For those of you who don’t know me personally my full name is Andreea Cristina Popescu, and I was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania.
I spent my childhood singing and dancing, reading, and imagining different worlds with my favorite characters with supernatural and magical abilities. I started playing the piano at the age of 5, and my first “solo travel” (without my family that is) was at the age of 6 years old, to Krakow in Poland for a music festival where I was playing the piano. I remember I was the youngest there and all the other older kids would always kindly look after me.
My mom always wanted me to pursue my talents at a young age, so she took me to ballet classes for a year, and rhythmic gymnastics for another 2 years, but we both knew that I found my biggest passion through singing in a children’s choir and playing the piano. Those were my 2 favorite things in the whole wide world. Oh, and reading of course!
Fast forward to 8 full years of extraordinary and exciting music festivals and competitions with the children’s choir. Thanks to that group I started traveling and exploring the world at only 8 years old! During my time with Allegretto (that’s the name of the choir), I visited Mexico, China, Turkey, Italy, Belgium, Slovenia, Germany, and many more.
My theory is that that’s how my love and appreciation for travel was born and nurtured. During the holidays I and my parents would also travel to Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, and around Romania to meet their friends or relax and unwind.
I was always extremely free-spirited, and I always wanted to assume my choice to explore on my own (can’t say that my parents and teachers appreciated that). For example, when I was in Mexico with the choir at 8 years old, we were having dinner at a restaurant. It got so late and I was so tired that I decided I’m gonna walk on my own at 11 pm in Mexico City back to our hotel. So off I went. Somehow I got to the hotel safe and sound, but a few hours later, the teachers arrived and they were extremely worried and upset – they said they’d been looking for me for a while. Oopsie… Another time when I was 5 with my parents at the seaside, my grandma was watching me play in the park, but then I got bored and left to walk alone at the beach. I wandered walking alone barefoot on the hard shells and sand for a while until 3 hours later my parents found me and of course, they were also quite worried (to say the least). Or once in Greece (I think I was about 10 or 11), I swam so far in the ocean that I couldn’t see the shore. But I was never scared. I was snorkeling and I was chasing some fish soo huge, “like the yellow one from Little Mermaid” I explained to my mom when she was waiting for me angrily with her hands on her waist on the beach.
Oh well, my parents’ should have seen it coming when at 19 after my first year of University I told them “Mom and dad, I’m going to go to Morocco on a volunteering project for 2 months.” They were outraged and once again, extremely worried. Although we have traveled quite a bit as a family, it was always just for holidays, never more than 2 or 3 weeks. Finally, I convinced them, and off I went.
I spent 2 amazing and life-changing months in Casablanca, Morocco, teaching English in a language center. My students were the sweetest kids, aged from 10 to 15 and I loved spending time with them. My host family was truly like a family. They were the most hospitable and caring family I’ve ever lived with and they genuinely made me feel like one of their own. And of course, my new friends, the other participants in the exchange program, were fellow students from different countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Montenegro, Russia, China, and more. I love them all so much and that experience was the one that taught me that the world is infinitely beautiful and I have so much to experience and learn about each and every little corner and person that I meet. Although we all came from such different places, we all had our cultural shocks, we laughed at the same jokes, and appreciated every adventure with the same sparkle in our eyes.
Needless to say, when I finished University I decided that my next goal is to travel the world. I didn’t know how or where or how I’ll get the money to do so but off I went. With 300€ in my pocket, and I moved to London where I was lucky enough to be hosted by my best friend’s sister Flori and (at the time boyfriend now husband) Jason.
Somehow I kept working odd and weird jobs all around the world. Now I’m a freelancer, a social media manager, content creator, personal assistant, and Access Bars Facilitator. Lots have changed (in the world and in my life) but I’m still chasing my dreams and passions while aiming to grow, learn, and become better every day.
Thanks for reading.
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