I’ve been sitting on my own words for at least a week now, probably longer. I think it started just before I was headed for Machu Picchu. I mean, I was about to see one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. That kinda leaves you in a surreal state of mind.
I wrote about my visit here. And it is true. It was a dream come true. It was magical. It was physically utterly exhausting, but I had the most incredible experience going up there and seeing the city for myself, seeing the mountains, the clouds between them, the sun bathing everything in glorious light in the early morning.
There are moments when I just sit completely baffled. I am here. I am really and truly here.
It took me a while to arrive in Peru. I wasn’t keen on Lima, missed San Francisco, felt a teeny bit homesick and didn’t have time to settle, because I was running off to Nazca first chance I had. But I’m here now.
I am right inside my dream and I am wide awake. It’s hard to believe that I am not, in fact, dreaming. I’m currently sitting in the bottom bunk of a bunk bed in a dorm in Arequipa. Next week I will travel onwards to Chile at some point. But I have no pressing need to get there as soon as possible, because I have plenty of time.
I’ve actually been having the impression that time has slowed to a trickle. I’ve been in this country for 15 days now. It feels like a lot, because it feels as if I’ve been travelling a lot already. But I have so much ahead of me still – so many months – that it feels as if my journey has hardly begun.
At the same time I am working. I am spending all my words on writing for others. Not necessarily the most inspiring stuff, but I get paid for it. Everything is working out the way I had hoped it would, at least thus far (touch wood). And that’s why it feels simply unreal, or surreal.
How do I get to be so lucky?
Sometimes I wonder if it truly is enough to simply know your path and continue along it no matter what. There’s no mountain high enough. Believe me, I’ve climbed Wayna Picchu and I’d do it again. I work, sacrificing time, energy and perhaps an adventure here or there that I could’ve otherwise had. But by ensuring at least a small income, I’ll be able to afford a bigger and definitely better adventure by the time this trip is over. So, again, it’s worth it.
Additionally, my mind is so wide open right now that creativity is flowing freely. I’m actually considering doing NaNoWriMo again despite my travels. I do need to take more care remembering to write my own stuff and not just the paid stuff.
What grounds me mostly is photography, though. Walking around with my camera, making images, composing, post-production, and finally posting them on Flickr makes it more real. The camera is my witness.
I am here. Truly. It may feel surreal and that may not change for most of this trip, but I will continue and I will marvel at the wonder that life can be and the pursuit of ones dreams.
2clouds 