How a train to Vienna ended up in Chicago via London

Last Friday it was exactly five years ago that I boarded a train from Arnhem to Vienna. Little did I know that my entire life would change as a result. The plan was a one-year sabbatical working in Austria followed by an undergraduate degree in communication in Eindhoven, probably followed by a job in the approximate area. The result was quite different.

I met Tania, spent five months in Austria, washing dishes, cleaning tables, but most of all, enjoying the white powder snow and keeping in touch with Tania, visiting her in Rome, and saving money for a trip to Chicago. On the Spanish Steps in Rome we picked London to continue the adventure.

After a month in Chicago, we packed our bags and took a bus from Utrecht to London. We had a short-term place to stay, little money and no jobs. Somehow we found a place, jobs and spent six months in London. It wasn’t fun on a budget, but it was an invaluable experience nonetheless.

After London we moved to Chicago where I made good on my promise to get an undergraduate degree. Two years later I had one, got married, and found a job that I absolutely love.

The December before that fateful January day my life’s motto came from the Counting Crows song Long December: “A long December, and there’s reason to believe, maybe this year will be better than the last…” Shortly after, it changed to a line from John Lennon’s song Beautiful Boy: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans…”