I was born in Bydgoszcz, Poland in 1978 and since I started walking at 9 months old, we started hiking;) My Dad, a PE teacher, took me to the Polish mountains for all the spring/autumn hikes, winter skiing and summer backpacking-wandering camps that he organized for his high school students and my primary school class. We hiked Polish mountains up and down and back and forth hundreds of times. I did Rysy (Polish highest peak, 2499m) for the first time with no front teeth, so about 5years old. When Mom got cancer and died in 1990, my sister and I were still kids, Dad came up with this amazing idea of visiting all European countries by 2000. This kept us occupied for 10 summer holidays. Scandinavia and Mediterranean region by bikes, then western and southern Europe from Portuguese Cabo da Roca to Gibraltar, another year Greece – all these by bus, another year Great Britain by car. We made it. We could afford it thanks to Dad’s planning and our extra work: painting hiking trails for tourists in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. 10 wonderful, crazy holidays, with no Internet and mobile phones, just paper maps and guide books, homemade jarred food and tents. Can you believe it? THANK YOU, DAD.
When I graduated from high school, I knew that the smartest option was becoming a travel guide or some certified globetrotterđ, so I chose Faculty of Geography at University of Gdansk, to become a prođ§. Which I didnât. After one semester of struggling with sophisticated maths and statisticsđ€Ż, which were supposed to make us ready to teach geography not to travel like a pro, I decided to quit. As a daughter of a PE teacher and a teacher of Polish I knew I would never become a teacher.
I am a teacher of Englishđ€Ș. And I love it. I have been running my own SPEAKOUT School of Languages for 17 years. Actually, I made up my mind about studying English philology high up in the mountains. During my university times in Gdansk, I liked only geology and PE – I had a great teacher and a …globetrotter running Adventure Club in Gdynia. I got hooked on wall climbing and qualified to the Andes expedition. We did Aconcagua, the highest peak of both Americas, 6960m. Stunning mountain and adventure of a lifetime. And my first flight ever: Warsaw-London-Santiago the Chile over the Atlantic Ocean and the Andes. Unforgettable 20th birthday. I made this decision about my studies in our Plaza de Mulas base camp at 4300m. I came back to study English in Bydgoszcz; went to Stafford, England as a live-in-nanny for a couple of months, came back to finish my B.A., continued with M.A. at Poznan University and started teaching practice.
In the meantime, I stopped hiking and skiing. I became a wife of a non-hiker and a mum of Mary; working full time at home and running my own school. We had a good life with trips to popular, commercial destinations like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Dominicana, Sri Lanka and beloved Croatia by car or motor boat. But then the hard times came. I thought my life was over after the divorce, but the hardest was yet to come. I was left alone with Mary and then I lost her, too. I died on 30th August 2022. There is my Mom, Mary and a part of me in that one grave. I barely remember the weeks that followed. My Friends&Family helped out so much, took turns taking care if I breathe, eat and sleep. THANK YOU ALL! My Best Friend took me to the seaside, to my beloved windy Hel Peninsula, a perfect place to hide. I found strength to come back to work, because I knew my Students were waiting. Thank you, guys, it gave me power to get up. Knowing I can run away every weekend – gave some more. And all this running away from my hometown made life bearable. Never fully unpacked my backpack and suitcase, always ready to set off again. Always looking forward to some trip. I said I was escaping life first time flying to Tenerife and first time skiing in the Dolomites after 20 years. High in the mountains…again, I started breathing …again. And enjoying the views and the sun. THANK YOU, WOJTEK. Also for our Dimaro and Mezzana in winter, for Norwegian islands and fjords, heat of the Emirates in August, warm November in Tenerife again, slow life in vibrant London, sunny Porto and Lisbon in autumn, Easter in Spain, calm July in Sweden, camper life in Croatia, hikes in Polish mountains, the riverside of Motlawa in Gdansk, the lakeside in Wygonin, the seaside in our favorite windsurfing-flipflop-place, ChaĆupy. So many beautiful places, and so many yet to come.
I am breathing. No longer escaping life but therapeutically exploring the world and appreciating every single day.