Everyone loves traveling, but it is still underrated

Plan your trip tomorrow

I knew traveling abroad would be amazing and it was my dream as a kid, but I underestimated its psychological impact. I came from a very small village in Romania, and simply seeing bigger cities had a great impact on me, but getting out of the country altogether, blew my mind. I postponed traveling until I got to be 23 years old. I wish I had done it sooner, but I am grateful that I traveled abroad at a stage in my life where I had the capacity to truly admire what I was experiencing.

Garden of Eden within the walls of stupidity

Being born in a small town in Romania comes with certain limitations and possibilities. The possibilities come from the love of families, that cherish their loved ones and enjoy a more natural way of living.

I grew up around farm animals and real plants that could only grow in gardens that weren’t poisoned by the ways of the modern world.

Not all pesticides are terrible, but there is a certain way of growing that plants choose to undertake when they are not perturbed by various chemicals.

Back then, I could feel in my bones how my way of living influenced how robust I was developing. Having proper food is an essential requirement for the harmonic development of the body.

Nonetheless, all this beauty was severely shackled by limitations. People are afraid of the unknown. They don’t question much and are content with the little they have.

There was a general belief that you should probably get a job around the city somewhere, get some education, remain here, and be content with whatever deplorable conditions we have around.

Questioning my life’s context made me crack the bubble that surrounds me, a bubble formed of preconceptions about how things are

This questioning led to a need to wander and to see more, I had a sense that traveling somewhere else would bring some fresh perspectives and people that I could resonate with.

I was a kid when I decided that I wanted to see the world

Waves of novelty

Through a series of lucky events, I managed to get to spend a few nights with my girlfriend in a villa just outside of Paphos in a city called Chloraka.

I was in continuous shock by anything from how different the buildings were to the intensity of the colors of the vegetation and how beautiful the sea was. It was strange to see another language on panels navigating through the city. At the same time, it was refreshing to see there is so much more to life than your little buble.

Romania has some extraordinary sights to see, but it was the first time for me to see so many palm trees, orange trees, and lemon trees.

And walking around the beach felt just divine. There was an enormous sense of peace and relaxation coming from all corners.

I think the most shocking for me was how deeply I was affected by what I saw. It was one of those things you experience in life that feel completely inexplicable through words.

So much beauty, novelty, and a sense of interconnectedness. You could feel that even though what you see might seem like an alien culture, these people resemble you much more than you imagine.

It was incredible to see the different array of emotions emerge into existence by the means of different cultural mechanisms. I could see kindness but a very different way of expressing it. A kind of being relaxed that was clearly deeply interlinked with the environment around them.

The way sitting around Palm trees, around brightly green colored grass gazing at the sea broke my conceptions about esthetics.

I could talk for hours about how much beauty I’ve seen, but it wasn’t only that. My conceptions about myself were changing. I was feeling more like a kid again, exploring the world and experiencing new things. At the same time, I could feel my ego slowly dissolving and being overwhelmed with a sense of unity.

I felt like a fool for thinking so little about what it means to travel. Even simply sitting in Cyprus for a few days, between palm trees in the grass, watching the sea, was completely changing who I am.

I think that even traveling a little bit worked as a great reminder for me that there is so much worth in leaving your little bubble, even for a very brief amount of time.

At the end of the trip, I decided that I will do it again, and never let my little bubble form ever again.