I booked a ticket to Prague in October because I had never been there and I kept hearing how amazing the city is. I went January 14-16, 2011. Yes, it was amazing. Beautiful city, inexpensive, the weather was absolutely amazing, and I even met up with the Czech exchange student my aunt and uncle hosted 15 years ago. He will always be my cousin 🙂
But by January 14th, I had been back at work for about 10 days post-Christmas vacation and I knew I needed to plan my exit. I was feeling very stressed out already and Prague was supposed to be my weekend getaway to recharge my batteries. It worked.
I couchsurfed and my host was amazing. I got hardly any sleep, but we talked and talked and talked. She already lives a non-conventional life. She designs webpages to support herself as a student. She does the contract and understands the needs from the client and then outsources the programming. She has lived in Thailand and studied at a Buddhist temple.
I knew I wanted to study at a Buddhist temple now that yoga and Eat, Pray, Love had made me start thinking more about spirituality and “mind over matter.” So this girl, Michaela, was really an inspiration for me. She was also out there “doing it” and living the life she wanted. She was a film student finishing up her time at a university. Upon graduation, she was moving back to Thailand to live life on her terms and pursue her dreams.
On top of meeting Michaela, it was in the upper 40’s Fahrenheit/about 8C and sunny the whole weekend. It was below freezing in Denmark, so it was extremely nice weather. I felt rejuvenated, alive, and engaged the whole weekend. I knew traveling was important to me, but it was in Prague, Czech Republic, the 47th country I’ve visited, that I realized how much of a passion traveling is for me.
When I got back from Prague, I wrote an email to friends and family detailing the adventure and showing pictures as I always do. And it was so enjoyable to write it. I really got into it, and the energy which had long since vanished upon returning to Denmark started to come back as I wrote. A friend of mine replied to the email saying that she really enjoyed reading the it and could feel the enthusiasm and energy that I otherwise lack in my calm and reserved day-to-day life. Another passion identified: writing. I knew this already, but now I could really feel it.
Next up.. putting it all together.
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