I arrived to Bolivia taking the way of the middle of nowhere... that is, from Atacama, doing a 3 day trip in a Jeep. There was absolutely no civilization in the way, it was just wild and inhospitable...
The landscapes were unbelievable... from the biggest salt flat in the world, to laggons of different colors, passing thorugh geysers and going up to 5100 meters... all concentrated in a 3 day excursion, with two australians, two slovakians, one french, and a Bolivian driver.
However great the landscapes were... in the last month, I haven't stopped seeing amazing things... it gets to the point where I got used to it!... yes.. you can get used to it... seeing a landscape has no longer the same effect as the first day...
It's similar to buying something you really like, after a month it has not the same effect as the first day... and then you are equally happy or unhappy as you were without the thing... but the drop in your bank account can be equally seen after a month!.. That's a reality that television doesn't explain very well, seeing adds all day long telling us how much we need things, naturally create needs in us... and they don't give us any lasting happiness... all the contrary, as said in the movie Fight Club... "you don't own the things, the things own you"... The more things we have, the more things we have to worry about...
All I have with me is a 7-kilo backpack... I often see other travellers with huge backpacks, unable to move with them, hurting their backs, unable to find things in it, spending too much time to organize them... and I'm so happy with my little backpack!.. just 6 underwear, 6 pair of shocks, 4 short t-shirts, 1 polo, 1 long t-shirt, 2 long trousers, 1 bathing clothes, 1 shorts, 1 light sweater, 1 jersey, 1 coat, 1 pair of shoes, 1 pair of flip-flops and 1 travel towel... I have few things to worry about... I'm more free, and I can move from place to place very easily... and even if I lose my backpack or get stolen, I wouldn't lose much...
Just as having more things is not a guarantee of hapiness, seeing more landscapes is not a guarantee either... As Marcel Proust said, "the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes"...
