Opening2Life

We've been having grey days here in Portugal for some time now. It's been a very rainy winter. Not the best weather to be outside. I still go out for a few runs even when it's raining, but when it's very windy at the same time, I really don't feel like being outdoors. So this winter has been inviting me to stay more at home, to be more introspective. I wouldn't mind if the weather was a bit better, but this is probably what I need at the moment - an invitation to be more with myself. Travelling changed me in some way. Obviously not my essence, but it made me see life from a different perspective - or, more precisely, it broadened my view on life. I don't think life should be this sequence of events that we've been taught to follow: go to school, start working, make as much money as possible, worry about the future and all the things that can go wrong so that you always have enough money. Get married, have kids, and work until you retire. I'm at a sta...

As usual, many things have happened since my last post. I'm currently in North Goa, in Arambol, and I'll focus more on my experience here than on the other places I've visited, because this part of the country has become another of my favourite places in India, together with Dharamshala. Before coming to Goa, you might remember that I was supposed to take a long train journey from Kolkata to Pune. That train was cancelled. We got the confirmation after waiting around 2 hours for it to arrive. It was already late evening, so I had to decide what to do - stay an extra night in Kolkata and look for another accommodation, or look for an alternative means of transport. It was not guaranteed I could find either of them, because it was late. But I didn't feel like staying another night in Kolkata, so I ended up buying a flight ticket to Mumbai - it was cheaper than flying to Pune. I shared a taxi with an Indian guy who was also going to the airport. The flight was scheduled fo...

It's hard to believe that 6 months have passed since this journey began. Time has been flying, filled with so many experiences that I often lose my sense of time. It took me a while to feel like writing again after my last post. I usually wait until I'm in the mood, and this time almost 2 months have passed. The problem is that when I wait too long, travel experiences start to pile up, and naturally some details fade away with time. After Dharamshala - still my favourite place so far - I went to the state of West Bengal. My first stop was Darjeeling, where I spent a few days enjoying the peacefulness and beauty of the town. I stayed at a guesthouse where the owner treated me like family. He still writes to me quite often, asking how I'm doing. My days there were simple and relaxing - walking around and soaking up the atmosphere. And then, I finally experienced something I had wanted to do in India: travelling by train. I had heard so many stories from other travellers (most...

Already a month has passed since my last post here. Time flies. So many things have happened  over this past month, and a sequence of events has brought me to where I am now - Dharamshala, the land of the Dalai Lama. On the same day I wrote my last post, I got stomach sick. Some unwanted parasite decided my belly was a nice place to live. It took me some time to recover - for around 3 days, I barely ate anything. I got weak, and after regaining a bit of appetite, I was super careful with the food I ate while staying in Naggar. The owner was very kind and always checked in to see how I was doing. They cooked some light meals that were good for my stomach, and I slowly started to get better. On the day I was supposed to check out of the guesthouse and head to my next volunteering project, I received a message from the host saying it had to be cancelled because they didn't have many guests due to the rainy weather. I had 2 hours left until check-out and no idea where to go. I decided ...