When I started to LOVE travelling - my first crazy TRIP to SERBIA at the age of 12

Did you ever wonder what was the main reason, why you started doing what you do now? What made you think the path you’re taking in your life is the right one? Like, there probably was some moment that decided about it, right?

12 years old me before RBD concert

In my situation it’s pretty easy to say what was that moment. The story that I am gonna share with you right now was pretty embarassing for me for some reason. But some time ago I understood this is what makes me being where I am now in my life. I would never start studying Spanish and thanks to that travel so much, if this one afternoon when I was still in primary school, I hadn’t turned on TV and there hadn’t been Rebelde. Right, this mexican telenowela, you remember?

So maybe the serie wouldn’t affect me so much, if I hadn’t started look in the Internet where was that serie from and what language did they speak. This way I found many information and many websites about it, so when I found out RBD was real music band, I was really excited. I was spending all my pocket money for their CDs and other things. I was pretty crazy about them. So as I was probably one of the biggest fans at that time, I wanted to get many information. But polish websites weren’t the best source so apart of spending much time on polish websites, I was reading a lot of stuff on Univision which was in spanish… so yes, I started learning Spanish. And I was sitting there in front of my computer , with the dictionary in one hand, translating all the messages and news word by word. And I started using Spanish as well – I remember that once Anahi was having online chat with fans so I was writing million of messages in Spanish and she even answered me once or twice for that. That was super exciting at that time!

Belgrade, Serbia

So it wasn’t weird that when RBD said they were splitting up, I got really sad. And even tho polish fans tried a lot, they didn’t decide to come to Poland during last tour. So when I saw that there was a group of people organising a trip to concert in Serbia , I said – I must go. No matter what. And I did.

Months of begging my parents and crying, but finally they agreed. I was just 12 at that moment. They weren’t too happy about it but they told me if I find somebody who would come to our house and say he/she would take care of me during the trip, they would agree. So as all fans were one, huge community, I found one girl from Cracow, I think she was 20 or 21, I don’t even remember her name right now but she ‘saved my life’ and came to meet my parents so I could go. And of course my parents say I can go but I wouldn’t go anywhere during holidays coz they didn’t have so much money… but that was totally fine for me.

The trip was insane and surprising. I remember we started our journey in Katowice and we were supposed to go by train to Belgrade, with a stopover in Budapest. Things didn’t go so well, as when we came to Budapest it turned out that there was a strike and no trans were going anywhere. We were stuck – literally. We didn’t know what to do. No trans, and all buses were fully booked. We spent around 10 hours then in Budapest. And then – we met some guy. He was working in Macedonia and going back to Ukraine to his family every weekend so he was doing this route every week. Or he was working in Ukraine and going back to Macedonia… something like that. He said he would help us to get to Belgrade, and you know, that was amazing what he did for us, coz there were some buses with 1 or 2 seats available but he stayed and waited with us for another ones coz we were in almost 20 people as I remember. And he went with us by bus to the Hungarian-Serbian border, where we had to cross it by ourselves, and I was pretty scared coz my passport picture was taken when I had short hair and then I had it already long. But they did recognize me, as they were doing for 7 more years with this passport :)

Belgrade, Serbia

We left our stuff in the hostel and we went already at 10 am to wait in front of the arena where concert was supposed to be, coz we wanted to get the best places. Yeah, it sounds crazy, but we weren’t the only ones who did it!

I don’t remember really good the concert. Really. I just remember it was crowded, and as I am short person I haven’t seen too much but it was amazing. And when we got back to the hostel I was pretty exhausted. I got 3 hours of sleep in train during last 63 hours. After that I understood that people can do everything if they just force themselves and they really want to.

The following day we visited a bit the city but I don’t remember too much apart from destroyed buildings, which were still the signs of war that finished there not much earlier.

The way back to Poland was with stopover in Bratislava I guess, and it wasn’t so exiciting this time.

Anyway, then we had to take taxi to the nearest train station which was I think in Subotica. And then we had to wait there in the night few hours for the train to Belgrade, and the train station was without heating, and it was December. So it was pretty cold, and this man sacrificed his time and waited with us in this pretty cold weather during the night just to help us. It was amazing.

When I got back home I was so exhausted I slept 16 hours. Many things for 12 years old right ? When I was already home I realized that not the concert was the thing I enjoyed most. It was travelling in itself. I didn’t know what that meant then, but I knew I loved the spirit of adventure, of not knowing how will you get to some place but still going, of being in another country.

I had no idea then that it would be the moment that decided so much about my life. In the future, there were of course other really significant moments, but this one, even tho so stupid, it was really important. It was just the first time when I just felt it in my heart.