(Change occurs again, Somewhere in America – 15/09/2018)
My journey has been like climbing a mountain. Ascend, peak and descend. Three stages which correspond with three defined moods during this trip.
Ascend. Innocence, Freshness, Expectation, Hope, Keenness
The ascension was to spend two months in Cape Town. Venturing myself outside Europe and getting the flavour of living in a different continent: Africa (although many of you might object that Cape Town isn’t real Africa, which is true in certain ways, but it is Africa in others). Those two months were months of preparation for being a nomad for the rest of the year: to slow down and adjust my pace to the way life outside of working corporate Europe. This was necessary in order to appreciate and absorb the knowledge and experiences set for the next phase.
During that training, I also decided to do give something back. That is why I did some volunteering while I lived in Cape Town. I thought that two months of doing so would be sufficient and would allow me to move in a full leisure mode for the next months. But surprisingly, that was not the case. That experience made me see how much unnecessary pain there was around me. My issues, my problems, my pain was just a little grain of sand in the mountain of pain that this world creates over a vast majority of the humans. Those months in Cape Town activated an emotional and spiritual process that would progress through the remaining of my journey.
Peak. Power, Expansion, Interaction, Adventure, Challenge, Joy
The peak of my journey was backpacking across the entire American continent. From the very south end to almost Canada. From Ushuaia to San Francisco, my journey took me through Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile. Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and USA. What a rich selection of places for the journey: glaciers, volcanoes, valleys, mountains, deserts, salt flats, colonial cities, Caribbean beaches and megalopolis that express the power of capitalism.
During such phase I had my ups and downs, I froze and I melted, I travelled with mates and I travelled alone, I had very active weeks and weeks of not doing much. But as I gradually went through this phase, I gradually have become tired. At the beginning, you hardly notice it. But on the final weeks of these phase it was very evident. The signs are very clear: the need of spending time with yourself doing your own things becomes more evident. Sharing dormitories in hostels is something that increasingly becomes less comfortable for you, your wish to talk to strangers diminishes and you might end up preferring sitting on a bench to read your book instead of waking up early to explore all the sights that a place has to offer. That is what happened to me over the last weeks, and when that happens is a moment to slow down.
However during the previous months, the idea that my expartner would join me on this trip kept me going on peak mode. The initial plan was to explore Asia together. The confirmation that he would not going to be able to be part of the experience was the final straw for this phase and precipitated my transition into the final stage of my trip: the descend.
So this is the end of the affaire… The end of the trip.
I am returning back to Colombia to spend the next months reading, writing, exercising, gradually coming back into a routine and allow things to sediment in my system.
Descend. Contraction, Introversion, Isolation, Chary, Withdrawal
The final stage, therefore, has arrived. A time for spiritual learning and physical rest before I return back to I don’t know yet. During the previous phase my spiritual side ignited as I was exploring South America. Deepening my knowledge and questioning on the human condition, on what is our purpose in life, was something that grew together with my geographical knowledge of the continent.
This new phase is the time to absorb, to process, to expand and reflect these things I have learnt, experience and seen over the past months. My journey to Asia will have to wait. What my body is telling me is that I need to start this reflective phase now. Perhaps this change in plans shows I have learnt something on this trip. Perhaps I am slightly more connected to myself and listening to my body in a better way. It has been a huge inconvenience and a loss of money, but shifted my plans and decided to stay still in a place until I can complete my descend.
I am sure it will be a rich period. Hopefully the seeds planted during this trip will start to grow and the beautiful emotions I experienced will lead to another step towards love and balance. Towards enlightenment and higher conscience.
Life is change. People doing a sabbatical are triggering a change in their lives. And for sure, and this is a my golden advice to anyone doing this kind of trip or experience, change will constantly occur during the trip. In the physical and emotional level. Make sure your plans allow you to be flexible because you will have to.
