“The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious”

🇮🇹 on dreams, wanderlust words + photos from Italy

Ciao from Italy, the country of pizza, pasta, magnificent churches and endless beauty - a country perfect for eating lots, praying, reflecting and falling in love with life.

The textures, scents, flavours and sounds of Italy are one of a kind and life happens at a different pace to what the majority of us are used to.

It’s refreshingly slow yet full of colour, warmth and community. No wonder the slow food and subsequent slow travel movement was born here (more on this further below).

The Italian sun, sea and land are inviting us to dream. Dreaming about what life must have looked like in all the historical places many years ago… you know what I mean?

Catching glimpses into everyday life in the small town of Monopoli.

While waiting for a delayed Italian train, I realised that:

We all carry a longing for faraway places in our hearts.

If we aren’t dreaming, we aren’t fully living.

We all once dared to dream.

As children, we dreamt of adventures on the sea, in the air and maybe even flying to the moon. Our many ideas of travelling were not bound to place or time.

We just dreamt big.

We played and told stories of those experiences as if they were real.

We believed in them then. We didn’t question them.

Anything was possible back when we didn’t know the constraints of borders, money and time yet and built rocket ships with sofa cushions and Michelin-star restaurants under the kitchen table with rocks as pasta, collected on the last walk.

The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious. - John Sculley

When we dream, we know much better what we want to pursue. We have pictures in our heads that serve as our north star. In a practical sense, we know much faster what life we want to live, what cities to visit and what foods to eat.

How travel dreams shaped the itinerary:

I longed for this solo trip in a way I hadn’t before.

My heart ached to be immersed in southern Italian culture.

I yearned to be kissed by the sun that, although only equipped with the strength of spring, would warm my pale cheeks differently than the sun back home in Germany.

I dreamt of cute cobblestone streets, big, protective wooden doors, historic cities full of forgotten stories and restaurants where mouthwatering pasta filled with freshly made Burrata cheese would be served.

I pictured olive groves flying by as I’d sit on the train and watch the sun set behind the soft hills.

Subsequently, the more I listened to my heart’s desires, the more I felt connected to my dreams and my vision: myself.

I was lucky to turn my dreams into reality on my trip and will treasure the memories forever. I realised once again that sometimes, a change of scenery does wonders and we get to meet new versions of ourselves in unknown territories much quicker. But we do not need to go far to connect with our heart and dreams.

Lecce, the Florence of the South as people often proudly call it because of its rich Baroque architecture.

I’m inviting you to explore with me: No matter whether you’ve been to Italy or any other country, no matter whether you’re a homebody or a seasoned traveller:

• What feelings does the description of Italy (and the photos above) evoke in you?

• What does the invitation to dream of foreign lands, faraway places and your wildest wishes bring to the surface?

• Can you, bit by bit, let the longing inside yourself lose, the childlike joy for little things and big adventures return?

• Can you hold Fernweh (the German word for a longing ache, dreaming of foreign lands) without judgments or explanations?

• In what ways may you wish to move towards your dreams, as spring invites us with its warm energy to feel alive & inspired?

Let’s make it more tangible and explore through photos, postcards and stories.

Let’s dream, no matter what our brain tells us about our bank account, insufficient time to travel, or health concerns.

Let’s bring the places we wish to see and the life we desire to have into our homes and hearts again.

Through dreaming, drawing, documentaries or dishes.

There are endless ways, all it takes is childlike imagination to start.

And the best part? It’s free! ❤️

Your creation starts here…

What I remind myself of daily: Nurture and care for all your dreams without gripping them tightly, connect and then let them free.

Engaging with my dreams and visions in different formats is soothing. I’m usually more of a writer or saving Pinterest images but sketching was so rewarding this time. Listen to the voice note below to hear a fun fact about me. The memory returned while sketching and made me quite proud because I let go of other people’s dreams that time.

So, if you are curious and would like to hear my voice and the back story of how I connected to my dreams again, tune in. I’m also sharing a story of when I had to let go of those dreams that didn’t feel like mine. 😂 As a recovering perfectionist, I’m not allowing myself to record again and again and again… I promise I’ll get my podcasting mic out next time. A mic my bf got me so I could finally record and share all the meditations, visualisations, movement practices and sound baths I had been talking to him about for a loooooonng time. Stick around, one day they will come…

By far one of my favourite shots ever…Isn’t it so fun? (Lecce, April 2024)

Speaking of…

• Italy, I started the post while there and finished it tonight. Some things take time…

• foreign lands… read my real talk about solo travelling as a woman

• making dreams a reality… read the way to make the impossible happen is to believe it’s possible - by

  Elin Petronella
  .

• Overcoming what is holding us back and daring to be brave (my last post)

• Postcards. As a token of gratitude and because giving gifts is my love language for others, I sent postcards to some of my most engaged reader community members.

  The last one is still on its way to

  Monica Nastase
  in Spain, the others have reached
  Erin Stinson
  in Canada,
  Sarah Robertson
  in Scotland,
  Aimée Francis
  in the Cotswolds,
  Elin Petronella
  in Belgium and
  Lyndsay Kaldor
  in London (click on the locations to see the postcards). On travel, dreams and postcards, read Lyndsay’s beautiful Postcard post from Greece.

  The next round of thank you cards will be sent from my next holiday - maybe you’ll be one of the winners?

• Community… this post is written as part of

  Claire Venus
  Essay Club 💛

• Slow travelling… I have always loved travelling and sketching, soaking up and savouring my environment at a slower pace. Fun fact, the concept of slower travel is inspired by slow food: Slow Food started in Italy in March 1986, when the opening of a fast food restaurant (McDonald’s) near Rome's Spanish Steps sparked widespread protest.