Synchronicity may be a word you can’t get out of your head after you’ve listened to The Police but it’s also almost imperceptible, something inexpressible, a guide that I’m on the right track…

I woke up yesterday morning convinced that the Buy Now button on my phone’s travel app was calling to me and I should not ignore it. So I did, I booked my One-Way flight from South Africa to Munich. And in that one small finger movement, my plans moved from the ethereal dream dimension to the realm of the solid and very real.

Minutes later, as I emerged from the focussed state I’d plunged into to make sure I got the dates right, my name typed correctly, my vegan meal ordered1, and all the other little details that need to be inserted before that plane ticket becomes official - as I emerged from there, I was assaulted by news reports that World War Three was actually possibly afoot, over there in Europe, where I had just committed to landing firmly with both feet in Bavarian Lederhosen …

A very long breathless sentence… and it barely describes the whirlwind of questions once again assailing my determined inner dragon. Until Synchronicity reared her pretty face and I understood that there was no way I wanted to watch any of this unfurl from a safe distance. This time I’m going to get into the thick cream of things, and that’s as it should be, and that’s as it will be.

Cheesy as can be, I informed my French cousins that I had already missed out on WWII and had a bad case of FOMO… There’s no reason to make light of this horrendous situation but to excuse my insistent desire not to change my plans.

Cape Kaliakra, Bulgaria, on the Black Sea - the closest thing I’ve seen so far to Ukraine, but we’re going to change that I’m sure !

In Europe and America there's a growing feeling of hysteria
There's no such thing as a winnable war
It's a lie we don't believe anymore

We’re all making a great big fuss about Russia invading Ukraine, and it’s deplorable, I can’t understand how any intelligent humans could let a psychopath lead them into destroying other human lives over any pretext whatsoever, but why do we not make just as much fuss over the atrocities and injustices happening in the name of -what reason could possibly be good enough anyway??- that are going on in plenty of other parts of the world ? Is the plight of humans of Palestine, Yemen, Kashmir, the Ouighour region and others any less worthy of our attention….

Now you can join the ranks of the illustrious
In history's great dark hall of fame
All our greatest killers were industrious
At least the ones that we all know by name
But you can reach the top of your profession
If you become the leader of the land
For murder is the sport of the elected
And you don't need to lift a finger of your hand

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Nevertheless, while the events at our European doorstep are hot in the oven, we can do something to help with at least one of the dark spots on the sun, and so I open the door for you to read this post by Nora Selmeczi, join in where you can, and hope that Kyiv Cake will not disappear before you’ve had a chance to experience it - I know I want to now that it has appeared in the baker’s window…

enda lettere

enda lettere #22

Kyiv cake has been on my mind for months. I dreamed of its taste as I’ve been dreaming of a journey to the city and beyond. Airy, crunchy layers of hazelnut meringue, cemented by chocolate buttercream and chocolate glaze, adorned with old-fashioned buttercream leaves and flowers. Kyiv cake tastes like Central and Eastern European past, a shared heritage…

a year ago · 5 likes · 1 comment · Nora Selmeczi

All this to let you know that it’s official, my one-way ticket is in my inbox, I’m off to Europe ! As I write this my house is not yet sold, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be soon. And then I’ll know what budget I have to play with and I can tell you more about the kind of wheels I’m looking at to soon call home-and-studio.

Every day I watch a new documentary on YouTube to learn more about past French presidents and other cultural subjects so as not to get lost in conversations, learn odd French expressions because I don't mix up all sorts of words that don’t go together already as it is, and put away piles of belongings that I am going to leave behind unless I grow another couple of arms to carry extra suitcases…

Oh, and I’ve taken up German on Duolingo 2 again, because Swedish isn’t going to help when I land in Munich for the 75th-birthday-celebration-that-didn’t-happen-in-2020 and it would be embarrassing to say that I learned German all through high school twenty-eight years ago but I can’t remember any of the vocabulary… Anyway, it’s a great excuse to add a card to my stack: I’m now going to be able to offer voice-overs in German-with-a-french-accent ! That rocks.

That’s enough, I think you need to catch your breath now.

But if you want to hear more about my plans to become a nomad-voice-over in Europe, leaving behind everything in South Africa to follow this dream, go ahead and sign up to receive the updates right in your inbox !

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Plus, I write in both English and French, so you can either unsubscribe to the one you don’t want, or read both, it’s almost as good as Duolingo hahaha.

If you know someone who’s been wondering about following their dream but can’t decide if they’ve got what it takes, share my blog with them - who knows, they might gather just enough inspiration from my crazy ideas to take that first step of their own… Don’t deprive them !

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1

By the way, even if you’re not vegetarian, the airplane vegan meals are a hundred times tastier than chicken-or-beef, I promise !

2

Admittedly, if you join with my link you’re giving me one week of pro super-charged learning, and for that I will bow to you with gratitude :))

Gaëlle's Adventures on the Road

There's a little black spot on the sun today