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On February 20 2019 I left my home to start a new adventure at the other side of the world. I was nineteen and had never been abroad on my own before. It was such a major step for me to get out of my comfort zone for three months. Familiar words out of my mouth were "I love to travel", but I never really traveled before I started my adventure in Aruba; and that is something I know now. My mom, dad and my back-then boyfriend brought me to the airport. I felt the nervousness creeping upon me and the thought "I could still go back home with them right now" flashed through my mind for a split-second before reassuring myself this was something I desperately needed. The reason I went to Aruba for three months was because of my teaching practice at an international primary school. I was a second year college student back then and it would be my second teaching practice, in a Montessori class with children aged three to six years old. The flight took ten hours and when the pilot said the famous words "Cabin crew, prepare for landing" I looked out of the little window to see that we were quickly approaching the island; that was the moment I knew everything was going to be alright. During those three months I have met people from all over the world, not only during teaching practice but also outside of that. I have made a connection with the locals and some of them will be my friends for life. Aruba started to feel like home. I knew the people, the places where you must go and got the chance to discover and live the local life. Looking back, I am grateful that I went out of my comfort zone. It has been an experience that offered me enrichment, growth and friends for life. It has been a year since this adventure and I have traveled more places that I never thought I would go to, thanks to this experience. I may not have been born in Aruba or lived there for an extremely long time, but I fell in love with the island and it feels like my home. Due to this experience, I was able to give traveling a meaning; it is not going on your usual two-week holiday in a resort, it is about getting yourself out there, doing things you never dreamed of doing and making a connection with the place and it's people. Now I am finally able to say that I love to travel.