My Memoir: Northern Laos

So. It is about time to continue where we left in My Memoir. I had a little bit of a ‘time off’ here for about a year. My aim now is to actually make My Memoir look like how my travels were, from this day. As many of you already know, I did travel quite a lot in the past few years. And I really want it all to be documented, in some specific place. So here I am. Again. 😀 This time, I’ll do it.

[Take #2]

After Northern Thailand we headed off to Laos. Some travelers choose the slow boat that goes down Mekong River and takes couple of days, but we decided to go for the bus. First of all, a mistake, second of all, don’t do it. Haha. Just go for the boat and enjoy the beautiful, peaceful views of Mekong surroundings.

Our wee bus drive was not a safe way to travel, at all. We were all horrified at one point. First it was fun and exotic. There were some cute local little kids running outside, next to our bus, waving at us. I also have a dim recollection of seeing someone naked running around… There were also cows on the roads, obviously, as everywhere in Asia there is. It was a night bus so as the sun went down it got dark pretty soon. The headlights of the bus would light up the surroundings and we could see the passing bamboo cottage villages, the conditions where the local tribes live. We would drive the mountain side, a narrow road which had pretty damn deep turns. At one point a cow jumped on to the road from like a bush or something, just out of nowhere. The bus had to put the breaks down and everyone woke up (or at least the lucky ones who were asleep) and started screaming as the bus felt like it was only on one side’s wheels. A bit before that we saw a truck in the bush (half of it on the road, half of it in the bush) and at least three times all together during the journey we witnessed some road accident. Thankfully it wasn’t us there.

But we survived.

And here’s what we experienced in Laos.

Laos has so much to offer for a backpacker. You can rent a motorcycle and drive around the country, you can stay at hostels or even with the locals! It’s such a beautiful country. Up north there is lots of mountains and little villages, down south it’s more flat. Our way went to Luang Prabang, then to Vang Vieng, quickly through Vientiane and finally to 4000-islands all the way down south, close to the border with Cambodia.

The bus journeys were awfully long (even though the distances don’t seem that long in the map), and I suggest you to take it in consideration when planning your trip! I met two guys who went only to Laos (from Canada) just for a little holiday of less than two weeks, and they wanted to explore the whole country by that. It’s not gonna happen, not if you want to chill at the same time – Laos, and Asia in general, is the best place to chill. So take it easy and do yourself a favor; plan your trip so that you’ll have time to get to know the culture as well, and not just the bus stops.

Bus tickets are easy to buy, either from the bus stations or even some hostels. Buses are quite well equipped, you might even have “a bed” there if it’s a night bus. If you need to pee, you might have a toilet break somewhere in the middle of the road, just go outside and do your things on the side of the road. Often though you don’t have to do that, because everywhere in Southeast Asia there’s a pretty good filling/service station-system, where you can buy food and you’ll have decent toilets and a decent break. Especially if you’ve got a long bus journey ahead.

If I can recommend you something in Laos, I would recommend you to go to Luang Prabang and eat the most-delicious-baguettes EVER and take a trip to the beautiful waterfalls close-by! Also Vang Vieng is a stunning place, even though the local life is unfortunately been ruined by drunk tourists. The place is now much better than it used to be in the last century, when the drugs arrived in Vang Vieng. But if you like tubing or for example rock climbing, it’s the ultimate place to do that.

Kop chai lai lai!

(Thank you, a lot!)

Remember to memorize some of their sayings, like thank you, and you’ll get better service and lots of smiles back. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Here’s the map and some magical photos of magical places in Laos!

Tad Sae waterfalls

Tad Sae waterfalls

Tad Sae waterfalls

Vang Vieng

Tad Sae waterfalls

Tad Sae waterfalls

Tad Sae waterfalls

Tad Sae waterfalls

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng, Laos

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng

Tubing in Vang Vieng…

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng

 

About 4000-islands (southern Laos) I will make a whole another blog post, because I have so many photos of it. 😀

Kop chai lai lai!

Bye bye, and see you later (alligator)!

P.S. If you’d like to see more of my photos, from any of my trips in Southeast Asia, you can find them from our Facebook page “Mymmelit Matkassa”.  🙂

❤ Jena

 

 

Making dreams come true

A thought came to my mind.

What if I could make all my dreams come true?

What if it wasn’t about the money I earned? What if it wasn’t about the career or the success I achieved? What if it wasn’t about all the material possessions I gathered?

The truth is, all material possessions you have or you want to have will turn into dust and disappear one day.

What if you didn’t need all of it? What if the only thing you need is to be connected with your self?

It might sound strange to some people, but that’s it, that’s where the magic lies. Within you. That is, where you find your answers and solutions. We all have the potential within us.

So I ask myself. What if the only person stopping me to do everything I ever wanted, was I?

How many times in life you’ve stopped and asked yourself, is this really what I want? How many times have you listened to yourself and bravely followed your heart and your guts, your intuition, instead of thinking about what other people will think or say if you do this or that?

People’s opinions can define you and your life, if you let it.

Hmm. What if the only thing I’d need, is to believe in myself and have trust in life? Now some of you will think “but life will always happen, it’s not just having the trust or being all optimistic”. Of course it’s not. We cannot change the future. But we can change this moment, the only moment we’re living.

Life, it goes in circles. There will always be ups after downs, downs after ups. But everything that happens will take you forward. Every downfall will teach you a new lesson and it will push you forward, out from your comfort zone, meanwhile breaking all your limits. Actually, you realize that there is no such thing as a permanent, unbreakable limit. The limits are flexible and they move and change as you move forward in life and grow. So they move when you move.

What if I could do all the things I’ve always wanted to do? What if everything I needed to do was to embrace the unlimited potential within me and start making the difference towards a life that suits me better, the life I wish to be living? Towards the person I wish to be.

What if I would, for once, be honest to myself and let the illusion of control go.

That’s a big sentence and that’s something to think about. How many things that are not serving your best anymore, are you actually holding on to, just for the sake of comfort? What would happen if you’d let it go?

Whatever happens in life and whenever (in the end) we pass away, is not in our hands. It’s life’s circle and the end will come to us all, one day, one way or another. There’s no way denying. So there’s also no room for “I’ll do it later, one day” type of thinking. If you want something, you gotta make it happen.

What if I would accept the facts, accept that life will always happen, no matter where we were or what we were doing. Just let it all go, set ourselves free and live every moment as we wished. Be conscious for your choices, as you know, life is full of choices and it will be what you make of it.

Life is exactly what you make of it and how you take it. It’s all about the attitude.

You gotta stay positive, you gotta believe in yourself, whatever you did. Believe in your mission and the progress. Just keep on going forward.

This what I’m writing about, is all from an inspiring thought stream that started flowing in my mind when practicing yoga. It happened when I finally managed to slowly and steadily lead my body to a headstand. There I was. Breathing deeply, trusting my body and my balance. Trusting the ground under me and that I could do this position if I just gave myself a chance and, most importantly, be patient with the progress.

So that’s when I started thinking, what exactly are all the things I’ve always wanted to achieve? And so I ended up here, writing about it. I wanted to make it something to get grip on, you know. Something I can look at, not just a thought, but an idea, a dream. A goal. (This is what I courage you to do as well; write all the things down you’ve always wanted to do, it doesn’t matter what it is, whether it’s a trip or a course to attend, a new skill to learn or an ongoing process you want to finish but for some reason you just haven’t [like me with my paintings]. And then, you can look at the list and start making the difference! Just remember, it all starts from you.)

So this moment right here, is the moment you’ve waited for.

The only things you need are a pen and a paper, some faith both in yourself and life’s endless opportunities. Be open. Don’t close the doors just because you don’t believe it’s possible to achieve something. You need to know that everything is possible. There’s a saying that goes like this: “It’s not money you need to have to travel – it’s courage.”

So, I guess it’s me first. I’ve always dreamed of…

#1 – Attend a yoga festival somewhere in the world. There’s a nice one in Costa Rica and it’s called Envision Festival. So I shall try my best to end up there.

#2 – Go skydiving in New Zealand. Easy, that’ll happen for 100 % certainty.

#3 – Walk through a (big) country. I will do it, one day. No matter how crazy my mum tells me I am.

#4 – Go volunteering in South America. Yep. I feel an urge, a deep need within me to go and help people who are in need. So that’s what I’ll do.

#5 – Learn gardening, grow your own food. That’s an ambitious goal, I’d love to grow at least some of the food I eat, all the fresh ingredients, potatoes, herbs, vegetables… 🙂 Yammy for my tummy!

#6 – Attend a massaging course. I want to learn about the acupuncture points and just holistically know how body works and how to heal it. And then I could help the people around me. My body is my temple!

#7 – Trek to the mountains, set up a tent there and watch the sun set and rise. Nothing more peaceful and beautiful.

#8 – Hitchhike through Europe. Fun, fun, fuuun! Gotta do that. Imagine those stories afterwards…

#9 – Travel around the world without flying. Yep, it’s possible! Gotta just see some trouble, but it sure is possible!

#10 – Having my own hippie van and driving the west coast of North America. (And why not go down South as well!) Also, the hippie van shall stay with me for the rest of my life and for the rest of my travels as well. That’ll be my home on the road.

 #11 – Live in Hawaii for a while 🙂 Maybe go there as an exchange student, or something. Or just casually go pick some pineapples, haha!

#12 – Travel by the Trans Siberian Railway, all across Russia, Mongolia and then China. That’s relatively easy, not even too expensive either.

#13 – Get a TEFL English teaching certificate and teach English meanwhile traveling. That’ll happen in a near future.

#14 – Learn how to surf! Or at least stay on the board and wave it away!

Byron Bay, Australia.

#15 – Beat my fear and go diving (in Indonesia, please). Yep. To beat your fears is what you gotta do, and I ain’t gonna let my emotions to stop me from doing something that incredible. I went snorkeling in those waters… I couldn’t believe in my eyes. Crystal clear water, hundreds of fish, different colors, corals, manta rays, turtles,… and the list goes on. Wonder what could’ve been waiting for us in the depths of the beautiful blue sea.

Halong Bay, Vietnam.

#16 – Learn how to speak Indonesian, Nepali and Quechua (fading Inca-language). Yes, you heard me. Why not!

#17 – Be fluent in Spanish. Sí!

#18 – Travel to Iceland during the summer and go camping there. One day.

Vik, Iceland.

#19 – Go to the northern parts of Canada and/or to Greenland. The nature there…

#20 – Make all these come true. 😉 Well, this was obvious.

Now, I know these might sound like a crazy business for you guys, but these are actually the things I want to do and achieve, one day. Baby steps, I’m telling myself! Some people want to have a house, a baby, a husband and a dog, I want to explore and live fully on the road. And maybe then, one day when I find a place to settle down I will do it. But not in a long long time. I am made for traveling and if I couldn’t travel, something would die within me. That’s my life style, that’s my mission. And then share my knowledge and what I’ve seen and experienced during my travels with others, and maybe even inspire them. That’d be amazing.

 

And then I wanted to just write down my life-long goals… 🙂

I can’t imagine a better life for me than spending it while working in a job in which I’m able to guide people out from their comfort zones and so that they will find a more satisfying and fulfilling life. So here’s what I want to do. Help. Be my best self. Guide others be their best selves.

#1 – Become a meditation / yoga teacher / life coach – anything to do with wellness and helping people to find their balance in life. (It’s incredibly important in this stressed, unhealthy, busy world of ours. Too many things to do, too little time. And no time for taking care of yourself and the environment. So I want to help and courage people to find the change towards a better life.)

# 2 – Having my own wellness retreat one day, with my own little garden. Becoming as self sufficient as possible, respecting the nature and growing my own food would be perfect.

# 3 – Work as a experience travel guide, anywhere in the world. Giving people the unforgettable experiences and journeys they could’t even dream of.

So… that’s me. Let’s see where life leads me to. I’ll be sure to tell you first what’ll happen and when!

How’s your list looking like? 🙂

Here’s a video from Prince  Ea. Please watch it.

“Hey You, why do you exist??”

I hope from now on you will listen to your heart and seek for the ways to nourish your inner self in order for it to start blooming again, like when you were a child. Your body is your temple and you are your best friend, remember that. The way you would treat your best friend, that’s how you should treat yourself as well.

Much love,

stay healthy, stay strong, believe in yourself and your missions in life and it’ll take you far.

Peace!

-Jenna

 

Take me baaaack

You know the feeling when you hear a song and right away it just takes you back to a whole another time and place, to somewhere far far away in the past…

To Australia.

Songs that take me back to the Sydney’s dance floors and East Coast’s beach vibes and chill life.

Get Lucky – Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers

Wake Me Up – Avicii

Pompeii – Bastille (Saana, remember? “ee-e-o-e-o-ee-e-o-e-o…”)

 

To Indonesia.

Beats from the beach bars in Gili Islands and road trips around Bali and Lombok. Oh boy, those days…

Waves – Mr Probz

Omi – Cheerleader

To Singapore and Koh Phi Phi… 

Charlotte, you girl know this beat! Too hot, hot daaamnnn!!!!

Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars

Just about anywhere in Southeast Asia. This songs lyrics… Live now, not later.

“The Nights” by Avicii

Hey, once upon a younger year
When all our shadows disappeared
The animals inside came out to play
Hey, went face to face with all our fears
Learned our lessons through the tears
Made memories we knew would never fade

One day my father—he told me,
“Son, don’t let it slip away.”
He took me in his arms, I heard him say,

“When you get older
Your wild heart will live for younger days
Think of me if ever you’re afraid.”

He said, “One day you’ll leave this world behind
So live a life you will remember.”
My father told me when I was just a child
These are the nights that never die
My father told me

(…and so on)

Aaand this one I Got to mention as well…

Once upon a time in Edinburgh, we were listening to this song every single night while cleaning after closing the restaurant. Oh maan how time flies. But I absolutely loved it., such good memories. 😀  May I represent you…

…Happy – Pharrell Williams

 

Here’s also a few travel photos for you guys… in case you’re wondering how it looked like in Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Southeast Asia, Indonesia…

Enjoy! 🙂

Byron Bay, Australia.

Gold Coast.

Sydney hostel.

Noosa.

Merry Christmas!

Christchurch, NZ.

Kaikoura.

Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Edinburgh.

Ireland.

Iceland.

Budapest.

Iceland.

Edinburgh.

Iceland.

Edinburgh.

Vik, Iceland.

Koh Rong, Cambodia.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

Halong Bay, Vietnam.

Phu Quoc, Vietnam.

Bali.

Perhentian Islands, Malaysia.

Bali.

Somewhere in Indonesia.

Sunset in Vietnam.

Gili Trawagan, Indonesia.

Everywhere in SE-Asia.

Bali.

Like a local!

Lovely Amanda in Thailand.

Pai, Thailand.

Koh Rong, Cambodia.

Laos.

Pai.

Vang Vieng, Laos

Dondet, 4000 islands, Laos

Dondet.

Cambodia.

Crater lake Yeak Laom

Koh Rong.

Kampot, Cambodia.

Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Kampot.

FOOD. Vietnam.

Love.

Halong Bay!

Malaysia!

Kuala Lumpur!

Bali!

Somewhere in Indonesia.

Gili Trawagan!

The best group ever. Bali.

Monkeyys!

Much love! ❤ and peace,

Jenna

Keep the Love Flowing (and Your Eyes Glowing) ;)

So…

It’s been a while.

No traveling, no blogging.

But I’m back!!!

It’s 20th of January and almost exactly a year ago I had my flight to Bangkok – from where I started my Asia adventures. I can’t believe it’s been a year. I came back in June, and since that I’ve “only” been to Italy for five days and UK for five weeks. To be honest, I was exhausted of all the traveling… Oh man, nearly 20 countries in a bit over one and a half years. That’s crazy. Absolutely madness. No wonder I started feeling a wee bit like going back home in the end…

All my globetrotter friends out there, I don’t know how you do it. Just keep on going, some of you for even years. Traveling from place to place, endless number of bunk beds, no permanent things in life, just change after change, all day long all year around. No own toilet, no own fridge and only few pieces of clothing with you. I mean, okay, that’s all easy, the clothing and stuff. The worst part is that if you have no permanent friends around you, no family, no pets, usually not even a partner or a permanent travel buddy. That’s… I respect. You’re close to superheros there. Not all of us could do it. For me 1,5 years was enough (for a while, now).

But oh. It surely is tempting. Imagine. Just you, a sky full of stars and the big wide world around you. You and your freedom, and nothing else.

You let the wind blow you to the right direction and you don’t stress about time. You probably don’t even know what time it is when someone asks you. You let go the things that don’t matter anymore and you focus on this one moment and this moment only. You’re the lord of your own kingdom and you can choose whatever you do, wherever you go and whenever you do it. There’s no routine. Let the things flow their own way. There’ll be no one stopping you, no one to tell you you can’t do it. No one to have expectations of you. You’re free.

I gotta admit. At first that did sound like an ideal life for me as well. And it surely did feel like it as well! I took everything out of it, and gosh, I lived. I was alive, like never before. It’s like a drug that makes you feel you have the power, and not just feel, you actually have it.

It’s funny what believing in yourself does to you...

And when you feel the power, you’re not afraid to use it. You take everything out of every experience, you’re braver than usual, you’re more social, you try new things – even if you were afraid. You forget who you are “supposed” to be (according to the society and assumptions surrounding you, imprisoning at home) and just, god dammit, you let go of all the things that held you back before and just… you go with it! And you grow with it. You go with the flow and you let the life happen to you. As it does. Always. No matter where you are. Life will happen. (When you travel, it all just happens in fast forward-mode or something.)

But my friends, I’m afraid that’s where the problem lies. It’s when we, the ‘free-souls’, the ‘hippies’, the backpackers, return home. In time, not of course in the beginning, but in time when we get used to the old life, we forget what and who we are, how alive we actually are. You forget how this is the only moment you’re living. You just do whatever, eat whatever. You forget how important this moment really is. You forget that great power, great potential that lies somewhere within you and you surrender to the old life’s routines. Sentences like “I’m afraid I don’t have time” and “I don’t have the energy to do that” become soon the most common used ones.

We let the old way of life drag us down. You fall to what they call “reality”.

I think… the worst part here is the fact that we forget the person who we are when we travel. We forget, how that person lives. And how that person hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s still here, within us, all the time. It’s all here, and we need to listen to that guy if we don’t want to feel trapped. We have the same freedom as we did on the road. The circumstances might have changed, but you have not.

It’s because that guy has all the power you need to feel alive. To live. To face life’s everyday adventures and opportunities with great passion and open-minded attitude, instead of with fear or something else.

That little guy over there, he knows how to live, how to enjoy every moment as it is. How to not only see but also feel the beauty all around us. How to sit on the beach and watch the sunset. How to dance on the table, how to go skin dipping under the bright moonlight with a group of cool Germans you’ve just met. How to face challenges with great bravery, or at least, with your head up, and how to believe in yourself even when you’re not sure in which Asian language you just said ‘thank you’ to the waitress in Malaysia, or, perhaps, when you’re desperately trying to bargain some price down. You do all these things. You jump into that freaking crazy current in the middle of a dark blue sea somewhere in Indonesia, only with your snorkel on, just to swim with these massive sea creatures called manta rays.

You keep your head up.

When you’re on the road, you don’t give up. You’re there only once, why would you lose this great opportunity? I’ve heard this kind of sentence for so many times among my backpacker friends. They all share the same attitude:

“hell yeah, let’s do it!”,

no matter if it was someone who’s just signed up for skydiving (even though she’s afraid of heights), or some crazy Aussie who just simply decides to take his clothes off and run into the ice cold sea in Iceland. (Not mentioning any names, Andrew.) And what they all have in common is something remarkable. They all have faith in themselves, and that faith, my friends, helps them to overcome their fears and grow, become something greater.

Oh, that ice breaking attitude! You will find that place to stay for the night in the middle of the night in Cambodia, because there’s no other chance. It is going to happen, even if that was the last thing you did. Or you will find that yoga place everyone kept telling you about, and after that you will go to the beach and meditate and focus on your inner peace. You will get back on that surfboard again, and after that you will go grab a beer or two and go play pool with your new Canadian roommates.

Little misfortunes and setbacks won’t stop you. You have the attitude, and that’s all you need to survive. At home and during your travels, no matter where you are.

But then… When you’re at home… I feel like everyone’s just too tired and in a hurry all the time. We rarely focus on the moment or our own well being. We have all these schedules and calendars and watches on our hands, just to make sure we know exactly what time it is. It’s funny – we know so much about what’s happening at that moment, but at the same time we know nothing. We’re just running around aimlessly, trying to chase whatever, instead of opening your eyes and observing what’s actually around us all the time. When’s the last time you’ve looked up and wondered about the sky? Or people around you, like you do when you travel? Or basically, anything else than you computer or your phone?

What is important anymore? How come life changes so radically when you return home?

In time, we’ll exhaust ourselves with running around like that. Then we need to go for a holiday, a place where we’ll be feeling the moment’s pure beauty and joy surrounding us again. We’ll be looking at the sky, listening to the wind and feeling the warm sun on our skin. We go there to be the “holiday-me”, to enjoy the moment and not feel stressed about anything anymore. It’s all good, until we get back home. The stress crawls back. It’s absolutely horrible. People get sick because they stress so much. “There’s not enough hours in a day”, is a fairly well-used sentence. How does it sound like to you?

And the answer is right in front of us, all the time.

So, the question is, how could we make the holiday/travel-me to follow us back home as well?

There’s an ancient saying that goes like this:

“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day — unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.” -Zen proverb

You do have the time. You just don’t have the energy, the willingness, necessarily. But tell me, why not go to the shore to watch the sunset when feeling anxious or stressed? Why not take a relaxing yoga class or a long, slow, walk in the forest to feel better? Why not eat healthier, taste new things, find all that excitement from around you, again.

Why not?

Anyway. That’s something to think about. Maybe even a new year’s resolution. “To feel more alive again”, “to focus more on the moment”, “to give time to yourself”. To try new things, find the joy in the little things. It’s all here, it’s all there. You just need to look a bit closer.

There’s also an another thing I wanted to share with you. For me, it was life-changing. It’s something I learnt after I came home. Please, think about it. After reading this I wish you will feel more grateful and… loved.

After traveling I felt really exhausted. I just wanted to stop for a while, be in one place, be with my closest ones and just… breathe. I had realized what actually mattered and what did not. The stamps on my passport did not replace the hole in my heart, the loneliness, the cold sadness in my heart.

I decided I would stay in Finland and then see where that leads me to. What I learnt, in these past seven months being at home, is that, in the end, love is all you need. Love, is what will cure you, from the deepest of the deepest darkness. Love. It is all around you, all the time. It has many forms, it might be hard to see, but it’s there. And it’s the people who matters the most. People who will stand with you, for you, help you hold your head up. Be there for you. Support. You only need your loved ones to feel like you belonged somewhere, to feel like you’re at home. Nothing else. The place you are at is irrelevant. You only need is the right people and their love will surround you. It’s all in the the love you receive and the love you give.

What I realized after being away for so long, was all the things my life was missing.

Love.

I came back and tried to settle down. It was a bit of a panic, I must admit. (Still sometimes I feel like I’m still trying to recover…) At first I had no sense of belonging, to anyone or anything. I was used to having no permanent place and no permanent people around me. When you travel, it’s sad, but you have to learn to let go. You say goodbyes all the time, you move on. And now suddenly I was at home again. What is home? I had to learn to connect with my ground again. Be in just one place. Settle down. I also had to connect with myself again. Take a break. Breathe deeply and slooowly. I had to connect with my friends again. I had to learn to live in one place again, and only in one place. No more moving around, chasing adventures, changing cities and people and bars and beaches and jungles. It was time to focus on the important. 

People. Closest ones. Friends. Your partner. Your family. Your grandmother. Your dog. Your home.

And I’m glad I did. ❤

One needs to feel loved, in order to function properly. One needs to feel important and that he or she mattered. It helps, if there’s a mission. A purpose, goals. That’s when you manage to maintain your balance and healthy mind. And you know what? Behind it all, there is always love. To love and to be loved. To love yourself. To believe in yourself. To know that there is a bigger self waiting to be discovered, a potential you never thought there was. But oh it is there. In every single one of us.

Just need to seek a bit deeper.

Good luck! 

Remember…

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

 

Peace y’all, keep the love flowing! 🙂 ❤

– Jenna

 

Always counting

Always counting.

I confess, I belong to the group of wanderlust ones. Wikipedia puts it well:

“Wanderlust is a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world. —

The term originates from the German words wandern (to hike) and Lust (desire). The term wandern, frequently misused as a false friend, does in fact not mean “to wander”, but “to hike.” Placing the two words together, translated: “enjoyment of hiking”, although it is commonly described as an enjoyment of strolling, roaming about or wandering. —

In modern German, the use of the word Wanderlust to mean “desire to travel” is less common, having been replaced by Fernweh (lit. “farsickness”), coined as an antonym to Heimweh (“homesickness”).—“

That’s me. Wanderlust. Enjoyment of hiking, desire to travel – and that’s how we get to the ‘counting’ part.

Always counting. There will always be some kind of a countdown going on; Whether it was days left until the plane gets off or the days when an ongoing trip will end. We all know the feeling in stomach when the travel fever raises and we get butterflies in our bellies. “Two more days and London is calling!”  – that’s the exciting waiting part. You count the days to the becoming trip, you mark everything in your calender and imagine yourself there, lying on a white sanded beach or so. You start smiling when you know what’s coming. Then there’s the other part when you’re on the road. First you count the days and weeks and months you’ve already traveled, then the coin turns around and you start feeling kinda sad and anxious after realizing that your holiday is soon to be over. You start counting the final days before going back home. “One last week starts tomorrow… Ugh.”

It’s nice to go back home after a long journey but it’s still always a bit sad to leave, especially if you’ve been in that one place for a longer period of time. Like me; It’s been almost eight moths for me now here in Scotland. Six weeks left. Six weeks is nothing! Four weeks work, then one week in Iceland and after that one more week here in Edinburgh. After that it’s over. It’s time for me to move on and go back home.

So in six weeks I’ll be in Finland again. I’ll have my own room, my privacy (finally…). No more sleeping in a six-bed-dorm in a hostel. I’ll also be spending my time with the people I already know. No new acquaintances, no fellow travel mates around. No shared fridges nor queues for showers. No “CLOSED FOR CLEANING” signs on the bathroom and kitchen doors, and haha, no difficulties about understanding what someone with a strong accent is trying to say to you. Everything is going to be so easy. Even a bit too easy. How am I supposed to get used to that kind of a life style again? The same way as I got used to this one here, I suppose. But soon everything will go back to normal again. All the reasons why I left at the first place are still there. No excitement after the beginning, just routines. The questions about school, work and other life plans will start chasing you. The pressure about making permanent decisions. “What are you going to do know? Settle down, right? No need to go anywhere anymore now that you’ve just been away for almost a year.” Ha! You wish!

After being on the road you get used to the feeling of being free – and that’s what gets you in the hook. It’s almost impossible to go back home and act normal after traveling a while. All the routines creep you out, nothing feels the same again. Everything’s so normal that it starts to feel abnormal to you. You don’t feel free anymore. You’re expectations and the level of living has somehow gone up during your travels. You simply live differently. You’ve used to live in the moment. You know that the life is short. You’ve used to have a limited period of time in one place at a time so you’ve used to take everything out of it. You’re much relaxed now. Why would you be unhappy and live a steady life in your little comfort zone when you know that the life begins when you step out of the zone. You’ve turned out to be a yes person instead of a no person. You now refuse to live inside your comfort zone, a steady life is not enough anymore. You know better.

So when you come back home, nothing will be the same again. After all your experiences and things you’ve learned, after all those places you’ve seen you suddenly start seeing everything from a different point of you. You’ve grown so much during the past weeks that going back home feels like time traveling. Nothing’s changed there, it’s all the same. But you feel different. You feel very much separate and unconnected with everything and everyone that surrounds you at home. You don’t feel comfortable anymore. It doesn’t really feel like home anymore. Home should make you happy and feeling good. But you’ve seen too much. You’ve changed and it’s just not simply you anymore.

So you start thinking about new places to conquer. All those places people you met during your travels told you about. “The little village in the middle of a jungle in Laos… The hot air balloon flight in Morocco. Riding a bicycle around Jamaica. Hitchhiking the route 66. Eating street food in a Mexican city…” All those things. All those places. You’r at home browsing all the photos from your last journey over and over again. Oh, all those memories, all those places that you visited and people you met. Good times. So just like any other candy, you start wanting it more. Where to go next? When to go? And before you even notice, you’re already surfing on Skyscanner, searching desperately for cheap flights to Everywhere (All countries). “Just… please. Take me away.”

First it’s just a little itch in the back of your head and then it starts to spread all over your body. You’re hands can feel it and your feet want to lead you forward, somewhere away. You’ve lost the control. Every day, you start thinking about it more and more. You wish to be somewhere else, you want to go again, move on. The world is out there and it’s calling your name. You’re walking on a street and you look up and see a plane crossing the sky. I wonder where that plane is traveling to… I wish I was there too. Checking the new travel themed boards on Pinterest becomes your daily task. It is an impulse you just can’t control – especially after the first big trip. (For me it was my trip last winter to Australia and New Zealand. I’ve always known that I want to travel the world but after being there it just… I lost the control. It’s too late to stop now. It really is like a drug you get addicted to.)

It is always itching, it is always on your mind. The travel bug. No matter if you were on the road or not, it’s always there.. Next trip, last trip. When can I go again? You have your own travel savings and probably 90 % of your Bucket List has something to do with all the incredible places you want to visit someday. You start to feel anxious. The circle is closing, you want to be somewhere else. The itching just grows and grows, it really starts bothering. You find yourself dreaming about all those other places and new winds every day more and more, and then you reach the point when you just can’t handle it anymore.

And then you book the tickets.

Huh, the feeling. Finally you’ll be able to continue your life again. The wheel starts spinning and you’re able to breath again. The anxiousness is gone. Then you start planning the next trip and basically you’re mind will be with it all the time. You’re excited. The road is there and you’ll be hitting it soon. (For me it’s not the wee trip to Iceland I’ll be having in the beginning in December, but the almost four months trip to Southeast Asia starting on next February. I can’t wait to get there and explore all those undiscovered roads and pathways. It’s going to be magnificent.)

Into the Wild (my ultimate favorite movie and book) is such an inspiration. Jon Krakauer puts it well:

It  is all in the feeling when the airplane lands on another continent, the first bump when it hits the ground or when you see the land for the first time after hours of wondering above the clouds. It is in the feeling when you wake up in a train and you’ve reached a new city in a new country. Everything is so beautiful, so new and interesting. There’s so many adventures out there waiting for you. It is in the feeling of pure joy and happiness that’s spread all over you when after hours of hiking you finally reach the top of a mountain. And it’s visible, people can actually see it when they look at you. You have a sparkle in your eyes. You shine.

But when you’re at home, there’s no one to talk to about those things. All of the adventures, the stories about people you’ve met and outstanding places you’ve been to. They don’t know what you’re talking about, and it’s very possible they don’t even care. You feel that they don’t know you anymore and that’s the truth, you’re not the person you used to be. So what to do now? You start counting.

It’s because of the desire that forces you to move on and go someplace else, explore. The world is out there, why would you stop now? After the first journey it doesn’t feel a big issue anymore. It’s in fact very easy just to take your belongings and go. For the first time in your life you’re now aware of the things and places the world has to offer and it’s like candy you just can’t say no to.

Traveling gives you the feeling of freedom. C’mon, who doesn’t like to feel free? For the first time in your life you’re actually free to do whatever and go wherever. You can be whoever you want to be, you can do whatever you feel like. It’s like a superpower.

It’s the feeling. Almost like a new beginning, when you get to hit the road, you start feeling different. You feel new. You’re like another person, full of joy again. You’re not bored, as you used to be. All those old things in the past, nothing matters anymore. “It’s a new day, a new life, for me… and I’m feeling good.” You find yourself enjoying life again. You feel like you were living, and it’s a good feeling. So some people see it as freedom. There’s no chains anymore to hold you still. You can move and be free. No more obligations nor schedules, no more hectic life, no necessities. No unnecessary stress. Everything’s better now. You feel peaceful. No stress, no worries. Just… don’t worry, be happy.

Of course there’s always ups and downs what it comes to traveling and it can also get very stressful if you’re not for example prepared or laid back enough. But we’ll speak about that some other time. Now the main point is the strong, almost imperative, unconditional desire, an urge to travel and explore. A true wanderlust state of mind. The world is out there, why would I choose to be settled, “stuck” somewhere you don’t want to be – instead of going on the road and letting go. You can go wherever life leads you, go with the flow, they say. There’s so much to see. All the wanders of the Planet Earth. I’m too curious, can’t just stay home and “do nothing”. 😀

So I go.

Back my backpack and get a bus to the airport.

It’s the circle of life.

From head to toes, I am a wanderlust and there’s not much to do about it. No medication, no therapy. You just know that the world is calling your name and you decide to follow your heart and go wherever the intuition leads you. I think it’s beautiful, to be able to let go and see wherever the road might take you. The Earth will always carry you, no matter what happens. No need to be afraid. Go and try, explore. Soon you’ll find out a great deal about yourself, what you want, what you don’t want. Everything’s more clear now. You become you. No wonder people go traveling to find themselves. It is very possible that that’s exactly what will happen.

My beloved travel mates. I believe I can trust you on this one, you will know what I’m talking about when I speak about the desire and counting. It’s in all of us, we’re all the same in a way. We all know how it feels when you get to hit the road again. It’s unspeakable. It’s unforgettable. Nothing beats it. It is the life as we know it.

So don’t stop me now… Cus’ I’m having a good time, having a good time. 

So where will you be going next?