2016 in pictures

Hey, guys! Happy New Year! 

One of my favourite New Year morning traditions (besides eating leftover salads with a spoon while watching old movies) is to look back at the past year. Yes, I usually don’t do it before midnight (maybe I just want to make sure that the old year actually retired and will not get offended?). 

My last year’s post you can find here – 2015 in pictures. 

So, here we go. Many things had happened in 2016, good and bad, it was quite kind to me personally. I got to travel much more than I ever did, I got great opportunities, I worked hard and I’m quite happy with myself. I also got very aware of some of my limitations and started my own personal self-education – mostly on the topics of self-love, self-respect, not putting myself down and not letting anyone else do it.

I’ve met many wonderful people and sadly parted ways with some others. So let’s look into it month by month. 

Going to Scandinavia!

Yes! Finally, for the first time in my life, I'm heading to Northern Europe!

Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, I'm traveling to Milan, where I'm going to spend one day - to see my Milan-based friends and to see more of the city, because my first and only visit there lasted for 8 hours. 

On Wednesday morning I'm flying to Copenhagen where I plan to go on a walking tour and then explore the city on my own. In the evening I'm taking a train to Örkelljunga, Sweden, where I'm going to stay for a week-long seminar on the topic of migration. On my way back I will also have a full day in Copenhagen, and then a day in Milan, before coming back to Palermo.

Confession time - even though I've traveled quite a bit during the last three years, by any means of transportation (well, except maybe a helicopter and a hot-air balloon), traveling still gives me a bit of anxiety. 

Ever since I almost missed my flight from Moscow to Kyiv about 6 years ago, I always have a bit of fear of missing a flight - oversleeping, getting into a traffic jam, missing a bus. Ever since my 2014 trip to Budapest for a Council of Europe study session on gender-based violence, when my suitcase was one cm bigger than is allowed on a WizzAir flight and I had to pay twice the price of my ticket to take it with me, I'm a little scared of being over the luggage limit.

It doesn't matter how much experience you have (traveling, studying, working, etc) - it's normal to feel anxious from time to time. Important thing is not to let this anxiety or fear control your life and take away opportunities from you.

Do I feel anxious about getting up at 3 a.m. too take a bust to the airport at 4 a.m? Yes. Will it stop me from seeing another beautiful parts of Europe? No way in hell!