My first Interrail adventure happened during the summer of 2020, when train travel was one of the few ways allowed to get around during COVID. I quickly fell in love with it. The ever-changing landscapes, the convenience, and the endless possibilities of train travel completely blew my mind. Since then, I've taken countless train trips across Europe—and beyond.

One day, I decided to turn my dream of seeing the Northern Lights in Lapland into reality—and to get there by train. But neither my partner nor my friends were available to join me. Solo traveling in Europe isn't as straightforward as in other parts of the world. With trains and accommodations often needing to be booked in advance, there's little room for spontaneity if you want to adjust plans when you meet new people. Plus, I wasn't comfortable arriving alone at some train stations late at night.

So I thought, why not post on Instagram that I'm heading to Lapland by train? See if anyone wants to join. Within a few hours, I had dozens of replies. A few weeks later, there we were at Brussels train station: a small group, some I'd just met, others I hadn't seen in 15 years. Ready to go to Lapland by train and ferry. It turned out to be an amazing journey. I was so grateful to have travel companions along the way.

This is when I knew I had to start offering small group rail adventures and created WAGONE.