travelling

EVS didn’t changed my life. It changed me.

Posted on by alifeafterevs

Coming back from EVS is hard. We all know that. So many memories, friends, experiences, travels…and so on. We have been told that we are going to go through that process of adaptation to your home country, those feelings of nostalgia and treasuring moments and the will of staying in the host country. But what happens in reality? Well, in reality, people fall in love during EVS and start a relationship; people finally get a job in the host country; people start volunteering in their homeland; people move to another country looking for similar experience; people keep long distance friendships; people start connecting with foreigners living in their country just for the sake of not speaking their mother tongue which now sounds weird…The list is endless.

What I realise as the time pass by is that my life after EVS hasn’t changed that much. But I have. I’m still living in my hometown; but my heart and mind and looking for new experiences abroad. I still sleep in the same room I used to sleep when I was a child; but now is full of memories of my EVS and the travels that came after. My best friends are the same; I only have added some more. They might not be close in kilometers, but they are close to my heart. I’m walking through the same streets I’ve walked my whole life. I just wander like a stranger with other city maps in my mind, trying to discover new places in such a familiar place.

7808134512_8728e58550_b by Thomas Leuthard

Dare to jump

Photo credits: Thomas Leuthard

So yes. I have changed a lot. I am now aware of the world that is outside. And that is not so big. At least not big enough so two friends can not meet again if they want to. I have learnt that we never stop learning, especially from ourselves. Our inner world is probably bigger than the Earth. And as the Earth does, we change. We live in a constant change influenced by what happens to us, the times we fall and the times we stand, the times we dare to discover and try; and of course all the footprints people we meet on the way leave on us.

I like to think that when we meet somebody, we don’t lose a small piece of ourselves; we just share a piece with the other. And that is what happened during and after my EVS: I became a collector of other people’s pieces.

Photo via VisualHunt.com

Fuckup Nights

Posted on by alifeafterevs

Sunday night I was reading a magazine I use to read every week. In the last pages there was an essay about failing. Two words grabbed my attention: Fuckup Nights. Brand new concept for me. It was said that this movement born in Mexico, appears as a contrast to the worldwide famous TEDx talks. The Fuckup Nights are sessions organized, firstly for friends, in which people shared their fails stories around some beers. I immediately took note of the concept. A couple of days after here I am, writing about it. And not only that. I am still amazed how everything is conected. Or it’s just that we connect what we need to see connected.

Before Christmas I was looking for some added value for the blog. So I thought about the TEDx videos. They were inspiring, motivating and pure learning. The idea was to post one per week and comment my impressions. But after having viewed some of them, I didn’t feel sure about it. I didn’t know why. I got stuck.

On a recent trip to Morocco, I met a 72 years old man. He looked like another traveller spending some days in the same hostel as us. But one night, we went to have dinner on the terraced roof and the magic started. The man was born in California, but never felt part of the country. On his early 20’s he decided to explore the world. So he took his backpack to travel the world. After some months travelling, he met a woman in Sapporo. And they settled there. He worked for 24 years with one dream: to travel the world again with his wife. After he got retired and moved for some years to California to take care of his mother until she passed away. Then the couple sold everything they had, including their flat in Sapporo, to live their dream. They have been travelling for 3 years. And there he was. Telling us how young we were. And all the things the world has to offer to us.

Today I sent some emails I was too afraid to send a month ago. Afraid of failing. And I’ve already downloaded the Fuckup Nights book.

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Photo credit: Sixth Lie via VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC-ND

 

Things we should do more in 2016

Posted on by alifeafterevs

Today is the last day of 2015. A day to sum up a whole year. That means to remember good moments; learn from bad ones; recall all the smells and colours of the trips done; listen to your playlist of the year; read the postcards you got in these 365 days; print some photos with the people you met along 52 weeks; think where you were last year and where you are now. It sounds awful, but what we do is evaluate. And we do it because we want the 2016 to be better than 2015. Or at least different.

an act of traveling from one place to another

For sure there are a million things to change. I know I tend to exaggerate, but there are literally a lot of things we should do more in the upcoming year.

Learn to go with the flow.

Close old doors, open new ones.

Write to people you care about. Never is too late.

Meet new people. From all over the world.

Give handmade presents. The time you spend making them is priceless.

Discover new places everywhere.

Open your eyes to surprise.

Dance your favourite song.

Travel.

Hug.

 

What should we do more this year?

 

 

15 minutes of magic

Posted on by alifeafterevs

A phone call from a friend at 23.45 on a Wednesday. Random day.

On the other side, the excited voice of whom has been doing some research about travelling (what else). Cheap travelling that lasted until midnight to be exact.

And a question: Where do we go?

In the next 10 minutes we decided the place, refreshed the website, tried to buy two tickets, were redirected to buy just one, tried again, typed all the information, payed and got the itinerary. The excitement mixed with the frustration of not being able to make it on time. But we did it.

That feeling of not knowing where you are going, of last minute decision, of anxiety about what is coming and the relax after the purchase. All these sensations can be felt in just 15 minutes. You can not believe you have done it. But you have. And then that angel on your shoulder telling you that you are crazy, that it is not the moment…Never is the moment.

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Photo by Szolkin

Sometimes what we need it is just to forget about what we should do and go fo what we want. And usually what I want is to go somewhere else. To run away. Even to a close town. Or to the mountains around. Always is the moment for that.

5 thoughts about lists

Posted on by alifeafterevs

1.“30 things to do before 30s”. “100 places to see before you die”. “10 spots you shouldn’t miss in Barcelona”. “20 lists you should read before tomorrow”… It is proven that we humans like lists. Put a number, a noun (movies, books, countries, reasons) and a verb and everybody will read you. And it is fine. At the end we need to be guided somehow or at least to know others opinion.

2. The problem comes when that information is taken as the one and only truth in the world. I am starting to really dislike this kind of lists related to travels and places. Obviously (or not) when we travel we like to be informed of where we are going and maybe some places to go. The list can be really big or just a few notes of “cool places”. But it is our list.

7198648678_7a3c5905d8_b by mamnaimie

Photo by Ryan MacGuire

When we follow other’s lists you realize Hagia Sophia is not the magic experience pictures promise. Athens is not only ruins. And your organs will not be taken when you cross Kosovo borders. The media create expectations that are not usually fullfilled. For better or worse. One thing I learnt during my EVS is that nothing is what it looks like. Specially with those places created for the Society of spectacle.

3. “What? You have been in Barcelona and you did not see Sagrada Familia and Park Güell?”-I heard recently. “Yes, I did not go there. But I know the best place to eat a salad or have a drink”. So dare to forget the map for a while; do not follow the crowd, but the local; go through that narrow street that lead you to a small mosque in Istambul; find graffitis in Athens and buy some fruit in Pristina.

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4. And why lists are always followed by …”before you die”, “before you turn 40”, “in your 20s”…? Would not be great to go to a music festival in your 50s?  Or to cross the States on a motorbike when you are 40? Or start knitting in your 20s?

5. Just do whatever you want whenever you want. Including breaking your list.

Let’s start!

Posted on by alifeafterevs

After coming back, everything seems to be a bit chaotic and future looks hazy. You might have some ideas but not a clue about how to start.

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Photo by Kenny Louie.

Travelling. One of the ideas can be to keep travelling and discovering new places as you did during your EVS. That wanderlust spirit is more awaken than ever. That period abroad made you an expert backpacker and map reader. Take that train!

Studying. You can also have plans to continue your studies. You have enough energy to face university days. Go for it!

The volunteering spirit. Whether you were involved before or not, you might want to belong to an association, fund your own one or attend to trainings to improve your skills. Start applying or getting info now!

We will go through this ideas in the next posts. But, what if you have no idea? You had such a good experience that you do not know what is next. You probably have already heard about SALTO-YOUTH, a network of resource centres that will help you, through non-formal learning tools, to get to know more about the Erasmus+ program. This can be useful to find tips, ideas and resources about life after EVS. One of them is the MOOC on Erasmus+ Funding Opportunities.

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Photo by Steve Johnson.

Get ready for a world full of possibilities!