Well, now it's been a while since I returned and it's finally time to wrap this blog up.
Returning to Finland turned out to be much harder than I ever anticipated. When you're traveling, you always kind of have this feeling on the back of your head, how some day you have to leave all this, and return to your boring life. Yet when the day finally comes and you're actually kind of eager to see your friends and apartment etc. it still hits you harder than you expected. They say post traveling depression can take 1,5x the time you
spent traveling. I quite frankly hope that's not the case with me,
otherwise I won't get anything done for the next 9 months.
The culture shock from returning to Finland was way bigger than the one I initially had when I arrived in Namibia six months before. Being able to drink tap water, eat sushi without having to fear for food poisoning and having internet access (and reception for that matter) on my phone 24/7 is cool, but it doesn't help the travel fever. It doesn't fill the void left in your heart by all the things you saw and experienced on your travels, knowing that your life could be so much more exciting. It rather reminds you of the chains you wear, the productivity orientated western society we live in. I've lived in Finland for over 20 years, I've seen all it has to offer and even though I like it, right now I want something else.
One thing that made me feel better coming back to my home country, was this nice young British couple sitting next to me in the airplane. They were coming to Finland for the Christmas, to see the Northern Lights, to see the Santa Claus, to experience Lapland at it's most beautiful. It made me realize that there is something to see and experience everywhere you go. Even if it's your homeland, even if you've always taken it granted. As the plane started approaching the airstrip and the kids behind me started screaming in enthusiasm because they'd never seen so much snow in their lives, despite everything I somehow started feeling pretty good about living in Finland.
Finland is nice, but I do hope that in the future I'll be able to re-open the blog for another chapter in the story of my life. Perhaps Asia? But for now, I thank everyone who actually spent their time reading my ramblings. Btw. get your lazy ass off the couch and stop reading stupid blogs on the internet. Go outside and travel! There's always million reasons not to do something, but if you go ahead and do it anyway, it will be worth it, I promise.
SA over and out.
