I’m a 20-something-year-old citizen of the world. I was born in Mexico City and have lived in California, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and London.
Ever since I was a little girl I had this weird, anxious fear of dying. When I was 20 years old I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and I began to see the world in a new light. I realized that it wasn’t so much that I was afraid of dying, but that I was afraid of dying before doing everything that I wanted to do. I wanted to graduate university and become a writer, I wanted to see the whole wide world, I wanted to fall in love with myself and I wanted romantic love that would be beyond anything I had ever read about and out of that love I wanted to create a family of my own.
In my hospital bed, I decided that after recovery I wanted to stop dreaming and start doing. So, I applied to study abroad in France. I had all of these worries about my health, money, friends, family, but I realized that if I never tried, I would always regret it.
Eight months later, I was in remission and on my way to Paris. I didn’t know anybody in Europe, let alone in France, but I over-packed and set off to make my dreams come true. Once in Paris, I fell in love with a beautiful city and a new culture. I fell in love with traveling and I learned so many things about myself, about love, about friendship and about French pastries too.
Cancer can be such an ugly, painful word. It can break families apart and cause unexplained catastrophe in people’s lives, both young and old. I was blessed to be a survivor, and out of my survival I was able to pursue my wildest dreams with renewed ambition for wanting to make the most out of this beautiful thing that we call life.
This little blog is the world through my eyes. The places I’ve been too, the lessons I’ve learned, silly things that roam through my mind, my constant pursuit of happiness and my continuous journey of self-discovery.
Welcome, and if there’s anything that I can do to help you in your own pursuit of happiness, feel free to drop me a note. After all, we’re all in this beautiful wonderful place together as citizens of the world.
Paulina’s Passport 