My fascination for the beauty of the world & the universe started early. As a child, my biggest dream was to become either an artist or an astronaut. My earliest inspiration were the mystics of the cosmos & the planet we live on, so I spent hours admiring photography and reading about far away galaxies or foreign cultures. I grew up with huge stacks of picture books, arthouse movies and CD’s with music from all over the world.

As a teenager, under the growing influence of the voices around me, I chose to follow the path that promised most financial growth, security & the pride of my parents. At 16, I started my career in hospitality, first cleaning rooms, then mixing drinks and waiting tables until I interacted with people from all around the world at the front desk. I pursued my degree in a boarding school in the picturesque town of Interlaken, Switzerland. After my education, I worked as a receptionist in luxurious 5-star hotels in Zurich and at the Côte D’Azur, where celebrities and socialites chose to stay. Today, I am thankful for this time of my life, because it taught me how to switch between languages in a matter of minutes, handle complaints & difficult guests, and be open, curious & friendly under no matter what circumstances.

But I wanted to score higher. I was highly ambitious as a young adult. My next step was absolving bachelor’s degree at the Zurich School of Management & Law. Everything looked promising. My grades were great. I got accepted for a student exchange year to Buenos Aires, Argentina, despite not speaking Spanish at all (I so badly wanted to go to South Amerika, I faked on my papers saying I was Latina). But the more I learned about how our economy worked & how business around the world is done, and the more I tried to pull myself together, ignore my growing depression & tried to fit into what society expected me to be, the stronger my body & soul were starting to resist – until I reached the breakdown point, 3 days before my departure to South America.

I broke. What now?

I pushed myself through it and lucky enough, my first stop was the charming city of Antigua in Guatemala, where I was to bring my Spanish skills to college-level. A routine that brought joy, a welcoming host family and the reunion with beloved friends brought temporary comfort and healing to my suffering that I was now fully aware and conscious of.

But the arrival to the concrete jungle of Buenos Aires stirred back up all the emotions I had stuffed down for so long. A village girl in the cold, big citiy. I

I quit. I lost myself.