First of all, Strangerless is now a year old, so thank you all for being here! I’m happy that so many ex-strangers have joined me on this continuously evolving journey – a journey which is not nearly as much about me, or about long-distance cycling, as it is about all the inspiring people I meet in this wonderful whirlpool called life. Yet, today, it’s about myself. It’s about the exhausting storm of ideas within me. (more…)
Tag: Inner dilemmas
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A FINNISH WOMAN IN LATIN AMERICA? SOMETIMES IT SUCKS.
I’ve been on this continent for 16 months now and during this time, I’ve often struggled with being a Finnish woman in Latin America. There are things that time after time annoy me big time and there are things I’ll probably never learn to understand or accept, having grown up in Northern Europe – the cradle of democracy and gender equality. (more…)
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THE COMPETITIVE TRAVELLER SYNDROME
Traveling is wonderful. When you travel you experience unique things, meet amazing people, see outstanding places. Everyone has their own reasons for traveling and everyone’s reasons are just as valuable as the other’s. Although my personal reasons are getting to know foreign cultures, languages and people, I don’t deliberately avoid other travellers on the road. Yet, there’s something about some of these encounters that really gets me every time: the competitive traveller syndrome. (more…)
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THE ROCKY ROAD OF RETURNING
Some time ago, I wrote a post on the Fundamental Art of Leaving. Today, I’m inspired by two people. Both of them women I barely know – one of them I’ve never met in person, the other one I’ve met only once a couple of years ago. Yet, at the moment, both these women are going through the rocky road of getting back “home” after a long time abroad. And even though I’m not physically present and I know nearly nothing about them, I feel I can relate to their feelings more than to those of many others. (more…)
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NO MORE CLIMBING? GIMME SOME VIPASSANA, PLEASE.
There are times in our lives when nothing just seems to make any sense. Moments when all of a sudden, you find yourself asking: what’s the point in all this? What am I doing here? Where do I go from here? Or I don’t know if there are such moments in everybody’s lives, but there sure are in mine. In fact, I’ve been quite down lately and the reason is simple: I want something I can’t have and the fact that I can’t have it makes me question life altogether. (more…)
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10 REASONS TO STOP BLOGGING
When I began cycling in Latin America, this blog didn’t exist. I had another one, very basic and random, aimed mainly at my family and friends. However, the more I cycled, the more I wanted to start blogging for whoever was interested in joining me for the ride. So, in the end of August 2016, I created Strangerless. And now, only two months later, I’m daily thinking about quitting it. Here’s why.