Hasti

Hey hey, I’m Hasti and I am 25! Originally from Iran, born in Tehran and moved to Sydney when I was 18.

So Hasti, a few questions to get us started. Where on the blue planet are you now? How long have you been travelling for and how much longer are you planning to travel?

I’m currently in Montreal, which is freezing cold compare to Sydney, where I used to leave before starting my trip about four months ago. I was working full time after my uni graduation back in Sydney when the dream of solo travelling around the world hit me once more, but this time I decided to fulfil my long time coming dream. So I quit my job and got myself a one-way ticket to London. London was the first city on my euro trip. I travelled through Europe for two and a half months, catching trains and short flights to see the most breathtaking cities in Europe.

After Europe, I flew to the city of Montreal in Canada.

I’m going to work in Canada for a year and move to the US for my master degree. I’m also hoping from the bottom of my heart to explore South America soon. These ideas are coming to me while I’m waiting at a bus station in Vancouver. I’m going to visit Toronto.

Awesome, sounds like you’re living the dream life and visiting many cities. What are the top 3 places you’ve visited so far and where are the top 3 places you want to see next?

If by top 3 places you mean top 3 counties: then Portugal, Italy and Thailand are my top 3 visited places. I want to see Mexico, Tibet, Brazil and Argentina. Oh and japan! Sorry but I just can’t pick top 3 for my “to visit” list of countries, so it has to be top 5! Please let it be

Haha cool, not a problem! Let’s dive a bit deeper now. Who did you want to be when you were a kid?
I never had an idol per se. Like I never wanted to be Miss X or anything like that. But one thing I always wanted to be is a very successful independent woman, with a high up place in the society and workplace.

Great, that’s very inspiring! what do you do now?
Well, I always wanted to be an architect, and I am a landscape architect now. So that worked out well.

Nice, ok, who did you want to be now if anything was possible?
I would still be a landscape architect! I wouldn’t change that. Mmm, maybe a very successful travel blogger too if that didn’t mean being a bum though haha! But I think I’m too lazy for that, and also not well organised enough for it.

What was the most exciting experience/moment of your trip?
I have a few that make me smile. One was when I was in Amsterdam alone. I spent about 4 5 hours sitting in a restaurant, ordered myself an excellent fancy food, cocktails and looked at the canal. With some music in the background. Didn’t talk to anyone and didn’t go online. It was me, food, drink and sunshine. That was one of the most enjoyable 4 hours of my life. It was the simplicity of it that was amazing.

The other was the walk from Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe, again sun was shining the boulevard was stunning, and I had just stuffed my face with grilled Camembert cheese and white wine on a solo date with myself! So I was in a great mood!

Also, another great day was when I was in South Sweden with a dear friend. It was 7 in the morning, autumn, cold and very foggy day. There was this long, long jetty that would run deep toward the water. You really wouldn’t be able to see the end of the dock clearly because of fog. We just ran on the jetty and jumped into the freezing ocean then ran back to the hot Jacuzzi and then treated ourselves to a fantastic breakfast. I can’t emphasis enough on how stunning was the beach with grey water and the foggy weather!

And to finish this never-ending list, one of my top 3 favourite places was cinque Terre in Italy. I randomly went there on a friend’s suggestion, randomly met this girl while we were both lost in the middle of nowhere finding our hostel. We went for a big hike through these colourful little towns. They are 5 of them and in between its either steep vineyards, forests and small narrow tracks. The view from the top of each vineyard toward the rainbowy town and the bluest ocean was just like looking right into heaven. It’s the most visited place.

What was the biggest lesson you’ve learned about yourself while travelling?

And the biggest lesson: You will be fine. Always remember that. I had some fantastic moments, and I had some very lonely, depressing times too. Which made the other regular times hell of a lot interesting. It just taught me how to manage my feelings, ups and downs, how to trust in myself and most importantly, how to enjoy myself without any other circumstance.

If you have the option or let me rephrase it if you can change the norm and you can travel for long, do it. It changes you. It changes your direction. It changes your vision. It could take you to places that you would never think you would reach, or worst case scenario it just gives you the incredible pleasure and memories that you can ever have.

You don’t need a great hotel or someone to travel with; you don’t need fancy meals, you don’t need a well-organised travel plan.

All you need is your map, a big smile and an open heart to take all the beauty in (the Camembert cheese and chilled white wine are the bonuses)
As we say in Persian: برخيز و مخور غم جهان گزران بنشين و دمى به شادمانى گزران (Don’t take this mortal life too seriously, Get up and celebrate this moment with happiness)