The 5 stages of travelling

It has started again. The days have grown shorter and darker, and no one knows whether it's ten in the morning or four in the afternoon since it's always grey outside. The sun got shy and only shows itself sporadically. It has to be November.
It's the beginning of a period that makes you want to stay in bed all day. Christmas is the light at the end of the tunnel, but we all know that there's another tunnel just behind it, leading us at least until the end of February.

But there is always the option to escape. London has been calling out to me for some time now. After my return in the summer I had enough of all things British for a while, which surprised me, actually. But I should have known that it wouldn't last long. Soon the yearning to go back to this magnificent city grew so strong I just had to book a flight. It was a win-win: It would shut up the voice inside of me and help me through the November depression. So in a weeks time I'll be spending four glorious days in London (an I'll definitely report back).

But it got me to thinking about the power of anticipation, and about the steps involved in planning a trip, so I present:

The 5 stages of travelling

(or, my 5 stages anyway...)

1. Deciding to go
It's easy to dream about leaving your everyday routine, even just for a weekend. But it's quite a different thing deciding to go. This crosses the line between fantasizing about something and actually doing it. The rest is all fun and games, or as Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet said: 'All you've got to do is decide to go and the hard part is over. So go!'

2. Where to?
The choosing of a destination is one of the best parts of travelling. The world is literally waiting for you to decide what to explore next, and everything is possible. That is until you find out how expensive the flights are and that everything is already fully booked.

3. The Anticipation
Ah, the fun begins. Once you know where you'll be and how much time you'll have, it's time to start the research. I never plan out every minute of every day, but I still like to know what there is to see and do. So I would look up the major attractions, find out what neighborhoods might be fun to explore, and maybe even pick out a café or restaurant to go to. I also like to make the effort and at least learn how to say 'hello' and 'thank you' in whatever language is spoken at my destination. Depending on how much I'm looking forward to the trip, or on how much time there is in between the present and the departure date, I'll go a bit further. I might read stories or watch films set in the soon to be visited place, listen to music connected to it, look up customs or think of what I will bring back home. These steps vary, depending on whether it is a first-time visit to somewhere new and exotic, or whether I'm returning to an already familiar place.

4. The actual trip
There are a lot of stages within this one, maybe enough to write a different post soon, but the actual trip involves them all, from packing, to the journey, to the arrival, the days (or weeks if you're lucky) of living a different life, to the return back home. This is the part where you realize, no matter how much you've prepared, everything will be different anyways, and it will still be amazing, maybe even just because of that.

5. Home again
I wrote about this stage already here. This seems to be the hardest part, for me at least. It's not that you feel sad because you're back home - unless you're 'home' is a horrible place, but let's assume it isn't - it's just that the past days, weeks, months, we're so incredibly exciting, and you've felt so alive, that it seems strange to go back to doing anything that doesn't make you feel like that all the time. But if you've done it right, this will only inspire the next trip, and you can start this lovely process all over again.

Greek impressions

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending my summer vacation on the Greek island of Kalymnos. It's a fairly small island, one hour by ferry off Kos, known for natural sponges and mountain climbing. Now, personally, I don't have a need for either of these, but that didn't stop me from having a lovely and relaxing time. The weather was perfect, and the combination of hills and sea remains one of the most impressive images for me. Greek people were as friendly as I remembered, the food still delicious and the sea as clear as could be.

For whatever reason, I feel connected to Greece. I don't know if there is something more meaningful behind it, but actually, I think it makes perfect sense. The Greeks are the founders of almost everything that makes us human. They are one of the oldest civilizations in the western hemisphere, so in a way we all have a little bit of Greek in us. The language is beautiful and fragments, sometimes even entire words, can be found in a lot of other languages. As cheesy as this sounds, going to Greece feels like doing something good for my soul. It brings a kind of tranquility, like tracing something back to its inception, that's hard to duplicate.

Apart from all of that, it simply is  a beautiful country. The day before I left, my roommate and best friend asked me what Greece is like. I told her the first thing that came to my mind: 'It smells different.' I'm sure, every country, or city even, smells different. (I wrote a little something about this before here) But Greece is special. Just by leaving the airport in Kos and taking that first deep breath I knew where I was. It's the combination of the warm, slightly humid and sunny air, mixed with saltiness, dirt, and herbs - brought by the breeze that's usually a constant present.

We spent our days driving around the island, stopping at viewpoints or by the beach, swimming in the sea, eating all the local delicacies, soaking up the sun and generally living the island life. It reset my inner peace and balance. It also became clear to me, once again, that I am a 'Stadtkind' (city-child). I need everything that makes a city what it is in order to survive. Now, I'm not saying that I couldn't enjoy the peaceful country life for some time, but in the long run, I need the business and the overall vibe a city creates. Kalymnos wasn't void of people, but often we were alone on a certain beach, at a church or museum, or at any other site. This added an almost hypnotizing feeling to an already enchanting experience. I leave you with some photos in an attempt to recreate the magic for you all! Enjoy!

City Love II

 

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Venice is one of these cities - even if you have never been there, you probably have an image of the city in your head. It is one of its kind, there truly is no second city like it (although it has inspired some recreations, but more on that later...). Because of its unique character, it is often used as a backdrop for adversting, fotoshoots and films, and that is one of the main reasons it is so well known worldwide. A lot of people see it as a tourist trap, a city you visit once and then you can cross it off your list. I have been to Venice many, many times, and I still don't get tired of it. It's not a mega-city like London, Paris or New York. It's a place full of history, almost like a live-in museum, that still operates as a functioning, modern-day city. Most of all it is a beautiful place, where you want to stop and admire your surroundings every other minute. Once you've done the tourist thing you can start exploring the sideways, back alleys and empty squares, and that is where the charm of Venice is at its strongest.