The last 6 months I’ve been travelling around without a fixed plan. I go wherever the wind blows or according to where my friends live when they welcome me into their homes. I’ve found myself in the Balkan since September, falling in love with their hospitality and beautiful nature. After a month in Crete, I’ve stayed with my amazing friends in Athens who gave me space and the love I needed at that time. Together with a Belgian friend, I traveled through Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia, meeting many other beautiful souls. After this, I decided to spend a couple of weeks in Bulgaria, a country I’ve been many times since the last few years and spend some time with my friends here.
It was my first time to visit the picturesque town of Bansko, which has many ski and spa resorts down the Pirin mountains in the south of Bulgaria. It is the Belgian guy Jurgen who decided to come live here a few years ago after we met each other at my first youth exchange project in Bulgaria. The first thing he did when I arrived in the town, was bringing me to the coworking space where he spends most of his time. I entered the room, which was empty because it was already quite late and weekend, and JUST by the energy there, I told Jurgen: “waw, this is a great place to be.” And from that moment I’ve already decided I would come back to this place. I’ve had the opportunity to meet 3 of his coworking friends immediately with dinner and we’ve spent the weekend together doing loads of fun stuff.
After visiting other friends in Bulgaria, I came back to Bansko for one week and immediately this wonderful couple I’ve spend the other weekend with invited me to stay at their spare room above the coworking room. I would volunteer at the coworking space in exchange for free use of their facilities. Yesterday was my first day of ‘working’ and I got so much more in return than I could have ever imagined. It was also my birthday and it was so special! After posting a message on the social media’s members group that everyone was welcome to share dinner with me in a restaurant, 14 people showed up. Most of them I just met that day, some of them I haven’t even met before! They all decided to get to know the new girl on her birthday and spend their time with me. Above the company, I received flowers and presents, they arranged a cake for me and one anonymous person paid the dinner for the whole group. Many people offered me advice on my ideas and business plan, invited me to their workshop or online courses…
The night of my birthday we went to a natural hot spring in the middle of the forest, to talk about the meaning of life, with the light of the full moon covering us. These are my kind of people!
This place, the people… they inspire me. They make me feel seen and welcome. They included me immediately in their family and are extremely supportive. I feel the peace and excitement in my heart at the same time. The entrepreneurial energy makes ambitious to learn, grow and to make a change in the world. My tickets to spend the winter in this mountain paradise are booked. I AM HOME.
