Coming Home

The Pieta, Rome

I traveled three weeks of the last month,* and I’m so glad to be home. I need time to assimilate and to discover what I brought home with me.

Whenever I travel I learn as much about myself as I do about the places I go. To me, the changes in myself and my thinking are much more important than amassing a travelogue or souvenirs of places that I have visited. Even if I did not learn from the history and culture of the different countries of the world, I would be forever altered by the people I have met.

On this last trip I learned for sure what I have suspected for several years: I don’t really care much about seeing the sights.  After all, how many cathedrals and marble ruins does one need to see? And I am intensely interested in connections.

To be fair, I have been bonded to places;I feel a deep connection to Delphi in Greece. And I felt my sister’s spirit strongly in Naphlion on the Peloponnesus. My spirit soars at times when I stand at the edge of the sea, any sea. And a recent sail through the Dardanelles by the Gallipoli Peninsula was emotional for me.

On my travels I have seen art, i.e. the Pieta pictured above,  that has filled my soul and brought tears to my eyes.

However, I am usually looking for people connections. If I haven’t experienced a “moment” in a village, or city, or country; my memories don’t go there. But I will always remember the cab driver who shared his story and the man who read my map and directed me. And I clearly recall the French gentleman who gave me a lesson in navigating the metro on my first visit to France.

These were people who cared and shared. And I have connected with countless people in my own and other countries who have changed my life with their openness and willingness to give or receive help.  Or just share a word, a smile, and a bit of time with a stranger.

This is who I want to be. This is where I want to be. Such human connection makes any place in the world feel like home.

xxoo

*The tracks can be followed on Wandering Woman.