4 a.m. always seems to come too fast. It’s not a natural wake-up time, but it is becoming an automatic beginning to our morning routine.
My alarm goes off first. “Two more minutes,” I mumble, knowing that Lluís’ alarm will beep two minutes later. I’m not a morning person, and I’m definitely not a 4 a.m. morning person.
Aquesta segona setmana ha estat força millor que la primera. En primer lloc, molt, molt important, és que durant uns 4 dies hem gaudit d’uns dies de fresca! Una nit va caure una senyora tormenta, afortunadament va parar cap a quarts de 5, just abans de sortir com cada día i durant les següents jornades vàrem poder caminar sota un meravellós llençol de núvols i una temperatura que gairebé (només gairebé) ens fa oblidar el pes de l’equip i els quilòmetres per endavant.
Our first week walking has been full of surprises. Every day we learn something new, and the practice of living in the moment has taken on new meaning.
We headed out of Bangkok uncertain of what lies ahead, but knowing that we had to stop thinking about the big overwhelming mission of crossing Asia and Europe. We had to shift our focus to the here and now. Out walking, the best we can do is have a weekly goal, a daily objective and an hourly status check to see where our bodies and heads are at. We measure progress step by step, minute to minute and one kilometer to the next.
This past week gave us many opportunities to test this “right now” game plan. What we’re learning most is how to manage our own expectations of what this trip will look like on a day-to-day basis and what our bodies can handle.
Instead of translating each other's posts, we're leaving these in our respective native languages, English (Jenn) and Catalan (Lluís), to capture the essence of what we each feel. There are, however, no words that could fully describe the illusion and hope we carry with us for this adventure.
Happy birthday to me! What a way to start my 44th year! Here we are, early morning on 1/16/16, across the way from Wat Arun, the temple of dawn, an appropriate place for starting a new day, a new trip and a new life.
Today, we begin our long walk home. Geographically, we call Barcelona home. But, home, as they say, is where the heart is, and that’s the home we’re looking for every day. We have maps to guide us through the physical distance, but we know we won’t be walking in a straight line. Life almost never takes us in a straight line, despite our best efforts to make it seem that way. Visa limitations, weather, safety and health issues will likely detour us, and we’ll have no choice but to take them all in stride.
We often talk about this walk as a way to find goodness in the world, which we believe is all around us just waiting to be discovered and appreciated. Perhaps, though, the goodness we’re out to find is already in us, and one of the gifts we’re meant to share with others. Maybe, this trip is about being brave enough to step forward and letting our hearts, smiles and goodness lead us home. We shall see.
On that note, let’s get this party started! Off we go, on our way to the big unknown.
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Aquí i avui comença la festa!
Ja ha arribat el dia. Després de tant de temps d’haver-ho decidit i d’estar esperant i preparant aquest projecte, avui 16/01/2016 comencem a caminar des del cor de Bangkok cap a la nostra estimada Barcelona. Avui comença ‘oficialment’ la nostra ruta, el viatge, l’aventura, la recerca de la bondat de la gent!
Confiem que serà un viatge molt enriquidor, un viatge molt especial en que pas a pas anirem explorant aquest fascinant món en que vivim, al mateix temps que coneixem la bondat de moltes persones de cultures totalment diferents amb les que ens encantarà relacionar-nos, mirant de comunicar-nos de la manera més bàsica.
Tenim una barreja de nervis, emoció, ganes, motivació… i seguim amb tants interrogants com quilòmetres tenim pel davant. Ja veiem a venir que degut a les durades i restriccions dels visats, monsons, hiverns, estius, salut, situacions geopolítiques i de seguretat, … sembla que no podrem fer un recorregut recte i continuat com ens agradaria. Tenim clar el ‘què’. No tenim ni idea del ‘com’. Però això entenem que forma part de la definició d’aventura.
Una cosa que sí tenim clara és el fet de viure la nostra vida de manera intensa i apassionant.
Esperem que la salut ens acompanyi i amb una justa dosi de bona sort podrem fer realitat aquest somni tan esbojarrat com apassionadament meravellós.
Aquests dies hem estat per Bangkok fent feina de viatgers, com per exemple, obtenir un altre visat, info d’altres ambaixades. Però per què comencem a Bangkok? Bona pregunta. Aquestes podrien ser algunes raons:
We’re often asked why we picked Bangkok as our starting point.
It’s a fair question, but we don’t really have a fixed reason why this city and why not some other place. But here are a few things that stick with us:
Després de caminar hores i hores per la jungla d’asfalt amb un tràfic terrible però també una impressionant arquitectura, hem decidit amagar-nos dels 33°C i la letal xafogor al parc Lumphini, un oasi de verdor i tranquil·litat al cor de Bangkok.
Abans de marxar de casa per capbussar-nos a la nostra aventura volem donar les gràcies a totes aquelles persones que fins avui ens han ajudat d’una manera o altra.
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Before leaving home and diving into our adventure, we want to thank everyone who has helped us so far, in one way or another. Here’s a special shout out to: