To Italy with Love

I'll never forget the day that I learned what ‘travel’ means…And I’m not talking about the dictionary meaning.
Travel is now almost a sport. It’s all about how many places you have pinned on your virtual map or how many places of some website top 100 you have been. So, what is the real meaning of travelling in the world of internet? Where products from the farthest corners of the world and people are just in the distance of a click?
“It’s the journey my friend!” most people would say, but I tell you, it’s what you learn from it. I learned that traveling. But what is the fun of that? Now, I will tell you my journey, so you can take you own conclusion, because that is the fun part.
October 2010, on my way back from a summer course in Middle East, I gave myself a birthday present: a week in Turkey before home. After a couple days, a few drinks and some new friends in Istanbul, I decided to attend to a wine taste in a very small villa in Cappadocia, Ugur.
After 13 hours on a bus, and accompanied by some friends I met in Istanbul, and whom thought it was fair enough to travel half a country to celebrate my birthday getting drunk of expensive Turkish wine with me, I got there. Then, bad news. Some sort of electric transmission tower had fallen, so we were basically without electric power, which means no banks or hot shower and rationed water. Because of that we couldn’t get into any touristic place, in general caves.

Do you think we cared? Of course be able to shower would have been great, but the rest of it?! Those were the best days ever. Three days of smoking narghile, eating crepes (the only thing we could afford), joking and talking. We did nothing but that! Oh, and the candlelight wine tasting for my birthday.
I only realized how amazing those days were when I was at the bus station, as I was the last one to leave town. There was me, setting on the bench on the side of two British ladies of 82 and 85 years old. They asked me why was I sad, and I told them about my journey and my friends and that all of that was over. With a brilliant smile both of them said to me “no matter with who do you go, friends, books, or just your imagination, what brands you is what you learn from it”. We ended the conversation with a farewell arkadasim, Turkish for my friend and took our ways.
Then I realized it was not only about the journey, it is more about your ability to learn from your experience, even if you haven’t been to a single place, or taken a single photo.