Traveling - for the sake of escaping or returning?

As many of us I, too, sometimes have those moments of solitude to be filled with plenty of questions in mind. About the concept of home, about the size of our world and even the mighty universe (that is the point where my head sometimes starts to hurt since I can ramble about universe and our accidental existence for hours without reaching any conclusions). And then there is this tiny collision occurring, almost like a mini-battle going on trying to figure out what the right answer to all this great thought of Where-do-I-belong and Where-on-earth-my-place-is shall be.

Around two years ago my roommate and now a good friend introduced me to the beauty of traveling. Before that I , of course, had sniffed the air outside my country but it was just a tiny bit of it all and, though it was a nice change after spending most of my life in the same village, now looking back at the events seems as it felt more like obligation not something I did spontaneously by my own desire.

          Travel to Odessa, Ukraine, summer 2013

And now..Well, now I am at the point where I can mark 17 countries on the list of the places I have visited. I have hitch-hiked Europe several times, I have made spontaneous weekend trips to nearby countries with very few money with me and just a month ago I decided to spend one more semester in Hungary. Almost every month I have a desire to go somewhere and I allow myself to fulfill it. Hop the train to Serbia or hitch-hike to Austria - it is not a problem for me anymore to make the decision just a couple of days or before leaving. Unstoppable chain reaction. ‘Travel bug’ as they call it. However, does that mean I try to escape from the place I was born in? Does that mean I do not appreciate my home anymore?

As much as I would love to give a huge and certain NO to both of these questions, I am still not 100% sure of that (but then is there anything we can be so sure of?). Yet, there is one thing I definitely know - I leave to return. Always. No matter how great the feeling being abroad is, no matter how nice people I meet there and no matter how enthusiastic I become when I know I have a trip ahead of me, Latvia is always there, not so deep in mind and consciousness. My old, rusty bed, my crazy pets, my language (and you cannot find a language like Latvian elsewhere for sure), my insane friends and inside jokes, the food, the nature, the stress and the joy. There are some things so characteristic to only one place, that at least for now I know - I need to be away to appreciate it all even more.

I believe one can find a reason for almost everything and I do believe there is a reason I ended up (or started, to be more precise) exactly there. Some lessons have been harsh, indeed, some - too good to be true but not only we learn from the people around us but as well the surroundings themselves.Latvia undoubtedly is my background. Like a backpack, I as well carry everything about my home wherever I go and even though I am aware that not all of the travelers throw themselves on the road with the same feeling, I do hope this sense will never disappear because knowing that in any minute I will enter Latvia (right now I have beaten the record and returned after 4 month absence) is one of the most exciting and thrilling moments I experience, I would say - equally exciting as preparing to hit the road again.