20 Flights
71 Hours on the plane
10 Countries
97 Days abroad
63 ECTS credits
5 Different jobs
4 Different homes
Countless memories and smiles, and a few tears as well
Needless to say, this year has been really productive for me in many ways. In terms of studies, I have handed out my bachelor’s thesis and manage to finish most of the courses for my bachelor’s degree. At the same time, I’ve worked various jobs from waitressing to subtitle localisation. I’ve volunteered as the president of a student association and in a business event, and I’ve started an internship in what I consider to be my first “real” working environment, meaning that it’s something that will get me forward in life, not just something to earn a little money. But what pops out the most in this year is the amount of traveling I’ve done.
I’ve always been a traveler and loved discovering new places, but this year I decided to make it my goal to see and do as many things as possible, and especially places I’ve not seen yet. So I started the year in Thailand, from where I went to Vietnam. In summer, I spent a weekend in Prague and a week in Poland, which were both places I’d never been to before. Poland was also my first real solo trip, which got me excited to do more of that in the future. In November, I made my first trip to the US and discovered Los Angeles. In addition to those, I visited places I’d already been to, like London, Stockholm and Tallinn, and now I am finishing the year in Paris. I’d say this is not bad.
This year has been, even on a global level, a year when climate change and sustainability have been brought up more than before. For me as well, it’s been a year for learning about my impact on the world and ways to reduce the damage I do. I’d say the realisation of the year for me has been: climate change needs to be stopped, and I need to do my part for it. I am of course not nearly there yet, but I have tried to take small steps whenever I can, and will keep doing more of that in the future as well. So, on my road to discovering my carbon footprint, flying has of course been a topic I’ve not been able to avoid. It is something I feel very bad about every time I book a flight, but at the same time, something that I’m not ready to give up. What I can do though, is reduce the amount of flying I do and choose more sustainable options whenever I can. Roughly put, I will aim for more countries on my next list than flights, even if I don’t believe the number of countries is always a very accurate index.
2018. You were such a good year to me. A year of freedom, opportunities, countless new experiences and encounters. I can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store for me. Whatever that is, I will make sure to make the most of it.
Ellimaija 