18 April, 2013

Squirreling about - far far away







The art of travelling
One of my absolute favourite things in the world is travelling. I need it regularly or I go mad. It is my drug of choice. I think I have always had the urge for revelling and already as a child I remember ordering catalogues from different travel agencies and flip through the pages and dream away.  Being an adult and being responsible for your own time and money made planning and going on adventures much easier. 

It is a sort of collecting for me. Collecting memories and places to think about when everything is painfully ordinary and the rain in falling outside the office window. Thinking of that small café in Berlin with the best frühstück, preferably eaten in front of a cosy fire burning.  Or the peaceful pagoda outside Hanoi  where you could sit and just watch the beautiful scenery from a staircase cut out from the rock under a fragrant Frangipani  tree.  

The collector in me always bring home little souvenirs that also work the magic of remembering and cherish these moments.  These little treasures almost always have in common that they are small enough to enable being transported back home.  And when used, looked at or eaten they bring back the different memories and feelings. A little bit of joy when opening the kitchen cabinet being greeted by a little dotted espresso cup found at the 1 Euro table in a store in Milan. 

A big part of the travelling for me is the actual planning. Exploring the place you are going to visit in advance, sort of looking through a pair of binoculars, seeing from a distance trying to imagine what it feels like to actually be there.  This also brings me great satisfaction and looking forward to an adventure gives me lots of energy. I read books and blogs, look at maps and spend hours looking for the best hotel in the perfect area.
  
Don’t forget comfortable shoes, a camera and an open mind and start a new adventure that will never leave you!

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