A travel always starts with an idea, the idea of leaving behind the things you know to explore something new, something different. Maybe it’s a place nearby you never had the time to see or maybe it’s thousands of miles away. And you feel this longing in your heart to go there and breath in the air and listen to the sounds that come to your ear to tell you their secrets.
Then you start planning, you check the internet for the best places to stay, eat and see. Maybe you even go the next bookstore and look at these books that invite you the foreign places and you pick one up and take it home. And with every page you read you fall more and more in love with that country. You can picture yourself walking these streets, feeling the wind blow through your hair and the smell of the food that is so different than the one you find in your own kitchen. This already feels like the first part of your vacation, you take a deep breath before you close the book to come back to reality but when you wake up the next morning you feel slightly different, getting ready for work doesn’t seem that hard. You know what your working for. During sips of coffee during your break you check for a nice place to stay and you almost lose hope because everything is either already booked, way to expensive or just ugly but then comes this moment when your at the edge of giving up where you click at just the right one. You see trough the pictures and you just know, you request the booking. This evening you get a message telling you that your request has been accepted and excitement overcomes you, it is not longer just an idea or an dream it is becoming real. In the next days you book a flight, get the visa and start thinking about what to pack for your adventure.
And then the day has arrived. You are leaving. One last time you check your suitcase, then you walk trough all the rooms to check if you really put all the lights out and whisper a goodbye to the walls. Somehow you manage to get the heavy luggage through the door and then you close it behind you, insert the key and lock it, knowing you won’t return tonight. Being at the airport can be crazy but nothing can ruin your good mood, not inpolite security people or screaming kids. Somehow you manage to get trough the check-in alive and you arrive at your gate. You look at all the other passengers who will enter this plane with you, some people are with their families, others are on a business trips. Some people seem happy, others bored or even annoyed. Your gate opens and people start entering the plane, you join them. Inside you store your luggage and take you seat, you look outside of your window and see all the people working on the ground to make sure everything works out, inside it’s very loud and chaotic but then finally everyone found his seat and you are ready for take off.
The plane starts to gains speed and then the last connection to the ground is gone and you are in the air, flying higher and higher and you leave behind everything you know for something new. Suddenly everything is just white outside of your window, you are in between an ocean of clouds and then you cross it and you see the sun shining, it’s like a different world made out of white cotton candy. You smile. After a while you get used to the new sight and you turn around, maybe you start an conversation or you read a book, maybe you even sleep a bit. You feel completely and utterly happy.
The announcement to fasten your seat belt during landing wakes you up, you look outside and you realize that you made it. That your dream has come true, not because of a miracle but because of yourself. When you leave the plane you already see all the differences, the signs that are in a different language, the people walking around. You reach the baggage claim and wait together with all the other passengers for your luggage to arrive. When you suitcase arrive you take it and make your way to the exit.
You step out of the building and freeze, you need a moment to take in all the new things, the air that touches your face feels so different then home, the sounds you hear seem so strange to your untrained ear, it seems impossible to take all these things you see and feel in at once, so you just stand there, you take a deep breath and then you start walking, right into the next adventure.
Maybe you are traveling alone, or with a friend or your family. No matter with whom you travel or where your destination lies, I wish you an extraordinary stay and hope you will explore new things and maybe one day on one of your travels you will find an home far away from home.
Travel is the only thing you buy, that makes you richer.
xxx,
Sophia
Make memories all over the world 