this is not the end

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

I start my last day here by calling Belgium at 6am (argentinian time) in the morning. To the commune no less. And speaking in French no less. To get papers from my past to get me to another place in the future. But the guy was helpful enough and patient and he definitely has a spot in heaven. And yes, it starts. The big journey to getting back to the EU. Back to real life.

So here I am, almost at the end of the trip. It has been quite the ride! All those continents! All those countries! All the many many cities! All the bus rides. Yeap, a lot of bus rides. Words cannot express the number of hours I have spent on these buses.

From the snow capped mountains in Bariloche in Argentina, to the yellow brown vast Thar desert in India, to the deep jungles in Madidi in Bolivia and under the seas in the Carribean in Colombia. I have been freezing at under 20 degrees in the flats of uyuni and broiled at above 40 degrees in the almost ghostly town of Varanasi (when its high noon) where the masses hide away in their houses and shops. I have careened down river rapids between Nepal and Tibet, trudged through crocodile invested swamps, swung down waterfalls and literally flew through clouds (was rather cold and wet) over rhododendron mountains.

The distances covered these past 7 months is just the beginning of my story of my round the world trip. It is also the wonders of nature that I have beheld. It is the feeling of exhilaration of waking up each day with no knowing what the day brings and truly living in each moment. It is in each experience. Being on a mountaintop at 5000 meters in Colombia with clouds around you and ice particles from my breath on the inside collar of my jacket. It is being in an Ashram in India and falling into the silence of just being there. It is being in the amazonian wetlands in Bolivia in the night with the jungle sounds around you and looking up into a black night dotted with literally a million stars, and the milky way stretched out across the night sky like dorothy’s brick road, leading the way through this alternate and amazing world.

But most of all, its about the friendships. Old friendships strengthened and renewed and new friendships forged. Reunions with old friends have been full of nostalgia. Travelling with a good friend has made our friendship deeper in another refreshing dimension. (and yes, we are still friends!) And also getting to know some incredible individuals from all over the world. And once in a while, also getting to connect with a particular person, with whom one falls easily into conversation and have great laughs with and on a deeper level becomes comfortable with.

I think I have emerged from this a stronger individual and to be really ok with my choices and to accept that the world is indeed full of different opinions and mindsets and to be easy on myself and others when I do not fully perceive what another sees or vice versa because there are a lot of things one will never be able to comprehend. And to be ok with that. That friendship and family bonds are important and that happiness if shared is truly savoured.

That’s all folks. This is me signing off. It has been a great journey and it comes to a close here but on the other hand, I’d like to see it as the beginning of another.