Before I forget....

This blog has been a long time in the making...

...but finally here it goes!

Hi! My name's Jenni and I'm a traveler.

I left my home in the Northern Europe some 4+ years ago to simply go and try backpacking in Australia. Very simply I wanted to see how I feel about "real" traveling. With '"real" traveling' I mean not just taking a week or two's holidays to unwind, but getting out of the rat race for a while and living on the road. It's been four and a half years now since I started and I can definitely say with a 100% certainty that it was the best thing I ever did!

Not to bore you too much with the past years of my travels, I'll just briefly tell you about my background. I was a perfectly average tax paying citizen with a home, a job, a boyfriend (every now and again), heaps of friends and what you might possibly call a very happy life. I was indeed happy and content, but for years I had this inkling that I wanted something more; something I couldn't really put my finger on... When my friend suggested we'd go backpacking in Australia for a year things suddenly clicked and in a second everything made sense: I wanted to travel! I ended up quitting my job, shutting down my one-person business, selling everything I had from furniture to excess clothing, and buying a one-way ticket to the other side of the globe! I did not want to have any reason to come back home if traveling was to be what I really wanted to do. After a few months on the road I knew that it was indeed what I wanted to do. It was scary and exciting all at once!

I spent almost four years in Australia and New Zealand, which were incredible: I worked in many different areas doing various jobs and lived the authentic life as a somewhat local in a few places. I had the time of my life! My first  year in New Zealand I was lucky enough to be sponsored, meaning that a company I worked for offered to vouch for me so I could stay in the country with a proper work visa and work for them full time for long term. That experience changed things for me and I realized the endless possibilities life had to offer: I could actually travel around the world working, not only with working holiday visa schemes, but having a proper career and working as a professional. Teaching English had been in the back burner for a while at that stage, and at that stage things fell into their rightful places. Not only in my head but in real life too: I did a year of full time "proper" work and then traveled a few countries before making my way towards the next step: getting the English teaching certificate.

Only a couple of months ago I did a short CELTA course and graduated as an English teacher in Ireland! That's a different story though, but it brings me to my current adventure: China. After graduating I was searching for different job options and China was the most appealing one at hand: great perks, fairly decent money and most importantly it's a great, brand new adventure!

To cut it short: a lot of people throughout the years told me that I should write a travel blog. I shrugged and smiled but thought to myself that I wouldn't have the time nor the interest really. But as I've realized time and travels go by so fast, I would like to share and remember these stories more. Before I forget.

So welcome to a fraction of my life: my travel blog! I will share the most exciting, scariest, ugliest, most beautiful and heart warming events throughout my journey. Before I forget.

Next time I'll share in on my first week in China - I dare to say it'll be fairly entertaining! :)

J