Hi, I’m Anna
Long story short
Until my early twenties, I had never left Europe. I had travelled to less than 10 countries and the farthest I had been to was Russia on a school trip. I had no idea what a long-haul or connecting flight was. Nor did I know anything about visa application or vaccination against exotic scary disease. I studied engineering and worked full-time during 7 years.
One day, I left my home country for good to take a new position…, then I gave up my apartment as my job would keep me abroad too often…, then I quit my job…
Initial plan was to travel 2 to 3 months, which soon turned into six. And it keeps going.
How did it start
About 2 years ago I gave back the keys of the apartment I was renting and left with my suitcases. Since that day I have never spent more than four weeks in a row in the same place. And I love it!
I had travelled before, sometimes extensively, but never like this. I always had a home sweet home I could go back to. Even for just a couple of days stopover, it was still home. I had a big closet full of clothes, too many books piling on my shelves, a cute kitchen and a comfortable bathroom waiting for me. It was a big decision to sell the furnitures for the VAT value and give away the rest. I kept only some clothes, my books and the modest wine collection I had gathered over the years. I put everything in a small rental storage and I was off.
As of date I have been to over 60 countries across 6 continents, for work or holiday. The majority I visited during the last two years and a half. I’m not on a race on completing a world tour or hitting the 100 countries. It kind of just happened before I even realized it. Time flies!
Creating Horizenith
I met many people on the road who asked me if I had a travel blog. When I replied by the negative most of them looked at me with wide open eyes and asked “but why???”. I still do not have an answer to this question. Maybe I was too much focused on my current and upcoming travels, or I left my work take too much place in my life or simply I never actually gave serious thoughts about it. Well, no excuses now!
I felt before that I could manage by sending a few emails or posting pictures from time to time to keep friends and family updated. As travel and number of relations increased, it has become more and more difficult and time consuming to keep up. I soon started receiving complaints about mailbox capacity and always more questions about the places I am travelling to.
What’s up now
So here we are. I created Horizenith to share my travel experience to a wider audience, including my favourite pictures, some tips and also anecdotes from all over the world. I have a huge backlog to put online and will do my best to upload content as often as possible in order to catch up progressively.
Horizenith actually echoes my philosophy and way of life: look ahead for new horizons but don’t forget to enjoy the moment. Setting myself challenges to tackle is what keeps me going. I never take something for granted. I’m an eager learner and strongly believe that making mistakes is normal and beneficial! A reminder that we are only humane and far from perfect. I learned a great deal during my travels and continue to do so everyday.
Currently on a break from work, I have set up a busy and exciting travel schedule for the upcoming months, mainly in Africa and then back to Central Asia. I will be travelling on a budget most of the time. But I do mean to sleep in a proper bed at night! Whenever possible I will use road, rail or navigation instead of air.
Travel style
I base my travel itinerary on what I call my “travel inspirations”. It can be a book I read, a film I watched, someone mentioning an interesting place during a conversation… I then do my “homework”, ie some basic research on the country and logistics. Mostly I rely on the locals I meet on the road and their knowledge of the area they are living in. As a result, I don’t know most of the time where I will be sleeping the day after tomorrow. Very often I end up somewhere “off the track” at some point. I also do my best to avoid the tourists crowd and keep my trips relatively short (less than a month by country).
My way of travelling has evolved a lot. From classic European holiday to International business travel, and now independent “on-the-ground” solo female traveller. I recently gave up the suitcase against the backpack, something I never thought I would ever do! This is for a limited time but I deemed it was the best option to cross Africa with the highest flexibility possible.
I can’t wait to hear from you! Feel free to reach out with any questions, suggestions or comments you may have. I will gladly exchange with you and provide you with more insights.
Happy reading! And for those on the road too, Happy Travel!
Anna