First of all I want to say hey, my name is Tuva Zetterdahl and I'm a 15 year old travel and lifestyle blogger from a small city in Sweden. I've got this opportunity to be a guest blogger here on Alist Nation Magazine which is going to be so much fun.
I'm a typical travel person, if you know what I mean? I have traveled ALL my life and I've seen the most beatiful places that is forever going to be a part of me. I was only 3 months old when I first fell in love with the world, a trip across the Atlantic to the Dominican Republic in North America. I come from a family filled with travelers. People who throughout their lives felt a pull outward, who after each trip just wanted to see more, who believe the meaning of life is to experience the world. And I think so too. Or I know.
I have visited more than 20 countries and been in every continent apart from the Poles. I have seen the most beautiful places with high waterfalls, waving palm trees, colorful coral reefs, rainforests, deserts, metropolitan cities, savans filled with animals, mountains and valleys … and also miles of beaches. But also terrible living conditions around the world. I have visited orphanages and townships, been stuck in typhoons and seen fallen cities after massive tsunamis.
Do it your own way
I'm that girl who never really has celebrated a Christmas or New Years Eve in my home country because I've just been out in the world exploring all tropical places possible. I don't know everything about the Swedish holiday traditions which my friends sometimes think is super weird. And I of course understand them. But I would never change the way I spend my holidays. And then you might wonder, why do you never celebrate Christmas in your country's traditional way??
It all started the year I was born. I was born the same year my grandpa died which of course was a big sorrow for my mom and my family on my mom's side. To escape all the Christmas mess my parents and my grandma decided to go traveling over the winter. And that's when we went on my first ever trip to The Dominican Republic.
My mom especially wanted to escape all the stress with buying everyone presents, feeling the need to make everybody happy and to celebrate a holiday that is depending on buying stuff that won't make us any happier and especially about commercials. My mom did feel like Christmas was no longer about family, bonding and holidays and simply wanted to change that by starting to instead make memories and spending time together abroad.
Seeing the world in different perspectives
I do not only love traveling simply because of tan lines, sunny days and beaches. Those things are a big piece of it but I always feel like I learn something after each and every trip.
By meeting new people with a different background and an other view of life I learn how unique we all are. I got the privilige to be born in a country with great economics and a system that really prioritate human rights. Probably everyone knows that not all of us live like that, but it's different when you travel and see it all for yourself instead of reading articles, watching the news or hearing about it in school. I would say that I'm really privileged since my family can afford to travel as much as we do.
When you travel you get the chance to see many corners and especially sides of the world. High skyscrapers, luxury hotels and private beaches? Are one side of it. There's so much more to it. When a lot of people think of vacation they might think of everything being perfect. But when you go out and see how the people in the country you're visiting is really living you'll maybe not have the perfect time, but you'll learn the greatest things - to be grateful for what you have. And I don't say that every country you visit is poor, that's absolutely not what I'm saying. Whatever culture there is, it will always be some difference from where you're from and you'll always learn something from it.
“Traveling isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”
As I said, I've been traveling my whole life. Still, my biggest dream is to experience and see more corners of the world.
Do not ever give up on your dreams, whether it's about traveling or not. What you want to do with your life is so incredibly important, we only have one life. Take care of it and do the best you can to achieve your goals. I'm looking forward to grow up and fight for my own dreams to become true. Always, do it your own way.
Happy Travels!!!
Wirtten by: Tuva Zetterdahl
