Erik Dovgan

Volunteer of Hostelling International Slovenia

Erik Dovgan

“Poj mi srce o pokrajinah, ki jih ne poznaš” is a wonderful title of a painting by a Slovenian artist, which stirs up an unusual urge in me to explore and experience new paths, which is what makes me become the version of me that I don't know yet. As a graduate student of theoretical and practical studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, the horizons of the vastness of cultures and diversity of nations always inspire me to dedicate myself to the value of memory with a mysterious space of consciousness where I rest my soul. The unstoppable will to explore all the unexplored places is strengthened again and again with every experience I would have experienced on past travels, where the thought encourages me to return. Sometimes, as I sit alone in silence, it reminds me of tears longing to release my chest in a cry of freedom and a desire for all the beauty that still awaits me. That’s when I laugh at the nonsense of feeling and the nebula of the personal world, knowing full well that I’ve lied again. I say to myself, this is that bitter happiness that I will face many times, as long as I live for a journey that will give me a new face that sometimes makes me unrecognisable.