A famous quote says: “ The journey is lived three times: when you dream it, when you live it and when you remember it” but for me was already very intense living this dream once!
It seems yesterday that I was actually writing my first article daydreaming about the challenging trip that was just getting closer and closer, and now here I am thinking about the months that have gone and all the memories that will always accompany me!
I must admit that when I accepted Charles offer (and we all know it did not take much at all), I could just think about Pros but at the end of the trip, well I could only see Pros! As soon as I got back from this journey, I met with my mother and while having a coffee she started listing all the innumerable things that could have gone wrong by travelling around Europe on a wheelchair for 7 weeks, I interrupted her and roughly said : “ Why you did not tell that to me?” and she not even needed to say anything else because her look was talking more than 1000 words and was kindly saying: “Would you really wanted me to have told you that?”. No thank you and I am glad I actually never had a moment during these weeks where we actually panic and could not face a problem! I guess we were “lucky” or just very flexible which is essential!
Going back to the “normal” life has been quite difficult. I did not expect to experience all these conflicting emotions, because this trip is very hard to explain emotionally. I think that while you travel you have the unique opportunity to see your life with different eyes, from a different point of view, more detached as if you are stepping back, as if you are watching your existence as a spectator and these days have brought up many and many different emotions. Because each of us travel for different reasons: you can do it just as a tourist or to learn new cultures and traditions or languages, you can travel to meet your Family, your loved ones or you can do it also to relax yourself. It could be for work, to find a better future, to celebrate, but you can also travel to escape from something or you could do it for your need of “rebirth”. No matter what is the real reason why you travel, when you will return to the place that you call Home, there is only one certainty, you are going to be nostalgic and you will need to reflect on it and accept it. How you will cope with it?
Keep yourself busy, write a list of the 5 most important things you need to do in the next 2 weeks and crossed them every time you accomplished one goal! Go out with your Family and Loved ones and enjoy a cup of coffee with a Friend (had way too much alcohol during this holiday so I need to recover). You could also start a new course and dedicate yourself to an activity/hobby that you always wanted to do but “you never had the time to” or subscribe to some app where you can actually meet or host other traveler. After all that we have eaten we should actually try to go back to the gym, but come on there is time for that!
But also try to rest, getting your thoughts organized again, find time to listen to yourself as you have not done while strolling around from one city to another. Last but not least, accept also your nostalgic thoughts, and try to develop gratitude for the irrevocability of the past, acceptance for the present and excitement to change the future, because yes it is now time to concentrate on your next trip and this time you will be stronger than before, more confident and you will know exactly where to start from, because yes you have successfully done it already!
VERONICARE 