Côtes-d'Armor (Bretagne, France)
I can't help but think about saying goodbye now. And I'm building up a list of things I'm going to miss. But we're still here, we still have a few days left. And each of these days is precious.
In every farewell there is always a new beginning. But I'm not longing for that. Not like in other places. Because we are leaving a place where we have felt at home. I am reluctant to leave such places.
The essence of life lies in the rhythm of departure and new beginnings. Nothing lasts forever. Every experience comes to an end, every memory of it fades. But it is the experiences that I collect. Because they give me more than just a memory of a good time, I live in them.
Perhaps this way of travelling and living is a repetition of my childhood trauma. Setting off again and again to arrive, only to have to set off again. And never really being at home anywhere. That is the melody of my life.
Another farewell is that of 2023. What a wonderful year it was, so full of surprises and intense experiences. At the beginning of the year, I would never have dreamed that we would be saying goodbye to this year in Brittany, in a gîte outside a small village, surrounded by nature.
But this farewell is not a new beginning. It is a transition. It will be a quiet and cosy transition. One that doesn't let itself be talked about, that is simply there and happens. We will go to sleep like every night and wake up the next morning and then it has already happened. We have arrived on the other side.
It's that simple. And so easy. That's how life is at the moment. I'm no longer wandering aimlessly around the world. I know exactly where I am and where I want to go. I have opened my senses in both directions, inwards and outwards, so that they can show me the way. And this path has a destination. To find a place where we can be.
But I have already arrived within myself. That's what the journey has achieved so far. The old life with my old self disappears into the fog of the past. Memories of it are only loose images without emotion. I am moving away from it, towards a new beginning. A real new beginning.
And in this movement there is an inkling that something is possible. That something is there that didn't even exist as a thought before. This inkling is in the little things. The singing of seagulls flying over the rooftops. Or in the magic of raindrops glistening in the sun. So much more can be if we are open to it. And that's exactly what I am now.
Like on the day we travelled to Morbihan. It felt good to be back there. We met up with a good friend who we spent a month with on our first trip to Brittany six months ago. We drove past places we visited back then and they felt very familiar. A meal together with conversation, how good that feels. As language is still an obstacle for me in particular, it's nice to be able to talk to someone.
Getting away from the togetherness, even if only for a few hours.
And then another one of these wonderful hikes. Cap d'Erquy. Strong to stormy wind. But mild, 13°C. Distance: 12 km, duration: 4 h 30 min. The path runs along the coast most of the time. Very stony, sometimes with sharp rocks over which you have to walk carefully. But with a breathtakingly beautiful view of the sea.
We pass three beaches, the first of which is the most beautiful. The sand is smooth and glistens in the sun from the soaking water. Behind it is the turquoise-coloured sea, whose waves break on the shore and create a wonderful sound. The sound of life, enveloped in a calming silence that only nature can create. That's all I need. And yet it's also so much more than I've ever had.
I can't help but think about saying goodbye now. And I'm building up a list of things I'm going to miss. But we're still here, we still have a few days left. And each of these days is precious.
In every farewell there is always a new beginning. But I'm not longing for that. Not like in other places. Because we are leaving a place where we have felt at home. I am reluctant to leave such places.
The essence of life lies in the rhythm of departure and new beginnings. Nothing lasts forever. Every experience comes to an end, every memory of it fades. But it is the experiences that I collect. Because they give me more than just a memory of a good time, I live in them.
Perhaps this way of travelling and living is a repetition of my childhood trauma. Setting off again and again to arrive, only to have to set off again. And never really being at home anywhere. That is the melody of my life.
Another farewell is that of 2023. What a wonderful year it was, so full of surprises and intense experiences. At the beginning of the year, I would never have dreamed that we would be saying goodbye to this year in Brittany, in a gîte outside a small village, surrounded by nature.
But this farewell is not a new beginning. It is a transition. It will be a quiet and cosy transition. One that doesn't let itself be talked about, that is simply there and happens. We will go to sleep like every night and wake up the next morning and then it has already happened. We have arrived on the other side.
It's that simple. And so easy. That's how life is at the moment. I'm no longer wandering aimlessly around the world. I know exactly where I am and where I want to go. I have opened my senses in both directions, inwards and outwards, so that they can show me the way. And this path has a destination. To find a place where we can be.
But I have already arrived within myself. That's what the journey has achieved so far. The old life with my old self disappears into the fog of the past. Memories of it are only loose images without emotion. I am moving away from it, towards a new beginning. A real new beginning.
And in this movement there is an inkling that something is possible. That something is there that didn't even exist as a thought before. This inkling is in the little things. The singing of seagulls flying over the rooftops. Or in the magic of raindrops glistening in the sun. So much more can be if we are open to it. And that's exactly what I am now.
Like on the day we travelled to Morbihan. It felt good to be back there. We met up with a good friend who we spent a month with on our first trip to Brittany six months ago. We drove past places we visited back then and they felt very familiar. A meal together with conversation, how good that feels. As language is still an obstacle for me in particular, it's nice to be able to talk to someone.
Getting away from the togetherness, even if only for a few hours.
And then another one of these wonderful hikes. Cap d'Erquy. Strong to stormy wind. But mild, 13°C. Distance: 12 km, duration: 4 h 30 min. The path runs along the coast most of the time. Very stony, sometimes with sharp rocks over which you have to walk carefully. But with a breathtakingly beautiful view of the sea.
We pass three beaches, the first of which is the most beautiful. The sand is smooth and glistens in the sun from the soaking water. Behind it is the turquoise-coloured sea, whose waves break on the shore and create a wonderful sound. The sound of life, enveloped in a calming silence that only nature can create. That's all I need. And yet it's also so much more than I've ever had.