The first time I used an Interrail Pass was during COVID, when train travel was one of the few authorized ways to move around. 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. I've traveled solo in Latin America and Southeast Asia, where making friends in hostels was easy (I was in my twenties back then — now it's a different story) and I could adapt my plans as new friendships formed. However, I knew traveling in Europe would be different. There's less flexibility to change your schedule since you often have to book accommodation and transport in advance. 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 and invite anyone interested to join? I was pleasantly surprised by how many people reached out — some I had only met once, others I hadn't seen in 15 years. I ended up bringing together a small group of strangers, and before I knew it, we were meeting at the train station in Brussels to start our adventure. It turned out to be an amazing journey, and 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.