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I held my master degree in one hand and a more exciting plane ticket in the other. Packing one suitcase and a hope that my au-pair family will not turn out to be too creepy too soon I got off the plane in Gatwick. I got lucky, daddy knew how to sing American pie, mum was my role model and kids were cute, except when they were not. The good ones never last too long, she told me when I took that suitcase after six months of blissful time and headed for a train to make it big in London. Well, no one tells you usually start small, meaning: your roommate is lovely except for her abusive boyfriend, the job that is supposed to pay your expenses until you find your dream one lasts two years and you are surrounded by thousands of people every day and none of them talks to you. I cannot lie, I love London with all my heart. When that crazy Hungarian housemate of mine started chopping woods in the middle of the night, I told myself that the sound of it would be more natural in the actual forest. So I kicked the chair on my way out, took the suitcase and headed for Canada. What a hilarious flight attendant, must be a good sign, I told myself and landed in Calgary. City too flat for me, surely the Canadian Rockies looks majestic. Indeed, they were. The same as a year I spent there living in the mountains. Bear in mind: never hike alone, the bear you encounter on the way down from the mountain cannot care less about you, but you surely care about him. After adventure like this, I cannot stress enough how boring it is to go back to your mundane life so take any opportunity you can to find a new one. Here we go, on the last one to Australia. Even the flow of wine on board cannot compensate for the sixteen hours of flight and your swallowed legs, but the cheesy sunshine on the beach definitely can. Drinking beer for Christmas is surely a new experience, but eggnog in the middle of the summer does not sound like a funny idea. You learn view shortcuts, like Chrissie stands for Christmas and sunnies for sunglasses, because there is a lot of valuable time to be saved. And once I hit the road again, without the engagement ring to keep me in the country, I stopped by for a sweet potato latte in Tokyo to hang out with my best friend I met in Canada. When I went for a ramen, stopped by in onsen and then drank matcha latte, all I needed was to stay there. Well, my bad I did not and now all I have left is to dream at work about my travels for the past five years. And to think where I am heading next, because who would have thought that a time off working as an au pair for an English family is going to end up after five amazing years in Japan. Sitting with my friends eating sushi and drinking sake. How lost in translation of me.