The journey and the discovery

What are the things that we really need when we are about to embark on a journey? Good question, the answer to which will vary according to the life stage we are going through. When I was a young boy I used to travel a lot and I clearly remember each journey, one in particular comes to mind actually, when we rode a Vespa from Treviso in Northern Italy to Rome. We used to carry almost nothing with us: just a sleeping bag and a small, light backpack, and that was even too much for our Vespa, considering there were two of us on it. I often reminisce about those free-spirited journeys that now belong to a time long gone, contemplating about how much things have changed.

At the end of the day, it’s completely normal: as we grow, our needs are bound to change. Usually we tend to look for a more comfortable experience: when we have a family and maybe young kids, the space dedicated to our luggage will inexorably increase. We try to take with us all those material things that surround us every day in order to feel more comfortable when on holidays. The final result can only be described as a paradox though: to get more comfortable, we end up carrying an unnecessary burden made of things that we could have easily left at home, falling for the “you never know, we might need it” line even though we know it would be highly unlikely.

Perhaps there are more useful things we should carry with us: the curiosity that pushes us to leave the main road in order to explore new paths or to get lost on purpose in order to let our instinct guide us. I wonder what we could find behind that corner, behind that bend or at the end of that road: probably something that will truly surprise us.