I just vanished… Poof!

Yep, exactly like that.

2 months ago (where did that go?!) I moved from Bucharest, Romania. To Austria, the mountain side, Tirol. I am at the end of the world, in a village of max 1000 inhabitants. I tend to believe that’s the number of tourists over a whole year.

Let’s just put it this way – there is just one sidewalk, one way. Nope, no 2 sidewalks, one on each way of the road. Basically, because even if it was, I’m not really sure there would be enough people to use it and walk on it.

So yeah, I’m here in a place that’s got nothing. No coffee shop, no doctor’s office, no pharmacy, no supermarket to buy stuff. And no internet connection. I’m lucky when traveling cause I enjoy other people’s internet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, not anymore. I was, at the beginning. Oh, I was really annoyed! But then, I looked at is as a challenge. You know, I am a Social Media & Online person, and now I have to deal with no internet connection. But it helped me see things differently.

First of all, I started paying more attention to the people around me. I started enjoying more having a real conversation and I am more into stories. I laugh like I really mean it, finally! I am peaceful with my phone not having to vibrate all the time – messages, phone calls, emails! I enjoy this mountain air and the white view with lots of snow! I feel like I’ve discovered things in me I didn’t even know I had.

My friends here make fun of me, a ‘princess’, a big city girl moving to a village. And the thing is that it wasn’t even that bad. I mean yeah, I miss the comfort of craving for french fries in the middle of the night and just hop in the car and go to McDrive. Now, if I wanna meet someone or buy basic stuff, I need to hop on the bus for half an hour and go in the next town and shop there. At least, there’s something there, like 2 mini-malls with some stores and coffee shops and supermarkets.

All of this helps me live really basic. Me, the people around me, nature, emotions and moments.

soll-skiwelt-austria-mountain-winter-snow-ski

Life here is so unmaterialistic (if that’s even a word) that a few days ago I had this happened to me – my phone died. It just died. It shut down by itself and I couldn’t turn it on again… I wasn’t even panicked. I was just thinking that I’ll have to live without my phone on top of the internet thing. I was just trying to think of ways to let my people know so they won’t get worried. I left it alone, and after some time, my phone recovered by itself and started working again. I wasn’t even feeling relieved… It was just a thing, an object and I wasn’t gonna be mad cause of that.

One of my Bucharest people asked me at some point if I miss home. It didn’t take long to say I don’t.  To me, home is a feeling, not a place. As long as I am happy and peaceful, home is where I am. Yes, I do miss my people, I admit it. But that is easy to work out when they’re the right ones. They know I think of them and I miss them, even if we don’t talk everyday.

I truly believe that we got used too much to all this comfort the technology gives us. It is helpful, not gonna deny it, but somehow we let it replace life. Because when that is not in the picture anymore, it’s still us, humans. Us, with our thoughts, emotions, feeling and all that surrounds us. I found out this way that we forgot how to live… And I speak for myself also, my past self.

This same time last year, I couldn’t even picture my everyday life without internet, my phone, my laptop. And somehow, I feel that like this I exist more than ever. 🙂

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