This summer, I set off on something I’ve always dreamed of: a solo trip across Europe, 10 countries in just three weeks.
It wasn’t about checking off tourist spots. It was about feeding my mind, making space to reflect, and figuring out what comes next. One of my long-time goals is to visit 12 countries, and this journey brought me closer to that number. But more importantly, it taught me something deeper.
The real goal: slowing down
I usually walk fast, talk fast, and even eat fast. But this time, I didn’t want to go faster; I wanted to slow down.
Before the trip, I read The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim. The message stuck with me: when you pause, you begin to truly see your thoughts, your emotions, and the world around you.
Traveling solo gave me space to live that lesson. Wandering unfamiliar cities, eating alone, navigating train stations and language barriers, all of it naturally slowed my pace. With no one to keep up with and no conversations to fill the silence, it was just me, the road, and my thoughts.
Life, like presentations, needs pauses
One unexpected connection I made during the trip came from class. We often hear in presentation training that slowing down and using pauses makes ideas land more clearly. The silence between words creates space for meaning.
Life is no different.
We rush to speak, to act, to decide. But often, it’s in the pause that real clarity forms. This trip helped me practice that, thinking before speaking, observing before reacting, absorbing before moving on. And in that stillness, I found myself asking bigger questions, like: What do I want next in my career?
Finding connection through Esperanto
One of the most meaningful moments of the trip was attending the Universala Kongreso de Esperanto in Brno, Czech Republic. I’ve been learning Esperanto, a constructed international language, since 2015. This year, I finally had the chance not only to attend the congress but also to represent the Indonesian Esperanto Association with a small stand.
Despite arriving alone, I felt instantly connected. I met people from around the world who shared the same passion. Through warm conversations in a shared language, I found something I didn’t expect while traveling solo: belonging.
A new kind of journey
This trip reminded me that slowing down doesn’t mean falling behind. It means living more fully, being present enough to notice, to feel, to think.
And now, as I pack away my travel journal and reach for my notebook, class is about to begin, bringing with it a new kind of journey.
