Would you walk a mile in her shoes?

Ah travel........ Wanderlust........ The Germans have a beautiful word for it....... "Fernweh" (meaning a longing for far-off places) which incidentally happens to be my favorite word. Many of us long for looking out of the window at new skies, testing new waters and feeling the warm glow of new sunsets......

The foreign children playing their foreign games (that seem very familiar somehow.... children have the the same laugh everywhere)...... Smiles of those toothless old women....... Getting lost in forgotten pebbly lanes...... Discovering something spectacular that is completely undocumented in tourist guides, the memory of which becomes a private souvenir frame for you and only you.... Stopping for a cuppa and landing up having this life changing conversation with a friendly stranger...... The dust, the perfect moments captured, the unfamiliarity and the adventure.....

Now imagine doing all this in completely inappropriate or uncomfortable shoes...... :P

Not pleasant? Of course not......

I get on a flight and head to Madrid today.... Over the course of the next three weeks, I plan to experience the Black Paintings of Goya at the Prado, sample paella at its birthplace Valencia, soak in the vibrance and culture at Barcelona, get lost in the many old lanes of Monaco that lead to nowhere, relax at a beachside resort in Nice and visit the highest point of Europe at Jangfraujoch.


And my greatest struggle over the last few days has been packing right. You see, my husband believes in travelling light and he would have it no other way! I am the kind of girl who drags a 45 pounds bag even when she visits her parents over the weekend and that when she already keeps some of her clothes there because she simply had to carry seven pairs of shoes. Why, you ask? A girl needs to be prepared! I digress. So I have had to deal with the impossible task of packing all of my stuff (inclusive of my beachwear and snow gear) in a singular suitcase! How does one carry 21 pairs of shoes in one suitcase! What?! Weren't you listening.... 21 days....... across Europe..... etcetera etcetera..... But I climbed that mountain! Yes. I am carrying only 4 pairs of shoes... Now if that is not smart packing, I don't know what is! I am leaving the chic and beautiful but uncomfortable ones behind and sticking with the modest but comfortable pairs. I did it. After all, my marriage and travel were on the line! :)


These babies are travelling with me to Europe this spring....

No. 1 are the Michael Kors Fulton Saffiano Moccasin Flats in light pink. I love them. They come in different colours and I own a few including scarlet red and tan leather. One could dress them up or dress them down depending on the event. Very versatile. No. 2 and 4 are from Aerosoles and feature embedded memory foam insoles. Very comfortable to walk in! And of course, No 3 - res ipsa loquitor. I never go anywhere without a pair of sneakers. If you suddenly find yourself amidst a zombie apocalypse, you will wish you were in a pair of sneakers (and of course that you had spent that extra 20 mins on the treadmill, training.... but that's besides the point.....)


So, what are your travel must-have shoes? Do you always carry a pair of heels? Or do you stick to sensible pairs and leave the fancy ones behind? I would love to know!

And I choose you

I didn't believe in you..... I believed in the idea of you...... obviously ........ But not in you...... Every time something made my heart beat faster, every time I hit up futility, every time I felt hopeless, frustrated, defeated, I prayed to you...... But did I believe in you?

They said I could have died inside my mother..... But I lived....... I came out into the world screaming and healthy. They said my mother could have died because of her insides..... But she lived and came out a warrior... ..... I prayed everyday to you..... I prayed that my mother be given a fleeting chance.... I prayed that she have the strength to fight..... I prayed that I have the strength to fight..... I prayed that you protect my father and my beloved...... I prayed that we see light..... But did I still believe in you?

And now that my life hangs from this invisible cliff, now that I don't know if it's a tunnel I am crossing or the destination I am closing in on, now that I don't know if it's a disaster I averted or a disaster waiting to happen, I am giving in to you. I am replacing the crippling doubts with faith. I am replacing fear with hope, prayer with trust, tears with resolve. I am choosing to believe in you. I am choosing to believe that things happen for a reason. I am choosing to believe that if I didn't lose my way, I wouldn't have this new founded respect for life. I am choosing to believe that this time I didn't lose. And as illusive as victory may seem right now, I didn't lose because may be life isn't this huge long battle, which needs to be won. May be it is more about withstanding the storms if they come and when they come. Those who withstand the storms, survive. And I am choosing to believe that this time I withstood it and if there is another storm raging in the corner of the sky, I will dig my feet deeper into the sand and stay strong. I am choosing to believe that you will keep me strong. I am choosing to believe that in due time, the signs and directions will appear. I m choosing to leap and choosing to believe that the net will appear and even if it doesn't, you will grab me and I will come out unharmed. I am choosing you. 

A story

 

It's two am on an August morning

the air's balmy

and he's on the other end of the line

and she's past waiting.....

 

Scars turn to tales and tales turn to rain

words turn to kisses, kisses that obliterate excruciating pain

disappointments are flooded with dreams

the world, still a little grey, slowly turns pink in the realms.

 

He sits organising his thoughts

she sits wrapped in the luxury of the messiness of hers

both sing a tune

both carry a smile....

 

The pages of the book turn a little yellow

the column a little rusty through the sands of time

and even though their melody is a little mellow

she still cracks him up and he still reads her like a dime....

 

the smile, the touch and the kiss

the state of unfailing bliss.....

the song, the dream and the story

you could say the rest is history.....