Kristin from Winnipeg

It's a rainy evening in Beirut when Kristin and I sit on our bunk beds in Hostel Beirut. Both travelling the world, our paths crossed a few weeks earlier in Lebanon. On our second day in Beirut we made a pact to both stay for at least a month and so we did. Kristin can be described as a young and ambitious woman, a teacher, and a world traveller, who always appears to be calm. Holding her cup of tea to keep warm in our poorly isolated room, she tells me a little bit more about her life and views.

Where are you from, what does this place mean to you?

Kristens' home is located in the middle of Canada, a city called Winnipeg that at this moment is covered by snow and has been described as the coldest city in Canada (-25!). Winnipeg to Kristin means 'home, comfort, normalcy, friends and family'. Half an hour driving from Winnipeg is the place where Kristin grew up, the place that still is her parents' home. A house in the middle of the prairies, surrounded by farm land, at the moment the flat landscape is completely covered by snow: 'we have a joke at home that your dog can run away but that it'll take three days because it's so flat'. Whenever Kristin travels she feels connected to Canada very strongly, 'I suddenly become very pattriotic'. Although cultures can be quite similar, differences between them are always visible, she has noticed: 'As a Canadian I really like having my own personal space.' Describing the wide and open place where she grew, that doesn't surprise me much.

What makes you happy?

'Right now because I am travelling, I am happy when I go to sleep at night knowing that in the morning there is a new city or country out there to explore'. 'I am also happy when everything in my life is calm, when I have no stress and have the prospect of travelling.' One way or the other, travelling seems to be interwoven with Kirstin's feeling of happiness. It has always been, she says 'When I was little I remember spending hours looking at an atlas with my dad.' In her own way that was the moment when she started travelling and she continued to do that ever since. Within her job as a geography teacher and in her spare time as a world traveler. It must be amazing as a ninth grade student to be in the classroom with a walking atlas like Kristin as your teacher.

Can you describe a certain moment of happiness?

'That will be when I accomplish something, that's what makes me very happy.' Moments like having her first boxing fight, running a half marathon and finishing a masters. 'Anything that is hard work, that feeling when you accomplish and reach your goal.' At the moment Kristin's main goal is to get in shape again. A challenging goal when travelling, it seems to me. 'I went to the gym during this trip basically everywhere.. London, Cardiff, Madrid, Rome, Triest..' She adds laughing slightly: 'it's a pseudo goal, sometimes I wanna eat cake'.

What are your plans for the near or far future?

'If you would have asked me this question a couple of years ago I probably would have an answer but now.. I really don't know.' A little bit worried she continues: 'Even travelling right now, I don't know where to go next, I don't even know if I'll get back home this summer'. Kristin explains how for the first time in her life she has no plans, no specific goal or next step: 'It feels kind of scary, I don't know yet if I like it..'

What question would you like to ask someone else in the world?

Are you actually happy?