Jumping into travel and landing in Finland - for now

“Finnish people love their summer and so do I. I enjoyed the long sunny days, bathing in the lake and warming up in their traditional sauna.”

My whole life has been a big travel story. Before I was even born, I was already travelling inside my mother’s belly throughout the US, Mexico and Uruguay.

I was born in America but my family decided to move to Chile when I was 4. I guess that’s who I got the travel bug from.

With my extended family still in the US, we tried to visit every year, but it wasn’t until I was 18 that I really started travelling on my own.

My first big travel decision was to leave Chile in search of bigger and better opportunities. I thought Australia would be a good option since I had heard amazing things about this country. But, as any good traveller would, I decided to make a few stops on my way there.

First stop: Finland. This cold country didn't seem too cold since I arrived right at the beginning of spring, where the worker’s day celebration known as Vappu was happening and the mid-summer eve, Juhannus, was on its way. Finnish people love their summer and so do I. I enjoyed the long sunny days, bathing in the lake and warming up in their traditional sauna.

I spent three months in Finland before I headed further south to France, to a small village called Tuzie which is apparently one of the few villages in France that doesn’t have a church or a chapel. Tuzie was everything I thought the French countryside would be – sunflower farms, big windmills, and of course lavender fields overflowing with butterflies.

So the journey continues. Arriving in Australia was great, who doesn't like the start of a new adventure? It was hard at first; finding jobs at such a young age with almost no experience was difficult. But eventually everything went well.

Living in Sydney, near Bronte beach was great – I’d recommend this spot to anyone who plans to spend a working year in Australia. There are so many things to do, and even if you don't want to do anything there’s always the beach!

A year went by and all good things come to an end. I wanted to stay in Aussie for longer, but it just wasn’t possible for visa reasons.

So back to Finland I went.

Fortunately the flight to Finland had a stopover in Tokyo, Japan. I spent 3 days here, which wasn’t nearly enough time to get to know this crazy city. There’s so much to see! I even loved it when I got lost, which I recommend everyone should do when traveling (in a safe way of course) – usually when you get lost you come across the best places or experiences you didn't expect.

Once I arrived back in Finland I started studying and working, so as a part-time student/worker I had time to travel some more. Everything in Europe is so close to each other so it’s impossible not to travel. Since living here I have been to several other countries such as Sweden, Estonia, Russia, Poland, Romania, UK, the Netherlands and Spain.

Since I finished my studies I have been working full time but that hasn't stopped me from trying to catch a weekend trip to some other destination. I have had such an interesting time here in Finland that I can’t believe it’s already been 6 years. Now I'm ready to plan my trip back to one of my home countries, Chile or the US. So let’s see what’s next on my list on my way there.

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Soledad Sky Michiko Sone Green was born on December 23rd 1989. She’s descended from a Chilean-Japanese family on her father’s side and an American family on her mother's. Born in LA, she and her family moved to Chile when she was 4 years old. Here she spent the next 11 years of her life. At 17 years old, she finished high school in the US in a city called Mountain View, CA. Afterwards, she moved back to Chile for work and started to plan her travels.