All roads lead to yourself.

by Caio de Souza Soares (Brazil)

I didn't expect to find Brazil

I think life is made of little moments all pieced together. Moments that fill us with happiness and sometimes sadness. That being said, my story isn't about a travel, per se, but about travelling, and how it always makes me feel. So now, try to picture this: I'm in my car, and my mother is driving. She and my sister can't seem to stop jabbering about something that right now i don't even remember. We're on one of those long highways, and at the speed we are in, the trees out there are nothing but a green blur. At that moment, above us, only the blue and clouded sky. I listen to the radio, and then I try to concentrate on the moment, I try to soak it all in. I watch the highway opening in front of me, and as it does, I contemplate all of my possibilities, that by now have all faded away. I feel the air on my face. The gentle touch of the sun on my skin. So, while I meditate on the moment, I take mental pictures of how my sister's hair keeps falling on her face, and how my mother seems to have an unwavering balance on the road. Today, as I come to think of this moment, I arrive to the conclusion that life is so brief, and ephemeral, and even though i don't remember every single detail of that day, like where we were going, I surely know how it made me feel. So maybe this is the lesson. Maybe we have an obligation to discern which moments are worth remembering and which are not. Maybe travelling has a lot more to do with immersing us in ourselves, instead of just keeping our heads above water. Or in reality, it is just about trying to find the unexpected in the most travelled places.