May 12th, 2024.
Rest day. In two days I’ll be leaving Asia. Who knows when I’ll come back. I spent my travel savings. I spent my new cellphone savings. I’m spending my emergency savings, but hey, what is more urgent than living a life worth living? This money, it can come back later, easily. The moment? The present? Can’t be recovered again.
I’ve met new people, new relations and new lessons. I learn things about my family, myself and people. To always smile, to always be open, to don’t judge and to expect the best in others. With this in mind, you can make friends anywhere in the world, no matter language or culture barriers.
My next stop before returning to Colombia is Italy. More specifically, Naples. I was scared at first, but after a brief research, I couldn’t be more exited. One of the food meccas of the world. The birthplace of Margarita Pizza. I’m already imagining the pizzas, the pastas, the gelatos. To use whatever emergency savings I have left to educate the palate, nurture the soul, create taste memories.
Naturally, as the trip ends, the mind start wondering, what’s next? What will you change, what will remain the same? “Coming back, there’s no other way but…”, that’s my current guiding prompt. Can you really change that much in 3 or 4 months? Can you really be a different person is such a short time? When you travel, it seems as it is possible.
Time stretches while travelling. One month becomes six months, six months a year. New memories and experiences packed tightly. Called it the theory of travel relativity. Travel for a month or more, and compare your experiences with people back at home. More awe-inspiring moments, more heartaches, more lessons. You come back the same age, but feeling older in experiences, wiser.
In this way, travelling can also be time travelling. You want to live more? Actively look for new experiences, new challenges, new people to meet. You probably will die the same age, but each year will be packed tightly with more life, effectively increasing the time you lived.
