She may not be a College of Charleston campus celebrity, but she’s definitely an intersting person, and a real world “celebrity.” Contributing writer Grace Hartley had the chance to find out a little bit more about her adventurours life.
Roma Sobieski is an adventurous woman that I had the pleasure of meeting last October when she and her husband were embarking on their North American road trip and were stopped in Greenville, South Carolina, to visit friends (my boss and his wife). Roma was born in Montreal, Quebec, grew up in Alberta, Canada, and studied abroad to pursue a graduate degree in London, England. She and her husband embarked on a four-month road trip across the United States, and are now living out her adventures in Phuket, Thailand. After speaking to her very briefly, it was easy to see how adventurous this woman is.
You were born and grew up in Alberta, Canada. Tell me a little bit about that. How did you like Canada?
I was actually born in Montreal, Quebec, to two Polish immigrants. My parents moved to Canada with nothing more than two suitcases and high hopes for a better life. Thirty years later, they’re retired in beautiful British Colombia and travel around the world every year. I’d say they’ve done well for themselves.
I learned Polish at home, French at preschool in Quebec, and then we moved to Alberta, an English speaking province. My parents transferred me from French Immersion classes to English Immersion so I could learn English. I was a somewhat culturally confused kid growing up (did you know ‘salad’ and ‘lettuce’ is the same word in Polish?)!
Despite being born in Montreal, I consider Alberta my home province. I grew up in the prairies, where the summers are warm and dry and the winters long and dark. I remember bundling up in snowsuits as young kids and going out to play in snow piles 5 feet high in the middle of November. I grew up and went to school in a very rich and sheltered town outside of a big city. Crime was rare, drugs were abundant, and everyone knew your every move. I didn’t realize I was very sheltered until I moved out on my own into the big city (note here that, by big city, I mean a city of 700,000 people).
I was strongly persuaded to attend University in my home province. I received a BSc in Biological Sciences and Chemistry and worked various odd jobs, including waitressing, throughout my university years.
Canada is a fantastic country, and one I’m growing to appreciate more and more now that I’m not living in it. We have amazing healthcare (something I often take for granted), a fantastic, affordable educated system, and some of the friendliest people you’ll meet! One thing I could get rid of are the frigid and long winters. They’re a bit too cold for my bones!
What made you want to pursue a graduate program in London? And how was your experience with that?
During my last year of undergraduate studies, I was part of a year-long research project, where I (mostly) got to run the show. This stemmed my love for working in a lab, so I started looking at various grad programs around the world. I was made aware that having a diverse CV was looked upon highly in the academic world, so I thought I should branch out. I had a friend that went to the prestigious London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London, so I started looking at their programs. The Immunology of Infectious Diseases route stuck out to me, so I applied, got accepted, and within four months, I was off to London!
The program itself was interesting and extremely challenging. The graduate programs in the EU are one year long and very demanding; I was in the classroom from 9-5pm most days. One of my favourite parts about my program was the ability to do part of my summer project (thesis) abroad. I was able to go to Uganda for two months to collect data for my dissertation. That was an adventure in itself (you can read about how we got mugged on the first day on my blog).
Unfortunately, I’m not using what I learned at school at the moment, but I’m hoping to get back into the research and academic field in the next few years.
You’ve clearly been to your fair share of places. Why do you love traveling so much? What’s special about it?
I had been on many family trips (especially to Europe) as a child, but my first trek alone was when I was 21 – I spent two months in Ecuador, learning Spanish, volunteering at a local hospital and helping out a local doctor to deliver diabetes awareness seminars. I think that trip really spurred my love for travel. I was able to meet so many amazing, like-minded people who were on similar adventures, and live in a unique and unknown country, and experience a culture so deeply, that I knew I wanted more. I felt alive when I was placed out of my element. I love seeing how locals live and work, what drives their days, and seeing the smiles on their faces. I love the varying beauty in every country I visit. I’ve realized that God made every person, culture, language, and country so different and so special, that it makes me want to learn more about how God is working in everyone’s lives, even just on a superficial level. Cultural differences are fascinating and, although I know I will always be an outsider, I can’t help but feel in awe of God’s creation every time I meet new people and step across another border.
Traveling also made me realize how extremely blessed I am to come from Canada. Being born, and growing up, in a Western country provides us privileges that we tend take for granted. It’s so easy to be blissfully unaware of this until we step outside of our home country. Traveling gives you a new appreciation on different levels of life.
You met your husband who shares your love of traveling while you were abroad. Tell me a little about that.
I was procrastinating writing my dissertation in London, so I was catching up on blogposts. I saw a comment about fitness and traveling, and it caught my eye. The avatar was pretty cute, so I decided to check this guy out. That brought me to his blog, where I found out he was traveling around the world for a year with a small backpack. I commented on one of his blogposts, and we then connected via social media (Twitter and Facebook), and such began our romance. We emailed back and forth for a few weeks and, when he had better access to internet in the Middle East (he spent some time in Africa), we Skyped each other for the first time. Our first conversation lasted nearly five hours! We discovered we were from the same province (one hour away from each other!) and even had mutual friends! I guess God just didn’t want us to meet just yet :)
After that first conversation, we talked to each other almost every day. A few months later, he decided to fly from warm SE Asia to chilly London to “see about a girl.” We already knew we wanted to be with each other, but, just to be sure, we took a couple weeks to travel to Lanzarote, Rome and Venice. Traveling is a fantastic test of a relationship: you compromise, learn about each other’s reactions and preferences, see the best and the worst in each other, and learn to work as a team. I’m happy to say I think we passed with flying colours ;)
Graham happened to get a job in Canada at the same time my work contract was ending in London, so we moved back to chilly winters. We got engaged and eloped to Belize, where we got married with bare feet in the sand during sunset. Of course, we couldn’t sit still for too long… on our honeymoon, we planned a four-month road trip around Canada and the US, which came to fruition a few months later. We sold all our belongings and left our jobs, so that we could move somewhere abroad afterwards. It was during our road trip we decided that “somewhere” was going to be Thailand. And here we are!
What, in your opinion, is the most special place you’ve visited? What’s been your favorite?
The most special place I’ve visited probably has to be Ecuador, for two reasons: 1) It was the first place I traveled solo; and, 2) I returned there three years later as an English-Spanish translator for a medical mission I was a part of.
As for favourite? That is a REALLY hard question. Every place has a certain uniqueness about it, but a place that keeps drawing me back is England. There’s something about the pubs (maybe it’s the delicious beer), the people (ok, it’s probably their accents), and the countryside that is exciting to discover. I’m probably a little biased though, as I did spend nearly two years there. Slovenia is a somewhat undiscovered little gem, although it’s becoming more popular for backpackers now. Oh, the Galapagos Islands are a biologist’s heaven. And Uganda has some great whitewater rafting on the Nile River. See? Hard question!
What was your favorite place in the United States, specifically?
I absolutely loved the colours of New England (we went leaf peeping in the midst of autumn in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont), the quaintness of Charleston, SC, and the friendliness of Greenville, SC. I think “favourite” tends to be closely related to the community you meet when you visit a place. The people can really make a place feel like home.
I should note that we didn’t get to experience much of Southern US because our car broke down in Florida, and we decided to finish our road trip by air. We plan on finish our trip one day in the future, so my opinion is subject to change. I hear Texas is pretty out there ;)
You’ve been to Charleston, South Carolina when you and your husband road tripped across the United States. What did you think?
Oh, Charleston. It was the most quaint town we had the pleasure of visiting. We only visited for a single day, but I took so many pictures, I had to split my blogpost into two parts! It was so picturesque and full of history, I feel like I learned the most about America during my time there. And those beautiful Charleston Single Houses! I found a new appreciation for architecture after visiting Charleston. My favourite reminder will always be how pineapples are a representation of Southern hospitality. I’ve never been able to look at a pineapple the same way!
You’re now living in Thailand. What made you want to get up and move somewhere so far away and exotic? Was it hard leaving behind friends and family?
Being from Canada, it’s difficult to imagine life with a year-long summer. We really wanted to experience what life was life in a hot country, with a more affordable cost of living, and with a different culture where we didn’t belong. It’s safe to say we have all three and we’re learning lots about ourselves in the process.
We don’t have any responsibilities tying us down (a house, children, etc.) at the moment, so we realized this is the perfect time to explore the world. We have one year visas that expire in a few months, after which we’ll begin our next adventure. We’re still in the process of planning, so I’m not sure where we’ll end up next!
I don’t have a big family in Canada (most of them are still in Poland), so they completely understand my desire to travel and live abroad. After all, they’re doing it themselves!
Leaving friends behind, no matter which country I live in, is always hard. Friends often become like close family over just a short time. Most of my close friends have been so supportive and amazing. We don’t have traditional friendships, and we all know that’s my nomadic nature’s fault. We can pick up where we left off after weeks of not speaking with each other. We’re always in each other’s hearts, and even though we have different life paths, and we’ll always make time for each other when we most need it. That said, traveling has shown me who my true friends really are. The superficial connections have all but left in my life, and it’s the deep ones that remain. Travelling has quickly shown me the quality of my friendships, deepened the ones I have, and made me extremely grateful for the friends that stuck around.
If you’d like to keep up with Roma and her adventures, you can visit her blog at christiannomads.com.