Some days, we are just practical | Day 73 of my 2023 Journal

Practical days

It is not all beach, UNESCO site, amazing nature, and repeat. Some days, we are just practical. These days are not to be taken lightly. They are important and as adventurous as the overwhelming art, new horizons, new people, and live music.

We had a day of driving to a Decathlon to shop for backpacks for our next level journey: Backpacking. As we plan to go backpacking in September this year, we also plan to rehearse it by using backpacks when we visit the big cities. We also needed a new comb for the Sulaima, our poodle. A shoulder bag and some coffee cups.

We drove through a landscape I had not expected to see in Italy: Flat and with dikes like in the Netherlands. After all the tunnels, viaducts, and mountains over our now three-month journey in Italy, I had not expected to drive in the completely flat landscape. Driving from Ravenna to Venice was special.

Cooking in the big shopping area on the parking right behind Decathlon in the sunshine just after heavy rain, and listening to music is part of the adventure.

Moving on to the campsite overlooking Venice, packing one by one as it is not physically possible to have five open backpacks inside the van while five people move around to decide what to bring, we took turns packing and showering, being ready for a great adventure in Venice.

It is a good day, just being together, solving simple problems, preparing for other days, and getting ready to be ready. In the morning, I had an interesting conversation about how the journey teaches us what life is, what it can be, and how we fit into it. What works and what doesn’t?

In the end, we talked so much, laughed so much, and had dinner very late while the clothes were in the dryer. In bed, we enjoyed Dr. Who.

A simple day well lived. Nothing fancy. The best of days.

Somehow I erased all of the photos of the day so the illustration will be my breakfast and a driveby video you can see on Instagram.

Love and light

Cecilie Conrad

Thank you for reading

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