Living one year in the Sunshine State

Source

To tell you a little bit about myself and the reasons I started loving travels and exploring new places and cultures I have to go back to the year 2010, where it pretty much all started.

After high school I had the chance to spent a year as a Rotary Youth exchange student in the United States, more precisely in the beautiful state of Florida, in Orlando.

Orlando is one of the most visited cities in the whole United States but only very few people have really been to the inner city itself. That is because Orlando is pretty much just famous for its theme and adventure parks. Names like Disney World, Universal studios and SeaWorld are just few of the countless parks you will find here.

As an exchange student I got to experience the city from a completely different side. I was frequently in the real Orlando city, went to school in a cute suburb and walked streets tourist normally never walk. Orlando feels to me like a little quiet town, which i know every street of, not like a place that attracts millions of tourists every year.

During my time there I lived with four different families which made me see the american lifestyle from four different points of few. Some of them I still keep in touch with and they have become like my real family. Through the program I also met exchange students from all over the world which I still call some of my best friends, now nearly five years later.

The people I got to met, the culture I got to experience and the beautiful places I got see changed me a lot and made me get curious about the world and its people. Ever since I have travelled to many exciting places and visited many old friends I made during my exchange in their countries. I have not stopped seeking new places, saving up for travels and making dreams come true. And to me Orlando is and will always be the special place where it all started.