Oct7

Retrospect

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Video

While procrastinating on completing my studies today, I was pleased to re-discover a video I’d taken during an early-morning jog in May of 2011. This rudimentary filming was done in the foothills of the Alps, near the border of Switzerland and Germany. Being still jet-lagged and running around at 6:30 in the morning wasn’t exactly conducive to a fully awake video…

I hope you’ll be able to look past my sleepy eyes and gravelly voice to witness me falling even more in love with Europe. If someone had told me during that trip that, not even two years later, I would be planning a trip to Europe with no definitive ending point, I would have had trouble believing it! I felt this ineffable enchantment with Europe from the moment I stepped off of the plane in Frankfurt. It’s hard to explain, but it almost felt as if I was home. Even when completely lost in Zurich (I’ll make a post about this soon!), after only having arrived a few hours prior, I felt completely content.

Releasing my need to constantly plan and be overly futuristic has been such a blessing. I encourage all of you to open yourself up to the natural journey that life will take you on. I am so excited to see where my coming adventures take me.

“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.”
― Eckhart Tolle

P.S. “Traveler” = tourist/student-ish

64 responses »

  2. Looks like you had fun in Europe 🙂 The alps are beautiful. I saw you excited and smiling in the video. Didn´t look like you were tired 😛 I never have been to Zürich but I have been in Frankfurt.. passing through many times.

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    • I certainly did! I adored it. I did feel rather enlivened for it being so early (for me). But it was so funny watching because – I’m not quite sure how to put this – my face wasn’t “stretched” out, because it hadn’t really moved at all that day!

      Yeah, we were only in Frankfurt briefly.

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  3. I believe the true soul of a country can be found in the small villages and the countryside. When I travel, I try to avoid the major cities and discover the true nature of the people.

    It looks like you discovered that in the video.

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    • I totally hear you. Ideally, I like a bit of both! Touristy stuff can be fun, but the real culture is elsewhere.

      I guess the touristy portion is the dessert, but the other parts are the main course. Who can subsist on dessert?!

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  5. Yes you will be part of your wishes for whatever you wish for. We all get what we want as long as we work for it and you are on your way to get what you wished. Congratulations and good luck with your travels, journeys, adventures and all the best. Stay safe, enjoy life and keep smiling. 🙂

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  6. If you’re in Switzerland you must visit the Piz Gloria, the revolving restaurant at the summit of Schilthorn. It was one of the locations in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” y’know the old Bond film with George Lazenby? There is a cable car that takes you up there and it is so worth it when you see the view across the Alps.
    Trust me on this one.
    Danny

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  8. Hi, Andrea. Thanks to your comment, I stopped by your blog and your present entry here is one of great timing, especially as I’m “back” in Europe in two weeks’ time. 🙂

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      • Hi, Andrea.

        At present, I’m over two-thirds of the way through my year-long around-the-world travel. I started the trip in my hometown of Vancouver, Canada, and that’s where the trip will end this coming January. But there’s still some time between now and then, and I’ll be in Europe, mostly Germany where I lived for two years and where I’ve spent a great deal of time in the last few years.

        I see you’re planning a big trip to Europe : which countries are you aiming to visit, and what are the key things you’d like to see and experience?

      • Hello!

        That is so exciting. It genuinely warms my heart to hear of people following their dreams and becoming global citizens. It’s a beautiful thing and I hope more people start to do so.

        Two words: everywhere and everything. I guess I can hone it in a bit more, though…!

        My number one country is Switzerland. I’m not sure why, but I just felt so drawn to it from the first moment I arrived. I would love to live there for 6- 12 months. I also would really like to visit Italy for awhile. I plan to visit friends in Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, and Greece.

        My overarching goal is to immerse myself in as many cultures as possible. I don’t simply want to be a common tourist. I would love to be known by name to locals and be able to give recommendations for a great coffee shop to wayfarers.

        In earnest, I will go anywhere I have a safe couch to sleep on!

  9. I still need to visit Switzerland. I find Heidelberg pretty also. We’re in a valley, so there is the view of the hills and mountains. A lot of the postcard pictures you may see of the city are taken on the Philosophenweg, a trail on the side of one of the mountains looking over the city. It is definitely a cool thing to be able to recommend places to go to people. It’s not uncommon when my husband and I are walking around our city to remark how it’s so strange that we aren’t just tourists anymore. We *live* here. When we go to Mannheim, we’re not really ‘traveling’ so much as visiting the neighboring city we’ve been to so many times. I have lost count of the number of people who stop us for directions (which is only helpful if they know English and one of us knows the way) but that in itself is a little cool as I feel that we must look like we fit in.

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    • Amanda, it so amazing. I heartily recommend visiting.

      I’m sure it’s so beautiful there! I hope to spend more time in Germany. I’m sure that’s such a fun feeling, to be a visitor opposed to a tourist.

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      • I’ll have to get there sometime. I’m still waiting on my tourist passport to come in but it should be here soon.

        Germany is great. There is still so much to see. It is kind of fun 🙂

  12. Hi Andrea,
    Liked your thoughts on citizenship: “…or…this is my favorite coffee shop”. True, a good coffee shop can feel like home. Cozy, relaxed, friendly people around you. Thanks for following my blog. I will shortly add a list of the coffee shops I like in Zürich.

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    • Hello, Phillip!

      That is truly what I would like. It’s so fun being the tourist for awhile, but I’d really like to assimilate fully into the culture.

      Oh, I am so excited for that! Please do tell me when you’ve posted it.

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  14. As I interpret your post, indeed, life is incomplete without savoring the beauty of nature. I believe, we cannot appreciate the deepness of our life without the help of nature that which brings us into an inward discovery of ourselves. I believe, we are connected in nature because we consider ourselves as part of nature. Keep on discovering the deepness and the beauty of nature in your adventures 🙂

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  18. It’s a weird feeling, isn’t it, to feel so immediately at home in a far-off place you’re visiting for the first time? I’ve had the same experience in Italy and Japan. Maybe it has something to do with being a complete stranger in a world that has been humming along just fine without you — there’s no pressure to help keep things going, and you can just relax and take it all in at your own pace. Or maybe we shouldn’t even try to analyze it. Have fun.

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