Road with no end

The year I have graduated from the university an idea crept into my soul that for too long I followed the commonly shared life pattern: “…school, university, employment…”.
This wasn’t what I wanted to do anymore. Or at least I needed to take a shot time out.
I packed my bag and left home the same day the idea came by.
I was restricted by my funds but not imagination. There was no specific place I wanted to visit, I just needed to escape somewhere.

I left no message neither to my family nor friends. I was enjoying life as I stood on the platform waiting for the first train to arrive. It was one of those rare moments when an inexplicable feeling comes to you without warning and you are standing bemused making one deep breath after another.
“Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven!”. That is how I felt.

I stepped into the train when it arrived; “to Odessa” was written on a nameplate.
Hours were passing by as I zoomed through villages and towns the names of which I cannot remember.
I entertained myself as I could: scribbling down something on a piece of paper or simply staring at rapidly changing landscapes.
Some boy was constantly crying and nothings could comfort him.
“There is charm even in chaos” I thought, smiling.

Whole road took me about 9 hours. And when the destination was reached I was slightly disappointed. I thought it would be something magnificent according to an informal name: “The Jewel by the Black Sea”, but all I saw were the same things I witnessed in my hometown. Roads, buildings, people, clothes, foods, transportation - everything was pretty much the same.
Of course the Sea itself was splendid. It isn’t accidental that many artists seeking for inspiration choose the sea to be the source of it; or an ocean, or the great forest, or the mountains. We humans are impressed by everything big and tameless.

It is something innate in all of us despite the rank or an occupation; the desire to explore, the temptation for creativity, the curiosity of what is remote.

I’ve learned a very simple thing but an absolutely crucial to understand. The real pleasure of adventuring always comes from the inside. It may not be the surrounding that is exciting but the conscience that you’ve made all this way to get here is what truly delightful.
This was just the beginning; there were other places yet to discover. Once you’ve been converted into a traveler, there is no way back. But that’s another story yet to be told…