Traveling Books Project

{2 of 2 postings} ...”I arrived in Madrid at 9 am on that day, and when I was in Madrid train station, it was already 5 pm. I haven’t had any food in the entire day, so I went to a convenience store for a chocolate bar. Another accident happened - my Apple Pay didn’t support transactions in Euros! I was so embarrassed in the line, but a gentleman standing behind me said, “ I can pay for it, it’s just a chocolate bar.” I almost burst into tears, I told him how much it meant to me :), cause he is the hero who saved me from having a bad ending of my first day in Spain.

That is the story I want to share, and I’ve learnt a lot through it, here are some of them:
-Take care of personal belongings
-Don’t put all your money in one place
-Try to calm down even when things are urgent
-Nice people and bad people are everywhere, so be open-minded and careful

”Dear Reader,

Technology has always held a level of ‘fascination’ with me. Yet, when quarantine began, I decided to revert back to my ancestral roots by sending out handwritten letters instead of a speedy text. The results were rewarding, raw and fruitful! It gave me a chance to slow down and appreciate life one moment at a time. It created a version of myself which I longed to reconnect with.
Pulling away from the social media world of continuous comparisons and instant trends felt natural. Eventually, I stopped caring what was being posted and started caring about what was around me in the real world; about those who I care about. Event my friends found joy within this simple, yet, exciting form of communication!
Quarantine started off as horrendous, scary and unnerving, but finding this natural and loving route made it all worth while

“Long time ago on some halloween party a random fortune teller told me that I’m going to die before I reach 36 years. And I knew that you should not trust fortune tellers or that you should not … to what ever happens when you drink, but for some reasons above my imagination this prophecy stayed with me for many yeas. It became very strong on my 35th birthday. Like this thought, this is a last year. The world is going to stop. I was concerned maybe because thinking of it I could make it true, like a self fulfilling prophecy, like a bad spell. I was even considering to go to a medium, or professional fortuneteller to ask for advise or to break the cycle. Instead I’ve asked myself what I really want, if I really die, what I would like to have experience, and the answers were clear in very confounded way. Seems clear now but it wasn’t that easy to understand it back then. I was in a bad relationship and I dreamed about love. I was in a boring job and I dreamed about travel, going for a world trip, freedom of not going to the office, and waking up every day to a new adventures instead to… emails.

I did many things to stop my aging. I changed my birthday on Facebook and invest massively in face care treatments. How silly it all seems from the time perspective. And I know I need to be brave and I was confused and not happy. It is very hard to make a good decision if you are “not” good, and things that are very dear are not visible when your sigh is blurred. But I took a look outside from my balcony and suddenly I noticed a big sign “CHANGE”. I mean it is huge, I don’t know if it was always there, but from that moment I knew that every day I’ll get a little nudge to change. I talked with my boss and he instead of taking my resignation gave me unpaid leave - I got freedom. I travelled with a friends, who had a friend who wanted to move temporarily to my apartment - I got no rent cost. And I red about my dream place, got a ticket, packed the backpack and went for my wonderful adventure, wonderful trip. I made my biggest dream come true. And believe it or not, first week on the climb to first volcano, I met someone and I fell so much in love. First month of my travels was filled with butterflies in my belly travel companion to share the memories.
Of course I didn’t die at 36. Soon I will be 37 but I made my life worth living. Looking how happy I am today, I wish everyone to have the courage to pursue their happiness.

Lots of love.

Emilie, 26.05.2020”

Thank you from for the colourful background.

“I am going to tell you about my dog. Her name was Bagel and she was perfection. She was a dachshund with short light brown hair and short legs. I met her when I was 9 and she died when I was 25. I knew her longer than I knew my father. She barked a lot and had terrible breath. She would burrow under the covers and get stick inside the duvet. She did not like walks but always had a trim figure. She showed off basking in the sun on the front steps. Everyone who walked by knew her name. She was a true legend. She smelled and felt like happiness. I will never love again.”

By ED, a traveler.
December 23, 2019
*Burrow: (of an animal) make a hole or tunnel, typically for use as a dwelling.