Who knew it would be in Switzerland?
Quick Via Francigena sit rep
131 kilometers down (about 81 miles completed)
3901 meters up (about 12,800 feet of elevation gain)
There is a calm that comes over me when I am in the mountains. High Alpine trekking is where and when I am happiest, where and when I am most at peace, and where and when I am home. And, folks, my new spiritual home is in the Alps of Switzerland as we slowly walk up to the Italian border on our 2-month journey to Rome.
It’s cold, but I’m working hard enough to not notice even though I am wearing shorts. It’s quiet enough that my ears crush with the silence. All I hear is the sound of my breath, timed perfectly with my steps and the tick tick tick of trekking poles hitting the ground. The natural beauty in unimaginable. Pictures don’t do it justice (although we try), and I find myself stopping every 2-3 minutes to simply look up, ahead, or back just to be in total awe. Usually there is some profanity as well to verbally express my amazement.
Today further validated the decision to not work. To move on. To lighten the load, figuratively and literally. To be free…whatever that means to whoever thinks of it.
Today was about total freedom…hell away from the things of man…except for the phone of course.
There is nothing beyond the journey. Nothing beyond the next step, the next meal, and the next place to sleep. The little pain in my foot or the need to hydrate or apply sunscreen. The world that is directly in front of me is the only world that matters. For the first time in a long time, the experience was the main feature. For that moment, I was present.
This type of mental transformation only happens after a certain period of time. It’s different for everyone but, for us, it’s usually after at least a week. It’s been 10 days and I no longer think about home. I no longer think about the task list, paying bills, the stained grout or the leak in the bathroom.
This is why we advocate…hell, evangelize…taking time away in chunks longer than a week. It takes time to decompress, even if you don’t really have anything specific keeping you compressed. I get that most people can’t just up and take a couple months to walk around, but think about it…or make sure you take what time you can.
We are on a long journey, and not just this road to Rome. There are curves in the road, bumps and bruises to manage, and a whole shit-ton of time to continue to try to figure stuff out. Needless to say, this is not the end. But today, I found my soul, and it felt good…at least until we walked into a restaurant and reality came crashing down in the form of screaming children and over-priced, mediocre food. But the wine was good.
Hey, I said I found my soul…I never mentioned in what condition I found it.
Ciao for now….
Cheers. Clink!
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