A very strange time has come. Whenever a change approaches, i.e. when we either travel from home to Shujaa or vice versa, as it is the case now, a very strange feeling arises. With both of us.
Weeks beforehand we have been extremely excited about Mallorca. Seeing friends again, waking up in the big bed in our beloved finca, cuddling with our cat, cooking more creatively, doing more exercise, giving more space to spirituality – and simply being home again. However, as the day approaches, we look at our Shujaa every day in love as if it would be the last day. This melancholy look never exists during the core time of our travel because everything is so normal, but now we don’t want to leave Shujaa. Our cocoon, our expedition vehicle, which has given us so many wonderful moments and takes us everywhere. And now we actually do not want to leave him.
This “in-between time” often begins when you book the cargo vessel or when I start cleaning Shujaa in every corner. Of course, there’s still a lot to do, writing down things we need to buy at home, planning for the near future (the calendar is already jam-packed for the next six months), arranging the service at MAN, thinking about where we’ll store it, order new tires, … but all of these things indicate the end of the travel phase. Every activity is evaluated: Hanging out laundry for the last time. Buying groceries for the last time: do I have enough food for the last few days, but not too much that something spoils. It feels sad, but we then appreciate this time even more because traveling does not become a “normal” routine but remains “special”. That’s what we like about this feeling and that’s why we’re happy that we have chosen exactly these two locations and therefore two fundamentally different models of life. Well, one location and one mobile location. In this way it rarely becomes too much for us. We always have variety/adventure and “recovery” from the previous phase. We have found that this is important for us so that we don’t get a long-term „travel burnout“, as we have observed with many long-term travelers. But also so that we can always look forward to the next stage of travelling: at the moment we are already talking a lot about our next travel destination: Silk Road and Asia…
And of course we are still looking forward to Mallorca. Because we now know that the above transition-phase will happen again when we prepare our travels with Shujaa…because then we will not want to leave Mallorca. And now we also know that both places are so beautiful and important to us and that we enjoy them so much. The transition period always comes 2-3 weeks beforehand.
That’s a good thing, because the body and soul don’t want to be transplanted so easily for many months. Humans like stability. So when we say goodbye as well as when we arrive, we give ourselves some time to listen to ourselves and talk a lot about it. This enriches the relationship because it is always interesting to see what moves us during this time and what goes through our minds.
These days in particular I’m working intensively on… well, what do I call it? Spirituality? The word is so trivial and yet it is the only thing that describes this wide range of topics. At the moment there is an 11-day online seminar (flow summit) with many speakers and video-based lectures. This keeps me busy intensively every day and I am reintroduced to topics that are important to me and that I have somewhat lost sight of over time due to all the “distractions” when travelling. That makes me a little melancholy – additionally. At the same time, I am grateful that these feelings have just been brought to my attention. This gives me the opportunity to shake everything up a bit and recalibrate it. How do I want to spend my time in Mallorca? What should my days look like? Who do I want to spend my time with? And this brings us full circle again to the topic of “friends”. I notice that I need more time for myself, even though I’m already a very individual person.
Then I go in, get in the car and get us something to drink. The familiar and homely feeling of walking up the stairs, opening the drawer with the dishes and feeling really comfortable in this super cozy room and looking at every object, as if I were touching it for the first time, is almost ceremonial and therefore highly mindful. Here too the circle closes. I recognize that saying goodbye is spiritual and an important task.
