I'm almost there!

Just six to seven more days and I arrive in Rome! The last couple of days have been much more awesome than the last update, which was kind of emo and depressed (I'm used to being chronically positve). I think it had something to do with the people I saw an the day, they all looked unfriendly and nobody said hi back. Usually that wouldn't have any influence, but if they are the only people you see the entire day it apparently does.
So on the way today, I wrote down some of the stuff that I experienced and wouldn't come up in daily descriptions, so I thought I'd create an interesting original update today. (Although I don't have a lot of time, this place closes at 20:00).

Wise Words of the Walking Wanderer (who is walking)
This is the place for things that came to mind that where either a valuable lesson, a funny remark or something else that fits in here.

"The world is my home"

"The world is my pissoir"

("I live in my toilet")

"Smile, and the world will smile back at you!"

"Alone does not mean Lonely"

(needs nice phrase, but basically:) Stuff that you do with attention works.


Interesting thoughts and things I noticed
This is one that came to me quite early, while walking in amazing nature that made you go "woooow!". If you are in nature, you can think two different things, which are both logical and sound credible. One: Nature is so beautifull and complex that it HAS to be designed by some being like God or whatever. Two: Nature is so balanced and complex, that it is impossible to think it all out! It has to have evolved over centuries. Realising this actually made me giggle, and that made me feel silly.

Animals pay attention. I have never seen an animal that has not noticed me immediately (except maybe some dogs). Some animals fled (like lizzards and birds) and some just waited to see if I posed a threat (snakes, horses, pigs). This is all in great contrast with humans who are walking their dogs or something, who wouldn't notice me even if I was sitting at a bench 20 meters away.
No conclusion, just something that caught my eye.

The walking trance
So earlier I mentioned I'd try to describe it, so here we go.
After walking for a while you get in some sort of trance, in which multiple phases are distinguable.
-Silent phases, where you think a lot, and sometimes with multiple lines of thought at once. Thinking mostly about simple stuff, like what will I eat, what will happen next etc. but sometimes reliving experiences from the past (and smiling) or making up stories about everything and nothing.
-Nature admire phases, they mostly interrupt and influence the other fases. Sometimes it can be so beautifull that all you think is woow! And then it is very silent for a long time.
-Loud phases, in which singing (which might sound like screaming), whistling and drumming can occur. This is a fun phase and usually sets in at near the end of the walking path. Can cause awkward situations if you are caught singing out loud.

All of these phases can take place in Dutch, English and German, and the language actually has an influence on the content. Usually English is for complex and philosophical thoughts, Dutch for simple and fun thoughts and German for thoughts about the road. But these are not that fixed. And obviously there are a lot of mixes possible.
The trance sets in immediately when your alone and is rather addictive. While in this trance time is a really weird thing, sometimes it goes really fast (doesn't necessarily have anything to do with having fun) and sometimes you think "I've only come this far!"

I think that describing something that you just have to experience is quite problematic, and therefore I will stop now. Also because my english is getting aristocratic (ok ok, I looked up that word).


In the next update I'll add the daily descriptions, and since this is a weird internet cafe I can't upload my pictures... Today is day 98 and I'm doing great. I've seen some really amazing cities and country side, and also had my daily dose of asphalt walking (mostly along the ss2, which is a huge road but at least indicates how many kilometers I have yet to go.

Ok now I'm going to have dinner!

Thanks for reading, I hope this is a good and fun read :).

Ciao!

Ilja