My train from Port Bou was almost an hour late, which of course happens. It was hot and the air conditioning was spotty (some cars yes, some cars kinda, some cars not at all). Trenitalia seemed concerned about keeping us happy and so when we arrived in Ventimiglia, there were employees handing out water, snacks and assistance to everyone getting off the train. Much appreciated, thank you.

Again I found myself happy to be a solo soul traveler. So do you think there’s a difference between being a tourist and being a traveler?

I do like to think of myself as a traveler because usually I’m not in a hurry and I’m not trying to see all the typical sights. On this trip I was trying to slowly get from point A to B, while taking time to soak in new parts of the planet. But really, who cares what I call myself; I was there with bazillions of other people doing some version of the same thing.

So, even with the heat and the bazillions, it was good. シ From Sanremo I headed into France. Again I avoided the known places and chose smaller towns on the periphery. This is how I like to travel because it allows me to find inexpensive, yet highly rated places to stay. In a little town called Port du , I found a reasonable place right on the port/marina.

I have a thing about marinas that I can’t really explain. Somehow my heart delights to see lots of boats, especially sailboat masts and beautiful blue water. I did some boating as a kid, but not so much so maybe it’s from a previous life. Who knows. I just know if I can see a marina, my mood is instantly buoyed. 😉

As had happened in my previous stops, I arrived hot and sweaty, immediately took a shower, and then relaxed for a while in some very welcome air-conditioning. When I got hungry I walked around to see more of the town. What I saw was neither beautiful nor inspiring, but instead a bit dilapidated, dirty and sometimes stinky. Ugh. I began to doubt my choice of locale again, thinking, well no wonder it was reasonably priced. My judgmental thoughts went rampant and turned ugly, “Ugh, where have I landed?” and, “I won’t ever come back here again!”

But I didn’t know what was coming. シ

Back to the marina I went. There were several restaurants with outdoor seating and varying views of the port there so I plopped down and ate some dinner. I had heard from the hotel clerk that there was a “party” every night of the summer at the port, and soon I saw a DJ setting up and people beginning to gather.

And then the dancing began.

And the spirit of the town came alive. Beautiful. So many people dancing so well (swing baby swing!) and having such a good time. At the marina! It was life-affirming, and when they did a line dance I jumped right in. And all of a sudden I could feel the charm of Port du Bouc.

This is life. This is community, a beautiful celebration of life each and every night of summer.

This is why I travel.2

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At the end of day two of solo soul traveling I found myself sitting at Bar Max in Sanremo, a bit of a larger city. Looking out at the port, I ordered a glass of wine and a seafood panini. Another day on my way to Spain.1

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My day on the trains had gone pretty well. On the first train I walked through a couple of toasty railcars and was happy to find that the third one was wonderfully cool. I sat down near the front of the car and ended up with a job; the doors between cars didn’t close automatically so every time someone walked through without closing the doors I would pop up and close them so as to keep the car cool. Worth it.

The next train I got on came with a friend. Her name is Sheila and she was very sweet. Her person was nice too. シ

Made it to San Remo and stepped outside to a wall of heat and humidity, and only a 15 minute walk? Uhm, yay? Ahhh, okay. I can do this.

I did do it and checked in with a very old lady who seemed very worried that I wouldn’t pay my 2 euro city tax. I tried with a 10 euro bill but she looked at me like I was crazy and said “NO NO NO! Due!” Okay, I get it, exact change only. I assured her I would pay and then went to my room to take a shower just like the day before.

Wandering the heat reminded me of a time when I visited friends several times traveling from Switzerland to Montalcino in Tuscany by train and had well, a few adventures. There was the time I was traveling with our two young kids in the incredible summer heat. We ended up on a bus after the train was cancelled…the bus was actually a tin can roasting in the sun (had all the windows closed and no air conditioning.) And we still weren’t at our destination. After checking many options and wandering Sienna a bit, I opted for a cab, a Toyota with air conditioning for about 50€ which seemed like a fortune but was better than the first taxi I found, a Mercedes for 110€. Considering the drive was an hour and would take us to our door instead of a hike up the hill to Montalcino as I had expected, it was a worthy investment. And was I crazy???

Yes. Definitely yes.

Kids were troopers and got to have all the gelato they wanted the rest of the trip…not the only time we had to offer that for poor parental choices, but hey, they’re still traveling so I guess it wasn’t all bad.

Anyway, back to Sanremo. The seafood panini was much better than I expected. But even just sitting there I was, once again, dripping wet. Time for shower number two. I headed back to the room and into the cool water. As I stepped out and began to dry off there was a knock on the door which I considered ignoring. Then there were more knocks. “Okay, okay, I’m coming!” I said as I answered the door in my towel. In front of me was a kind looking older man, another guest I soon realized, speaking broken English for the old woman as she yelled in the background about paying the city tax. He did his best to be diplomatic. I said that yes I would, and, could I please get dressed first? She began yelling louder from behind the poor man, so I grabbed a 2 euro coin and threw in her general direction (not at her) and closed the door, well, strongly.

I saw the gentleman later; we smiled a knowing sort of “whatcha gonna do?” smile and went on about our business. The funny part was that the next time I saw the lady she wanted to give me a little bottle of water as a gift. Huh? “For you lady.” Next she managed to get across that she didn’t want me to write a bad review, that she was helping a friend and that her friend would be very upset. I wondered if the friend would yell at her. シ

“We okay, yes?” I smiled. We okay lady. Poor woman, she could hardly walk and was very hard of hearing. I wondered about the wisdom of the friend to leave a hotel in her care in the middle of high tourist season but, “whatcha gonna do?” 😉

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This is how I felt when arriving at my destination on that first day of travel. Around 4:30pm I wandered into a tired train station and town. Well it seemed tired to me as a tired traveler wandering in the heat. I had arrived in Moncalieri, a town near Turin.

The way to my apartment was uninspiring. It was the that walking in the incredible heat, doing my best to stay in the shade, I began to question my sanity.

By the time I arrived to my apartment I was completely dripping wet. Like sweating everywhere. The apartment looked fine, somewhat nondescript, but belied what was to come. My host, a woman with short cropped gray hair and warm eyes welcomed me. She spoke almost no English and my Italian was gone for the afternoon. Must have sweated it out.2 I smiled and wondered how many flights of steps I would have to climb to get into my overnight home.

Just one flight, whew. As she explained the keys, we walked into a mini villa. No kidding. I was reminded of the villa that my niece and nephew rented in Lucca for her birthday that we got to stay in a couple of years before. That was a grand place with many rooms, terraces and a beautiful garden. This was the mini version of that, and surprisingly, it worked. And was so reasonably priced. Yay.

Marble floors, blessed air-conditioning, period furnishings, a chandelier. Large spacious rooms, high ceilings, wait, where was I? Maybe this hadn’t been such a bad idea after all. My host had especially cooled the bedroom for me so after we parted ways I immediately shed my clothing and lay in the coolness for while. Still hot, I finally got myself up and into the shower, which saved me.

Feeling cooler, I relaxed for a bit and considered what to do for food. So tired…maybe I could order pizza to be delivered. I had asked my host about restaurants and she recommended a place very close by. I could order in…but, knowing that getting out would be good for me, I pushed myself out the door into the still oppressive, (read high humidity) heat.

As I walked toward the restaurant which was supposed to be about a seven minute walk, I looked over and saw some interesting buildings that appeared to be up a hill, but were behind a big gated parking area. Hmm, I wonder what’s up there? Oh well, not going to find out tonight. Too tired. Get food, get sleep, travel again tomorrow.

On to the first restaurant. Not open. Okay, not surprising, given that it was a Monday. Internet had said it was open but, oh well. Find others. Ah, here’s one, great. Walk to that one, again not open. Okayyyy, are any restaurants open?

Well, to keep exploring it turned out I was going to get into the area I had seen before after all. Walking around the bend, I realized it was the old town and wasn’t all behind gates. As I walked up the hill I began to see charming streets winding this way and that.

The shops had closed for the evening but offered great windows to peek into. As I made it to the top of the hill I found the center of town with government buildings, a church and restaurants, most of which seemed to be closed. I had been by seven restaurants already, none open.

Finally I asked at a bar and was directed to one kind of hidden on the square. When I arrived, it seemed closed as no one was sitting at the outside tables, but turned out the inside was slightly downstairs and cooler maybe than sitting outside. Maybe. I went in and sat down, and continued to sweat and thought about how this is my mindfulness practice…learning to eat and sweat profusely at the same time.

Does that sound miserable? It really wasn’t. I knew that if I stopped moving and stopped resisting the heat my body would cool down at least a bit. Which it did. A tiny little bit. I can be okay with this too.

I didn’t want much food in the heat, so ordered zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella. That with a glass of wine and I was content. Content to eat, happy to have discovered the heart of town.

I really believe that every place, like every person, has something intriguing to share. I just had to look for it. シ

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It’s been about a year and a half since I traveled on my own and wow does it feel good. Last year when I traveled I was wandering toward Spain to see family; that’s exactly what I am doing now. But this time I am really meandering1 as I’m going through Italy.

July isn’t my preferred time to travel (you know, along with the thousands of others) but there are some good reasons to do it this year. One is that my work schedule is connected to the school calendar. For years I have been teaching a couple of yoga classes that run when school is in session. And now I am an assistant teacher for Baby Suzuki Music classes (ask me about them, they’re fab!) and they also run on the school schedule.

Another reason, I want to get to Spain…

I INTERRUPT THIS WRITING TO SAY THAT I JUST PEEKED OUT MY WINDOW AND SAW (another) CASTLE. IT NEVER GROWS OLD.

As I was saying, I want to get to Spain to be with my sister again and to see the eclipse. The town she lives in just happens to be close to one of the best viewing places. So we’ll head to the mountains and get to see the full solar eclipse.

One of my strategies for traveling in the busy season is to avoid the bigger cities and touristy places. So today I am headed for Moncaliere, just outside of Turin. I pick my locations by finding inexpensive places to stay that have high ratings, and of course for this trip, they need to be relatively close to the train stations. So, let’s see how this works today. All I want is to be in Italy with a good meal tonight.

Just leaving Luzern/Lucerne (German/French & English) now, heading for Lugano, then Milan, Turin and Moncalieri. Here I am again, YAY, for the travel, the train window views, and the adventure. Want to join me for some arm chair travel? I’ll keep you posted. シ

Recently I have kind of felt like life has been happening to me rather than for me. However, I choose (when I remember and when I can) to see that life happens for me, a beneficial tool to help me release resistance and go with what already is, what has already happened.

I feel freer when I see life this way, an unfolding that isn’t always clear in its benefits but is benefitting me just the same. Just writing that statement creates a sigh and relaxation in my body, a letting go of how things “should be,” that feels really good, especially in this moment.

If you are interested in knowing some details of what has been going on, then please accept this invitation to read (and perhaps subscribe to) another Substack publication I am working on called ryllalovesyoga. There you will find some specifics. And a bit of yoga to come.

ryllalovesyoga

Under construction…

Short version; life has been happening in new and unusual ways that have meant my schedule isn’t what I thought it was going to be; a result is that ryllalovesyoga isn’t looking as I expected. Oh well…

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6 months ago · 1 like · RyllaLovesYoga

All these happenings in my life are resulting in some changes to my Substack publications. Wise Words where I have shared thoughts on A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle, will shift to reading and writing other authors’ works as well, as they inspire me on my journey. Maybe a bit of video and Substack live, as well as writing like before. A work in progress, like me.

Experience, Savor, Share, Repeat will mostly stay the same, and I am eager to come back to writing here more often. Writing has been so helpful to me through the ups snd downs I have been experiencing.

Right now what is on my mind is that I also need to come back to the words in the title of this publication.

Experience - Go through life, all of it, present and aware, observing without judgment.

Savor - Savor the sweet spots and the sorrow, understanding that it all works together weaving a richer life experience, one of understanding and compassion as well as freedom and joy.

Share - Take the time to be with others, especially those to whom I am close, those in my family and community.

Repeat - Keep on keeping on, again and again, as long as is possible this time around.

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Thanks for being on the journey with me.

So, if you would like to try yoga in bite-size pieces, (like 15 or 20 minutes), on a fairly regular basis, then please click this link to sign up for my new publication.

ryllalovesyoga.substack.com

Then, I will be able to stop posting yoga stuff here, and just do my regular essays, observations on life, etc.

Thanks and I look forward to moving together soon!

Hello again. I am so looking forward to yoga together today. (6pm Basel time)

https://open.substack.com/live-stream/126545

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We started with 15 minutes of yoga, but it felt too rushed. So now we’ll give 20 minutes a try. This allows for us to gather ourselves for a moment and then still get the benefit of moving and stretching. シ

As a yoga teacher for almost 12 years now, I want to share a bite size bit of yoga with you. Some of you used to do online yoga with me, and I’d love to have you join again. And, I hope that some of you who don’t practice will give it a try and we’ll all get the fun/feeling goodness of it.

Another reason for the short sessions is that I am realizing what a difference they make. Due to my recently changed schedule and realizing that yup, I am getting older (61 right now), I decided to try putting around 15 minutes of movement into my morning schedule. But I had to make it fun (or forget it, I knew I wouldn’t stick with it).

So, each morning, I pull up a favorite playlist. Sometimes it’s dance music, sometimes gentle folk/country, sometimes classical, jazz, etc. Depends on my mood.

Then I move my body for three songs. That’s it.

Move for three songs. Now admittedly, sometimes I keep going, either continuing to move, or just resting for one more song. But three is enough. Usually that’s between 12 and 15 minutes. It’s doable, fun, and feels better than I expected. Then I go and make my coffee.

AND THE RESULT! Wow. What I didn’t expect was the strength and the freedom of movement I am feeling. Turns out doing a little bit of plank pose here and there on a regular basis makes me strong1. And “oiling my joints” through movement (especially my hips) makes everyday things easier. I feel looser, freer in my body. Yum.

So, I am sharing bite-sized yoga with you in hope that it may inspire you to take time with yourself and your body regularly and reap the benefits.2

I know not all of you are here for yoga and would prefer not to get these emails. Please go to manage subscriptions you can decide which sections of my newsletter you want to subscribe to.

I have not added any of you to the ryllayoga section so please do that if you want to receive emails/notifications.3

Thanks for reading and being here with me as I explore sharing yoga with you here on Substack.

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Which is, btw, what today’s reading is kinda about. シ Watch or listen1 and let me know your thoughts.

Thx,

シ

Rylla

Was it good video, nope! 😝 Bad angle, sound okay, for sure not there yet. But learning. Watch if you want, get yourself moving (that’s the important part, after all), and stay posted for more (hopefully better quality) offerings in the future.

(Btw, I am offering this to all now. In the future live is available to all, video recordings will be only for paid subscribers. シ )

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Thanks and namaste,

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I used to teach a couple of yoga classes online each week that were open to anyone. I decided to stop because I was getting busier and because I wanted to be less busy. 😊Busier with private clients (thank you all) and helping teach a Suzuki Baby Music class at ICMS (International Community Music School Basel). I wanted to be less busy so I could have my Monday and Friday evenings back.

Meanwhile I have been trying to figure out how to get back to it in a way that works for me, and maybe some of you too.

I don’t really know what I’m doing, and have let that get in my way. Now I realize I need to just jump into the pool and begin. So here goes.

Today, Monday, February 16, at 6 PM Basel time, I will get on Substack live and do 15 minutes of yoga. This will be free to anyone who shows up.1

I will do this again on most Mondays at 6 PM Basel time. For my paid subscribers, you will have a copy of the 15 minute session available to you. For anyone who wants to do it for free, you need to show up at the right time.

(Please bear with me if this isn’t working seamlessly in the beginning, I’m learning!)

No yoga experience is needed. You’re welcome to do this in your regular street clothes, although I do find it more comfortable to be in pajamas or yoga wear. But you’ll see me doing it in normal clothes sometimes just to show you that it’s possible.

OK, that’s it for now. If you happen to get this message in time and want to do some moving today, I’ll see you in a bit. 😊

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Hello dear ones. I am on an unexpected journey right now, spending valuable time with a loved one. This means I am not teaching my regular yoga classes. So instead I will offer some yoga here on Substack.

Thank you to my paying subscribers for believing in me and supporting my work. A recorded yoga class coming your way soon. Know it will be gentle and accessible to all; no experience required. Just willingness to take some time for yourself. 🙏🏼

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Do I want peace or drama? I want peace and yet…recently I had a falling out with a friend. I had had a stressful day, drank too much wine. We argued and made up, and well, other than being hung over the next day, I thought that was that.

But after, she let me know she needed space .1 And I began to explore more about how I was feeling, what had happened inside of me to make me lash out.

Wow are these words ringing true for me right now, especially the fear, perhaps being masked by anger or hostility…that is what I do. I feel threatened/triggered, backed into a corner and come out fighting. And I’m good at it, (or would that be bad?). Good at arguing, making my point, diminishing the person in front of me in the process, bad for connection, intimacy, and relationship.

So then what’s next? I feel terrible. Yeah yeah, maybe I should…except that it paralyzes me into feeling bad and unworthy of love. And that is once again my ego. Feeling ugly and worthless, beating myself up in order to…what? Get better? Only really I am again caught in judgment, and that’s the ego. Arghhh.

Since all this happened I have been going through ups and downs thinking about how I behaved poorly and then doing my best to know that I can’t change the past, and to move on.

But for a while it wasn’t working and I wasn’t moving on. I had moments feeling okay, but more moments feeling bad and unloveable. From there I cannot feel appreciation, experience wonder, or see possibility.

Luckily I have people to talk to. My husband is willing not only to put up with me but also to be a sounding board for whatever I am going through. Somehow deep inside, I know he still loves me even when I am feeling sure that it really shouldn’t be possible, and that is commitment.

And so I knew I had to begin with forgiving myself. I tried a bit, but no luck. So, I returned to an old friend whom I’ve never met but she is such a support I feel her as a friend. I knew I needed to listen to Tara Brach. I found her talk on self-forgiveness. My ego told me not to listen. It told me I needed to keep feeling bad and that a stupid talk wouldn’t work anyway, but somewhere deeper inside I knew better.

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I woke up a bit early and listened. She began to talk about allowing that just because I had behaved poorly, it didn’t mean I was unworthy of love. And oh did the tears begin to flow. That was where the emotion was, and it was the thought I was believing that was not true; I am unworthy of love.

My heart, my inner being knows that isn’t true, and so the emotion is there because I am believing an untrue thought. It was true that I messed up with this friend, but not true I am unworthy or unloveable. Human, yes. Flawed, oh yeah. Unworthy, nope, not now, not ever. Always worthy, always able to keep learning. Sometimes again and again and, well, again.

And then I immediately felt lighter. The tightness around my heart released, and I allowed for my mistakes and all the feelings that ensued. I let it be okay that I felt afraid. I forgave myself for masking the fear with anger and hostility. Many of Tara Brach’s meditations follow the concept of RAIN, or recognize, (your feelings) allow, investigate, nurture. And that was what worked to help me move on.

When I could see that it wasn’t me, I could then allow that I never intended to alienate my friend. This isn’t a pass on poor behavior. Rather it is understanding of how it can happen. To me, and to others. It allows me insight into why we create division and “othering” when we feel threatened on a personal and collective basis. It doesn’t work and I hope I don’t do it again. I definitely do it less than I used to, and so that will have to be good enough for now.

And if I do lash out when feeling stressed, etc. (cause I probably will), I’ll get to go through this all over again. But maybe I can lash out less, and get to forgiveness faster, learning each and every time. The crazy thing is that I do this most to the ones I care about. The lucky thing is most of them stay.

Who we are is our hearts, is love, and nothing else. Love allows for forgiveness. And love allows us to move on. Which I finally felt like I could do.

So, I went into the garden with my coffee and could see everything anew. Once again my heart could experience beauty and wonder, without the dark clouds of ego.

It’s good to be back.2

Disagreements, arguments, battles, etc. are a part of living on this planet, a part of learning how to live together. So, while we won’t avoid them, we can learn to look at them differently.

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We love to declare “war” on things, be they issues or people or concepts we think are so very wrong. And yet when we do so, we are merely strengthening that which we are fighting against. When we fight back, we are giving that which we want to get rid of more reason to fight, in other words, we are further provoking the “enemy.”

Instead what Eckhart1 invites us to do is to see the ego in ourselves and the other, and learn to not take it personally, to recognize that our reactivity is not who we are, nor who they are. It is merely the ego. Stepping back to see the greater perspective allows us to take action, but from a much different place.

So no reactivity. Okay, well but I’m not going to get rolled over, sit around and do nothing. What do I do?

Well, what guides me (when I remember!) is to stand for what I believe in without making anyone else wrong. Rather than push against them, I will take action in service of what I believe in.

These words from Eckhart are an invitation for me to consider things differently. Enough said. Let’s sit with this for now, letting it sink in to minds and hearts and see how it feels.

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Thanks for being with me. I really enjoy re-reading this book and having the reminders again and again, and sharing with you.

Namaste,

(by the way the audio isn’t exactly what’s written below as I find when I read I add some thoughts along the way)

The words in this section are short and powerful; I’m tempted to quote the whole thing, but instead I’ll share a few thoughts as usual.

When I led a group reading this book a few years ago, we lost some participants who found the book confusing and enigmatic (for my non-native english speakers and for me - had to look it up to confirm it’s meaning - enigmatic is something mysterious and difficult to interpret). I can completely understand that when reading this chapter, because if you don’t understand Eckhart’s definition of ego, then the concepts seem distant.

Ego here, according to my understanding of Eckhart Tolle, is the part of us that is worried about how we look, how we come across or are perceived. It is the part of us that is jealous, needy, revengeful, and resentful. It needs things to go its way, or it gets upset and drama ensues. It’s the part of us that gets offended. Easily.

It isn’t inherently bad; it is a part of our thinking that can protect us in a dangerous situation. But the ego just isn’t great at identifying if the situation is really dangerous or not. It usually finds that you have been wronged, and then over-inflates or dramatizes the scenario.

It’s the part of our brains that overthinks and over-worries about everything.

And when we get together with others who feel the same way as we do, sure that we have been victimized and wronged, we begin to build a collective ego. The ego feels righteous and strong when we’re with others who see it our way. And that’s when the problems begin, because in such a righteous state we feel empowered to do “whatever is necessary” in defense of our position. Including cruelty, violence, and war.

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He goes on to point out that most of the violence on this planet isn’t about individual ego, but rather, the collective.

Once we identify completely with a side, we leave no room for any other perspective. Oh my ego loves that, but really I don’t. It doesn’t feel good for long because it isn’t loving, isn’t really who we are.

And then the kicker is that whatever we dislike in someone else is active within us. But, it is not who we are. It just the ego acting out.

So what do we do? Practice becoming aware of the ego in day to day life, noticing the little things, when I feel offended, angry, reactionary. Those feelings are in me, so I am the one to let them go. I can do my best to be aware of the “bruised ego” and its tendency to be reactive, to feel hurt, to want to blame other people or the situation. And I can know it isn’t real, it isn’t me, it’s my ego.

The ego isn’t my enemy; I don’t want to fight with it, especially since that just feeds it. I only need become aware of it to disarm it. From awareness I can learn to let go and find peace while connecting to my true self.

Let’s keep reading and learning together to continue getting closer to who we really are, which is love. Thanks for joining me on this journey of living life fully, learning the whole way.

xoxo,

If I am right and you are wrong, do I own the truth? Or do I have a special connection to it? Is my way of believing about how the world works true? Is yours? Absolutely?

You can see how we get into the weeds here, the spectrum moving from a heated argument right into war. It is fine for me to believe as I believe, but when I think I own the truth, then I must convince you to believe as I believe. And I cannot tolerate it when you speak something other than what I believe. And then I feel justified in taking action against you.

Sometimes when I read these words and they really sink in, I am amazed that we as a species haven’t figured this out yet and that we still need to create war when we disagree. And yet, this is where we are. Maybe this is the only way to evolve, to wake up and find another way. There is another way.

We can begin by practicing with ourselves; do not identify with your opinions. Have them, stand for them, but don’t make those who disagree into the enemy. Because that isn’t really you. That’s your ego.

I take heart in knowing that as we continue to dig into these wise words of Eckhart Tolle’s we can learn more together about that other way of being.

Thanks for being and thanks for being here with me.

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This was written a while ago, while I was traveling with a two-month Eurrail Pass. I had 10 days to use in the months of March and April. This was at the beginning of my journey, leaving Switzerland and meandering my way down to Spain. My sister was moving into her new apartment there and I decided to surprise her and help her with her move.

So, slow travel it is. I did try to get reservations online for fast trains, but found it cumbersome and pricier than I expected. Since I really do love traveling by train, I’ve decided to go for the slower path. I am doing some crocheting, some writing, and lots of staring out the window. I have also read a tiny bit of news, which was more than enough. I think I need a holiday from the news. Maybe even a holiday from information. My brain is full, having taken in too much over the past few months. There so much available, all accessible, always. And so oddly tempting.

But enough! Watching documentaries and interviews full of information seems like a good idea, interesting and distracting…but all of a sudden it is too much. I feel FULL and tired. Not sick and tired, FULL and tired. So, I will take in less, think on things freely more, and slow down. The thing about traveling without reservations is that I change trains more often. So I need to be present. And that is always a good practice. シ

I’ll be in Geneva soon, then on my way to Montpellier. I am glad to have you along on this journey. And maybe tempt you to take a holiday from too much information, to slow down and breathe, be present.

While the post was written mostly in March, I took this short video this morning, as I was happy watching the rain gently move the leaves in my garden. It reminds me to slow down and let things happen naturally.

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Jump forward to later in the day, and I didn’t want to take the train. I didn’t know why, but it was a strong feeling. It felt good to trust myself with this decision.

Then, on the way home, I figured out why I wanted to drive.🙂

A young backpacker was looking for a ride. He was traveling through Switzerland from the Czech Republic. We had such a lovely conversation, such a positive interaction, and I ended up introducing him to my son who is about his age. He told us if we were ever in the Czech Republic, he would be happy to help us in anyway that he could.

Now I know why I wanted to drive today. 💪🏼😊

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