2025 Europe Travel Series: Part 4 of 8
London wasn’t part of the adventure just because it was on the map…it was a chapter of my becoming. This solo journey through London became more than travel. It became a transformative experience of courage, self-trust, and becoming.
When I was a child, my aunt who passed away a few years ago always encouraged me to travel. She spoke often about how much she loved London and how I had to experience it for myself. She brought back souvenirs from the places she visited, and when she left this world, I kept a few and two of them were the Tower Bridge and Big Ben. I placed them beside my own travel mementos and promised myself, that one day, I’ll go and see it for myself.
I never realized that one day London would become another chapter where my courage stretched its wings even wider.
The Fear That Followed Me to London
This wasn’t my first solo trip but it was the first time I was truly alone, with no one waiting for me, no one picking me up, no familiar community to fall back on. I was arriving at a city that I didn’t know and I had to figure it out all on my own.
And even though I wanted this adventure, I was nervous.
Nervous about the trains and about the buses…
Nervous about being a woman alone in a huge city I didn’t know at all but yet I was still very excited.
Regardless of all, there is so much power in stepping out of that comfort zone and figuring all of it out on your own. So much excitement and the ability to truly trust yourself is always so empowering. To be able to trust yourself in whatever situation is one of the best things you can learn in life. And here I was, I knew I could do this, no matter the anxiety. I knew I was capable and I knew I owed it to myself to give myself this gift of growth.
By the time I arrived in London, I was exhausted, cramping, overwhelmed, and I just wanted to get to my Airbnb. Everything felt loud… the crowds, the traffic, my thoughts.
But I said to myself, “Breathe. You’re here. No turning back. You can do this.”
The Moment Courage Found Me
On my first morning, I walked to Tower Bridge with my body aching and my energy low, but I was still excited and took my time getting there. A few people had warned me that London was always gloomy, gray, and rainy… but that morning, it was nothing like that. It felt as if I had brought the Florida sunshine with me. The air was warm, the sky shifted between clear and softly clouded, and the day felt perfectly made for my arrival, as if the Universe wanted me to feel at home. When I finally saw it, the bridge I had only seen on TV and my aunt’s souvenirs, something opened inside me.
It didn’t matter that I was on my period.
It didn’t matter that I was figuring everything out alone.
And it didn’t matter how scared I’d been.
In that moment… I felt guided. Supported. Exactly where I was meant to be. I was completely in awe. My heart was fully open, my soul radiated nothing but love. I felt the glow in my body like the sun in London kissing my soul.
London had a way of holding me even while my hormones were overwhelming me.
The City That Tested Me
London crowds? My anxiety did not like them. I didn’t ever think it was as bad as it was. I guess I don’t get out much to high tourist cities. But I felt like it was a little too much for me. Maybe it was the hormones but also, as I’ve gotten older, I really like calmer and less busy experience.
Buses? They intimidated me and I don’t really know why. When I was a teen, I used to take them all the time but I also didn’t take them so much in such overly populated cities with so many tourists.
Navigating transportation alone? Terrifying, maybe it was all in my head at first because I felt a bit claustrophobic.
But I kept going anyway. And by the third day, all the heavy feelings were falling away. Maybe it was my hormones all along enhancing some of my emotions.
I walked everywhere.
Rested in parks.
Explored until my legs felt heavy.
I let myself be unsure.
I let myself grow anyway.
And I let myself enjoy and take in every bit of every moment.
And somewhere between Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the quiet corners of Green Park… I thought:
Courage doesn’t show up when you’re ready.
It rises when you move anyway.
Sometimes we are not ready at all but if you want growth, if you want to follow your soul and what you are truly passionate about or what you truly want it in your life, we have to do it anyway especially if you see that door open.
Growth will ask you to step through the open door even when your knees shake.
The Morning Everything Shifted
On June 25th, before sunrise, I walked to Tower Bridge again.
The city was still asleep. The air was cool. It was cloudy. The footsteps on Queen’s Walk were soft.
And I wrote in my journal:
“I love it here before the world wakes up.
I don’t think I’m a city girl,
but right now, I feel brave,
I feel proud of myself,
I feel… different.”
It was quiet enough to hear myself. And for the first time in a long time, my inner voice wasn’t whispering, it was very clear.
A Sign When I Needed One
Later that day, I met with Allie, a travel vlogger who lived the exact kind of life I have always dreamed about. She was one of my roommates at the Airbnb. Watching her move with confidence, hearing her mindset, seeing her treat her creativity as a real business… felt like it was a sign for me.
I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe the Universe talks to us in every moment in our lives. And it felt like the Universe was saying to me to really give my website and blog a real chance and all the effort. Not just treated like a hobby as I have been but treat it as a business.
It was like the Universe said, “Anything is possible! Follow your dream!” And Allie, she wasn’t the reason, but she was confirmation.
London Became a Mirror
This city reminded me that I can handle uncertainty. I can move through fear. I can trust myself. And I can walk into the unknown and not fall apart. That every choice I make is a sacred chapter in my becoming.
I wasn’t the same woman who arrived tired and overwhelmed at the airport. I wasn’t even the same woman from Iceland.
London shaped a new version of me, the courageous part, the self-trusting part, the part that doesn’t wait for permission to live. It reminded me who I was, who I have been, who I could be.
London: A Threshold Moment
By the time I boarded my flight to Madrid, I felt it. A doorway had opened. A version of me had been born. And there was no going back.
Every new experience in my life reveals a deeper layer of courage within me, and London became a threshold where that courage rose once more.
I also knew I had to let go of the old versions of me that no longer served me. I knew that I had to make healthier decisions so that I could be my best self and give my best self to my work, to the people that I love and those who surround me, to my life. And every experience in my life continues to remind me of this truth.
London was where my becoming met courage. Where fear softened. Where independence expanded. And where I stepped into the woman I was growing into. It was also where I made the decision to finally release what was holding me back, the version of me that no longer served my growth, so I could elevate my life.
And I’m grateful…
for the city,
for the quiet mornings,
for the challenges,
for the signs,
for the courage…
and for the becoming.
Coming Next in the Series
Part 5 — Madrid: Walking Through Its Doors of Discovery
→ A chapter of adventure, movement, and symbolism where every step revealed the soul of Madrid.
Journal Prompt for You
What part of you is asking for courage — and what would happen if you trusted it?
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If you missed Part 1, 2 or 3 of my Europe Travel Series, you can read it here:
Part 1: Iceland: The Beginning of an Adventure →
Part 2: Iceland: The Beginning of Becoming →
Part 3: London: My First True Solo Adventure →
Thank you