There are times in life when you don't even realize how fast things can change and which unimaginable way things decide to change in. As well as there are times when you end up doing things you didn't actually believe you could do.
My story starts in December 2010, when I was searching for a new way of spending the New Year's Eve. I wanted it to happen somewhere outside Romania, because yes, my obsession for travelling is pathological sometimes, I admit.
By the simple process of elimination, I soon discovered that all my foreign friends were out of their original countries for the Eve, so I said to myself "ok, so let's go somewhere where you've never been before". But where? Winter doesn't offer you plenty of travel options if you're a completely "non-ski, non-snow, no ice" person, like I am. So I decided to go to a not-so-cold-city-in-a-not-so-cold-country-where-there-are-nice-things-to-see-and-where-people-dance-salsa.
To my shame, I had previously totally ignored Italy, but now it seemed like the perfect option. After a few days of wondering "Milan? Rome? Rome? Milan", my flight was finally booked. It was to Milan. Then, soon after, through the blessing of Facebook searches for "friends-of-friends-who-live-in-Milan", I managed to find the perfect "guide".
This whole craziness had as a result a bedazzled girl coming back home after the New Year's Eve, totally in love with Milan... and with the guide.
8 months (and many other Bucharest-Milan-Bucharest and Milan-Bucharest-Milan flights) after all this, the girl was quite in a trouble. She had only one year left to finish a PhD. Which, although she had previously believed she was a kind of WonderWoman, proved to be un-doable while also having a full-time job.
So here I am in front of the huge question-mark: WHAT TO DO? How to find the tranquility to complete a research and finish a thesis, and how to stop the increasing revenue of Blue Air and Wizz Air?
And then a thing that I thought only happens in fairy tales, well... happened. The perfect idea, that would solve all of this, actually existed. I decided to use the opportunity to go to a visiting studentship program within a university in the EU. Somewhere where I could find research resources, guiding, and the time to finish the thesis. All I had to do was find the university and apply. Which I did. I found the perfect university and faculty to fit my research field, applied, and got accepted. And yes, you guessed, it's in Milan.
But, as nothing in this life can be achieved without some sacrifice, I have my own sacrifices to do now: my job, to which I will say a sad goodbye on 23rd of December, my dear home in Bucharest, my mom, my family, my friends, and my Romanian kind of life.
On 29th of December 2011, exactly 1 year after landing in Milan for the first time ever, I will hit the road in my tiny-little-grey-mouse-car, together with the same perfect guide. We will arrive in Milan (hopefully, if we don't get kidnapped on the road, or caught in a snow storm) on the evening of the next day.
There are 60 days left to go until then, and, oh-my-God-so-many things to do. I believe only the preparations will form a little journey themselves, so I will keep you guys posted. I promise I will at least try to do it in a funny way.
Love,
La Reina Rana
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