I’ve met the most friendliest and helpful people during my travels, whether it was a fellow backpacker or a local. It doesn’t matter, if they see someone in need, they will help. Countless number of stranger have helped me when I’ve needed it the most, and I am so grateful. One day, I will be in their position, helping someone else as well. 🙂 Just wait for it.

Our driver and my British friend in Lombok, Indonesia! Ah, the best driver in the world.

A local woman weaving in Bali, Indonesia. 🙂

You learn how to keep your head up no matter what happens. You become a real survivor. You become The Hero and The Ruler of your own life. You can do whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it. Just think about it, the freedom. There’s no one telling you what you can or cannot do, in fact, you can do anything! (at least try…)

You will learn so much about life, people, cultures and most importantly yourself. And when you go back home you will feel like another person from another planet… But we’ll get back to that very soon.

The best thing is that you will find yourself living the most incredible moments of your life. Those unforgettable moments when it’s actually hard to understand it’s your life you’re living right now. You are so in the moment it’s unreal, I’m sure you all know what I mean. 🙂 The best thing is that you’re most likely surrounded by people with the same mindset, and there you are, together, just chilling somewhere, watching the sun setting behind a canyon or moon rising over the sea. It’s almost like a dream, but it’s real! You create amazing memories with amazing people, your new friends from all around the world. You find yourself falling for strangers and life all around you. You enjoy life so much it hurts. There’s so much beauty around you it’s almost hard to comprehend. You really live fully. 🙂 You became fearless and face every day as a new adventure. Who will you meet? Where will you end up? Who knows! But you’re up for it!

@ Gili Trawagan, Lombok, Indonesia – The Sunset Beach

Traveling by yourself will enrich and rearrange your life, in a good way. Whatever happens, it will lead you forward to whatever it is that you’re seeking for. You know why? Because you will make it happen.

You learn how to go for the things you want in life. You learn to take chances, because in the end, that’s all you’ve done in the past months! Taking the chance when riding a scooter up a curvy mountain road in Northern Laos (where traffic rules are more like suggestions), or taking the chance when getting into a dodgy taxi (and getting scammed!), or just simply taking the chance when choosing blindly a meal from a menu that is completely in Vietnamese! You try, you go for it. You don’t think about losing. You’re curious! So what, if you will end up eating frog legs, haha. It doesn’t matter if it tastes like sh*t, it’s a great story!!

@ Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Traveling is great. It’s challenging, but great. Just like coming home…

Coming home.

Silence. Everywhere. Not really quite sure what to think and how to act. It’s a culture shock, it’s a shock in every way. Suddenly you have only certain kind of people around you, no new acquaintances. No new travel mates from Canada, no new roommates from Germany. No hostel staff, no different languages. Only one language, one culture. One bed, one room, one kitchen. One house. One city. One country.

Home?

I came home about a month ago. I apologize my dear readers for not updating my blog in six months, but I just couldn’t. Backpacking in Asia did not go too well with writing a blog at the same time, at least not for me. But I’m here now! After 4,5 months in Southeast Asia and Indonesia I find myself back in my old room in Finland. Feelings very much confused, not sure what to think about home anymore. What is home? Who am I? Who was I before my travels?

What do I want now? Should I go or should I stay? What will make me happy?

I’ve read multiple articles and blog posts, and had multiple conversations about the same issues and feelings I’m experiencing. After traveling or being abroad for quite a while (one and a half years for me), It’s perfectly normal to feel like an alien in your old home. As strange as it sounds, nothing is the same for you anymore although everything is the same. You’ve changed, a lot. You don’t feel like home home. Home is not just a place anymore – it’s the people, it’s where the heart is. Thankfully, I have my people here around me, helping me a lot. Friends, family, people who actually matter.

But for me, home country is now more like another destination, except this time you know all the people and you’re familiar with the streets. You don’t really get lost anymore. You’re safe all the time. You don’t have to ask for help. You experience hardly any new things or meet new people. Nothing’s really happening.

For me it was a shock, a proper culture shock to return home. It was (and is, still) really difficult to adjust. But I know it will take time. And during that time I will use my blog to re-live my travels. I will write you my stories, tell you where I ended up and how, who I met and why. I will share you my photos of the most beautiful places I’ve been to. I will share you memories that are golden. Through my stories I can feel a bit more alive again and I remember how lucky I’ve been with my life. And I hope to inspire and encourage at least a few of you to go and explore as well. 🙂

Anyway, just enjoy the ride!

P.S. If you want to sing out, sing out! (Thank you, Cat.)

@ Flores, Indonesia