a solo traveler’s challenge.

As quite an adventurous solo traveller, I’d always wanted to end up in a place (intentionally) without having figured out where to stay. Yesterday this dream was finally fulfilled.

It’s more than 12 hours later and I am still in absolute awe at what happend. I’d been on 3 train rides for 6 hours in total and was absolutely eating page after page of my new book. Rarely, something can fascinate me to the point, where I don’t even look out the window. Now, after having gained a lot of confidence from the book, especially by fully trusting in life and myself, I set up a challenge. If I walked up to five strangers, asking them if they could host me, and all of them responded no, only then would I go stay at the nearby hostel.

Well, I approached the first woman I saw, walking out of the station. Being quite in alignment with my inner voice, I let her guide me and I kept reminding myself that I’d only speak to people if they attracted me. Obviously I was nervous. Nervous about french being my fourth language and me getting the words out right. Nervous about who I was going to stay with and how to know if I could fully trust them. Nervous about the whole situation, because I believe there is quite a few people out there who’d be absolutely weirded out by a stinky backpack lady walking up to them and asking for a place to stay.

But none of that happened. N said yes. Immediately. She gave me all the time I needed to express myself in french. We talked as if we had known each other for weeks at least, sharing our disbelief for this magical situation. Normally, she always walks straight home after having arrived from Paris. This time, she’d decided to have a cigarette. Everything happens for a reason. Never before in her life had she done something like that, host a stranger from the street. Within seconds she decided to take me in, because it was 8pm, the station would close soon and then the area would be absolutely deserted. It could have gotten a bit uncomfortable with the occasional person hanging around the station and so she agreed.

I couldn’t believe my luck and how easy it had been to approach her. No convincing, no begging, just her incredibly big heart helping a person in need. In my eyes I wasn’t in need of a bed, I could’ve paid for the hostel or even a hotel, it’s just that I didn’t want to. For me, it was about actively growing out of my comfort zone and into a new Nele. It’s about approaching challenges rather than fearing them and stepping into new levels of confidence. When I get to new places, especially those where I only speak the basics of the language, I just love getting to know the local people. Digging the vibe of a location and understanding their way of doing things, obviously works best by connecting with the inhabitants. The north of France has one of the nicest people I’ve met. Almost every person I’ve approached or spoken to, just even for a minute in a shop, has been absolutely polite and heart-warming.

Thank you N, for welcoming me into your home without second thought. You acted from a place of deep love and trust, which has been absolutely inspiring for me. Even more so, without having done anything like this before! You did far more than can be expected and right now I’m still sitting in your apartment, while you’ve gone off to work 7 hours ago, because you trust me. I’m grateful to have met you and thank you for: Fait comme chez toi. You’ve taught me a lot of life in these few hours we spent together, I hope our paths will cross again. Au revoir.

Once more I’ve proven to myself that you are what you attract and you get what you deserve. Quote N: Do good and good will come to you.