An African woman backpacking Europe...

It started as an experience to further my education in Europe, and transitioned into venturing to explore Europe as an African woman, backpacking. 

   

                      

I was told how immensely challenging it would be, considering I was traveling on my own, thus I was ready to meet the challenges with curiosity & a smile.

From hiking the Dolomites in the Alps, as part of Seattle Universities emotional intelligence study tour with one of my mentors (while doing my MBA), to crossing borders via train, car, bus, plane, foot, and cruise, I opened my eyes to fulfilling ones curiosity as a necessity in getting to know the ways of the world & diving deeper to the voice within. 

I was at peace, enjoying every moment, & witnessing an inner shift of how our fears are our biggest hurdles to overcoming our purpose, and once we do move through it, we even surprise those around us. I met amazing strangers, friends, acquaintances, learnt history & architecture on the way, as well as allowed myself to let go of unwanted attachments. 

Although I was backpacking alone, I felt the world  embrace me, because I was present every step of the way, and I allowed myself to be me. I consider myself a citizen of the world and as such I have friends in almost every continent, so this also was a way to meetup with long lost friends & catch up. 

Last Year, Five years later, mostly out of curiosity of before & after, I ventured again to explore more of Europe, needless to say my scope of reference had changed, and technology was on my side. More cheese was consumed, as with interesting social interaction with the Dutch, learning the economic & political currents events of Netherlands firsthand made me uneasy about the Dutch. Transfixed by the complexity of the underground & other public means of transport in the UK, made me thank the simplicity of my Seattle commute.

Enhanced by exploring London thoroughly, made me appreciate the brits more than I had in my 12 years in a British school. The beauty of England is its rich documented history, and diving into the historical significance of Bath, and its community was truly my highlight in the UK.

Moving via bus, train & cruise to explore Dublin, Ireland at the last minute was not an easy task but thanks to technology it was possible.  The humor of the Irish, knowledge of the language & history, as well as the openness of the Irish made me feel right at home with the blacks of Europe

Italy with its majestic Dolomites, tranquil moments in Venice, reliving history in Rome, started my journey with a hunger for more. I must admit that i felt at home in Italy, the bad service, beautiful scenery, random strangers cooking dinner for you, men whistling when passing by, plenty of cafe's & impressive history, and ofcourse my bias that most of my European friends are from Italy, made me love the country even more.

The success of such a small country like Netherlands lured me in to question the importance of necessity in reinventing ones image at critical times, and the nakedness of the human barriers in Amsterdam challenged my conservative take on life. Breezing through Belgium, I was startled to witness reverse colonization in Brussels while sipping African coffee. 


Driving into Paris’s backdoor, the shock of the vastness of the graffiti on the buildings got me worried that the movie version of Paris was slowly being erased, to be pleasantly surprised by the Eiffel tower. 

Sitting down at an Ethiopian restaurant in Paris, I couldn't erase the image of my walk around some areas, where a prevalent number of immigrants lived, without the glamour & historical context. As a tourist though my CD collection of Edith, my boat tour around Paris, and my romantic dinner brought me back to my movie version.

Then came the cross-country exploration of Germany, flying into Düsseldorf; cruising on the Rhine river; driven at an insane speed heading to Frankfurt; speculating on the hundreds of years it took to build the gothic church in Koln to be left without worshipers in the 21^st century; being met with a sunstroke in Berlin; and touring across the Bavarian cartoon like landscape from Frankfurt into Fusion made Germany a unique experience. I couldn't help but at times notice that in some areas in the bavarian I was stared at as much as the museums & landscape, which resulted in a smile from me & a node from the spectator.

Once in Switzerland, being met by an Amharic speaking Dutchman married to one of my good friend from Ethiopia gave me hope to the future of globalization & hope for countries without borders & judgment. 

Traveling further around switzerland, and sensing I was one of the few black woman in Interlaken hiking the Swiss Alps at Gimmelwald, I really felt safe; although I have heard horror stories of harassment by police, I was fortunate that my smile took me to unique adventures, thanks to Rick Steve’s my adventure in Europe was truly an eye opening moment.

Once I was done with my backpacking in Europe interestingly I was puzzled more. I didn’t feel I knew the world more this time around, I was less sure of my purpose and I was in transition in my life, which made me see Europe in a complex light, much deeper in meaning than just my trip. 

The second time around, since I was older, more aware, and mindful I was not entirely in the moment, but I was more conscious of my surrounding, and protective of my space. Certain in my views, and flexible in my exposure, making it even more an inner turmoil. It could be that I was in a different place in my life, but I would think five years would have stabilized my search as I contemplated my purpose, yet it was a bittersweet realization that although I was still on the quest, I was more entwined with my uncertainty.

One things is for sure, as an avid traveler, I now know that how you experience your surroundings greatly depends on your inner stability & where you are at that present moment. You attract what you are, and I have experienced this over and over again. The world you experience is solely dependant on your inner will, strive & consciousness, How you translate what you feel, see & touch is largely upto you. I certainly felt the shift within my two adventures backpacking Europe, not necessarily good or bad.

So explore not just cities, and countries but internally within!

By:

Dutchess @deldeyoch