Time is flying, and it’s been over 2 years since my biggest adventure yet: Solo-traveling to Vietnam.

In this Vietnam blog-series I would like to give you insight into the amazing views I captured through my lens, but also show you what happened before, between or after these shots were taken.

But first, we have to kick it off with the beginning of my journey.

Where it all began

2 years ago, I was a different human being than I am now. Don’t get me wrong, I was awesome back then, but now I definitely have had some personal growth experience. I have seen the world from a completely different view. Besides having grown through the obstacles I had to face, I also met so many inspiring people and life taught me so many lessons.

It was April, when I decided I didn’t want to spend Christmas at home. I knew I was going to need a break from different things, so I decided, Christmas is the time to head off into a foreign country. To begin with, I was looking for destinations close by, in Europe. But then I thought, why not just go all-in and head far away. So there I was, booking my flight for my trip to Vietnam. After booking my flight I felt amazing, but I didn’t tell my parents yet: I thought I had to look for a travel mate before being able to tell them. Obviously I wasn’t completely convinced that I was going to find somebody, that would travel over Christmas, but I gave it a shot. However, after asking several friends and telling them about my idea, I couldn’t find anybody to travel with me. Great, I thought as I made up an imaginary friend, while telling my parents about my travel plans.

My parents were kind of cool with it. Of course, what they didn’t know was, that I was solo-traveling to Vietnam. And I am 100% sure that they would have worried more if they knew I was solo-traveling. And till this day I haven’t told them about my solo-traveling, but secretly I think they already know.

Preparing for the solo-traveling trip

Ultimately, it was down to my backpack and me. The trip was approaching, the months went by, I had already equipped myself with all the essentials, so that this trip would be amazing.

The night before I departed, we had our annual skating club’s Christmas Feast and it was then and there that I realized I was leaving in less than 10 hours. I started to feel this weird sense of anxiety. The fear of having made a mistake with this whole travel idea. All these thoughts seemed to come out of nowhere and I had to hold back my tears. My friends at the rink caught on and comforted me, and reassured me, that I was going to have a blast. It relieved me to know that I had support on my first solo-traveling trip, even if my parents didn’t know or approve. So we laughed and enjoyed the last moments together before we said our goodbyes.

I could barely sleep that night. Thoughts kept filling my mind, I was nervous, excited and anxious all in one. I knew it was going to be great and that I would enjoy my time, but there was this uncertainty in the back of my head. What if something happened? Like, if I went missing of hurt myself? And then in all those situations I would find myself alone, without any help. And of course all these thoughts were surreal, cause in reality, when you solo-travel you meet so many awesome people that help you throughout your journey. But of course, I didn’t know that beforehand, ’cause I had never solo-traveled before.

Ready for take-off to Vietnam

So as dawn broke, I headed to the train station, to catch my train to the airport. All these thoughts swirled around in my head and this specific thought came to my mind: What have I gotten myself into? But there was no going back now. It was happening.

I arrived at the airport, just my backpack and me, checked in and went to the gate. It was already time for boarding, so I messaged my last goodbyes, turned my phone off and headed onto the airplane. And then I was there, sitting in this big airplane with flashy lights and I thought, “Oh boy, this is it. I am going to Vietnam, ALL BY MYSELF.” Nervous, but excited I had a giant grin on my face. “I’m going to Vietnam!”, I excitingly thought. I felt really badass for pulling through with this! So I could barely sit still, because I was so excited to finally arrive. Yet I was tired, but my nerves wouldn’t allow me to fall asleep. So I turned on the TV and enjoyed the flight.

This was the first step to freedom and to truly finding my passion for photography and storytelling. This adventure, I call my Vietnam Adventure, where I was challenged in every way possible, has helped me to discover myself and find out what truly matters to me. Stay tuned and find out how this story continues and how I made my passion into my paycheck in my next Vietnam Blogpost!