Following your dreams

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Twenty years ago, I travelled through parts of France and Switzerland.  My sister was in Annecy to take a 6 week course in French.  She knew it was my dream to see Switzerland, and it was her mission to fulfill that dream.

Picture taken from my sister’s bedroom window

I felt Switzerland more than I saw it.  At the time, my vision was quite fuzzy and I needed help to get around.  The great thing about pictures is that I now know what I couldn’t see at the time.

Here are a couple of things I learned during that two weeks:

  1.  Summer in the Alps is like winter in Florida.
  2.  Some of the best cheese ever is found in France and Switzerland.

During her 6-week stay, she rented a one bedroom apartment with a kitchen the size of a closet.

I took this picture at the far end of the apartment. As you can see, the other end is about 3 steps away and contains one tiny bedroom.

She told me to bring a coat and I wore it every day I was in Switzerland.

By the time I climbed up mountains while freezing in the middle of summer, I was grateful I hadn’t married someone from Switzerland and ended up living there until I died.

Her landlady also had a dream, and a mural on her wall to remind her of the place she longed to be.  It looked something like this:

I had to laugh.  I live about an hour away from that view, and I haven’t been to the beach in about 20 years.

She hadn’t seen the 2 – 3 inch roaches that call Florida their home, or experienced the way it feels when one of them gets stuck in your hair.  She didn’t know about fire ants or sand fleas, nor did she realize that Florida in July is like living inside a giant sauna.

Which brings me to my point. 

It’s important to follow your dreams.  Just make sure you have a round-trip ticket before you leave.

 

 

Category : LIfe, travel
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