Hi guys! Because I can see people still follow or go to this blog, you can go over to these to continue following my adventures in life.

- Wanderlust Soulmates
- Instagram
- Bloglovin

Hope to see you there!

GIRL MEETS WORLD IS MOVING TO WANDERLUST SOULMATES! SAY WHAAAT?

For a long while I have been doubting whether I wanted to stay at blogger or if I wanted to change to another blog host. And I have decided, after what seemed like forever. After trying out wordpress I found it easier to be used and wanting to get my own domain will be easier with another host. But do not be disappointed, because besides the name nothing will change! Girl meets world will become wanderlust soulmates! This name has been in my mind for about a year, and as you know as readers, most of my blogs go about all my traveling shenaningans, sometimes about life or little encouragement; so this seemed to fit for me. 

I started girl meets world 6 years ago, when I was about 17 or 18 years old and got to a stage in my life where I was exploring life. I was developing from teenager to adolescent, to an adult. And I was scared and the world was unknown to me. And secretly I am still scared, and the world is still partly hidden. I don't know yet anything, but that 17 year old girl has transitioned to an semi-adult (only when I really need to pretend I am an adult). I am not that young little girl battling social anxiety and severe depression. I am not scared anymore to go grocery shopping, or for another episode of depressive feelings. Me and you have come a long long way. My blog is a place to meet people around the world, and to share joy and tears. And I am so thankful for whoever has read even just a word of what I have written. 

And so this also feels a little bit of closure to the years behind me that sometimes feel like 'lost years'. I was surviving and trying to hold on. And thanks to you as well, I made it. The little encouragements on GMW, on tumblr and instagram meant the world to me. I know many come here via my tumblr blog, which I was a little more expressive of everything regarding my mental health, and thanks for taking the time to write to me. It means so so much! 

My heart is a little sad, because this girl has met the world, and my blog was my baby. And I'm still meeting the world day by day. And I sincerely hope that you will come along on my next journey in life. If you follow me on bloglovin, no worries I gotcha! If you follow just my website, please go to WANDERLUST SOULMATES and we'll continue from there. 

Much Love,
J

INSTAGRAM

Desert adventures

I have never chosen to travel to the Middle East, but when I received the invitation to go to Israel, I wholeheartedly took it. And with no regrets. More posts and pictures will follow, I have so many new experiences and memories to take with me on my journey through life. It is amazing what just one week can do to a person. The pictures here were taken in the desert, near and on top of Masada and the dead sea. We took a road trip and traveled through the westbank to float on top of some salt, and water of course! Having spent the past semester in Finland, the heat was sometimes a little too much, but we managed through it.  We stayed in Jerusalem, and what a beautiful (and big) city this is, on top of and surrounded by mountains. Certainly a place to go back to!

the best of the best

I regret not blogging more during my semester abroad. I regret it because I am afraid of losing any of the awesome memories I got to make while meeting the awesome people around me. And now it is too late. Or is it? Did any of you watch the notebook? And the scene where they are out on the water, and Noah is rowing the boat? I found myself in such a situation about a month ago. Except that Noah was replaced by two of my (girl) friends. And the water was in Finland. And it was really a big lake. And there was no rain. But we WERE in a rowing boat. And I had the best time. We went onto an island and build a fire (yes, us three girls. Or actually, my one friend who had been a girl scout). We roasted marshmallows and made smores. We hiked around the island, set near the fire, complained about our love life and totally had a photo shoot on the lake while rowing back to shore. And it was one of the best nights I had in Finland. It was a simple night. Just us and the boat, the fire and our little island to ourselves. And some baby ducks. 

What to remember from living abroad

Life in Finland was good. It was scary, new, very cold or warm, icy, different, quiet, lonely, busy and good. It was peaceful. It was all new to me, which made it scary at first, yet amazing once I got past that. It was a period to never forget, and to cherish forever. Right now I just got back a week ago, and writing this I am crying. I am sad. I am confused. My heart is broken right now. I want to go back. I want to go back to the people who made it feel like home. Who had a listening ear. Who, in times of need, where there for me. Who I could vent to. They went on adventures with me. We went fishing, build fires, went rowing, skiing, ice skating, and got to witness one of the most beautiful things in the world. we saw the northern lights. This was not my reality, and I wish it was. Was I not satisfied at first with my placement, I left with tears in my eyes. I left with a new understanding, and a new culture that had left a trail within me. Finland, you were amazing to me. You are beautiful beyond what I could have imagined. Frozen, snow covered lakes, forests beyond one could see and the most beautiful, peaceful scenery one could wish for. Forever in my heart you are, and I hope we meet again soon. 

If something seems scary at first, I am cheering for you to take that step. Because if something does not scare you, what challenge does it hold for you?

For more stalking on my adventures you can go to my INSTAGRAM

ADVENTURES IN LAPLAND

At the end of March and beginning of April I got to travel around Finland, and of course had to go up north to see the beauty of Lapland. And not alone, but my family flew across Europe to join me on this adventure. We kind of the did the things you'd expect to do up north. We went cross country skiing, went husky sledding, snow tubing and of course snowmobiling. That we enjoyed our time is quite the understatement. For more go to my instagram

What's going on

We have some serious catching up to do! So much has happened the past few weeks that I don't even know where to begin. Well I actually do, at the end of march my family visited me in beautiful Finland, which was amazing. Showing around where you have been living and the customs and culture you have gotten used to is so much fun. However, during this trip my grandpa passed away. As sad as this was, how blessed we were to be together to process this news. The weeks after this consisted of arranging a funeral, traveling home and a lot of grieving and missing. traveling back to Finland was really though, and the first two weeks I had troubles getting out of bed or doing anything with my life whatsoever. After those two weeks it got better, but it felt like a lot to process. Currently I am catching up with everything that I missed the past weeks, which is a lot. Hopefully it will all work out one way or another. I have some blog posts coming up with amazing pictures and stories of Lapland and my Finnish adventures, to stay tuned! In the meanwhile, I am pretty active on instagram if you want to stay in touch go here INSTAGRAM