The Travel Epilogue

I was back… Fully and completely… Even the classes in my business school started to make sense again.

“Your main aim is to sell and make money. Every strategic business unit has a sole purpose: PROFIT. Always keep it in mind when you will be leading one!”

The first week I simply stared at my teachers without a capacity to respond. The last 5 months made me forget that I was studying to become a rich business lady of tomorrow. Fortunately everyone was aware of the fact of me being a foreigner and my frozen expression was easily explained by the overload of French.

Already on the first day of school I escaped from all the Finance classes and ended up in Psychology discussing Freud instead. Actually the least a course had to do with business, the more attractive it seemed to me. Quite a weird feeling, especially if you find yourself in the ultimate year of a business masters...

The reunion with friends and family was quite funny, since my blog seemed to be more successful than I thought it would be. Every time I started to tell a story, some friends would finish it for me. Even though most of my loyal readers lacked the courage to leave a proper comment! Baaaaad....  

This trip was supposed to satisfy my curiosity and the deep desire to see new continents, but it actually made it only worse. The first thing I checked on my course schedule were the holidays and I caught myself calculating how far I could go in that time and with what budget. Is there something like an “anonimous travel addicts society”? My personal strategic business unit was ready to invest every single cent in the next plane ticket and did not want to hear anything about profit...

RUSSIA

To not get  knocked down by the normality of life, me and my friend Sandra softened the transition period by reuniting in Moscow and going together through a “rehab”. Her coming from Hong Kong, me coming from New York, both full of impressions and pictures, there was simply no way to face the reality straight away.

The first week we just talked and exchanged our experiences. Despite the fact that we went travelling on completely opposite ends of the world, there were a lot of similarities between our stories.

Russia was also the place where from being a guest I became a host. Suddenly it became clear to me, what confused my friends in Latin America so much: you don´t see the same things! Actually I felt blind in comparison to Sandra. Every time she started laughing or screamed in surprise I didn´t see anything. This was quite devastating and sad at the same time! As much as I tried, there was simply no way to acquire her perspective. 

Together we went on a discovery tour of the Golden Ring, visited multiple churches, cathedrals and historical places. A week later two more friends from Paris joined us and we visited all the classical must-sees of Moscow and St Petersburg. Again, not much I can tell here, since the analytical capacity gets down to zero when it is your own environment you are observing.

NEXT

It turned out that I was not only a travel addict, but actually a writing addict as well. Every time something outrageous happened, I tried to think of how to turn it into a funny story only then to stop myself and say: “Hey, its over, you are back!”.But then the stories started piling up and I felt close to an explosion. You have to know that I am living in Paris, which is a) a foreign city for me and b) an extremely fertile soil for gossiping and blogging. And then Coke gave me the rest... They  send 3 bloggers on an "Open Happiness" World Tour paying for everything! “Expedition 206” (www.expedition206.com) involves 206 countries in 365 days. All you have to do is travel and blog. A dream and a definite sign from above!

Brazil - Paraguay - Argentina - Uruguay - Chile - Peru - Mexico - USA - Russia - PARIS

So, oh well, as life continues, so does my blogging. Watch out for my next entries reporting live from the city of fashion, luxury, culture and loooove! Please welcome sambaspirit in Paris!