The Arrival – Urubamba, via Lima and Toronto.

Every new journey to a different country is an assault on the senses – especially when it´s a developing one. It´s not just the people or the signs in unfamiliar languages. It´s the blend of sights, sounds and smells, and later, taste and touch. White woman on the trail, La Gringa entering Peru. How many of us have arrived here, symbols of Western culture and ideals, on a path of self-discovery, fulfilment and adventure? Leaving behind families, friends and homes, eager to trade the familiar for the new.

So, I have arrived. A nerve ending; raw and unmediated like litmus paper turning blue. This time, however, I am not travelling al fresco and back packing my way through different countries as in previous trips. This time, I have a clear destination; a place to go and a definite purpose which makes travelling alone an altogether different experience.

For those who regard these adventures as brave and daring, I urge you to step back and reconsider. It´s only a matter of physically moving your corporeal body from point A to point B and in a world of global travel we are spoilt for choice. It´s just a matter of making the move. We may not feel that we are creative in the formal sense and we may feel we are lacking in imagination. But hey, you can choose to live your life creatively and imaginatively. Make choices but also take chances. As dear Rob S would say, Lady Luck and Lady Change. And, before anyone thinks that I have gone all New Agey and Celestine Prophecy-like, no, that´s not the case. But what I do want to say is:

Flip that coin and see where it takes you. Dare to do. The only limitations are in your mind.