My first
impressions after arriving (to Paris) were:
- OMG, there is no sand anywhere!!!
- Soooo many people and almost no nature
- Really noisy
- The first few meals are absolutely amazing, but its quick to get used to the insane amount of options we have
Back home in Brussels, what I find strange is
the size of the average home compared to the hut I shared in Andava, and the fact that
we sleep with the windows closed in almost complete silence (i.e. no sound of
waves :-(
It’s great to
reunite with loved ones but I soon had to realise that life has not stopped for
them either and they are also eager to share what happened in the last two
months. My experience is not the most important for them and as I keep comparing everything to Andava I am concerned when my
surroundings will be completely saturated and ask me to stop. I also feel a bit
lonely with my experience, it was such a collective adventure and now we are all
back to our individual lives, surrounded by people who have not lived what we
have and have difficulty relating to it (well, with the exception of a few, luckily).
As the days
pass, however, and Andava feels further and further away, “reintegration”
becomes a more realistic prospect. Our pre-departure guidebook (provided by
Blue Ventures) has a chapter about returning home which starts by saying that
this can be an “underwhelming experience”. I haven’t yet worked out whether I
feel “under-” or “overwhelmed”, but whelmed it is to a great extent...
What an incredible, breathtaking, influential,
unforgettable, awesome adventure!
(See you next
year?)
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