Well, this is our final blog since we're home now, albeit a week early. I was behind in blogging because basically we were on the go since May 30th and had no time for computers or e-mails. We were mostly concerned with finding a place to stay each night as vagabonds while we made our way from Munich, through Venice, Rome, Florence and up to Zurich in four days. Our free time ceased greatly due to some unfortunate circumstances.
I will preface the beginning of this by saying that I had an absolutely amazing time over in Europe and the Lord stretched me in 16 days more than I have been stretched in a long time. And I definitely welcomed it. It was hard essentially being alone and having to figure out problem after problem overseas with limited resources. But God in His goodness showed us mercy by providing something incredibly good after things that were incredibly bad would happen. I sat back and reflected a few times like, "What did I do wrong that all of these things keep happening? Did you not want me to go on this trip God? Because never for a minute did I have any uneasiness about going on it, and even though I didn't map out a daily intinerary for each city, I did plan enough to where we would be totally okay for the 25 days we were supposed to be in Europe. Rooms, trains, finances, etc. But then things beyond my control happened to us that I had to learn to surrender and be okay with and even though I was incredibly disappointed, take from the situation what I could and know that there was a reason for everything. Through being obedient to God and trusting in Him, I was still able to have an amazing time filled with new friends, experiences, memories, and growth that, if I focused on everything that went wrong and let that ruin my trip, I would have completely missed out on. All I can do now is appreciate the time over there that I had been given and appreciate being home. And thank God that I deliberately made every effort to be fully present over there and not dwell on America or missing family or whatever. That even though I may have had my cards cancelled and money frozen, I was going through it in Munich. Or even though Haagen Dazs charged me $3000 dollars and still hasn't credited me the money back, at least it was in Belgium. Or even though we found out we had to come home very early and get up to Zurich in 48 hours from Venice and Rome, at least it was happening in Italy and I got to spend the 21 hours on the train throughout Italy looking out the window at the Italian hillsides and vineyards and Tuscan countrysides and read, write, reflect, and see things I'd never seen before.
At the end of long and exhausting days of travel and power-sightseeing, we would make sure to end the night with a long, leisurely meal and people watch, savor the food, and enjoy the feeling of being immersed in a totally different culture. We tried to stay away from tourist places and just slip into European life unnoticed, and sometimes it worked. When menus were in a totally different language, sometimes we'd dance around it with our waiter, or sometimes we'd just choose something and not really know what we were getting. But we were never disappointed. :)
What I learned from this whirlwind trip of 7 countries, 10 cities, 5,000 trains (or so it seemed) and over 60 hours riding on trains, is that I want to take a step back from my own life and love much, celebrate often, live simply and enjoy life abundantly. I think I have been moving too fast trying to grasp something of substance selfishly, that has been present in my life all along. I noticed how hard people work for their families and friends, but then spend equal time with their families and friends being enveloped in relationship with one another. And they enjoy the good things in life that God has given us. Leisurely breakfasts on the weekends, long dinners in the evenings, bike riding everywhere, walking instead of driving and looking eachother in the eye and greeting one another (and strangers) on the streets. Everyone seems a lot less stressed out, and that's what I want for my life, because really, what does rushing through life gain anyone? It's about leading a balanced life and investing in relationships with eachother.
So yes, several unfortunate things beyond our control happened to us that led us to have to come home early. And while there were many more things I would have liked to see and do, I learned enough and gained enough and experienced enough to last me a very long time... and to fuel my desire to plan my next big adventure. Nothing can ever stop me from traveling. Not even night trains to Budapest with scary drunk men, or $3000 charges from Haagen Dazs. I miss Europe already. :)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
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