My Eat, Pray, Love Era
Here is a list of beautiful moments I’ve been lucky enough to experience in the past year and a half. I never believed I could live to see such a life like this. That is, I imagined until I was maybe ninety-nine and trying to live out the last of my retired days.
I went to sleep in the heart of Venice, with wooden boats and gondolas floating outside our little apartment. I woke up in a fairytale cottage, in the mountains of Lake Como, Italy. The only access to us being: a thousand pebbled steps or a miniature road that could only fit (at most) a four by four-foot car. Here my affair with Italian food was born: homemade plates of pasta, red wine (fresh from the vineyard), fruit and chocolate pastries of all sorts, coca-cola in a glass bottle, croissants, dark espressos, and Stracciatella gelato. Yum.
I flew in a rickety helicopter (most likely from the nineties), with the doors off, migrating over the Hawaiian islands. My lover and I hiked to a secret, hidden waterfall here known as Ana’s pond; I skinny-dipped underneath the rushing water.
I somehow ended up at a party in the mountains of Spain at 4 in the morning. I learned their culture truly never wants the night to end; people begin partying as early as 7 pm and don’t end until as late as 10 am. Something I could never do, but a beautiful thing to observe. Tossa de Mar is here too, the most heavenly beach I have ever visited. I painted the dearest view I could remember; a single bonsai grows upon the rocky cliffs, with perfect golden sands and quiet waters in the shape of a peninsula. My diet here consisted of seafood paella and berry sangrias.
I laughed while riding horses with my love and best friend through the mountain villages of the Greek island, Santorini. For 10€, we sailed (roundtrip) from white to red to black sand beaches one afternoon. I loved on all the stray dogs and cats roaming the island, and ate fresh mussels as though my life depended on it.
I basked in awe of Costa Rica’s butterfly and waterfall gardens, with hot springs flowing nearby from the Arenal volcano. I witnessed here also the cacao + coffee bean farms bloom, with sloths swinging in the trees above. I grew to love the sweet fried green plantains, Patacones, in La Fortuna.
I ruined a rental car, with the help of my boyfriend (Europe does not tell you your car should not be filled with regular gas, but diesel). Full insurance fixed this problem long-term, but short-term we were left with nowhere to stay that night. Our hotel was over an hour away, and there were no taxis to take us without spending a fortune. So, my love decided to spend a fortune on a place to stay instead. (I was very much okay with sleeping in the car, or road, or park for that matter). But, alas, we spent one August night in a castle in the vineyards of Montalcino, from the 11th century. Local hot springs water flowed from the tub. The tiramisu was made by the chef at our very table upon ordering. And it was delicious.
These are just a few of many, many breathtaking moments I’ve been lucky enough to receive recently. On this Earth exists an abundance of places compared to the little slices of heaven I’ve described in my list above. I still have yet to see a fraction of what I hope to in my lifetime: for Bali, Paris, Amsterdam, Reykjavík, and so many more await.
In other words, my Eat, Pray, Love era is far from over. If you have not seen this movie, first: do. Second, the theme of this movie is a translation of travel as a spiritual journey, a form of self-discovery, and reflection. I find this interpretation to be both accurate and beautiful. As Julia Roberts so gracefully portrays.
This letter is prescribed to those suffering from feelings of loneliness, or a lack of purpose/meaning in this life. I’ve felt that way so many times, myself. And I feel as though this is the answer. Traveling. Gift yourself your own Eat, Pray, Love era! Whatever you need to heal from, a year of travels will cure it. View another way of life. Experience the simplistic way many still live. Recognize how happy another is, with much less than you have. Indulge in new foods. Music. Art. Nature. Your soul will thank you.