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.

Author - ​Soledad Sky Michiko Sone Green

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.