Travelling alone is scary. There is no doubt about that.
However, I seem to be meeting a lot of people who are in such a hurry. There was a woman who had been in Norway for about the same duration as me (around one and a half months) and she had driven all the way to Nordkapp, flown to Svalbard for two weeks and was now half way back South again, where we met.
I met a man on a mountain we were hiking. We went half way up together but then parted – he seemed like he was in a race up and down. Like he had no time, to be there and enjoy.
This seems to be a common thing – to do as many things as fast as possible and I find it hard not to get swept into that.
Why is it that we constantly think we have no time?
Truly, is it better to do a lot of things fast or only a few slowly?
I think and feel that in the fast option we miss out on the experiences. It is impossible to be truly present with that much input and when constantly thinking about time and the next thing.
Wouldn’t it be nicer to be free of the external and internal pressure to achieve, but rather be happy about doing?
When I continued alone on the mountain (with the dogs of course), I took lots of stops and turned around to look at the view. Sure, practically you can see the view on the top and all the way hiking down, so there is technically no need. But the joy in seeing bit by bit how far you have come and how the view opens up more and more and becomes more incredible and impressive and breathtaking – that is so rewarding! To me, that is the purpose. Not to reach the top. If you only focus on the top, you miss the whole way there which could contain views and moments even more amazing or interesting.
But to be fully there in the present and not busy with reaching something and what happens next, is scary. When you are alone, it is your own responsibility to solve problems that come up. If you slip, there is no one to catch you. If you stumble, you bruise your knee and have to put the plaster on yourself. I think a lot of people can’t handle that.
Me included sometimes.
Maybe that is why they are running.
To not be confronted with how alone we are deep in ourselves. How time is running and we have no influence on that – and no, we can’t outrun it. How when we rest, we start to feel the connection to our surroundings – and the negative ones feel more powerful. How when we rest, we start to think and when we start to think, we get scared – of how big the world is and how many possibilities there are and how we can’t ever explore all of them.
Is it worth trying?
I would like to have asked these two people:
Have you arrived?
Are you truly here in Norway?
Last year I was running. I felt a strange drive to drive (quite literally). I was scared of staying still in one place, partly because there were so many more options and mostly because I didn’t want to be confronted with the fact that I couldn’t arrive.
While I am still struggling, I think that I am much better at this now.
There is a fine line between running from and going to.
What I have learned: follow my own path at my own speed, enjoy the moment and nature around
What I’m grateful for: allowing myself to rest and arrive and feel (both doing and still learning that)