Vika Silina

Feb 23rd, 2023

CLC 12
Across the World Alone.
“Hard times create strong people, strong people create good times, good times create weak
people, and weak people create hard times” a quote by G. Michael Hopf that summed up my
experience. In December 2022 I had the opportunity to travel to Australia for a worldwide
church camp, which was an event I had not experienced before, without any direct family for 6
weeks, I was with my best friend and with that came its own challenges to support and deal with
issues at hand. I didn’t know it then, but this trip would shape me to find out my own strengths
and weaknesses within life. The best way to find out who you are is to throw yourself into
something you’ve never experienced before, to see how you might react to situations.
My eyes were suddenly open to the endless possibility's life has in store. I was finally
experiencing things in a perspective I thought only existed in the movies. I got that taste of adult
hood I was so longing to find out. A lot of what I learned included the fact that adults are always
put in situations where they are outside of their comfort zones, and through that, they have to
adapt and figure out how to deal with what was Infront of them. Travelling alone is much
different from traveling with family, because at this point, costs that include transport,
accommodations, food, as well as clothing or want items are all something you must consider,
this is a skill I was able to develop throughout this experience.
Budgeting and handlining money were something I always found interesting, knowing that being
completely self-sufficient was my future, I had to learn the acquired skill. Starting off with the
total cost of the trip, which included the tickets, how much I would need for groceries or
spending money and most importantly where I would stay. Luckily there were different families
that offered rooms for me and my friend to stay in, which already lowered the cost. We got in
touch with a travel agent, and thus started off the planning, we were able to set up all the proper
flights in a costly manner that weren't too bad travel-wise. Aside from converting money and
having cash to spend, which was the original way I would be spending, me and my mom also set
up a secondary visa card under her name that gave me a certain limit to spend. Through this I
was able to use it in case of emergency, and one did come up.
A short horror story from the trip included a very sketchy Air-bnb that we had to figure out what
to do with. Me and my friend realized after staying with a family that we were too independent
to be under someone else's care, so we decided that before we went off to camp (which provided
us with accommodations) we would rent an air bnb in the city so we could explore and have time
to ourselves before a massive change. We got help booking one, and online it looked great, but
our mistake was not looking at reviews. When we got to the place, first of all it was in the back
of an alley, we instantly felt gross. As we walked in with our lives in a couple of suitcases, we
noticed how awful it was. Dead bugs everywhere, cockroaches, dirty bed sheets, calcium build
up in the bathrooms, and a fake TV, we panicked. We already had a payment in. After some
thinking we ended up going across the street, and using the emergency credit card were able to
book a hotel for the same amount of time, which ended up being cheaper. But we still had to
cancel the other one, so I called the guy, he offered a full refund and boom after some time we
got ourselves out of it.
I've always known I was not a fan of being outside of my comfort zone for long periods of time,
a lot of the time I did miss home, but I grew to realize that travelling was something I deeply
valued. But I valued it because I got to experience it with someone, I quickly noticed myself
longing to do things married. I value marriage, and relationships, as much as I am a loner, I know
that one day that is something I would like, and to find someone to travel the world with would
be amazing. Previously I mentioned my desire to be a grandma with stories, and now starting off
I have one already I am able to share. To share these stories with someone is something I desire.
I need to improve in my snobby-ness though, if I want to travel more, I know I'll have to be able
to face new cultures and be open minded, I didn’t realize how much I like to be posh, a lot of the
time I was longing for a hot shower. It's nice to be privileged, but that’s why I feel I have a deep
want to go to third world countries, to see and feel new things, to experience the richness of life.
I have always wanted to travel the world, I knew that it was something that would develop my
personality and personal growth, having this travel experience set me up for my future knowing
that when I do this again, I can look out for original problems like booking places, saving extra
money and being able to recognize when I need time to myself. Travel experiences can be
applied to any aspect of life, because in a nutshell, you grow into who you are. It's amazing to
find out what life really is all about.