That photo of early morning light is beautiful and took me back to one of my homes. Thank you for that. I'm sorry bits of this trip were hard and hope there's goodness ahead.
Thank you Roxani and thank you for stopping by. I feel I should add I did love Greece and this island was super beautiful - you have a great country - even if it was a trip where I was sometimes sad. I am sad in my daily life true. I can’t expect travel or amazing views to remove that and sometimes, like in this trip, in shines a light on what isn’t quite working.
Absolutely makes sense! And you don’t need to love Greece (I am Greek and often feel sad there on account of being there!). I completely get how travel cannot shift feelings that are with us in our daily lives, and it shining a light on what isn’t quite working is the perfect way to put it.
Sometimes, when we have the time to pay attention, that’s when we truly get in touch with those things we haven’t paid attention to enough, if that makes any sense.
Yes it does. And completely agree. Although I felt a bit sad on this trip I do think those journeys back to self are helpful. That attention is worth finding again.
I once read somewhere that you take yourself with you wherever you go. I can’t remember who coined the phrase, but I find that I need to remind myself of this more often than I care to admit.
These are stunning photos Catriona. And I’m pleased you felt worthy of the beauty.
This sounds like "wherever you go, there you are"? I'm not sure who coined the original phrase, but I read a book of the same name last year, by Jon Kabat-Zinn - in Greece of all places! I wrote a little about it here: https://laurenkatepowell.substack.com/p/meanderings-on-a-mythical-land 💙
Yes I have heard that too Jo and found it to be too true - you do eventually catch up with yourself, no matter how far you travel. Glad you appreciated the photos - and yes to feeling worthy of beauty. :)
Thank you Sascha - yes that is so true. They are all there together so often - it is strange how hard that can be to navigate but it so often the case.
For me, it's the expectation of being alone. Sometimes I long for days where I don't have anyone making demands on me and on my time - can you give me a lift to the station? what's for supper tonight, just another human, even one I love dearly fillling my space. But today I have the house to myself and I feel slightly lost.
Ah yes I relate Julie - I had a meditation teacher when I lived in Myanmar who made us start the session outside the temple - so we had to walk into the space together. He talked about how transitions are an important part of the meditation practice and your comment made me think of his words. As I feel I need to take time to transition - between places, between being alone/in company - to be able to appreciate each one.
That’s interesting. If a group of people enter a space together, the energy is collectively set. If someone enters a space where a group of people are already, it changes the energy
I have grown to appreciate how sadness can be a doorway at times, take us right into ourselves. And that line about beauty coaxing away our pretenses - how true! It can be hard when the land around us brings us right up against ourselves, but ultimately what a gift. Thank you for sharing this!
Sorry Jennifer - it looks like you wrote this comment a long time ago and I never replied. I love what you say about sadness being a doorway. It is true - I still look back fondly on this trip and Greece in general, even if it wasn't always easy - it was a gift to travel there.
I feel very similar on solo trips, as much as I love travelling by myself. Much of the time it's bliss and I can while away my time walking, hiking, exploring, writing in my journal, drinking plonk or the local brew, people watching, and reading (of course). But then I get pangs of loneliness where I want to share the moment with someone. It's funny how I can pinpoint exactly the times when I felt like this, it's so vivid - for example in Eger, Hungary, I just had a moment while drinking some lovely bull's blood wine (as they call it) with a seat on the terrace seeing all the people in groups and wanting to savour the wine and the moment with someone else.
Yes I relate Daniel, it is strange itsn't it - to really enjoy the solo travel and then be suddenly hit by the feeling, I would love to share this with someone. On this trip, I had in my head the idea of doing some writing on these lovely Greek islands and disconnecting from Dubai, but I think it kind of hit me how lonely Dubai was, despite being busy and full of people everyday and now I was even more alone in this amazing island that I was meant to be enjoying. I still look back fondly on this trip and Greece overall, it is beautiful and I hope to go back, and each time I felt lonely I feel like I successfully was able to let it pass and move back into enjoying myself a few hours later.
That’s exactly it, the moment does pass and I’m back to feeling blissfully lonely, although I’m not lonely, if you know what I mean. And the overall memory is positive, unless the trip was a disaster in other ways. And it never, ever deters me from wanting to solo travel in the future. I can’t imagine I’ll never not want to travel on my own.
That photo of early morning light is beautiful and took me back to one of my homes. Thank you for that. I'm sorry bits of this trip were hard and hope there's goodness ahead.
Thank you Roxani and thank you for stopping by. I feel I should add I did love Greece and this island was super beautiful - you have a great country - even if it was a trip where I was sometimes sad. I am sad in my daily life true. I can’t expect travel or amazing views to remove that and sometimes, like in this trip, in shines a light on what isn’t quite working.
Absolutely makes sense! And you don’t need to love Greece (I am Greek and often feel sad there on account of being there!). I completely get how travel cannot shift feelings that are with us in our daily lives, and it shining a light on what isn’t quite working is the perfect way to put it.
Thank you. I guess transitions are not always easy to navigate. But we grow strong in leading how to journey through them.
Sometimes, when we have the time to pay attention, that’s when we truly get in touch with those things we haven’t paid attention to enough, if that makes any sense.
Yes it does. And completely agree. Although I felt a bit sad on this trip I do think those journeys back to self are helpful. That attention is worth finding again.
Thank you for stopping by.
I once read somewhere that you take yourself with you wherever you go. I can’t remember who coined the phrase, but I find that I need to remind myself of this more often than I care to admit.
These are stunning photos Catriona. And I’m pleased you felt worthy of the beauty.
This sounds like "wherever you go, there you are"? I'm not sure who coined the original phrase, but I read a book of the same name last year, by Jon Kabat-Zinn - in Greece of all places! I wrote a little about it here: https://laurenkatepowell.substack.com/p/meanderings-on-a-mythical-land 💙
Ah maybe Greece has something about it that brings out these reflections. I will take a look at the reflections on your piece Lauren.
Maybe it does!
Hope you enjoy 😊
Yes I have heard that too Jo and found it to be too true - you do eventually catch up with yourself, no matter how far you travel. Glad you appreciated the photos - and yes to feeling worthy of beauty. :)
So beautiful. All emotions can coexist, wherever we are, whenever we are. Difficulty and sadness can find us anywhere - but so can joy.
Thank you Sascha - yes that is so true. They are all there together so often - it is strange how hard that can be to navigate but it so often the case.
For me, it's the expectation of being alone. Sometimes I long for days where I don't have anyone making demands on me and on my time - can you give me a lift to the station? what's for supper tonight, just another human, even one I love dearly fillling my space. But today I have the house to myself and I feel slightly lost.
Ah yes I relate Julie - I had a meditation teacher when I lived in Myanmar who made us start the session outside the temple - so we had to walk into the space together. He talked about how transitions are an important part of the meditation practice and your comment made me think of his words. As I feel I need to take time to transition - between places, between being alone/in company - to be able to appreciate each one.
That’s interesting. If a group of people enter a space together, the energy is collectively set. If someone enters a space where a group of people are already, it changes the energy
Oh I like that Julie - the power of the collective and the power of the individual.
I have grown to appreciate how sadness can be a doorway at times, take us right into ourselves. And that line about beauty coaxing away our pretenses - how true! It can be hard when the land around us brings us right up against ourselves, but ultimately what a gift. Thank you for sharing this!
Sorry Jennifer - it looks like you wrote this comment a long time ago and I never replied. I love what you say about sadness being a doorway. It is true - I still look back fondly on this trip and Greece in general, even if it wasn't always easy - it was a gift to travel there.
I feel very similar on solo trips, as much as I love travelling by myself. Much of the time it's bliss and I can while away my time walking, hiking, exploring, writing in my journal, drinking plonk or the local brew, people watching, and reading (of course). But then I get pangs of loneliness where I want to share the moment with someone. It's funny how I can pinpoint exactly the times when I felt like this, it's so vivid - for example in Eger, Hungary, I just had a moment while drinking some lovely bull's blood wine (as they call it) with a seat on the terrace seeing all the people in groups and wanting to savour the wine and the moment with someone else.
The ups and downs of solo travelling, I suppose.
Yes I relate Daniel, it is strange itsn't it - to really enjoy the solo travel and then be suddenly hit by the feeling, I would love to share this with someone. On this trip, I had in my head the idea of doing some writing on these lovely Greek islands and disconnecting from Dubai, but I think it kind of hit me how lonely Dubai was, despite being busy and full of people everyday and now I was even more alone in this amazing island that I was meant to be enjoying. I still look back fondly on this trip and Greece overall, it is beautiful and I hope to go back, and each time I felt lonely I feel like I successfully was able to let it pass and move back into enjoying myself a few hours later.
That’s exactly it, the moment does pass and I’m back to feeling blissfully lonely, although I’m not lonely, if you know what I mean. And the overall memory is positive, unless the trip was a disaster in other ways. And it never, ever deters me from wanting to solo travel in the future. I can’t imagine I’ll never not want to travel on my own.
Yes so true - there is something great about solo travel to keep coming back to re-exploring.