The FREEDOM of TRAVEL
Travelling has always been one of the greatest privileges in my life. I first enjoyed this freedom in school, exchange programs to France and the United States opened my horizon, made me understand other cultures better and caused this urge to travel. I am sure you have heard about the Africa-Virus, funny to call it a virus since the word virus nowadays is directly linked to Covid. Well not long ago having caught the Africa-virus was something positive. Maybe I should call it the need for Africa, the thirst to inhale the smells of the air, the colours of the landscapes, the excitement of watching animals in the wild, I can never get enough of it. The last months have taught me that this FREEDOM to travel and all the positive emotions that come with it, is my key to happiness.
I miss the excitement of planning a trip.
I miss the “Vorfreude”, a German word that perfectly describes the feeling of anticipation, you know something amazing is happening soon and the Vorfreude is almost as good as the trip itself.
I miss exploring new places and learning about other cultures.
I miss the preparation before leaving, the planning that goes into a trip – yes it’s my job but in my personal life I also can’t get enough of studying maps, reading about destinations and dreaming about going to new places.
I miss meeting new people.
I miss having the freedom of choice, the world has become a tiny place. It should be the opposite, by travelling to foreign places we learn how tiny we are in this huge and beautiful world of ours.
Our most important promise to our children is that we want to create memories for them and not to collect things.
The lack of freedom to travel is taking a toll on many of us. Lets hope that we appreciate the freedom of travel we had lost more once we have regained it. Lets hope that people will be more appreciative and thankful for the great gift of freedom of travel. Lets hope the way of travelling will change, that mass tourism gets less and that people actually want experiences and not just tick off boxes.
