Months 7 & 8 - Italy and Home in the PNW for the Holidays
I'm not even going to apologize for the fact that I am 3 months behind on updating this blog. I haven't been in the mood for writing or staying connected on many forms of social media lately (except posting on Instagram sometimes because I like photography). So I do apologize for those who have written me and I haven't read or responded. I've needed some time to disconnect.
I'll try keep this post brief.
After 6 months around the Balkans, North Africa, and Middle East, I returned back to Milan, Italy where I spent almost a month back with my host family. It was a much needed relaxing month, taking a break from travel, and just catching up with a lot of emails, my own personal projects and online classes, and spending time with my host family. During my time there, my host dad taught me to drive a stick shift, and I got to attend my host sister's graduation (super interesting to see how it's different from ours in the USA). Since school in Italy takes FOREVER and now she is a Doctor, there were huge celebrations. The whole occasion was really special and a lot of fun. Sono orgogliosa di te Ari!
After Italy, I returned home to the PNW just in time for Thanksgiving. I spent the next month back home with my family. I mostly worked a bit from home, hiked as much as I could, picked up some shifts at my restaurant job, spent a lot of time with family, and reorganized for my next trip in Latin America.
Coming back to both Italy and the PNW was kind of an adjustment for me. After traveling months in the Balkans, and North Africa, but especially after coming back from Jordan (one of the world's poorest countries for water) and returning to "Western" countries especially in areas that don't have this water scarcity problem, was a shock for me. I had spent so much time being conscious of my water usage and having to be frugal with it that I was so shaken when I came back, when others around me left the faucet running, or simply that we weren't collecting and recycling the water. That experience in Jordan among others in the previous six months made me appreciate so much. Living in vastly different conditions than what I'm used to, different cultural expectations and norms, different resources, and meeting people and being connected with different minds.
In those six months of traveling, I made a point to try stay off the travelers route as much as possible. By this I mean, staying in hostels, and meeting other travelers from often times other wealthy Western countries with similar mindsets, and ultimately ending up traveling with these same people. (What I mean by this is often we meet other Americans, British, Germans, French, etc. Whose cultures and mindset is more similar to ours than say someone from Sudan, or Indonesia, etc. For me, in traveling it is important to meet new people and to be challenged and gain new perspectives. This is why I try to avoid hostels. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with staying in hostels. I did it a couple times because it was convenient for the sort of location I was in, or simply because I felt I needed to socialize more. Hostels are great for meeting a lot of likeminded travelers and socializing. But for me personally, staying in hostels often is not conducive for my lifestyle and the physical and mental space I need to have regularly). I often rented my own apartments if I was staying somewhere long enough (especially when I'm working on specific projects), stayed in Airbnbs on my own or with local hosts, or CouchSurfed with locals. Traveling like this gave me the opportunity to meet many different kinds of people who shared different stories and perspectives. The hospitality I was shown and the people I met will forever have a place in my heart. The best thing people can do for you in your life is show you something new, and teach you lessons. They surely gave me plenty of that. I can't express enough how thankful I am to have met these people, and for their kindness and willingness to share stories.
Being back home and having so much down time to myself gave me a lot of time to reflect. Especially with the holidays and spending time with family, I felt so much gratitude and love being around the familiar. Those seven months were crazy. So many lessons learned, new and invaluable experiences, new relationships, finding new inspiration, moments dancing until the sun came up, a lot of debates with individuals who challenged my ideas... I'm thankful for all the opportunities I've ever had that helped me get to where I am today. Thankful to have these kinds of experiences. Thankful for my health, and my own two sturdy legs that give me the ability to walk, hike and reach new peaks, and travel the way that I am doing now. Thankful to be able to do a trip like this alone, as all these new sensations and elements of travel are amplified when you go it alone (and it has made it easier to meet more people). At the same time, I am thankful to have gotten to meet up with many friends along the way and to make new memories together. I am thankful for always having food, a safe place to sleep, and water to drink and wash with. I'm incredibly thankful for all the amazing people I have in my life.
I'll try keep this post brief.
After 6 months around the Balkans, North Africa, and Middle East, I returned back to Milan, Italy where I spent almost a month back with my host family. It was a much needed relaxing month, taking a break from travel, and just catching up with a lot of emails, my own personal projects and online classes, and spending time with my host family. During my time there, my host dad taught me to drive a stick shift, and I got to attend my host sister's graduation (super interesting to see how it's different from ours in the USA). Since school in Italy takes FOREVER and now she is a Doctor, there were huge celebrations. The whole occasion was really special and a lot of fun. Sono orgogliosa di te Ari!
After Italy, I returned home to the PNW just in time for Thanksgiving. I spent the next month back home with my family. I mostly worked a bit from home, hiked as much as I could, picked up some shifts at my restaurant job, spent a lot of time with family, and reorganized for my next trip in Latin America.
Coming back to both Italy and the PNW was kind of an adjustment for me. After traveling months in the Balkans, and North Africa, but especially after coming back from Jordan (one of the world's poorest countries for water) and returning to "Western" countries especially in areas that don't have this water scarcity problem, was a shock for me. I had spent so much time being conscious of my water usage and having to be frugal with it that I was so shaken when I came back, when others around me left the faucet running, or simply that we weren't collecting and recycling the water. That experience in Jordan among others in the previous six months made me appreciate so much. Living in vastly different conditions than what I'm used to, different cultural expectations and norms, different resources, and meeting people and being connected with different minds.
In those six months of traveling, I made a point to try stay off the travelers route as much as possible. By this I mean, staying in hostels, and meeting other travelers from often times other wealthy Western countries with similar mindsets, and ultimately ending up traveling with these same people. (What I mean by this is often we meet other Americans, British, Germans, French, etc. Whose cultures and mindset is more similar to ours than say someone from Sudan, or Indonesia, etc. For me, in traveling it is important to meet new people and to be challenged and gain new perspectives. This is why I try to avoid hostels. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with staying in hostels. I did it a couple times because it was convenient for the sort of location I was in, or simply because I felt I needed to socialize more. Hostels are great for meeting a lot of likeminded travelers and socializing. But for me personally, staying in hostels often is not conducive for my lifestyle and the physical and mental space I need to have regularly). I often rented my own apartments if I was staying somewhere long enough (especially when I'm working on specific projects), stayed in Airbnbs on my own or with local hosts, or CouchSurfed with locals. Traveling like this gave me the opportunity to meet many different kinds of people who shared different stories and perspectives. The hospitality I was shown and the people I met will forever have a place in my heart. The best thing people can do for you in your life is show you something new, and teach you lessons. They surely gave me plenty of that. I can't express enough how thankful I am to have met these people, and for their kindness and willingness to share stories.
Being back home and having so much down time to myself gave me a lot of time to reflect. Especially with the holidays and spending time with family, I felt so much gratitude and love being around the familiar. Those seven months were crazy. So many lessons learned, new and invaluable experiences, new relationships, finding new inspiration, moments dancing until the sun came up, a lot of debates with individuals who challenged my ideas... I'm thankful for all the opportunities I've ever had that helped me get to where I am today. Thankful to have these kinds of experiences. Thankful for my health, and my own two sturdy legs that give me the ability to walk, hike and reach new peaks, and travel the way that I am doing now. Thankful to be able to do a trip like this alone, as all these new sensations and elements of travel are amplified when you go it alone (and it has made it easier to meet more people). At the same time, I am thankful to have gotten to meet up with many friends along the way and to make new memories together. I am thankful for always having food, a safe place to sleep, and water to drink and wash with. I'm incredibly thankful for all the amazing people I have in my life.
 |
| A winter hike in the PNW |
On an unrelated note, let's try stop country counting. I know some of you do it. Realize it's a privilege to travel, and saying you "did a country" (which doesn't make sense because how can you know all the diversities and depth of a country from a holiday) can come off as offensive to some, and also not everyone can travel to so many countries because of visas and/or cost. This recently started to bother me as I came across some backpackers who claimed to have "done" all of Europe in three weeks, or to have "done" 30 countries or whatever. Please be aware that not everyone can just "do" a country, and not everyone has access to travel visa-free to so many countries.
Anyways..
I'm currently in Peru on my Latin America part of my journey. I have some small projects here and there and am also determined to perfect my Spanish as I travel from Patagonia to Mexico. I spent the past month in various parts of Argentina/Chile and Patagonia. Currently I'm feeling exhausted, but also feeling so much gratitude. I'm happy to be back surrounded by familiarity in Peru, and getting to see some friends here.
Ok signing off. Ciao for now.
I'm currently in Peru on my Latin America part of my journey. I have some small projects here and there and am also determined to perfect my Spanish as I travel from Patagonia to Mexico. I spent the past month in various parts of Argentina/Chile and Patagonia. Currently I'm feeling exhausted, but also feeling so much gratitude. I'm happy to be back surrounded by familiarity in Peru, and getting to see some friends here.
Ok signing off. Ciao for now.
Comments
Post a Comment