Welcome Aboard

Close your eyes and imagine that you could travel anywhere you wanted to. Imagine the place. What do you see? What does it sound like? Are you alone or is anybody with you? What is the weather like?

Isn’t it funny how waking up at 7am everyday can be so difficult, but waking up at 4am to head towards the airport is so easy. Travelling is so much more than getting from A to B.

For my birthday this year I had been planning a trip to Washington DC. I had been looking forward to visit NYC as well and spending the 4th of July, which falls on a Saturday this year, in the US. I thought it was perfect in theory. I guess it was meant to remain exactly that - a theory.

The countdown before a trip and the expectations painting out in my imagination. What are the things I want to do? What will I wear? Is it just me, or does everyone experience that pre-trip high?

I was supposed to travel to Germany this weekend and was looking forward to spending time with my friends and family. Friday was a national Bank Holiday in Germany, which would have enabled me to meet a load of my friends. Unfortunately this trip had to be cancelled.

Sometimes the worlds collide on an airplane, when you speak to the person next to you and for a moment you become so familiar with each other. What are their motivations, where they are coming from and where are they are going. Sometimes, you may share a juicy secret with one another. We may never meet again, we may have never met on a regular day. But today we have.

Once I met a girl who was flying to Puerto Rico to collect her things. It was just after Hurricane Maria in 2017. She had “escaped” to New York for the time being and coincidentally found her dream job out there. She was offered a higher position, a competitive salary and a generous relocation bonus. She hadn’t even quit her job in Puerto Rico and was very nervous about having to do this as soon as she arrived. We were so excited for her.

Do you know what freedom feels like? That sensation so close to both fear and happiness. When you arrive to somewhere unknown, completely alone for the first time. Sometimes it feels as if you depart as a new person, leaving a piece of yourself behind, and taking with you a piece of the city.

One morning in Cuenca, Ecuador, after me and my travel buddy had had a huge discussion I was alone in the city. For the first time I “couchsurfed” alone. I became really close with my host and his family. He told me there was a direct night-bus to Máncora, Peru. A place I had wanted to visit, but couldn't include in my initial plan. As my buddy had left me, I threw over the plan and took a night-bus headed straight towards one of my best memories ever.

Did you ever see a place so beautiful that you had to pinch yourself, to ensure you weren’t dreaming? The evidence that this planet is truly perfect. Paradise could easily be a beach with crystal clear water. Problems don’t exist in Paradise. I am standing in a postcard.

Have you ever met someone special, someone that greatly or subtlety influenced your life after they crossed your path? How you will forever associate them to the place you met and how you felt when you where there. Have you ever remembered a person and pictured them standing there, in the mountains where you met them? Sometimes you may refer to them, or something they said or taught you. And for a moment, relive the experience.

I am able to go wherever I want to go. Even under the current circumstances.

My Postcard Destination isn’t a place that can be located on the map. It is a place within me. It exists in my heart, my imagination and in my soul. There are many places within me that I am yet to discover so I will be busy for a while. Until further notice. And until the world has healed again.

Thank you very much for reading this. I hope you can relate. If you know somebody that may like to read this, please send it to them. I appreciate your support. With Love, Gabriella.