From Italy to the Arctic Circle: my dream come true

Vol 28,Issue 17 6th March 2026

We travelled for miles, driving for hours in the middle of nowhere. Just us, the snow-covered landscape and the starry sky above us. It sounds like the beginning of a film, but it’s actually the beginning of my story.

Hi, I’m Alessia Altieri, I’m 20 years old and I’m an exchange student from Italy.

Today I want to tell you about my experience during my skiing holiday: I went to Lapland with other exchange students.

We left by bus and then rented cars.

That’s where our Lapland trip officially began. Three cars, 13 young people from different countries, three different accommodations to change during the week, one goal: to see the Northern Lights and have a good time in Lapland.

On the first evening, as soon as we arrived and were heading to our first accommodation, we began to see the sky change colour and turn green. It was the Northern Lights!

I immediately called the other two co-pilots in the other two cars and started shouting with joy. In Italy, I had only seen the Northern Lights on television, but obviously never in real life. This was a very emotional moment for me, which made me reflect on how beautiful nature and the world we live in are.

Seeing the aurora with my friends here made it all the more magical. We started jumping for joy, an incredible feeling.

Shortly afterwards, we reached our first accommodation, put down our bags and went in search of the aurora. Spoiler: we saw it again!

It was an intense week, we travelled many kilometres and discovered beautiful places in Lapland. After the first night spent near Oulu, we booked another accommodation 4 hours from Rovaniemi. We crossed the Arctic Circle.

We visited several places: Ruka, Levi, Rovaniemi… Each place offered a unique experience: rollercoasters, hiking, a visit to the ice museum and much more.

There are experiences that must be had at least once in a lifetime, and one of those is going to Lapland and seeing the Northern Lights.

A famous motivational quote by Walt Disney is, “If you can dream it, you can do it”. I dreamed it and I made my wish come true.

If I did it, so can you, so right now, think of a dream you would like to fulfil, and even if you think it’s impossible, know that one day you will achieve it.

This trip reminded me how special the Erasmus experience is: it’s not just about studying in another country, but about learning about new cultures, making international friends and having adventures that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.