There is nothing like the feeling of freedom when you drive on an open road towards somewhere. At the same time there is always a feeling of exhilaration and excitement in anticipation for what you will find.

I’ve travelled on many roads throughout the years and what I found on the way and at the end will forever stay with me. But the roads themselves are imprinted in my visual memory.

There were short roads and long ones. Ugly and breathtaking ones. Dangerous and unexpected roads that made my heart beat faster. Roads I wished I could have lingered a little while longer and others that I impatiently hoped the end would be in sight. Some that I wished I had taken without looking back and others that I wished I hadn’t followed.

Roads always allowed communication, exchange and togetherness. One moment you were here and a few hours later you could find yourself not only in another landscape but also experiencing another culture and tasting new, exciting flavours. Unfortunately, It is not always the case of course. In ancient and more recent times, roads could and still can bring violence and destruction. And they can also definitely be blocked and become the end of the line for those who dreamt of a better life for them and their families.

In the world we are living at the moment, the roads you can take are getting fewer and fewer. We are told constantly to stay put, to avoid all travel if we can. The carelessness of choosing a road to follow is gone. No more spontaneity, no more spur of the moment. I miss that.

Instead everything needs to be planned to the detail. You need to know which rules apply to each country, is it  2G, 2G+ or 3G? Do you need to be vaccinated and how many times? Where are the nearest Covid tests facilities and how much will you pay? What about hotels, will they be open? And what about restaurants?

Roads trips have become an adventure but all for the wrong reasons.

By the end of it, either you are not allowed or you feel exhausted and think why bother? Better to stay where you are, stick to the roads you know.

After all the wind still blows in your face, the sun still shines through the window, the clouds still play in the sky. There are still open roads to explore, things to see, photos to take, words to write.

Will it all go back to normal? What is normal anymore?

For now I am grateful for all the roads, the past and the present that still give me that feeling of going. And until I can regain the freedom to go where my heart will take me, I will remember every pathway, every stone, every light and darkness, every moment with my family on the roads to somewhere.