In this world of gods and monsters it’s hard to not be scared. I know. All you have to do is see what’s trending on the news. When I got to Cardiff, only a few days before big terrorists were arrested in that very city. You hear of freak accidents and people getting incurable diseases. Of course, nothing’s changed. It has always been like that: bad stuff happening.
And in this scary world, I am permanently restless… always wanting more from life. It makes me feel old–and sometimes it seems like the best cure is to drive fast and live hard. Now, I haven’t been to college yet, I don’t have a lot of money, and in the world’s eyes of accomplishment I could technically be invisible–unnoticed.
Looking out on my life, now is the time for me to decide which direction I want to go in. Really it is the time for my most important decisions. And I’ve been watching other people make their lives around me. I’ve even watched them in other cultures and countries. And it seems most people orchestrate their lives so they can be comfortable and safe. They seek success and “likes” on FB and the approval of fellow man.
But whatever.
read also to Genoa Italy | the artificial tropical rainforest
All that stuff means nothing. Seriously.
There’s nothing wrong with accomplishment, or degrees, or loads of money…but there is something much more important. And that’s your inner self and what drives you. Because if something bad happens, if you get an incurable disease or find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time and have a gun to your head, you’ll have something more to hold on to.
Because the bad stuff in this world makes the not really important stuff disappear. This I know for sure: most things we think are important aren’t.
Traveling is a way to cut ties with your old world…It is a way to see other things and know other things.
It is a way to realize how big the world is and how really small and insignificant you are–how much you have to learn and how far you have to go.
Cause at best when you are gone, all your “accomplishments” will be castle ruins. Magnificent maybe, but only ruins.
So do things that matter and love things that last
I was raised in the country–where crossing the street with your eyes shut barely amounts to a thrill, where looking both ways was hardly necessary (and therefore never engaged upon) and where there’s a general sense of good will amongst pedestrians.
So before I left my home town, I had talked myself into being more alert overseas and had accepted the fact that I would have to work harder to not get run over by cars.
But I quickly discovered this was not to be my main concern.
Now you (and I) know that dueling was outlawed–a long time ago. I came to the UK with this knowledge.
But I was corrected.
The duel lives on, but in a much more subtle way. In a look or determined step–among the thousands of streets covering this place called Europe. ( :) )
You see, when you set out to walk somewhere…it’s supposed to be a simple thing.
But oh! Not so.
Because, stepping out onto a crowded street means that you are in the immediate line of hundreds of people walking towards you. You approach them calmly, even casually, assuming that when you meet you’ll be able to work out your similarities and pass on safely.
However, the closer you become, the realization dawns that this is not the case and you start to consider averting your course in order to avoid collision. You take a quick look around to re-route, when suddenly your noblesse oblige wears thin.
The street is wide. The space is plenty. But they are all still coming toward you. Directly towards you. Determined and undeterred by anything ahead of them (including you).
“Move aside? Me? Impossible!”
It is the dueling spirit. In the face of opposition, look straight ahead and hold to your guns.
Of course you don’t want to move aside admitting defeat but you also don’t want to crash into them (which at this point looks like a big possibility)
At the last minute you swerve aside with your bags clocking against you as they pass.
Walking away you try to comfort yourself that you did the noble thing.
It is a small comfort.
;)
But you soon rediscover your good spirits, because everything around you is so beautiful and fascinating. :)
Below are pictures of beautiful Caerphilly Castle in Cardiff…hope you enjoy.
As amazing and strange as it is…this monster relic is smack in the middle of the city. Enjoy wandering it with me–
It was so cold inside the castle walls that my breathe fogged
Little bits of the castle falling apart after hundreds of years
If you look close, in this picture you can see the houses in the distance– Cardiff :)