It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Ever wondered what Christmastime looks like in other countries? Like in Romania maybe? Like in Kolozsvár, to be more specific?

Milliver’s Travels has gone all out this holiday season and has prepared quite a number of lovely Christmas-y articles for your viewing pleasure.

Here is my very seasonally festive article, about Christmastime in Kolozsvár, complete with lovely photos and music!

Go read it. Listen to it. I’ll wait

Honoring the dead

Let’s talk about dead people, shall we? Well… okay, so not exactly. But close enough.

Today I have a new travel article up at Milliver’s Travels, in which I elaborate on the tradition of Illumination, or the Day of the Dead as it’s more commonly known here in Romania.

Drop by and let me know what you think of this tradition and the overpowering amount of my lovely night shots throughout the article.

See you there

Zooming in on travel, gratitude and gifts

Long time no travel writing, right? I’ve been a bit under the weather writing-wise, but let’s fix that right now as my newest travel article is up for your viewing pleasure on Milliver’s Travels.

I am giving Smart Tips for Your First Time in Paris, so feel free to drop by and let me know what you think. Even if you will not visit Paris any time soon, it is timeless info.

Oh, and for a cookie, I suggest you leave me a comment while you’re over there

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Speaking of photos.

Yesterday I read this blog post over at Positively Present and felt immediately inspired. It’s a 30 day photo challenge with the theme ‘Gratitude’.
You already know how much I love taking pictures, so I’m thinking this awesome way to stay present will also go so well with November being the month of Gifts in the Love Project.
To take part, I downloaded the .pdf document to my phone, so I’ll have the list with me at all times and I’ve already set up a Facebook album with the photo from Day 1. To share with you as the month progresses, I’ll link to the album again later on.

This challenge couldn’t have come at a better moment to give me a nudge towards taking more photos, as I was just thinking that I’m not taking nearly enough of them lately.

Time to add my camera as a permanent fixture of my backpack’s contents again

Anyone else feel like joining this photo challenge?

 

PS: you have to be my friend on FB in order to see the album, but I’ll probably make a collage of these at the end of the month to have all the pics on my blog as well.

Recognizing oneself

A couple of weeks ago, I read one of Annie Q. Syed’s Still Sundays posts. It was just wonderful, as all her writing is!
Yet one passage at the end of her post captured my attention and has stayed with me ever since:

"I see a girl walking by — backpack on her shoulders that weighs far less than her thoughts — trying to find how far she can run from who she is without any more destruction to herself. She smiles because who doesn’t smile while visiting Italy."

I can recognize someone I don’t always know too well in these few lines. Someone who still hasn’t totally gotten over something that happened 3 years ago.
And though, as much as all the places I visited, last year and a couple of months ago, have filled me with memories I’ll cherish forever – at that exact moment when I’ve read it, the above mentioned paragraph described me perfectly…

And… I think many of us resemble that girl, either too often or not too often, as we travel through Life.

Wishing everyone who can relate to be able to keep smiling throughout the journey!

Escape

I thought for quite a while about weather or not to write a post this … almost too personal. This post is to myself actually, unselfishly starting the sentences with “I”, reminding myself of just a few things I want (to do), which I really miss or want in my life …

I want to relax and rest. To travel and be somewhere where only the horizon is the boundary between earth and sky. A place to feel free to be human. True freedom which actually starts when you realize that natural and moral duties are not conceived in liberty but actually locks the contrary, they are the wind that blows a kite and makes it shine across unknown lands. 

I want to lie on the grass, to close my eyes and feel the wind caress my hair at night … while looking at the starry sky, and in those moments I should feel admiration and an unspeakable gratitude towards whoever still wants me here on this Earth.

The things I fully enjoy in life are very simple: the love behind a cup of hot cocoa with a tad of milk in the morning, a walk in the afternoon, reading, writing, music, flowers in a vase, plants, art and crafts, good food, homemade things, light, rain and rainbows, the warm light of candles in our room …

I hope to live a little while longer in this imaginary world that harbors many thoughts, and which will hopefully fulfill the beautiful dreams I still have.

I remain a glimpse of hope that someday, I’ll say:
… There’s no place like … home.

Which journey are you taking?

I realized long ago that life’s a journey (but I’m writing about it just now) The journey is getting from point A to point B, grow up and chose your paths, see where the road takes you.
How do you figure out where you want to go?

Some people need to see different places, cultures, lifestyles more fortunate or less fortunate then their own, etc. They need to get out there they chose the journey of travelling in order to figure out where they want to get to.
And others don’t need a journey with physical destination, but a spiritual one, filled with knowledge and getting to know them self. People who need to just live, have roots, who function better with walls, physical and imaginary boundaries, etc. and find their way by living like there’s no tomorrow.
And in the end, isn’t it all the same thing? Some do it effectively and some do it by imagination.

No matter which journey you’re taking, the result is the same. Have a safe journey everyone!

Later update: You can also find my post about “Journeys we are taking”right here on Pillowchats.com