Happy 29th to me in the capital of Austria where I will be staying for a little while.
I did it! I moved to a country I only ever been in to pass through to another country. Two years ago I almost emigrated for a job to Salzburg and for that reason Austria always stuck in my head. I asked myself the question: why not go on your own terms? Find an apartment, rent it and work from there. So I did, I moved to a country I have always been wondering about. To a city that leaves me speechless since it’s filled up with my biggest interests. In a wonderful time of the year when the lights are dancing through the city. It left me speechless yesterday evening when I walked in the city centre on my way to a classical concert.
The last few years have been extremely hard on me for unfortunately a lot of reasons. From saying goodbye to people, to being estranged from family. It was the catalyst to make a 20 year old dream come true: changing my last name. It was a lengthy process and so incredibly hard in many ways. But also so worth it! This morning I woke up for the very first time on my birthday as Katja Bloesem. When my name got changed 3 months ago, it felt like I started a new book of life and everything till this point was the prologue. Right now the first chapter starts. Of course I had to kick it off with travelling, since that was the thing I was not allowed to do when I was in the process of changing my name. As someone who loves to travel, meet new places and people… well, it felt like I was missing a part of me. That’s not a good headspace to be in when you are literally changing your name and erasing a part of your past.
I made a promise to myself over a year ago, when my name got changed I would book the trip of a lifetime for myself. Splurge on that apartment in a place I have never been to before, so it would truly feel like I threw myself in the deep end. At the end of the day I had already done the most scary thing, uprooting my past, present and future. Booking this long stay was one of the first things I did when I got my hands on my new passport. While I was in my administration bubble of changing my name everywhere, I was also dreaming about a city that I hoped was even prettier than in pictures.
This is the best birthday present I could have given myself. A place where I can write, work on projects and explore a place I’ve always wanted to go to. The start of the first chapter that embraces the old me, but leaves room to everything that is new. I have no idea where this story will take me. As much as I like to be a writer and editor, it was me who started this book, but right now I will let the words fall into place on their own. As long as I steer towards my dreams I know I will be just fine.
Love,
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