It’s true, if you travel to a different country to run away from problems then… your problems always catch up with you again. But still, if you’re going to run away from your problems, then you might as well make it fun and go to another country. That’s what I did, and I have to say it made a difference.
The real travel in life is the travel we do on the inside… but sometimes when you go somewhere new on the outside, then it facilitates seeing yourself from a fresh perspective. You almost give yourself permission to be someone different, to change, because you are living in a place where no one knows you, and you don’t know anyone.
You never know what different aspects of yourself you could find. Sometimes that means coming face to face with things that scare you, and that always seems more romantic when you do it in another country. But it’s equally as painful, trust me. At least, that’s been my experience in France.
Maybe a little ashamedly, I never travel that much when I’m here – even though this is a country which offers so much natural beauty. But whenever I’m here, I never fail to travel inside of myself and discover the natural beauty within. Within me, and within others too. After moving around quite a bit in my life, I have to say that this is my preferred kind of travel.
Whenever I am in France, I somehow manage to see myself anew. I meet different people and make new connections with people I already know. Sometimes, I meet people who stir something within me that I thought was silent. They make me question myself in a good way: has my way of living really always been the best way for me?
When I first arrived in this region, I didn’t know much about the culture. And quite frankly what I did know, I didn’t like. I thought people were flaky and never on time or organised. Now, I think I have fallen in love with the way of living here. It’s not so organised, but I have begun to appreciate the good sides of this. I’ve learned that I don’t need to know everything, or predict everything, in order to be secure. Well, I guess that’s still a work in progress for me, but my heart is open to living in this new way.
These days, my desire to predict and plan has dropped away. I want to fall into the lifestyle of the people here. I want to be held by the arms of spontaneity a little more than I used to be. I’m just looking for an excuse to learn to occupy my own life for once, like people do here, rather than organise everything around other people.
Of course, you don’t need to move to France to let go of these things. But even though travel is not necessary, I still believe it’s magical. And it’s worth it. When that inner travel, and outer travel do a dance around the little speck that is my life… I feel like I’m living awake in a daydream.
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